CORNWALL: NICKS 30TH BIRTHDAY DINNER

30th birthdays don't come around that often. Nick just hit the big milestone and I wanted to do something really special. What better way to celebrate than to get a big beach house, gather a whole bunch of friends and drink and eat ourselves into merry oblivion. We found an absolutely stunning beach house in Portwrinkle, Cornwall which had us gasping when when first arrived. It's kitchen and dining room had stunning views in all directions over the ocean and onto cliffs and farmland. Hot tub, sauna, games room you name it. Not to mention all the many wonders of Cornwall. We were spoilt for choice.

Nicks birthday dinner is becoming a bit of a famous tradition amongst our foodie friends. We were very lucky to have enlisted Jamie, Matt, Mel and Luke to help bring together an epic two roast smorgasbord of tastiness.

Pumpkin and Sweet potato soup, slow roasted pork belly, BBQ'd roast lamb shoulder, potatoes roasted in goose fat, creamy leeks, mushrooms stuffed with stilton and pecans, celeriac and walnut gratin, and salad of burnt aubergine with sweet peppers and red onion. YUM! 

Topped off with my new favourite dessert, pumpkin pie with maple syrup cream!  It was super tough after stuffing ourselves to eat a slice of this - but of course we made room! I'm going to post this pie recipe in the coming week.

The pumpkin filling's texture is smooth and creamy with cloves, cinnamon and ginger. Also on the base of the pastry I added crushed pecans and ginger nut biscuits to give it a bit of bite and a flavour zing. It was very festive and appropriate for Halloween!

Also rather excitingly Nick got an ice cream machine for his birthday, we were making pumpkin ice cream which is much the same flavours as the pie and decided to throw in the left over pie and some extra ginger nut biscuits. The result was a texture somewhat like cookies and cream, not too sweet with lovely crunchy bits of the pie crust and biscuits.

We all have a bit of a food hangover, it was wonderful food, sooo rich and filling. The flavours all worked so well together, I didn't even know what I was eating at any one point but it all tasted wonderful.

More shots from our food and week in Cornwall to come.

Much gourmet love.

xx
Tweet