Dinner night

I have so far:

Made the tart (photo to follow).

Sliced the potatoes and layered them with onions and mushroom (coz I had a few left over) plus herbs (parsley and thyme). I poured over vegetable stock and dabbed some butter on the top. That is in the oven now as it takes an hour and a half. I'll take it out soon and put it back in once our friend is here.

I have de-stalked the field mushrooms and toasted the pine nuts. I have changed the plan a little here: I am going to put a dollop of cranberry and caramelised onion chutney on top of the cooked mushroom, then put goats cheese and/or herby breadcrumb crust on top of that and then sprinkle on pine nuts before serving. I have rocket and some little tomatoes to go at the side.

I have boiled the ham (coz that's how I like it best - soft texture) and scored the fat. I have now rubbed on some honey and have just put it in the oven, as I think it needs about an hour to get a nice shiny crust.

I might go and dress the rocket with some lemon juice and olive oil.... as I've got a few minutes to kill. Our friend is ALWAYS late so I'm not expecting him to arrive in the next half hour really.


P.S. After a promising start Wales just lost to New Zealand 9-29. Boo hoo.

Result: (Picture taken of my extra just-in-case mushroom which is in the fridge now.) The mushrooms looked really pretty on the white plate (see the meat picture) with the salad etc. I forgot the pine nuts - so ended up with mushroom grilled with goats cheese and herby breadcrumb topping. It was really tasty. I tested putting the chutney on but it made the mushroom go slimy during cooking, so I served it on the side with the salad.

Result... this is what's left of the meat!

Result: Pudding. Slice served with vanilla icecream.