Calendar Year 2012 in photographs and stories

Vegan food is marked (V).

Friends on the day, so far:
21: Lesley and Brian, Maria, Chris and Pete, Ross and David, Les and Helen, Chris W, Wendy, Jan and Jon, John and Lynn, Zem and Tony, Angela, Tom and Jenny, Sue, et vous?.

Sadly Tom and Jenny were recovering from the Action Aid Book Club the night before, Luke was just recovering from 2 weeks in Singapore having landed in Heathrow that morning, Wendy was being selfish and keeping her cold to herself rather than sharing it with everybody, Sue was on life support duties for a friend, and we think Chris (W) was on Granny duties. As it was we just managed to squeeze into the breakfast room.

With gales of laughter, much exchange of French cuisine and customs, exquisite food, and lots of French drink, this was F cubed working at it's best. Steve Wozniak would have felt honoured as well as "podged¹".

Apéro

• Noilly Prat (A.k.a. French Dry") (Les)
  An interesting drink, like a strong white wine, but "bigger" - more depth of flavour, more alcohol, longer on the palate. Great if you want a slightly dry, non-fizzy aperitif

• Kir (Cocktail) (Jan (C) and John (A))
  Kir, Kir Royale (or Kir Pétillant) if Wikipedia is to be followed, was / is a lovely fresh pre-dinner drink, much enjoyed at that home from home opposite the Endsleigh Centre on Beverley Road, at our pre-Christmas meals as well as F³ French!

Hors d'oeuvre / entrée

• Crudités (V)(Peter)
  Crudités made an appearance and stayed around through the evening but as an entrée they were simply outclassed by the other items.

• Le gateau salé (Savoury Cake) (David and Ross)
  Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall hits the tastebuds! Say no more, this is just so very popular in the Church extended family.

• Meat Terrine (Lynn).
  You could see that this was going to be juicy, and richly flavoured, the surprise was the texture provided by the walnuts. What a great idea.
  I will see if the recipe is a closely guarded secret.

• Saumon poché au vin blanc.(Les)
  We have all had Salmon, but this was spectacular. The side of Salmon produced generous portions for all of the gathering.

Du Coquillage

• Des moules marinières.(Les).
  Mussels.!
  Arrived in quantity and were consumed with enthusiasm.
  So far as I could tell, cooked with some olive oil, a splash of white wine and some crushed garlic.
  Internet recipes such as MyCookingHut also suggest a little cream is needed to produce this French Classic.

Plat Principal

• Red wine (Peter)

  We obtained a couple of bottles of Malbec (grape variety introduced in Roman times) from Cahors, Lynn and John's home from home.

• Cassoulet Toulousaine (Peter)

  Quintessentialy French comfort food. The top layer was Toulouse sausages and Duck breasts, below was cubed port and bacon, and all surrounded by excellent haricot beans. Great rich flavours and bursting with energy, but would have been better with more than the six sausages, and some fresh breadcrumbs applied to give a crispier topping. (This was a "Blue Peter").

• Coq au vin (Jan)

  Another classic French recipe. Red wine gives a dark appearance to this dish which is reputed (and verified) to be better as leftovers than as a freshly cooked dish. Much enjoyed. The exact recipe is unavailable, this was a mixture of Delia Smith and Raymond Blanc, with a nod to Nigel Slater, a.k.a. "real cooking".

• Pot au feu (V)(Peter)

  This was hearty and rich and vegan. Very juicy, very acceptable. The dish was not heavily spiced so the flavours of the individual veggies, especially the sweet potatoes were readily identifiable.

Sur le côté

By this time chaos was the order of the day and the webmaster does not now remember testing the side dishes.

• Potato Dauphinoise (Marie).

• Petit pois de francais (Marie).

• Boulangère Potatoes (V)(Zem & Tony).

• Ratatouille (V)(Zem & Tony).

• Whole wheat baguette (V)(Peter).

Le Fromage

• Brie, Boursin, Roquefort, Camambert, Roulé;
  

• Fromage chévre (Ross).

• "Bring a piece of your favourite French cheese" said the e-mail, and folks did, and the cheese was excellent. However, it was interesting that much cheese sold in Hull and the area is UK sourced, so finding French cheese was a challenge.

  Several different goats cheeses appeared and were consumed, the "circular slab" came from the deli counter at Sainsbury's at Hessle.

Le désert

• Désert wine

  Someone (who??) brought a bottle of Muscat, a slightly sweet, slightly fortified désert wine, rosé appearance. Great stuff.

• At this point several people were struggling to stay alive under the weight of their waistline, so it is unclear whether we did justice to the Profiteroles and Choux buns.

• Profiteroles au Chocolat (Lesley).
  The webmaster loves profiteroles.

• French Fruit Salad(V) Chris C).
  Chris felt that a little less wine and honey would be an improvement, on what was a truly excellent fruit salad. The autumn fruits go well together, and having fewer fruits than the normal "use everything you can get" approach made the flavours identifiable. Very very nice.

• Choux Buns(Angela).
  Sweet, soft and tasty with alcoholic overtones.