Back in the Dam: And back in the Kitchen

Tonight I wanted to do something a little different as some friends were coming round for dinner, and to see my travel photos. We had one German, one Argentinean and The Kiwi would be joining later. Both Argentina and Germany have had Haggis before, so while I wanted to do something Scottish, I couldn't rely on Haggis. Nick Nairn to the rescue:



I decided to opt for a fish dish. I never cook fish and anything with a non exotic fish can be considered Scottish. I settle on a dish which has Hake on a bed of Celariac Puree topped with deep fried parma ham and a red wine fish sauce. It's surprisingly easy, but the white fish, deep red sauce and parma ham make it look good.

At lunch time I have to go out and get the fish, on the way I run into a friend who is out getting food for his wedding on Thursday, so I end up coming to help do some lifting and ending up with a higher quality and quantity of fish than I had envisioned.

Once home, it's a case of running around to get everything done, but in the nick of time, my guests arrive and I serve up everything. We start with some oatcakes and cheese, which get snaffled pretty quickly - people are hungry and always underestimate how good cheddar cheese, arran mustard and oatcakes tastes:







A light summery Pea and mint soup followed this - hunks of fresh bread dipped into the soup and the conversation.

The red wine is flowing, the food is appreciated and I am showing off my photos of Scotland, Poland, Italy etc. It feels good to be back in Amsterdam - especially if I can keep getting people to join in on nights like this.

Now I deep fry the parma ham(New trick for me), and serve the main meal. I should have taken a photo, but with the cooking and the lack of time, I'd forgotten about the blogging. It just means I'll have to cook it again. At this point The Kiwi arrives and gets given a plateful. He's an asset to the conversation, as he has experience of both Japan and New Zealand and my German friend is about to go travelling there.

Washed down with a good bottle of red, it goes down a treat. I am the only one who has space to polish off a glass cranachan afterwards:



We don't really have that many deserts in Scotland, but Cranachan is one of them - layers of cream, berries and oats topped off with Whisky and honey makes it a pretty heavy dish - but it is very tasty. Ironically, it took me longer to prepare than anything else and no one eats it. Next time I'll give them an Irn Bru and bring the cheese board out again.