Taster's Menus are the Best Kind

When you receive an invite to a '10 Course Taster's Menu' dinner, you don't turn it down! My boyfriend, James, and I recently received said invitation. His best friend, Steven, was in from the UK and Steven's mom just happens to be an amazing chef [and host]. I'm always excited to go to their house because I'm pretty much guaranteed to taste something yummy whether or not it's a dining function. 

FYI: Steve's mom, Sally, is the author of a very successful cookbook - Contemporary Caribbean Cooking: 120 easy, tasty Caribbean recipes

The evening started off with Prosecco and ended with full bellies. Here's a recap!

There were 10 of us enjoying the wonderful 10 Course dinner. Note the 6 wine glasses per setting!

Tom Yum Soup

If I wasn't already in heaven by the thought of the meal ahead of me, the first course took me there. The first taster was Tom Yum Soup which is a Thai dish. I love love love the flavors in Thai cuisine so naturally, Tom Yum is one of my favorite soups. Yum, indeed! 

Chicken Liver Pâté

I'll admit it...I'm not a huge fan of anything to do with liver...but this pâté was a hit at the table and I even enjoyed it! It definitely helped that the chutney on the side was amazing!

Love their chandelier! 

I should add that most of the ingredients that Sally used in dinner were locally or regionally sourced! Made it that much more special. 

Tamarind Sorbet

The third course was a palate cleanser- Tamarind Sorbet. It was delicious. Tamarind is a pod fruit which grows on trees around the island. It has a sweet & sour taste. 

Build Your Own: Tuna Tartare

I'm a huge, HUGE fan of raw tuna. I love the texture and flavor and Tuna Tartare combines a lot of my favorites things [i.e. ginger (yum), Cilantro (omg, yum) and sesame oil!].

Mahi Mahi Fettucini 

The Fifth course was a scrumptious Grilled Mahi Mahi atop homemade tomato jam and fettucini. The Mahi Mahi had a slight hint of lemongrass and I found the addition to this traditional Italian dish super interesting AND tasty ;)

English Sunday Roast

OMG OMG OMG. One of the things I miss most about living in England is heading to my neighborhood gastro pub on a Sunday for a delicious roast. So when this dish came out I did a dance in my chair! Sally served delicious roast beef with a miniature Yorkshire Pudding, horse radish, potatoes & veg. The gravy was to.die.for. NOM

Beet & Grapefruit Salad

Because dinner was served in the traditional French style, we ate salad after the main course...a new concept for me. I always thought salad was best eaten before your entree, but I guess the French know what they're doing when it comes to food...and wine...and basically all things cheesy and crepe-y and yummy... so OK, I'll follow. This salad was refreshing and full of flavor by the way. 

Montserrat Cheese Plate 

After salad we continued in the French style and had a cheese plate with some yummy Montserrat cheese which Sally and her husband, Keith, happened upon in a visit to a farm in the mountains of Montserrat. It had a taste similar to that of Gruyere and that along with the yummy homemade bread was the end of me. At this point I was battling a quickly impending food coma [the 6 glasses of wine didn't have anything to do with it, promise]. I am ashamed to say it, but I only ate half of my Sticky Toffee Pudding [insert drool here]. I was so sad because it was so delicious. I'm also lacking a picture of it and I will blame that on my tipsiness 'food coma'. Sorry :/

As you can imagine, when coffee was offered, I may have jumped out of my seat in eagerness. Plus, it was after midnight and we had a late one the night before...ok let's face it, most of the time sometimes I'm a granny. 

We sealed off the meal with Course #10- our choice of rich & tasty chocolate!

The dinner was fantastic, all 4 hours of it! Many thanks to Sally and Keith for hosting a loverly evening. 

-Sheens ;)

Mango Mania

Mango season has come and gone and I'm pretty sure everyone on the island had their fair share. There's an understanding during mango season that reverting to monkey-like behavior whilst eating is actually OK and often encouraged. The great thing about mango season is that whether or not you have a tree in your yard, you will should never have to pay for mangoes. People are usually overwhelmed by the amount of fruit their trees bear and are more than happy to pawn some off on the next innocent [lucky] victim. There was one week in particular where I had inherited about 15 mangoes that I had to get rid of [eat] so I tried to figure how to use them. 

My first attempt at mango surplus reduction was:

Thai Coconut Chicken Stir Fry

[inspired by Jessica at How Sweet It Is].

The original recipe called for pineapple but I figured what the hell, I'm gonna use mango because...because i have no choice...I need to get rid of these things. 

My mom came over and took the position of sous chef. We chopped up cilantro, ginger & banana peppers. 

Meanwhile the chicken marinated in cilantro, garlic, lime, chili pepper & ginger. NOM. 

The recipe called for boiling the rice in coconut milk rather than water which I was all about. Anything to add flavor, I'm good with. 

The final masterpiece was delicious, full of flavor and guilt-free! 

Also got rid of a couple mangoes...perfecto!

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Mango Surplus Reduction #2

I recently stole borrowed an ice cream/sorbet maker from my Dad which had been sitting in a closet (far away from the kitchen) for quite some time...it was fair game really. Perfect for getting rid of a handful of mangoes at once! Score. I made this amazing Mango Sorbet that was super duper easy, full of sugar and delish. Next time I probably will reduce the amount of sugar because the mangoes are sweet enough as it is! 

Mango Sorbet

[recipe from CuisinArt]

4 large Mangoes

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup corn syrup (I melted sugar in hot water)

7 tablespoons of fresh lime juice

It was an all around hit. 

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Also, this. Mango AND avocado in one dish?! Heaven. 

Anyway, mango season has been over for quite some time unfortunately, but I'm still scouring the supermarkets for the now elusive mango. If you have one of those miraculous, twice bearing trees, puhlease share ;)

-Sheens

Welcome to the Good Life!

 

Well looooky here, another blogger has popped up in the virtual world. It's me, your friendly, neighborhood, Freckled Foodie :) Thanks for stopping by my blog! I'm a twenty-something with a guttural laugh [and lots of freckles], a love for food and a need for travel. I live on the island of Barbados and although it's a very small place, it's full of so many great finds that I want to share with YOU. Yep, sharing is caring.

Maybe I'll blog about cartwheels and beaches....

ok, i'll definitely blog about beaches...

and I'll certainly blog about food! 

I hope you stop by once in a while to see what I've been up to and maybe you'll be entertained just a tad...maybe even more than a tad. Who knows? Crazier things have happened! ;) 

-Sheens