Cooking at Kate’s

I was recommended to Kate by one of her good friends Janet, who I had cooked for a couple of months back.

Janet thought it would be nice for Kate to just enjoy the evening and be spoilt rather than being the one spoiling everyone else, as is normally the case. So Kate got hold of me and we arranged an exquisite menu, organised a suitable time and a place for the dinner, which was to be held on the 5^th of December.

The menu that Kate had decided on was a lovely Marinated Salmon and Crab followed by Coq au vin and then to finish of with was a lovely warm Christmas Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla ice cream, and for coffee, some lovely mini stolen.

All guests arrived at about 17:30 for a lovely glass of champagne before getting ready to start cooking their meal for the evening.

I am not going to go too much into details about the evening, but all went well and everybody had a good evening, it is always a good sign when the plates come back and they are clean.

I left at about 23:30 and they where still all enjoying themselves and drinking some great wines and talking about next years world cup.

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Verjuice – The premium food flavour enhancer

As you have a passion for food and wine, I’m sure you’d be interested in knowing about an old medieval ingredient that has got many foodies around the world talking. It’s called Verjuice or Verjus, and is making quite a big impression in the gourmet kitchens worldwide.

Verjuice is simply unripe grape juice that has very low acidity, making it the premium alternative to cooking with lemon juice, vinegar or white wine. It’s not as tart or sharp as vinegar so won’t distort the flavours of your food but enhances them instead.

Wine connoisseur’s will be interested to learn that Verjuice has the same acid base as wine, and therefore won’t destroy the essence of good wines served with a meal.

Nigel Slater recently had a fabulous Verjuice chicken recipe in The Observer Newspaper which has sent many people looking for it:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/oct/25/nigel-slater-grapes-casserole-focaccia

The Good Web Guide also has a review of Verjuice here:

http://www.thegoodwebguide.co.uk/?PAGEID=012218

Other well known chefs including Heston Blumenthal and Gordon Ramsay use Verjuice at their restaurants. The Independent Newspaper food writer, Skye Gingell, rates it as one of her favourite ingredients in her kitchen.

Until now, Verjuice has been very expensive and difficult to find yet that’s about to change, as a new company (www.verjuice.co.uk) is importing a new Verjuice from South Africa, and will be distributing it exclusively within the UK and Ireland.

Verjuice is set to become an indispensable ingredient in every kitchen, so if you’re interested in trying Verjuice for yourself, head over to www.verjuice.co.uk and order yourself a bottle – you will love this stuff!!