Do kitchens need R&R?

And it's done!

8 hours of cooking, 10 loads in the dishwasher, 2kg of melted duck fat spilled over my beautiful Food, Fashion Friend Book, and a significantly lighter bank account - but it was all worth it.  My preparations for the dinner began in earnest late Friday afternoon. I had been to see my surgeon in the morning (side note I have homework for the school holidays - I have to spray capsicum spray up my nose 3 days on 2 weeks off for the next few months in an effort to clear my sinuses. I have been told NOT to inhale when I spray. hmmm) and then off for a meeting to discuss a research project in the afternoon. Once that was done I did a quick visit to a couple more collectables stores and The Grocer in Nedlands to buy some pomegranate molasses, Cannington Fresh to buy the remaining groceries and I was off home to start cooking and prep for the following day. 

I decided to make the blinis first - don't mistake them for piklets, they are much more fancy than that, and they have caviar on them ;-) That went smoothly so then I polished off the gingerbread and the best half of a bottle of Lost Lake Savingoun Blanc and decided to call it a night. Probably shouldn't have, but even the wicked need a good nights sleep.

Fast forward 12 hours, 2 slices on Vegemite on toast and a cup of tea later I was feeling pretty good. I needed to pop out during the morning to buy some new sunglasses (my last pair had an unfortunate end in my handbag due to an excess of essential female maintenance/entertainment equipment competing with them for room) and to get black napkins, iTunes vouchers for the music which would be downloaded onto MY BRAND NEW IPHONE 5, MY FIRST EVER IPHONE, black duct tape and fresh flowers. Before I went to the shops however I put the rabbit shoulders on to slow cook in two kilos of duck fat for two and a half hours. So feeling a little rushed but not yet panicked, I headed out with that niggling little thought that I get the day of everyone or these parties I have done 'I really should do all these little running around jobs way before the day off the party.' But then - where's the fun (or stress) in that?   

So anyway, I did my running around, got home just under two and a half hours later and ready to get into some serious cooking, so I donned my apron and got started. About half an hour into it I asked Gavin to download the music telling him 'this is the only thing I'll need you to do today.' He got started and I made a cauliflower puree, sherry puree, made the gingerbread paste and crumbs and the pomegranate dressing. 5 types of alcohol in the meal down and I was not even up to the main course.

I took a break to eat a Big Mac for lunch (hey, I know what you were thinking, I'm surrounded by all this gourmet food and I eat that..but it WAS McHappy day). After I finished my burger I quickly tossed on a load of washing to clean the new napkins and put all my new plates, glassware and overworked food processor in the dishwasher and began peeling parsnips. 7 is a lot of parsnips David (Think Love Actually) but I got them peeled, Julianne'd (to my standards anyway) and the reminder deep fried into parsnip curls. It was about now at around 2pm that I realized I had only two and a half more hours before I wanted to leave to set up the studio and I still had to make the rabbit ballontine, cook the chicken liver parfit, peel and cook the scampi tails, make the barley crumbs, make the tempura batter and fry the cauliflower florets, cook the pheasant, make the prune and Armgnac suffle, pack the car and get myself ready. I cant say how I did it (it don't remember, I was in a blind panic) but I do remember feeling like a Masterchef contestant in a pressure test on crack, and I may or may not have renegged on my prominse for Gavin to not have to do anything else. It was during this time that 2 kilos of melted duck fat that was in a plastic container resting on a raw sugar canister in the middle of my island bench got knocked, and spilt, all over my book. No time or point crying over spilt milk, or duck fat for that matter, and I got on with the task at hand. By some micacle we were ready to leave just 10minutes later than planned, and while it is hard to apply eyeliner and mascara whilst your boyfriend (who has had an automatic car for at least the past 5 years) is driving a manual car through stop start traffic and along a freeway I did that to.

We arrived at Pop Studio's and meet Julian's lovely wife Rochelle, who let us in, wished us luck and left us to it. Julian and Rochelle had done a fantastic job of getting the studio ready. Excess furniture had been moved out the way, fridges turned on an cooled for us and a freshly painted white floor and wall was waiting.

Gavin and I got straight to it using milk crates and a folding table to be the table, and I set up a makeshift kitchen bench in the kitchenette area. We worked quickly and were actually ready by 6.10pm, 50mins before the guests and birthday boy were due to arrive.

I used that time to power nap, Gavin went to the petrol station for a coke and some water. 50mins went by pretty fast and then our first guests, my brother and his lovely wife showed up. Suitably impressed (I think?) by the venue and likeness to the book we cracked open a bottle of wine and listened to the rain on the tin roof. So far a pretty good way to spend a Saturday evening. A little while after Glenn and DJ showed up and I gave everyone a quick run down on the mission to go to the bathroom. Just lift up the roller door, try not to get your high heel stuck in the wooden stairs on your way down, jump over the wild grass and take a leap of faith shutting the door to the outside loo with no light. Easy. With that little bit of housekeeping out the way I served our Canape - Blinis with Caviar. Now I feel the need to point out here that I am very proud of DJ for eating one, he didn't look keen but I give him 10 points for effort DJ, and I hope you didn't feel the need for a Macca's run on the way home ;-). Round one down I excused myself to the kitchenette to prep our entree of Ballotine of Rabbit, Foie Gras and Capocollo with Gingerbread, Pumpkin and Pomegranate Dressing. There are no photos of the entree on the blog due to the fact it kinda looked like a nasty accident on a plate and not at all like Matt Moran's example in the book, but everyone was very polite and ate it with their very best manners. Bless.

Next was mid - Scampi Tails with Sherry Puree, Cauliflower and Barley Crumbs, and it was about this time I realized that you need to pick your priorities, either the microwave or the fridge, but not both at once. Now I'm sure when Fleur did this party originally Matt did not have to wash cutlery in between each course, chose between a microwave or a fridge and re-heat everything on site rather than cook on site, but we are talking first world problems here, so I just got on with it. Anyway, this course (I think) turned out remakably well and even looked similar to the picture in the book, so I was feeling pretty happy, and I don't think I was just the wine...

Next up was the Pheasant Roasted with Truffle, and I managed to get that up without too much trouble, and DJ even ate it without us having to tell him it was chicken. I only had one course to go, and then I was officially 'off-duty'...except for the clean-up, pack up and drive home, with a further un-pack and clean up again there...

I had to do the dessert lightly differently, due to the cooking and transport, the souffle had been cooked at home in one big dish and then I spooned it into the little cooper pots at the venue. DJ poured the cream and we were good to go. Dessert included the last type of alcohol from all the courses, so far we had consumed brandy, port, maderia, white wine, Ollo Rosso, more brandy, port, maderia and then finally some armagnac.  Underneath my stairs does now resemble a quite well stocked liquor store, but whose complaining? Anyway back to dinner and we had just finished dessert when Julian (the owner of the studio) returned from a shoot and joined us for a glass of wine. Discussing included anal numbing cream, penis shafts and other adult terms and luckily this was because Julian had just been shooting at a  'Pure Romance' party at a local hotel and not because one of my guests was being totally inappropriate.

Half an hour or so later it was time to pack up and go. I gave Julian one of the coloured glass vases with the flowers in it to say thanks for being so accommodating and we packed the car and farewelled Amy and Justin. Gavin, Glenn, DJ and I went into Leederville for a quick coffee and then it was home to bed.
 
All that's left to say now is a big thank you to Glenn for providing me with an occasion to party.

Stay tuned, the next party is booked for the 11th of January for a certain party blogger's 30th birthday...

A Menu for Glenn

Its been a long time coming, but hopefully worth the wait...Party nombres quatre happens this Saturday night, a birthday party for my friend Glenn. Someone who is so fabulous needs a fabulous menu, so I am doing 'A Menu by Matt.'

Just like Glenn, A Menu by Matt does not come cheap, courses of the night include caviar, rabbit with foie gras, scampi tails, pheasant and a prune and Armagnac souffle. Most of which I have never eaten before, let alone cooked...Piece of cake. Not.

The idea to host this party started many months ago when I felt that familiar itching telling me I didn't really need any free time to relax and it was time to host another party. I knew it had been a long time since my last post, but only when I signed on this evening and realized my last post was 9 months and a new lap top ago did I realize how long I had been pushing the next party back. I do have a reason - promise. I started a new job this year, and not at an established school, but a brand spanking new one, and take it from me - schools do not establish themselves - it takes a lot of manpower (or as we are an 70% female staff, womenpower) a lot of hours to get it running smoothly. Plus I had to fit in trips to Thailand, The Gold Coast, Rottnest, Bridgetown and Margret River. Plus I'm still trying to knit a baby dress I started months agooooo. So anyway, I decided the gap between parties was well and truly big enough, and booked Glenn's birthday as an excuse to party. 

As soon as I get a party confirmed, just about everywhere I go I look for things that I need for the next party. Lucklily for me, on the last school holidays while on a trip to the south west of Western Australia, Gavin and I went to Manjimup, and popped on in to the Wine and Truffle to by some truffle. We had just missed the fresh truffle season, but managed to buy 40g of frozen truffle for $50. As soon as I buy my first purchase for any party, I get excited, and that purchase got me excited. Gavin will attest to this as we drove around the south west for the next two days every half hour or so I would remind Gavin that 'I got truffle!'

Because I had managed to buy double the amount of truffle I needed I decided to listen to my boyfriends advice from the previous party a practice the most difficult recipes for the night well before the party. It began alright, I ordered the meat from the butcher, invited Glenn around to taste test and help and made sure I had all the right utensils. I had even read through the EXTENSIVE recipes and had a bit of an idea about what I needed to do. The next few hours are a bit of a blurr, but there was squealing (from me) when I had to touch dead rabbit and stuff truffle under the skin of pheasant, and more squealing (from Glenn) when I put my cold wet hands on his neck. At the end of the day though, all I can say is, its obvious I am NOT a trained chef. I tried my hardest, but my results looked nothing like Matt Moran dishes.

So lets leave that disaster for a minute and I'll tell you about the fabulous photography studio I have hired for the evening. It couldn't be more perfect. It looks and has exactly the same equipment as the studio in the book, and Pop Studios in West Leederville's owner Julian has been fabulous. I have hired the studio and as he is out on a shoot that day he is happy for me to pick up the key, let myself in to party and then return the key afterwards. It's all starting to really come together (probably a good thing as the party is in 48 hours...) this morning Australia Post delivered my latest eBay purchase of a gold cutlery set, and I have spent the last few afternoons after work trawling second hand shops and old ladies lounge rooms (with their permission) for coloured glass vases. I have the next two days mapped out in precision order like a bride on steroids, so fingers crossed and I'll let you know the result.

p.s. I have joined the world of iPhone owners so there will be more pictures this time too!