Making Gingerbread Houses with LexEats

I have always wanted to make a gingerbread house. It's Domestic Goddess baking, Blue Peter model house making and Grand Designs Goes Hansel & Gretel all rolled into one!

I don't know why I've never done it before other than that I found it too daunting, I guess.

So when Lex announced her special gingerbread house making supper club dates, I signed up. Quickly. Before I could chicken out.

A few days ahead of time, Pete helped me mix together and roll out the dough and I carefully cut out my wall and roof slabs, cutting simple door and windows and scalloped roof edges. Pete kindly baked my slabs whilst I was out gallivanting at The Chocolate Festival and Bar Boulud. I was really pleased with the careful shaping, even thickness and pretty colour.

On Sunday at noon I took my place in Lex and Johanna's open plan kitchen diner and, after being welcomed with mugs of delicious hot soup, we got to work. Somehow, in transporting my slabs, one of them had cracked, so my first act was to affect a sugar-cement fix, embedding pieces of wooden skewers into the icing on the back of the slab. I left that piece to dry and started assembling the rest of my house. I was soon slathering sugar-cement all over the place (myself included) and raising the walls. To my delight, the fix held and all four walls were eventually up.

My house, with fellow builder, Craig, behind

My first roof slab went on well and I was feeling happy.

And then disaster stuck.

I pressed down a little too firmly when pushing the second roof slab onto the sugar-cemented gables and it snapped vertically down the middle. Aaaaaargh! Disappointed with myself, I tried another fix job with more skewers and icing and left it to dry on the windowsill.

We paused our efforts for a fantastic starter of cured salmon with toasts and salad (with fresh leaves and herbs and a really special maple syrup dressing) followed by a selection of mains including roast lamb, honey glazed ham and an array of salads and vegetables.

When the sweets came out I was excited but had absolutely no design ideas or thoughts on where to start. I began with the (unbroken) roof slab and affixed stripes of chocolate fingers, sherbet chewy straws, jelly tots and smarties. I quickly realised I had no unified theme in mind and my first efforts weren't too pretty so I randomly decorated the various walls in completely different and un-matching styles!

The first time I tested my broken roof panel, it quickly sagged along the break again. And the same the second time. I was starting to think I'd have to take my house home in pieces and fix it at home.

Finally, I slathered an absolute tonne of sugar-cement on the top surface and used long strawberry chews to hold it together along it's width. And after I let that dry a while again, I used three skewers laid across from gable to gable to take the slab's weight before (carefully) pushing it into place.

Inspired by another participant's Chapel Of Love, I adorned the entrance side of the house with a simple K *heart* P. The snowman was added later, inspired by a similar one by yet another participant (though his original had a lovely smile and three buttons down his belly).

Delighted as I originally was about how neat and well-shaped my slabs were, my finished house, I freely admit, is ugly as hell. But I had such great fun making it (breakages and all) that I don't mind at all. And once Lex had wrapped it all up in cellophane tied with ribbons, even mine looked a little more glamorous!

During the decorating, we were treated to mulled wine sorbets and later, a truly marvellous home-made Christmas pudding with nutmeg custard. The flames when it was doused in rum and set alight burned tall, fierce and long! And it was really delicious.

As well as my house I made a gingerbread man and a gingerbread woman.

Does this look wrong to you too?

Unhappy with the shapes of the cookie cutters I had been able to find in the shops (all of which seem to have amputated legs) I searched for some images I liked online, adapted them to create my own paper templates and carefully cut mine out by hand. Yes, it took me a while!

I decorated them very simply and quickly, after finishing my house. I think they came out rather better!

I had such a lot of fun (and was really inspired by some of the more elegantly decorated houses that some of the other participants created) that I'm determined to try again, perhaps scaling down the size and coming up with a design in advance.

The Gingerbread Supper Club menu

Click here to see Lex' recipe, templates and guidelines to create your own gingerbread house.

Thanks, Lex and Johanna, for a really fun afternoon and delicious meal. You are both wonderful hosts!

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Meemalee's Kitchen Goes Large: The Burmese Pop Up

Do you know Meemalee's Kitchen? If not, why not? It's one of the most entertaining food blogs I read. Go and subscribe immediately! It's written by a dear friend of mine who describes herself as a "food fraggle" and is currently writing a Burmese cookbook.

Recently she did a Burmese Pop Up Restaurant at Mat Follas' The Wild Garlic in Beaminster, Dorset.

Pete and I went to show our support. And also because I'm a greedy cow and fancied some of her delicious Burmese cooking.

Meems in the kitchen

Pete and I shared a table with Mattmoo, his wife Jacqui, Nick and his Mrs Emma. Starters and dessert were served individually. Mains were served family style.

The menu

I completely forgot to take pictures of the slightly sweet and juicy christophene fritters (also known as cheyote), the deliciously crunchy matpe bean fritters (also known as urad or black gram dal) and the wonderfully smoky charred tomato salsa.

A photo of the matpe bean fritters from Mimi's trial run night

We didn't see much of Meems as she was hard at work in the kitchen, preparing the food for a full restaurant of hungry and eager diners. The atmosphere was buzzing with lots of loud chatter and laughter and many positive comments and exclamations about the food.

Meems peeking out from the kitchen

Wood-ear mushroom and bean-thread vermicelli soup

Next came the soup, prettily presented with it's quail egg garnish and with a kick of heat to the back of the throat. The textures of the unfamiliar mushrooms and vermicelli noodles made this a very interesting dish.

Green bean salad, century egg salad and fish ball salad

From left to right on the plate were green bean salad, century egg salad and fish ball salad. The green beans were mixed with a crunchy peanut sauce. The century egg was dark green and sulphurous but balanced by sweet tomato, onions, herbs and a Burmese dressing. The fish balls were combined with noodles, leaves and crunchy fried curls. Again, lots of new and unfamiliar flavour and texture combinations.

Nick, Jacqui and Matt; cinnamon chicken curry

Mains of cinnamon chicken, mogok pork curry and tomato and coriander prawns were served family style along with a simple side dish of straw and oyster mushrooms with baby spinach, a Burmese coleslaw of shallots, onions and cabbage and a shrimp relish. And rice, onto which Mat's team popped a flower and sprinkled a few micro herbs, the only sign of Mat's signature styling during the evening.

The cinnamon chicken was my favourite. Beautifully tender with deft and subtle spicing, it's aromatic flavours reminded me strongly of a cinnamon chicken curry my mum cooks which has influences from either Persia or Afghanistan.

Everything was very well received, not just by our table but by the entire restaurant. We could see people digging in all around us, though the sittings were staggered to make it a little easier for the kitchen team to cope.

Coconut sorbet, tapioca milk and brioche

We finished with a dessert of coconut sorbet, tapioca milk and brioche which was another unfamiliar combination of textures and tastes. I rather liked it and was particularly intrigued by the way the sweetness of the coconut sorbet brought out the sourness of the brioche rather than the sweetness I normally associate with it.

Well-deserved applause; meeting her fans

After the meal, Mat brought Meems out to introduce her to the diners and she made a short speech before thunderous applause. The shy, exhausted but delighted Chef Meems then met and greeted some of the first (but hopefully not the last) people to put down their cash for her cooking.

Left to right: Emma, Nick, Jacqui (obscured), Matt, Meems, Kavey, Pete

We had an absolutely wonderful evening and it's clear that the other diners felt exactly the same.

Well done, Meems – a fantastic achievement and the first of many. I can't wait for your next pop up, not to mention your Burmese cookery book in which I hope you will share the recipes above.

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The London Cooking Club: Hashi Cooking Night

I've written before about how uplifting it is to meet fellow food bloggers. Forging friendships with those who share your passions is fun! Luiz, The London Foodie, is one such blogger with whom I felt a connection straight away and I have quickly come to cherish our friendship.

So it was with great excitement (and some trepidation) that I attended one of his London Cooking Club evenings, in the gorgeous home he shares with his partner, "Dr G".

The premise of the London Cooking Club is simple: a small group of friends and readers of Luiz' blog meet to "eat, drink and talk". Each month, Luiz selects a cookery book from which each guest will make a dish for a themed dinner party. Everyone brings their ingredients, pre-prepped as much as possible, and finishes the cooking and assembly in Luiz kitchen, serving their dish to fellow guests.

So far Luiz has hosted club evenings based on recipes from New Food of Life by Najmieh Batmanglij, Kano's Syrian Foodie in London blog, Pauline and Luke Nguyen's books Secrets of the Red Lantern and The Songs of Sapa and Yotam Ottolenghi's orginal book and more recent Plenty.

The night's menu

Having attending a class at Reiko Hashimoto-Lambert's Hashi cookery school, organised by Luiz, I loved the idea of a night based on Reiko's Japanese recipes.

I asked Luiz to assign me Reiko's gorgeous beef tataki dish (the recipe for which you can find at the bottom of my review of the course I attended). But I was nervous about cooking it, not only in front of Luiz, who has attended several of Reiko's courses and mastered many of her dishes but also in front of Reiko herself, who Luiz invited as guest of honour for the evening.

I should possibly have been more worried about how on earth I was possibly going to do justice to all the dishes presented that evening – I was full to bursting point only half way through!

Spicy Miso Soup with Prawn and Chicken Quenelle

Salmon Chirashi

All the dishes preceding mine were fantastic and excellently executed.

Suddenly it was my turn.

My Beef Tataki with Creamy Sesame Sauce

Although I'd watched Reiko make the beef tataki from scratch, I realised I had absolutely no memory of how long the beef needed to cook. So I was extremely grateful to Reiko for so kindly helping me cook my beef and also checking the taste of my creamy sesame sauce. Thank you to Rachel and Luiz for their help finishing my plates.

Whilst mine wasn't as elegantly plated as Reiko's original it tasted great and went down really well. Phew!

Sea bream and rice (though I think Debs may have used a different dish in the end)

Buta Kakuni - Slow Cooked Pork Belly Stew

Not only did I enjoy an evening of eating, drinking and chatting – just as Luiz had intended – but also made more foodie friends, adding to my ever expanding network of people with whom I can enjoy great food in London!

Luiz, thank you (and Dr G) for such a lovely evening!

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A Mighty Fine Prize: An Evening With James & Mary

Just in case you'd forgotten (as though I'd let you!), back in March I was the proud (and extremely surprised) winner of the first Food Debate, shouting out for cheese. Although there was no prize proffered beforehand, when I stepped down from the stage, organiser James came over to tell me that there was a prize, if I wanted it, of two places at his newly launched supper club, The Secret Larder.

If I wanted it? IF I WANTED IT? I was absolutely thrilled to be awarded such a generous gift. Not only had I been able to participate in a worthwhile fundraiser, not only had I experienced the adrenalin rush (and fear) of debate, not only had I won but now I had a great evening to look forward to! Result!

The first few dates of the supper club were already fully booked so I put my name down for mid-May and waited, (impatiently) for the date to roll around. My friend Jen of Chocolate Ecstasy Tours joined me for the evening and we made our way to a top floor flat in a converted old school building somewhere in North London.

James shares the flat with his very lovely sister Mary and they run the supper club together, along with service and washing up help from friends.

It's a gorgeous flat. A huge open-plan living area with high ceilings, vast windows, a modern kitchen along one wall and plenty of space and light. A stunning room and one that's giving me house envy, big time. I love the warm and quirky decorating style too with an eclectic mix of furniture, paintings, pot plants and fairy lights.

Jen and her moscow mule chatting to James

The Secret Larder has a BYOB policy (no corkage but a glass for the hosts wouldn't go amiss) so first things first, various bottles were squeezed into the fridge or popped onto a side table. Warm welcomes out of the way, we were surprised with a tall glass of vodka, ginger beer and fresh lime. This divine concoction is apparently known as a moscow mule. Why have I never come across this before? With my sweet tooth and dislike for beer and wine, this is right up my street!

James working on the crackling

As the rest of the guests arrived, we mingled in the seating area (popping over to peer at James toiling away in the kitchen now and then). One of the joys of attending supper clubs is the opportunity to meet fellow guests and there were some fascinating people including a professional photographer who I wished I'd had more time to chat to.

To my delight, another blogger friend, Louis was also attending and better still, James had seated him with Jen and I for the evening. The only downside was that the three of us were at a tiny table of our own. Whilst I had a blast chatting to Jen and Louis I would really have liked us to be on one of the two large tables, to enjoy the full social side of the supper club scene.

James making the ox tongue fritters

Once most of the guests had arrived (minus the two no-shows, James' first such cads) we were shown to our seats where pre-starters of ox tongue fritters with horseradish were served. Also on the table were radishes and some fresh butter to go with the home-made soda bread served shortly afterwards.

ox tongue fritters with horseradish

The ox-tongue fritters were decent, though much better when sprinkled generously with the sea salt provided on each table. Some guests seemed more willing to eat them before being told what they were, but overall, they went down well.

With the soda bead came the first great entertainment of the evening. Beautifully presented in pretty serving dishes lined with thick napkins, James held the bread dish over the table for us to help ourselves. As we were chatting about the ox tongue fritters (as you do) we suddenly noticed the napkin had caught fire from the candle below. The wide-eyed, panicked wail for big sister, Mary, who subsequently averted disaster, transformed our unflappable and usually debonair host into helpless little brother. I was laughing far too hard to capture any of this on camera!

chilled cucumber soup with salmon tartare and cucumber pickle

The starter was my favourite course of the night – the chilled cucumber soup with salmon tartare and cucumber pickle was stunningly well balanced – refreshing cold soup, fresh, oily, delicate salmon and wonderfully sweet, light cucumber pickle. It took will power not to race around the room stealing everyone else's portions of this lovely dish.

Jen and Louis

By this time, the room was buzzing, everyone's bottles were flowing, faces were smiling… James, Mary and Hero (tonight's helper) brought out generously piled plates of roast pork belly with Jersey royals, savoy cabbage and cider vinegar. With crackling, I cannot forget that crackling! My pork was actually dry and a little tough, but I could see that I happened to receive an edge bit – the meat on my companions' plates was perfectly moist and fall-apart tender. The vibe was relaxed enough that I knew I could have asked for a swap but I was already so full (and aware that dessert was still to come) that I was happy enough with the very lovely potatoes and cabbage, a couple of mouthfuls of the pork and that delicious crackling (extras of which were brought around shortly after the mains were served). For me, a fair rather than amazing course.

the buzz; roast pork belly with Jersey royals, savoy cabbage and cider vinegar

During the breaks between courses, it was nice to look around at the lovely arty knick-knacks including a sweet little display of random keep-sakes on a shelf in the bathroom. The little typed message is by Mary, but never made it to the intended recipient, though I forgot to ask whether the teacup did!

arty knick-knacks

The team were still hard at work in the kitchen and James put the finishing touches to his lemon polenta cake. It was every bit as delicious as it looked, the polenta (and the talents of the cook) locked in lots of moisture and the citrus kick was delightful.

worker bees; lemon polenta cake

Already full to what I thought was capacity before the lemon cake, I somehow managed to squeeze it in. At which point James mentioned petits fours. My reply that I was so full I'd really like to lie myself flat on the floor groaning resulted in a comment from James that I was welcome to lie down on his bed instead. The millisecond of silence followed by hysterical (and somewhat drunken) guffaws from all three at our table resulted in James' second (and much more extreme) panic-stricken look of the evening as the poor young lad realised it might sound rather too much like a proposition. Many flustered protestations followed, which only made the giggling worse. Don't worry James, I'm happy to remain firmly in cyber aunt territory and have no designs on your boudoir!

petits fours

To round the evening off we were offered tea or coffee (served to the table in cafetières) and the beautiful petits fours. The amaretti biscuits dipped in chocolate were my favourite, though the crystallised ginger cubes and physallis fruits similarly treated were also lovely. And wow, those home-made truffles definitely stole Jen's chocolate-loving heart.

James showing off his chocolate-dipping talents

The meal over, some of us moved back across to the seating area to chat amongst ourselves, and with our lovely hosts. Sadly, it was a school night, so it wasn't long before the majority made moves homewards, though James and Mary were in no rush to chivvy anyone out.

All in all, a lovely evening and even more so being an unexpected and wonderful prize. More than worth the £25 donation James and Mary suggest – I can readily understand why some guests leave more. New dates book up very quickly once announced, so if you want to visit, keep an eye on the website or ask James to add you to the supper club's mailing list.

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