Supperclubs & Sauce....really good sauce

Saturday's supperclub was a grand success, great guests, good food (if I do say so myself....) made for a fun evening, and no nervous breakdowns in the kitchen to be had...I had food bloggers on the guest list, including Alli from Pease Pudding, Mairi from Toast (who took the pics, thanks!) and Becs & Miriam from Lovely Wee Days, so no pressure then........

The menu was based on recipes from the new Supperclub Cookbook, I chose a mix of dishes which would work together as a delicious dinner and also let me cook for 8 people in a very ordinary kitchen with one oven without stress or to much alcohol. My guests enjoyed........

Kir Royale

Chipotle Lime Popcorn

French Onion Soup with Gruyere Toasts

Pork Belly Stuffed with Sage & Fennel

Quince & Apple Sauce

Potato & Celeriac Gratin

Braised Peas with Lettuce

Brussels Sprouts with Hazelnuts

Pavlova with Raspberries & Salted Caramel Sauce

Cheese- Kikorangi Blue

Crescent Dairy Flat White

Mahoe Very Aged Gouda

Oatcakes

Fig & Aniseed Bread

Fig Compote

Coffee & Mini Peanut Slabs





Pork and crackle, mmmmmmm







Can you make Pav better? Yep, add sauce......





How I do love cheese





The cutest little baby Peanut Slabs.........





I have been asked for the Salted Caramel Sauce recipe, this is true ambrosia, I'm pretty sure if you drizzled some on a bit of cardboard it would be a fine pud.

Salted Caramel Sauce (adapted from The Supperclub Cookbook by Kerstin Rodgers)

250gr  Sugar (Could use plain or caster)
1/4 cup of water
1/2 cup cream
1/2 tsp sea salt (don't use iodised table salt for this, if you don't have sea salt beg steal or borrow some)

Put the sugar & water in a heavy saucepan over a medium heat & leave to melt. Don't stir or fiddle, it just needs to melt. If you notice a little graininess say a silent prayer to the God of Sauces & hope it browns and turns to caramel before seizing up. This NEVER happened to me when I was growing up using thin crappy saucepans, now I am a grownup and used cast iron it does occasionally but as long as it isn't full grainy you can recover.
When the sugar turns brown (not black, when it will be bitter) take off the heat & whisking, add the cream. It will bubble and spit so be careful, when it has become a thick silky sauce, add your salt. Taste (carefully, this stuff can strip your tongue when boiling) and when cool store in a jar in the fridge. Administer a large spoonful straight when feeling sad, bored, sunny,  annoyed, happy, irritated, fed up or to decorate a pav or with ice cream. Or anything else.

To finish these are the flowers I had for the table. My mother went out in appalling weather & picked them from her garden. Thank's Mum.