My Greek Salad

I haven't been feeling great the last few days, the flu was beginning to take hold so major amounts of drugs were required and food wasn't really a priority. But last night I felt I could just about handle a salad. I'd bought some feta during the week so that led me to a Greek salad.  I used the following:

Little Gem lettuce, chopped up
Sliced red onion, soaked in water for 10-15mins then rinsed and dried with kitchen paper

A boiled egg, cut into 8

Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Feta cheese, cut into bite-sized cubes

Dressing:

1 part cider vinegar to 3 parts olive oil

Pinch of dried oregano, crumbled finely

Garlic clove, halved

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Put all the dressing ingredients into a jar and shake well until combined. Let it sit for a half hour or so, out of the fridge, to let the flavours mingle.  Put all the salad ingredients except for the egg into a bowl, pour over the dressing and then place the egg on top. Then eat!

Buffet Pictures

I didn't manage to get photos of all the food at the buffet but I did manage to get pix of the main courses I prepared. They give you an idea of quantity of food that was available.

The Boxes of Makhani & Spanish stew

The Chicken Makhani

The Spanish Chicken Stew

Buffet Time

The last couple of days have been mad busy for me and she who lives in the Manor!! Party time had come and we'd decided that we'd share the buffet duties. This involved working out how to feed 50plus people. The kids were easy to feed throw em a few cocktail sausages, chicken wings and slices of pizza and they're happy. For the adults we'd decided on some pickages to start with followed by a full meal with sides.  It went something like this:

Picky Things

Prawn Cocktail Lettuce Cups * Salami & Roasted pepper skewers * Bread sticks wrapped in Prosciutto & Serrano Ham * Bruschetta * Homemade Brown Breads

Main Event

Chicken Makhani (Mamta's Kitchen recipe) * Spanish Chicken Stew * Meatballs with Spicy Tomato Sauce * Crispy Layered Potatoes * Basmati Rice * Buttered New Potatoes *

Other kind people brought Apple & Rhubarb tarts, pavlova (which I love but didn't get to taste) and other stuff. The wine was beginning to kick in so I wasn't paying enough attention.

Mrs. Manor had treated herself to a chaffing dish and I performed the dinner lady duties serving the masses. I can't forget Miss C who was a fantastic help and I couldn't have managed without her during the day!! The night and food were a success thankfully. Any night that ends with you singing 'Rio' on Band Hero with your 12 year old nephew on guitar, can't be a bad one!

Roasted Baby Potatoes

Who doesn't love potatoes? And who doesn't love roast potatoes? If you don't, then I'm sorry I've lost all respect for you.  My cheap bag of baby potatoes needed using up so I decided that roasting them was the only option. I sliced them lengthways fairly thinly and threw them in the oven for 25-35mins until crispy and slightly blackened on the edges. I put a little bit of cheese on each of them for the last 5mins or so just for the hell of it! I defy you not to eat every single one of them.

Prawn Cocktail

Everyone loves prawn cocktail, it may be very 1980s but it has had a renaissance in recent years if TV chefs are anything to go by.  I didn't put mine in a fancy glass as its intended purpose is to be part of a buffet. I also don't go to the bother of making mayonnaise so purists might get offended.

I mix mayonnaise with tomato ketchup, some pepper, pinch of paprika and some lemon juice.  Then you add prawns and stir ensuring that every prawn is completely coated with the sauce. Spoon a little of the prawn mix onto a Little Gem lettuce leaf which doubles as the serving plate.  I also chopped up a shallot very finely and sprinkled a little on each leaf before I added the prawns.  You can then sprinkle a dusting of paprika on top of each little mound of prawns to make it pretty.