Saturday, December 30, 2006

UNA FESTA DA ME


Today I have done some entertaining myself, for a change, and very happy about it I was, too! I didn't know these friends were coming till about 5 pm yesterday, so it was a bit of a mad dash to think what to prepare, go shopping and get cooking.

Last night I whipped up my "standby" chicken pâté, using chicken livers, sour cream [well, ordinary cream with a dash of lemon juice, as you can't get sour cream here; all cream here has a different texture from the kind on sale in the UK, by the way] and a goodly splash of mandarinetto liqueuer. Then I made a ragù bolognese to go with the obligatory pasta, mainly because it does not contain tomatoes, to which one friend is allergic; instead, you add a little diluted tomato purée to the mixture. For dessert I tried out Nigella's idea of using pandoro as the base for a sophisticated trifle and can report that it works very well. I'm sure the fact that the pandoro I had to hand contained limoncello helped the flavour along! [The recipe is in Nigella's Feast book.]

Then this morning I got some fine Parma ham from the superb Sfiziosa deli along the road. Parma ham needs no embellishment as part of your antipasti. No time to make my own bread, so pane arabo, also from the deli, had to do. I made some bites of fresh cherries and Asiago [a mild-flavoured, non-crumbly cheese] and also of cherries and chunks of mortadella [above] and plonked a dish of olives, together with one of fresh almonds, on the table as well. As a main course I served "Mediterranean chicken" , the recipe for which I posted here a few weeks ago. All was enjoyed and lunch lasted till 6pm!

10 comments:

James Higham said...

And which dish was voted best, WCL? More importantly, which were you happiest with?

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Buona sera, James. I'll have to ask my friends! I get the most satisfaction from preparing lots of different antipasti, I must admit. - I think they relax people and guests can eat what they like, leave what they like less, and the cook has some nibbles for later!

Lee said...

That all sound delicious, Welsh! I, too, entertained today and am still getting over it! My guests arrived around 11am and left shortly before 6pm as well! But I am definitely still going to see the new year in! I'm sipping on a scotch or three in the meantime and listening to music. I couldn't eat another morsel! lol

Have a great New Year!

Jennifer Turek said...

Sounds and looks delicious ... yum!

Anonymous said...

Welshcakes, reading about it has made me hungry. Sounds like an excellent meal with lots of variety.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Lee. Yes, I'm getting over the exertions of yesterday, too! Glad you had a great feast as well. Have one for me!
Hi, Jennifer. Nice to meet you.
Buongiorno, Steve. Thank you.
Buon anno a tutti!

Anonymous said...

I wish I had been there too, it sounds fabulous, you certainly went to a lot of trouble to prepare lovely food. I always love entertaining for special friends too.

James Higham said...

Time now to wish you a very happy New Year. I've been following your commments around various blogs today so I felt I was already here. Have a lovely time.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Ellee. Hope you have a great time tonight. Ciao, James e Buon Anno a te. Yes, I'm going to do the rest of the blogpower list now, so I'll be over to you in a mo. Buon divertimento.

Maria said...

I love Nigella! Jaime Oliver too! Am a huge fan them both... be well! ~M

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