October 20th Irene and Annabel - The Testing Of The Recipes

We had a family get together today and I decided it was the perfect time to have a test run of a selection of Annabel Langbein's recipes, taken from her new, soon to be released book  'A Free Range Life'

As the day was a combination of families, it was a pot luck type of day. I decided I would make a selection of seafood related recipes, that could be used either as starters or part of the mains.

First off the chopping block, that didn't require a chopping block, but a food processor or deft hand was 'Sardine Pate'  Can I be honest here. I was a fan of sardines, but in the last few years they have not agreed with my aging intestinal grouping. I had given away some cans that lurked in the pantry, but overlooked one which has been haunting me. A faint cry could be heard from the pantry "Eat me, eat me, please eat me, I am so lonely here on my own" .  My better half, George will only eat Sardines if they are tinned with a tomato sauce. Hence my quandary. Oh and should I mention a majority of my family who would be at the day are fussy, pernickety to the nth degree, eaters - and sardines would not pass their lips.  This recipe appealed however as they did not look like sardines in Annabel's associated photo.

The Sardine Pate is served on Crunchy Croutons - which is also detailed in Annabel's book. And a drum roll please for Sardine Pate served on Crunchy Croutons....

I was the only one aware that there were Sardines in this pate. When asked what it was, due to the fact that I can tell exceptionally good porkies, I blithely stated that it was a Seafood Pate - which isn't a lie is it?  Everyone oohed and arghed, and when we were down to one solitary crouton left on the plate, I then divulged what the seafood consisted of.  Everyone stated they loved them.

More underhanded shenanigans for the next dish, Crab & Corn Cakes which in my vocabulary until they had all vanished were defined as Corn Fritters (apologies Annabel).  Firstly when I was preparing these, it was with some consternation. Before crumbing, the mixture felt quite wet. I had followed the recipe to the T and did not want to digress. I was supposed to roll these into balls and then crumb them. They were too wet to do that, so I refrigerated the raw recipe for a while. It was still to wet to handle, so I took a dessertspoon and dolloped blobs into the Panko Crumbs, covered the top in crumbs as opposed to rolling, and then placed these on a baking paper lined tray. They were refrigerated overnight

And all my fretting and stressing, and the extra glass of red wine, was for nothing. These were beautiful. I had made the Smoked Paprika Aioli to go with my next recipe attempt - and it ended up being used on these as well Oh and the verdict - I think it goes without saying that when a person only eats fish for their seafood exclaims "these are so yummy I want the recipe"  then you know this recipe is a keeper.  No one got crabby when I said they were Crab & Corn Cakes. Here is the finished product

My final contribution to the day was Prawn & Chorizo Skewers.  In the recipe Annabel states to eat these hot or warm and I definitely recommend following that instruction. These tasted much nicer hot off the BBQ then later in the afternoon as the few solitary leftovers had cooled.  The only bad comment received about these, was why did I buy Chorizo, when George makes perfectly wonderful sausages. George actually said I should stick to the specified recipe, and our sausages cannot be truly defined as Chorizo. His recommendation was I should commit the ultimate sin and purchase sausages. Believe me, the act of purchasing sausages was akin to putting an alcoholic in an unattended bar!  But I digress.

Annabel suggested the Smoked Paprika Aioli be served as a dipping sauce for these, but everyone loved eating them as they were. A very plain but effective and tasty combination, believe me

And to prove there were people at this gathering and I am not 'Irene No Mates' here is a photo of some of the group.  What a lovely day to get together, beautiful sea views at Raglan, fun times and laughter with family and those close enough to be classed as family. I should have taken a photo of us all sitting down and eating, but we were all too busy appreciating the good food and good company

I must also thank Annabel Langbein, and for being selected to preview her new book 'A Free Range Life.'  These are recipes I will definitely make again and I will delve into her book further and select more. A perfect start to the upcoming summer months where we shed our winter woes and embrace summer in all it's glory.