The Annabel Experience.....

DVD Playing in the background!

   Here we are!  Inspired by Annabel's magnificent recipes, the gang got together to create the "Annabel Experience!"  It was a magical night of beautiful food and wonderful friendship.  Everyone nominated a dish they wanted to make from Annabel's "The Free Range Cook" book and the results were nothing less than sensational.  We all just made enough for the 22 of us present to sample the dish.  With 14 courses it was truly a night of gastronomic proportions and at the conclusion everyone agreed that it was just superb!  So the dishes were all listed, some were paired up to be served together but most were just a dish on their own to be savored and enjoyed.  All the courses were photographed on their own and then with their creator for the sole purpose of being posted here on the blog.  Thanks to everyone who made the night so special!  Without further ado, here we go with the story of the Annabel Experience.........
Catherine xx

COSMOPOLITAN by Ursula 

Managed to throw it together with very little time!

ZUCCHINI, FETA and MINT FRITTERS 

By Anita

Perfect presentation Anita, what a way to start!  Very hard to stop at one!

LEMON HERB FRITTERS WITH GOAT'S CHEESE 
By Julie

Sweet Chiili sauce topped these off - very yum Julie!

SILVERBEET, FETA AND PINENUT ROLL
By Murph

Murph - went shopping for Silverbeet, came home with Spinach!

SPICY CASBAH PRAWNS

 By Bron

Happy Birthday Bron!

COUSCOUS WITH ROAST VEGETABLES 

By Timmy & Smac!
Best effort of the night with the least amount of notice!

Smile Timmy, you're on the Blog!

FISH FLAVOURED WITH CURRY BASE
By Rachael

Magnificent effort getting 22 perfect sized pieces of  fish Rach!

PEAR, HALOUMI AND WALNUT SALAD

By Michelle

Great choice of dish Michelle, hard for you to choose what to bring from the hundred recipes of Annabel's that you've already done!

BEEF WITH DOUBLE MUSHROOM SAUCE, POTATO GRATIN WITH GRUYERE & GARLIC and GREEN BEANS WITH LEMON By Catherine

Blog author does not need to comment on her own dish!

HONEY LEMON CREAM PUDDINGS

By Bomber?????

Catherine liked this photo...

.....Bomber liked this one!

STRAWBERRY CLOUD CAKE By Rachael

Who has a Strawberry Cloud Cake in their freezer ready for any occasion?

Rachael does!

PROFITEROLES By Lisa

The Great debate.  Who's Profiteroles were better, Annabel's or Lisa's?????

CHOCOLATE & CRANBERRY SLICE
By Rhonda

Lucky last!  And made with Aldi Chocolate - magnificent Ronnie!

Yum!

A great group effort in the kitchen kept the dishes under control!

A sensational evening with Annabel in the background!

Lamb, Rosemary and Apple Sausage Rolls

My little patch of herbs growing under an
olive tree growing in a wine barrel

Lots of delicious ingredients in these Sausage Rolls.  I used mince lamb (400g) and mince beef (250g) as the combination of meats and with the fresh herbs (mostly from my little herb plot!), fruit chutney and grated apple it was a real winner with the family.  I made quite big sausage rolls and we had them for dinner with vegies.

In her book Annabel suggests using the base mixture of meat, apple, egg and onion and then making a Greek version by adding olives, garlic, rosemary and feta.  Or an Italian option with sundried tomatoes and basil.  That is a real "split screen" moment Annabel - LOVE IT!  The sausage rolls I made were delicious and with the Chilli Jam I made a couple of weeks back on the side even better!  Catherine

Chilli Jam (First Try!)

Ok, so in my into to this Blog I said there would be some successes and perhaps some failures too - this isn't really a failure as it still tastes delicious, but it's just not quite right.  I'm going to have another go of this recipe as I think I cooked it a bit long so the finished product is quite dark in colour and is very thick and not easy to get out of the jar.  Having said that, the flavour is amazing!  The ginger and lime is really strong and the chilli certainly gives is a big kick and the after taste leaves a beautiful Thai feel in your mouth.  We've used it on quite a few things, including Annabel's Lamb, Rosemary and Apple Sausage Rolls and we even added it as a condiment to Will's special "2 Minute Noodle Pancakes" (have promised to post them on my Blog, so apologies to Annabel in advance!).  Anyway, the chilli jam is good but I reckon next time it will be phenomenal!  The sensational ingredients include garlic, chillies, ginger, kaffir limes leaves, sugar, lime zest, rice vinegar, fish sauce and soy sauce.  See how if might have a lovely Thai feel?!  I am looking forward to having another go at this one soon.  Catherine

Lemon Curd Tarts

These were lovely.  I still have some of the tart shells in the pantry, kids loved them and some even made their way safely to MGGS for a special tasting.  The "thumbs up" was given, I will definitely be making these again!

The pastry was really lovely, it was made with butter, caster sugar, egg, flour and polenta!  Have not used polenta in a pastry before and it was really nice, quite a grainy texture and the pastry was so crunchy and very delicious.   Mine weren't as perfectly shaped as Annabel's but I was happy with the way they turned out. Catherine

Lemon Curd

Lemon Curd!  This was fun to make, quite easy and the lemons were from my tree!  With such few ingredients this silky smooth curd was a real pleasure.  The kids have loved it on toast but I couldn't resist making the little lemon tarts for no real reason except to just enjoy!  I gave a small jar of curd to Dr John who appreciated it and is thinking of preserving some of his own lemons and after tasting this, might even move into making lemon curd!  So the only ingredients are caster sugar, butter, lemon zest eggs and the juice of about 6 lemons.  What was a good Annabel tip was to pour the curd through a sieve as there were a few flecks of egg white so once they were gone the mixture was so smooth with not a lump to been seen and a beautiful consistent colour.  Yum!!

Espresso Hazelnut Ripple

OMG!  This was amazing, what a simple but sensational recipe!  I bought the Lindt 70%  dark cooking chocolate and just a fairly average Plaistowe white cooking chocolate.  The combination with the hazelnuts in the white choc and the ground coffee in the dark was to die for.  I roasted the hazelnuts to remove the skins and then just lay the chocolate in alternate rows on the baking tray, pushed a knife through a few times to make the swirls and then in the fridge to set!  Could be easier and couldn't be yummier! Catherine