Supper Freek's first ever official event, Part 1: The making of
Here we are! The first official Supper Freek dinner has taken place last Saturday at Julie's flat (my flat that is) and it was a blast! We are so proud we managed to pull it off and so far all the feedback we got was super (supper) positive so we couldn't be happier. Now we cannot wait to set the next date and start preparing.
Menu we served on Saturday 19 July
Aperitif
rillettes de saumon (salmon dip – French recipe)
melitzanosalata (aubergine dip – Greek recipe)
Starter
samphire and anchovies salad (Greek recipe)
Main
48h marinated leg of lamb, slow roasted with new potatoes (Greek recipe)
nectarine salad (Panos's special recipe)
Desert
Tarte au citron meringuée (lemon tart with a soft meringue on top – French recipe)
Here is what happened at Supper Freek before our guests arrived, a little “behind the scene” if you'd like!
The day of Saturday went through in the blink of an eye! I woke up early in the morning so I could prepare the lemon tart before Panos arrive and we start cooking the lamb. The lamb had been marinated for 48 hours in a mix of Greek yoghurt, honey, fresh thyme (directly from a forest in the Peloponnese next to where Panos is from), olive oil (also sourced locally in Greece) and more, and it slow cooked for almost 6 hours. Needless to say that with 30ºC outside, plus the gas oven heat, we were properly baking in the kitchen! Aside from the lamb we also had to prepare the melitzanosalata (check the recipe section, it's here! (http://supperfreek.co.uk/recipes/74-supper-freek-s-melitzanosalata-greek-eggplant-dip.html), and the nectarine salad. The samphire was pickled the day before and the salad was to be assembled just before serving. The rillettes de saumon were also prepared 24 hours in advance.
Once the food was under control, we had our own meal, so we wouldn't starve during the busy evening awaiting us. I cooked some duck breast with a raspberry sauce and a quick salad on the side, and it was so tasty that we are actually thinking of adding the duck breast to one of the coming supper clubs menus. Watch out for it if you are a duck fanatic like us! :-)
After that we still had to set the table, go to buy some fresh bread at the local bakery (no supermarket bread at our table!), a few fresh flowers to add a touch of freshness to the table. We found a few candles in a drawer in my kitchen which worked just perfectly to add up to the intimate, warm, homely atmosphere we wanted to get. Finally we set up the playlist, a mix of French and Greek music (of course...) from the 1930's and 1940's. And we were ready!
(note: while I was searching for French songs I actually created a playlist on Youtube with some of them, you can check it out here (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcrtDFO67IBUdl60v5-VPVE2lyGmDPiZJ).)
Throughout this whole preparation process, I can't describe how excited we were about the evening to come – and a little bit stressed since we wanted so much for everything to be perfect! However, once everything was ready, we were pretty confident we had done a good job so far and just couldn't wait for the guests to arrive and the fun to start!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the event: the evening itself! Writing in progress, we will post it soon.
