Plate Lickers Alternative Christmas

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We're back!

 December saw the return of Plate Lickers. We never intended to take such a long break but life got incredibly busy for us both with the opening of Afternoon Tease cafe and before we knew it almost 4 months had passed. As always, planning the menu was a lot of fun & we were a little flabbergasted with the response. All the spaces were snatched up in a matter of hours and we were a little relieved that you hadn't forgotten about us! It was great seeing lots of familiar faces, and some new ones too as we welcomed them into our not so secret venue for the evening.

So Without further a do, our menu...

Guests were welcomed in from the cold with a teacup of mulled gin made with Martin Millers Gin (which was very kindly sent to us by them). Check out the recipe at the end of this post.

 Guests were treated to some sweet and spicy nuts to go with their gin as we got busy in the kitchen.

The first course a joint obsession of ours. Baked River farm smokery smoked camembert served with homemade hazelnut biscotti for dipping and a cranberry relish.

The pork belly & mushroom & pistachio roast was up next. The pork slow roasted for around 6 hours in a glaze made up of a whole bottle of bourbon, golden syrup, spices & garlic. We also bubbled up some extra glaze on the hob so guests could use it as an alternative to gravy. The vegetarian option was made with a delicious risotto base and cooked on top of lots of cranberries in a loaf tin so that when turned out the cranberries sat on top.

Both mains were served with a sprout slaw and a 'bread sauce' bread pudding. Made by infusing the milk with the same sort of spices as you would for bread sauce and then making a savoury custard to soak the bread in.

 Next up, dessert! Feeling inspired by the US and Thanksgiving we decided on sweet potato pie. I had trialled this a couple of times already with friends and it was very well received. As its a fairly heavy dessert I always thought it could do we something a little fresh so I whipped up a creme fraiche ice-cream. My first foray into ice-cream making. The ice-cream was made by first making a custard base and once cooked folding in the creme fraiche. Without a churner to hand I had to take it out of the freezer every 30 minute and mix it by hand and I was so happy that the hard work was worth it, it did exactly what I wanted it to.

Now, theres always one course I/we forget to photograph. This time around it was the stout Christmas cake paired with Wensleydale cheese. I'll be honest, I thought Jo had slightly lost it when she suggested this little number but I was very pleasantly surprised with the combo. So much so, it became my snack of choice in the days leading up to Christmas. Most guests seemed to be a little apprehensive to begin with but very little was left so I think I can safely say it was well received.

We will be back very soon, we're currently trying to work out a date for January and will be sending out the email shortly. If you're not yet signed up to our mailing list you can do so here

As promised, heres the mulled gin recipe. Perfect for the winter months!

For 2 people

You will need-

• 100ml gin
• 200ml apple juice
• 4tbsp honey
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 2 slices of fresh ginger
• 2 cloves
• Pinch of chilli flakes (optional)

Place all ingredients in a pan and warm slowly over a low heat. Using a peeler, peel some orange skin and add to your glass. If you have the skills, hold the orange skin over a flame to release its oils before dropping into the glass.

Plate Lickers August Party

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Summer is starting to feel like a distant memory but I wanted to share the menu & photos from our end of summer Plate Lickers party. The incredibly generous Justine & Matt of the Flying Pig pub let us take over the beer garden on a Saturday afternoon & we were even lucky enough to get an appearance from the sun. Not only were we celebrating Jo's exciting news but my mum's 60th birthday so it was lovely, if not a little nerve racking being surrounded by so many familiar faces. 

Cambridge Cropshare also very kindly shared with us some of their fantastic end of summer crop. The cucumbers were pickled with chilli and sesame, and we had lots of fun frying up the beetroot crisps.

Menu

Watermelon Margarita Ice Lollies

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Courgette & Blue cheese Arancini

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Jerk & Coconut Corn on the Cob

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Mexican Spiced Spatchcock Chicken with Quinoa, Black Bean & Mango, Cropshare lettuce & pickled cucumber

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Champagne Jelly & Macaron

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Baked Vanilla Cheesecake with Black Pepper Fig Compote

Last but not least, thank you to my dad for taking these fab photos. You can see more of his photos on his flickr account

Pine Nut Semi Freddo

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On Saturday we decided to combine our frozen course & pudding together bringing in some of our favourite Italian flavours. Jo baked the most delicious olive oil & peach cake (if you ask her extra nicely she may share the recipe) and I made a pine nut semi freddo to accompany it. Semi Freddo means half cold in Italian and is a great way of making something similar to ice-cream but without having to churn it. After trying pine nut gelato in Italy I was hooked & desperate to recreate at home.

This recipe makes enough to fill 1 loaf tin & about 8-10 portions depending on how thick you wish to slice it.
You will need

• 50g caster sugar
• 4 large, free range eggs
• 500ml double cream
• large handful of pine nuts, toasted till lightly golden

To begin, lightly oil your loaf tin and then line with cling film.

Next up separate your eggs into 2 large bowls before pouring the cream into a 3rd, medium sized bowl. If you do the whisking in this order you won't need to wash the beaters between each bowl. Begin by whisking your egg whites with a small pinch of salt till you get stiff peaks. Set aside.

Next add the sugar to the egg yolks and beat together till the mixture has almost doubled in size and is super creamy and light in colour. Set aside again.

Finally whisk the cream till soft peaks begin to form but don't over beat. Fold the cream into the egg yolk mixture and then adding 1/2 at a time fold in the egg whites. Pour around a 1/3 of the mixture into your lined tin before folding the pine nuts into the remaining mixture. Pour this in on top before gently laying an extra sheet of clingfilm on top of it all. Finally freeze for around 4 hours or till frozen solid. To serve, take the semi freddo out of the freezer about 20 minutes before serving. Turn out onto a board and slice into portions. Alternatively you could scoop it out but then it may be better to either mix the pine nuts through the whole mixture or to to sprinkle them on top after serving.

Cucumber, Mint, Apple & Lime Ice Lollies

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As promised, heres the recipe for the Cucumber, Mint, Apple & Lime Ice Lolly from the Summoning the Summer Plate Lickers event.

This recipe makes enough for 10 ice lolly moulds. I bought mine through the American Amazon as I couldn't find it anywhere in the UK but you may have better luck so its worth having a look around. I'd also recommend making a smaller batch and freezing in an ice cube tray & serving in a jug of Pimms & Lemonade.

You will need

• 150g caster sugar
• 300ml water
• 170g peeled & cubed cucumber
• 350ml apple juice
• Handful of chopped mint leaves
• Zest & Juice from 1 lime

Begin by making the syrup. Combine the caster sugar and water in a saucepan & simmer till the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool completely.

In a food processor combine the cucumber, mint & lime zest & juice then pulse till pureed. Next add the apple juice & syrup & pulse till combined. Pour into your lolly moulds and freeze. Its as easy as that!

Platelickers Summoning the Summer

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Last week Jo and I tried our hardest to Summon the Summer from behind its miserable grey skies by pulling out our summeriest recipes and ideas.

15th May Menu

Gin Fizz & Spicy Bean & Sweetcorn Empanadas

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Ricotta Dumplings with a Rocket Pesto dressing

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Pulled pomegranate lamb on flatbreads with homemade hummus, tabbouleh & tzatziki

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Cucumber, Apple, Mint & Lime Ice Lollies

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Passionfruit Pavlova

The recipe for the ricotta dumplings can be found here on my blog.

 Guests were left to decide whether to tuck in with knives and forks or roll their wraps up like a posh kebab. I went for the latter.

The ice-lolly recipe is coming soon so watch this space.

Thank you Kaylan for letting me use some of your photos!

Plate Lickers 1st Birthday

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Saturday 11th May saw Plate Lickers 1st Birthday so we decided to throw ourselves a party. I just wanted to share the menu and some photos of the night. Thanks to Ozzy for his wonderful photos, I didn't get much of a chance to take many myself.

Snowballs & Salt 'n' Shake Roasted Chickpeas

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Local Asparagus & Purple Sprouting Brocoli with Homemade Hollandaise

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Ham, Egg & Chips

Dingley Dell Gammon with Home Fries, Poached Egg & Homemade Ketchup

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Plate Lickers PB&J Ice Lolly

Peanut Butter Ice-Cream layered with Chocolate Ganche, Peanuts & Raspberries

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Orange & Chocolate Birthday Cake

I can't believe how quickly this last year has flown by and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a thank you to all our guests for making Plate Lickers what it has become. Also to our venues for getting what we're doing and going along with us. To Northrops Butchers for their continued cooking advice. As we wanted to boil our Dingley Dell gammon Martin suggested vac packing it with some vegetables and then boiling it in the bag. The result was fall apart meat which we were very proud to serve. This was served on top of my take on homefries which I ate in America. Slow cooked onions mixed with boiled new potatoes lightly mashed and mixed with butter before getting baked in the oven, and how could I forget, the poached eggs. Now it seems that I didn't quite have the technique down so I must admit Jo did most of the work on that one ;) Which rolls me on nicely to a big thank you to Jo for putting up with me for the last year. I know I get easily distracted with new menu ideas but I think we make a pretty good team and I'm happy to report we've finally perfected the high five (its only taken a year)

Plate Lickers Pig Out

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I just wanted to quickly share the photos and menu from the last Plate Lickers Pig Out Supper Club. As always we had so much fun coming up with the menu and we both agree this was our favourite so far. May sees our 1st Birthday so keep an eye out for a birthday party invite coming soon!

Menu

Zubrowka & Apple

Pork Crackling & Rosemary Infused Apple Sauce

Pea & Ham Soup

Jerk Ham Hock with Celeriac & Radish Lime Remoulade & Cornbread Muffins

Raspberry & Ginger Float

Maple & Bacon Doughnuts

or Peanut Butter & Bacon Biscuits (gf)