My First Alfresco Dinner Party This Year

All dressed up for dinner

John about to go into action

We had not counted on eating out doors that night as previous evenings had all been too windy so far … we suffer directly from the prevailing wind off the sea … it is about 1 mile away  and we live with high winds all spring and into the early summer. Sometimes a good stiff breeze is very welcome, but not when you are wanting to entertain al fresco! So we were very surprised when at 6.30pm when the wind dropped and the evening turned into absolutely perfect weather for eating out doors.

So immediately John went into action and moved the table settings from the dining room out to the table under the grapevine, and laid a second table in the other half of the garden for pre-dinner drinks.

So when the guests arrived I rushed for my camera and … guess what? I had left it plugged in to the computer and the batteries were totally flat and no spares in the house. I was furious with my self so I could not take any more pics that evening … so some of the dishes will appear raw … because I couldn’t photograph  them cooked!

We began with aperitif and nibbles, but I can’t remember what because … yes you guessed … I didn’t have a camera!

Then over to the dinner table and the first course ……. a three tier dip consisting of Avocado pureed with garlic and lemon juice at the bottom, a spicy tomato sauce made of tomato pulp, shallots, garlic and chillies, and topped off with sour cream for the people who can take dairy and goat cheese for the lactose [cow lactose] intolerant ….

Easy to dunk corn chips

Coquille St Jacques

Almond stuffed prunes to go inside the pork

To enable my guests to dig down to the bottom I made my own corn chips in finger shapes, instead of the normal triangles as they don’t dunk!

Next on to the fishy bit – Coquille St Jacques, using my super-concentrate of fish stock from the freezer to flavour the sauce. I used the glass shells to serve this dish as real scallop shells need support underneath [I use mashed potato] or you cannot easily eat out of them and I consider a dollop of extra mashed potato under the plate to be a waste of food! Not to mention messy when washing up. Lol

And so onto the main course…

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin with Almonds.  I can only show you it in the making!!!  And what is inside ……… almonds inside prunes inside  pork!

The vegetables served, were buttered carrots, and chopped green beans and potatoes Amandine..

Then it was time for cheese ……. a selection of goat cheeses (See Recipes) I had made a couple of days before with my new wafer thin crispy crackers which I make out of BREAD!!!!

Finally – just when every one was begging for mercy, I heartlessly served the lightest chocolate cake in the world [says she modestly] which is made from Black Turtle Beans! (See Recipes)

The Famous ‘Best Ever’ Chocolate Cake!

I kindly allowed them coffee and liqueurs before they were allowed to stagger home.

Thank you Judy and Tony, and Chris and Lorraine – It was a great evening – enjoy your summer!

Fidella

PS I did not put any recipes on the tabs for this dinner but if you should want any of them please write to me.

Related articles

• Dinner alfresco (tryphoon.com)
• Alfresco Dinner Party Essentials (potterybarn.com)
• How to Host an Alfresco Dinner Party (potterybarn.com)