Dinner For Friends - October 2025

The kitchen at Cheoff Towers has had a recent overhaul which led to a period of relative inactivity. Regular everyday cooking was possible - including a short period of confinement to our dining room with a double burner Camping Gaz stove. But preparing and offering developed recipes had been put on hold.

So, last week, with a reasonable amount of mild trepidation but a lot of joy, I embarked for the first time in a fair old while on a full-blown menu.

My motivation was easy. Our project manager for the duration of transforming the rear of our home is a wonderfully talented professional and, more importantly, a gloriously accomplished human being. Other work commitments meant that he hadn’t yet seen the final detail of our fully completed build. A ‘guided tour’ and a slap-up meal would be one right and proper reward for all his efforts.

Oh. It became apparent early on in our relationship that (just like me!) our project manager is supported by a fabulous partner. She naturally joined us for this meal and added nothing but delight to the occasion*

What follows is a small anatomy lesson with a part-dissection of the planning and process of producing my thank-you dinner.

Here is the menu I managed to deliver.

Mini wholemeal loaves and focaccia bread were also on offer. Homemade, of course!

Let’s insert my scalpel and give you a few slices and dices of this meal’s evolution and delivery…

Quail egg prep. Ready for a repeat of the canapé which I first made 11 years ago. Described here

Prawn head and shell ‘bisque’ with butter chunks about to be whisked into the mix

Our kitchen a couple of hours before the meal

All the following photos were taken on the night. There is some attempt at presentation but my main focus is on flavour. My trial runs often include a considered approach with more ‘stylised’ care. That’s when you’ll get better looking photos.
But, on the night, why spend time faffing with tweezers and shutter speeds when you can enjoy more time with good friends, eh.

Amuse bouche - A small portion, delivering the sweetness of squash with oily, nutty seeds and a balancing tang of pickle

The halibut starter was a version of Matt Tebbutt’s recipe without the breadcrumbs

Amuse and starter were recipes previously untried by me. The rest I’d cooked at least once before.

To make all this a reality, roughly two weeks of mental notes and physical scribblings came before a couple of days work in our new kitchen.

Chicken was perfectly moist after decent resting time.
Adapted from Catherine Fulvio’s recipe. (I spared the pheasant!)

I always freeze some of the juice of blood oranges when they appear in January. This jelly formed the base element of my pre-dessert made up more or less ‘on the hoof’. Not too tangy. Not too sweet.

Pre-dessert made the night before and removed from the fridge in enough time to let the flavours bounce back from the cold

I’ve torched craquant before but this was my first - and very successful! - time baking and then cutting sheets to size

Yes, I’ve made this one before - and certainly will again. I posted pictures of previous efforts here

Close-up of the dessert. Might set things at a more jaunty angle next time.

Last lap coming up!
By this stage of the evening I was happy that I still had it in me to do this food business (free of charge business!) in a less than frantic way, still giving some time for chat with our guests.
I remain in awe of those who do this sort of thing and much more on a daily basis. And I readily admit that I will continue to restrict doing this sort of thing to the odd occasion, and only for very special people.
I will now assume the recovery position and leave you to attend to your own cooking. Be it simple, be it complicated, make it as tasty as you can. And don’t knacker yourself so much that you can’t enjoy your efforts along with your lucky invited family and friends.

Petits fours. Two of mine (including pear and vanilla jelly) with some of our nougat bounty from France last year.

*Fabulous partner, eh? Oh, yes. Just look at the sweet, sticky seduction she brought for us!