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January was everything I was hoping it would be. Some much needed quiet time that was filled with eating, weekend getaways and plenty of dreaming. New menus were planned and classes and supper clubs too. I spent afternoons perfecting a proper French omelette, making fruit and nut topped mendiants, dipping lacy florentines in chocolate and frying up ricotta fritters with salted butter caramel (recipes to come). I cooked plenty of family meals, many of them asian inspired and somewhat spicy. I had friends for tea and cake and put out bowls of clementine oranges and pistachios and filled vases with spring blossoms. I even slipped away for a weekend with my son and skied on fresh powder snow under bright blue skies.
Now, it’s February and time to get back to work.
Our first event is this Friday. A supper club that will feature a Niçoise-style beef short rib braise with slow roasted tomatoes, olives, spinach and buttered noodles. We will serve a warming carrot and leek cardamom soup that is scented with just a hint of cardamom to start. There will also be some roasted baby beets that have been glazed in sherry vinegar and served alongside some burratta cheese, watercress leaves and slices of toasted levain. For dessert we have planned an olive oil and citrus cakes with whipped mascarpone and perhaps some chocolate dipped florentines on the side. I still have to decide what hors d’oeuvres to serve but am sure that a walk through the market early next week will help me decide.
I’m excited to be ironing linens and making shopping lists and then prepping the ingredients. Setting the table, arranging bouquets of flowers and finally lighting the candles. Cooking, at home, for old friends and new. It is truly what I love.
xo J