Stew, glorious stew

Nothing brings back my cooking mojo as much as cooking for friends on a week night and I had the perfect boost on Wednesday when two friends of the gent came round.

Whilst I peeled the potatoes with the demented veg peeler, the gent mashed avocado with lime and drizzled chilli oil over. He somehow made the toasted pittas into a visual feast, arranged around the guacamole as artfully as a fashion guru ties a scarf. I swear he could scatter cushions like a pro, given half a chance.

Instead, he was put to more macho use, opening wine. And what a wine! From Berry Bros and Rudd, even the tissue paper and bag looked luxurious. The bottle itself was so big and heavy it looked as if it must have carried more than the regular amount. I will invite the gent to uncover the mystery as to what it was, and how it tasted. After this, we mellowed just a little more in the company of a perfectly charming Rioja.

I cooked my occasional-staple favourite stew - beef and anchovy in red wine - which, in a fit of organisation, I cooked the night before so just had to re-heat and make horseradish mashed potato. Previously I used a horseradish root, grated, but this time I bought a jar with the highest horseradish content I could. Mixed imperfectly into the potato it gave shooting wasabi-like nasal pains of pleasure when a small pocket was stumbled across - heaven when coupled with the rich stew.

The evening ended with ripe mango and papery physalis (cape gooseberries) to dip into hot chocolate. I confess I had no recipe, just heated up double cream (the 170ml size pot) with nearly 200g dark chocolate, a splash of milk and a spoon of golden caster sugar to taste. Poured into two rather camp, white-glass ice cream dishes, it was then between the couple to fight over who got the most. Actually, it was pretty good: I would do this again any day.

The rest of the stew became a wonderful packed lunch for work the next day, served with a homemade foil parcel of cornichons and, somehow, twice as delicious. I always make too much as I would feel hard done by without my next-day portion!


19/2/10