A Right Royal Wedding

/ Libby Millier / Leave a comment

Now this isn’t really very gourmet but I wanted to post it as it was a very enjoyable occasion and an excuse for me to make some really fun, kitsch foodie items. Kitsch should really be my middle name; I love anything retro, vintage and 1950’s/60’s and aim to surround myself with things that fit these categories at all times.

So, as many of you will know unless you have been kickin’ back under a rock since 2010, April 29th was the wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. I decided to throw a small “soiree”  and to mark the event, I was determined to resurrect some forgotten food superstars of yesteryear. I originally envisioned a full spread of vintage goodies on commemorative platters and saucers, but the soiree was just for two of us and I eventually had to downsize my dreams and select a few of the most appropriate dishes.

Coverage of the wedding started at 9am. We started our festivities, naturally, with a glass of Bucks Fizz! (I have to add, there was a national shortage of Bucks Fizz and after getting down on my hands and knees in Sainburys in a desperate attempt to check the back of the shelf, I had to admit defeat only to be surprised with my mother producing a bottle when I got home! Perfect.)

 

 

After the ceremony and before the “balcony scene,” we moved into the kitchen where I had prepared a little spread for us, complete with super cheesy photos of the happy couple and of course, the ever present Union Jack flags and a Keep Calm and Carry On poster. I had searched the ends of the earth for flag bunting in the weeks before the wedding but there was also a national shortage for these which meant only the super organised and keen had been able to secure a string or two.

 

 

Here is our brunch spread!

 

 

A selection of goodies…

 

 

This is the main platter! We had crackers with that 1970’s classic of Coronation Chicken, as well as crackers with a very English topping of cheese, pickle and… *cough Quorn roast beef slices…. (my boyfriend is vegetarian!) and the tiny pinwheels are made with smoked salmon and cream cheese and Quorn roast beef and cream cheese respectively. They were really easy to make; I just flattened some sliced bread with a rolling pin, layered the fillings on and rolled it up tightly, wrapped it in clingfilm and left it overnight in the fridge to chill. In the morning I unwrapped the clingfilm to reveal a perfectly form tube which I just cut into tiny bitesize pieces! Easy peasy. We had some other, not-so-photogenic food too; mini chicken kievs, prawns in filo pastry and breaded cheese (which I think you’ll agree is a must have at any reputable soiree!) but these sadly didn’t make the final blog cut!

Peanut Butter Toast

/ Libby Millier / Leave a comment

Oh peanut butter toast, how I love thee, let me count the ways!

 

 

I have always been a fan of the nutty wonder product, but when eaten spread on fresh hot toast it reaches astounding new levels of pleasantness. It becomes melty, smeary and creamy with the added bonus of removing the threat of the dreaded “stuck to roof of mouth” syndrome which sadly puts so many people off PB. I prefer crunchy PB but smooth can work just as well if preferred. Normally I eat this as it comes but sometimes I add a thin layer of jam (seedless, raspberry!) or Nutella if I’m feeling particularly devilish.

 

The perfect snack for when it’s too late for breakfast but too early for lunch, too late for lunch but too early for dinner…

…or simply before bed when all that will satisfy is a creamy, crunchy, carby slice of deliciousness!

Fried Egg on Potato Waffle

/ Libby Millier / 1 Comment

Just typing that title makes me feel a tiny bit ashamed, have you ever heard of a trashier combination of ingredients? Perhaps even more so when I say we didn’t even use Birdseye potato waffles (“they’re waffly versatile!”) as all we had was Tesco own brand…

We first came across this dish whilst watching BBC1’s Something for the Weekend on an extremely hungover Sunday morning. As soon as the words “potato waffles” left Simon Rimmers delectable lips we knew the recipe was a winner. His recipe was actually a lot grander than the one we have adopted; I think it consisted of (obviously) homemade potato waffles, poached eggs and possibly hollandaise sauce. We had to make do with aforementioned cheap frozen waffles and a dramatic substitution of cheese for hollandaise which worked surprisingly well. To be honest, what recipes are not magnificently enhanced by the introduction of cheese?

The combination of oozy egg yolk, crisp waffle and sharp cheese was like nothing I’d ever had before. My hangover disappeared instantly and we were ready to tackle Sunday as if Saturday night had never happened. We now recreate this dish pretty regularly with various substitutions, depending on what we have available. I have made Lea & Perrins a permanent fixture on mine as I love the savoury tang the sauce adds. Ben occasionally sprinkles a veggie version onto his that we found in Sainsburys (Lea & Perrins has anchovies in it. Who knew?) and we both shake liberal amounts of salt and cracked black pepper onto our yolks.

 

This past Sunday morning we once again recreated the faithful dish but with a couple of new additions as we were apparantly feeling adventurous!


We had the usual suspects of potato waffles, cheese and eggs but this time we had duck eggs! And they were amazing! Ben let me have the one with the biggest yolk and it was HUGE! I eagerly poured my salt on and gently poked it with my fork to release the liquid. I watched an episode of “The Best Thing I Ever Ate” on Food Network the other night and someone was raving about a pasta dish they had which was just ravioli filled with just cooked egg yolks, it looked so good! I can really imagine how amazing that would be as yolks are so rich, you don’t need a sauce! Although obviously we added tomato ketchup to our breakfast because no hangover breakfast is complete without it.

 

The plate I photographed is actually Ben’s as his looked a lot nicer than mine with the addition of a couple of slices of crispy fried Quorn ham (tastes just like Quorn bacon but a lot cheaper if you’ve already got the ham!) and a big spoonful of tomato salsa. We enjoyed our breakfast whilst watching Something For The Weekend, the show that started it all!