Cooking September

The Divine Miss White gets the party started

So the year is steamrolling on and here we are, well into September. With 9 months of De Bortoli dinners under our belt now, we have a pretty good formula for getting each night right in terms of guests, locations and working out who will do what in and around the kitchen.

This kitchen ain't big enough for two egos

As usual it was going to be a bit of a joint effort, but Rachel had set herself a slippery and smelly individual task that no one else was keen to challenge her for. Tim Keenan is Head Chef at the De Bortoli's Yarra Valley Estate and this month he took us into our first fishy feast with his delicious recipe, Pan Fried Trout Fillets with Fennel, Potatoes, Marjoram & Capers.

Rachel toasts her creation

Alcohol may well kill brain cells, but fortunately, fish is brain food. So we figure that everyone was a winner this month as we indulged in generous helpings of both. The De Bortoli Emeri Sparkling Pinot Grigio was the weapon of choice in the assault on our grey matter, but on the defensive was a frontline of succulent Trout fillets, each one more Omega-rich and bursting with essential oils than the last. Now I'm no neurolgist, but I can still competently compose a semi-logical blog entry, so I think it's safe to say that our friend the fish was the victor on this occasion.

Diva central

With brains largely intact we enjoyed a kind of celebratory evening, toasting our guests; artist and performer Liam Benson who is currently gracing the cover of runway magazine, and social media Queen, Catherine White (aka The Divine Miss White), returning from 3 months in New York. Starting with some drinks on the roof overlooking Potts Point, we indulged in a quick photo shoot. Despite the warm Spring day, once the sun was lost behind Sydney's skyline we had to retreat to the warmth of the apartment where, conveniently, the rest of the grog was.

Daniel and Liam swap hair

(Photo: Catherine White)

But it was pretty much straight into the kitchen for trout-wrangler Rachel, who had already spent the afternoon engaging in the masochistic labour of pin-boning every fillet of fish. Tim's recipe may be to die for in the culinary sense, but certainly not literally. So with almost an obsessive-compulsive fervor Rachel delicately removed every tiny bone, brandishing only a set of tweezers and the mouth of a wharfie. Then with the choking hazards taken care of it was on to the actual cooking, a much more pleasurable part of the process. From here on in Rach was salting lemons, frying fennel and blanching potatoes to make a wonderfully tasty combination of flavours. The trout came up deliciously crispy and we all cleaned our plates feeling a little bit smarter.

Rachel pretends Heath is Leo Sayer

Armed with her fancy camera, Catherine earned honours as guest photographer when Daniel and Heath weren't snapping away. Rachel revealed her secret passion for Leo Sayer. Liam dazzled with a gift of homemade lemon butter (a family recipe). Heath did the dishes like a good boy. As the night went on, the bubbles kept doing the rounds despite the fact that it was a school night. The recycling bin was quite healthy come morning, as was the lingering scent of trout in the apartment.

Liam poses with his artwork Bleeding Glitter from Daniel & Drew's collection (Photo: Catherine White)

Announcing September

Artist Liam Benson as featured on the cover of the magazine runway

Spring has finally arrived - the kind of climate change we don't mind. Already Sydneysiders are coming out of hibernation, shaking off the winter chills and getting primed for another long Aussie summer. With the onset of longer days and warmer weather, it's the perfect time to head outdoors for drinks and dinner with friends - not that we don't spend the whole year 'round basically eating together and getting pissed! So, on Sunday night, we are hosting September's De Bortoli dinner on the roof top of Drew and Daniel's Potts Point apartment with social networking Queen, the Divine Miss White (AKA Daniel's mum Catherine, who we've been angling to invite since she returned in August from months of living in New York) and the equally divine performance/photo artist Liam Benson. Daniel, Drew and Liam go way back together; the most recent evidence of their artistic alliance is that Daniel wrote the cover feature essay on Liam's work in an art mag called runway (pictured above).

The recipe this month is Jim Keenan's elegant dish Pan Fried Trout Fillets with Fennel, Potatoes, Marjoram and Capers served with De Bortoli's Emeri Sparkling Pinot Grigio. Tim Keenan is the Executive Chef at De Bortoli's Yarra Valley restuarant Locale, so not surprisingly, the level of difficulty has just gone all Masterchef on us! There are a number of steps involved with this recipe, not least of all pin-boning six fillets of trout. Rachel and Drew are going to tackle it together so that they can blame one another if they stuff things up. In which case, it will be... um, ordering a trout pizza?

Cooking August

Drew's "Labour" pains result in a rash

"Repay the debt, turn back the boats, end the waste and stop the big new taxes. And make mine a shandy with light beer and 70% lemonade" - Tony Abbott

"Let's move this country forward. I'm for jobs. Don't risk waking up with Tony Abbott as PM. Yes we will. I'll have a schooner of stout, ta" - Julia Gillard

Last night’s Cooking Your Calendar dinner party coincided with Election Night 2010, so as we walked down to our host Christie Cooper’s beautiful Rushcutters Bay apartment, we had these catchphrases (and a jumble of other well-worn and now annoying pre-election slogans or "Tweets") ringing like bells in our heads. And even though we’re pretty cynical when it comes to politics, there’s still something exciting about a federal election. It’s a bit like watching a sporting match, and in Sydney there was definitely a buzz in the air. Like so many other Aussies around the country, it was time to get together to watch the election over dinner and a few glasses of wine.

Tiga for PM!

In our case, last night’s dinner party was also to celebrate Sydney artist Kendal Murray’s birthday. So when we arrived at Christie’s apartment, we were greeted by our bubbly host Christie, birthday girl Kendal, a bunch of friends including Julia, Ash, Juliana, Susanna, Matt, Paul, Alison and Julia’s fluffy dog Tiga.

Tiga on quality control

After wishing Kendal happy birthday and catching up over a glass of bubbles, we couldn’t resist turning the TV on. From that moment on, the conversation was dominated by politics. And we were asking the big questions too. For instance, would 20 year old parliamentarian Wyatt Roy's first post-election initiative be to install a skate park in his hometown of Coochin Creek? Why does Senator John Faulkner insist on wearing eye-glasses that make him resemble a seventies porn star? Is Bob Brown healthy enough to spend another three years in Canberra, and why doesn’t he eat a big steak now and then? Will Bronwyn Bishop go to the grave wearing that "helmet-head" hairstyle? Why wasn’t Channel Nine’s broadcast in 3D? Surely that would have given them an edge over the other networks? How does ABC election analyst Anthony Green earn a crust between federal elections? Daniel and Ash amused themselves by adding silly election commentary to Daniel's Twitter and Facebook feed. The "well hung" double entendre never got tired!

Julia with birthday girl Kendal (right)

These and more questions were relocated to the dinner table when our election feast was served. It was a truly awe-inspiring array of dishes that included Julia’s amazing baked chicken with rustic gravy (special nod to her inspired use of a tea strainer), Christie’s homemade meatballs done “two-ways”, barbequed gourmet sausages, a selection of delicious salads and a mountain of freshly baked bread from the Blue Mountains.

After our main meal, we took a break while Rachel cooked Jen De Bortoli’s Pudding Chômeur. As the recipe says, it is a very simple dessert to make. It’s just a matter of preparing the cake batter, then separately melting butter, brown sugar and vanilla in a pan. Simply pour that sweet liquid over the top of the batter in a large dish and you are ready to go. Rachel was a bit alarmed when she saw the amount of liquid that goes onto the pudding mixture but the cooking process does the trick. Forty-five minutes in the oven, and hey presto, a delicious self-sauced caramel pudding emerges. All the liquid had dropped to the bottom of the pudding, and thickened into a gorgeous sticky hot syrup. Perfect with ice cream and a glass of De Bortoli’s dessert wine, Noble One, which is a dessert in its own right.

The proof is in the pudding (to quote a fine cliché!)

But dessert didn’t stop with the Pudding Chômeur and Noble One. Like in the federal election, we had a choice of candidates with Christie putting forward an equally delightful pavlova with rose-water flavoured cream and strawberries. Paul offered a box of artisan chocolates. Every dessert received votes, including Tiga's who normally only supports meat.

No, not a hat for the Melbourne cup, but Christie's epic pavlova

Unfortunately we have to wait to find out how Australia voted, since the election was too close to call on Saturday night. In the words of Julia Gillard, we are now “moving forward” to September’s Cooking Your Calendar dinner party. See you then!

Daniel takes Julia Gillard's "moving forward" slogan literally

Announcing August

For more reasons than one, this month's Cooking Your Calendar event on Saturday 21st August is going to be a bigger night than usual. To begin with, we are cooking August's recipe - Pudding Chômeur served with De Bortoli's Noble One dessert wine - at a BBQ to celebrate the birthday of Sydney-based artist Kendal Murray. Our mutual friend, Christie Cooper, is hosting Kendal's birthday bash at her apartment in Rushcutters Bay and, so far, there is quite a crowd coming along. The guest list includes an assortment of designers, artists and academics including Julia Park, Juliana Swatko, Freida Riggs and said host Christie.We might make two puddings to feed the crowd, one nicknamed "Julia" and the other "Tony". And that of course leads to the next reason this month's Cooking Your Calendar event is special. Yes, it's Election night when Australia decides. So while we celebrate Kendal's birthday, we'll also have our eyes and ears on the TV to see whether Julia "Kath Day-Knight" Gillard or Tony "The Budgie Smuggler" Abbott wins the top job. Interestingly, the word "Chômeur" means "unemployed". Is that some sort of warning? Is it a cooking prophecy? Will Prime Minister Gillard be out of a job within a matter of days? See you on the 21st when everybody finds out.

Kendal Murray

Camper Van Game Plan, 2009

11 x 13 x 13.5 cm

Courtesy of the artist & Arthouse Gallery

Cooking Christmas in July

Rachel's prosciutto wrapped cranberry stuffing balls

Last night we converged once again on our friend Holly Williams' gorgeous home for a Christmas in July dinner party. Being the final evening in July, Saturday the 31st, we made it just in the nick of time. A ‘Christmas in August’ party just wouldn’t have had the same ring. Our guests included our host Holly, artists Aseem Pereira and Jonathan James, Daniel’s brother Sean Mudie, and the three of us. Oh, and of course, Mr Smoochy, Holly’s beautiful cat.

Part of our reason for hosting a ‘Christmas in July’ dinner was to try our hand at making mulled wine, something that none of us had prepared before. Luckily before arriving at Holly’s house, Rachel had a very helpful conversation with her lovely uncle and aunt, Harley and Dee Roberts, who are very experienced mulled wine makers. Their advice was simple. Basically there are countless different ways to make mulled wine. So, like sangria, you can pretty much add as much sugar and whatever citrus, fruits and spices as you like. The key is to taste the mulled wine as you go along, so that you make it to your own liking. As easy as falling off a log.

Rachel mulls up

We knew mulled wine was definitely on the menu, but what would we do for our main course? In the end, we decided to bake turkey drumsticks. The rationale behind cooking turkey legs, rather than a whole turkey, was to save cooking time. And a wise decision too when we saw the size of the turkey legs in the supermarket. Gargantuan things! The birds themselves must have been Pterodactyls!

As soon as we arrived at Holly’s house, the turkey legs needed to go straight into the oven. Then it was time to make the mulled wine and relax with our friends for a while. Our version of mulled wine was 250 grams of castor sugar, about ten cloves, a cinnamon stick, nutmeg, the rind and juice of an orange, the rind of a lemon and a lime and two bottles of De Bortoli Sacred Hill Cabernet Merlot. The result was utterly delicious - sweet, spicy and warming. Daniel said it was like Christmas cake in a glass, only with a whole lot more punch. With a few glasses of that stuff under our belts, we were definitely feeling the Christmas spirit.

Terror-dactyl!

Alongside the turkey drumsticks, we had decided serve an array of side dishes, including prosciutto-wrapped cranberry stuffing balls, mashed pumpkin with roasted pine nuts, pan-fried brussel sprouts with bacon and steamed broccoli. Every bit the Christmas feast that we had imagined but perhaps we had drunk a bit too much mulled wine by that stage because we almost started a fire in Holly’s wooden kitchen while we were cooking. Thanks go to Sean for noticing that Drew had accidently set a tea towel alight. Preparing a Christmas in July dinner was quickly becoming a high risk activity.

Tea towel flambé

Our dinner thankfully didn't burn. Every dish turned out to be an unqualified success. Given the size of the turkey drumsticks, the meal was a bit ‘Flintstone-esque’ but what it lacked in grace, it made up for in taste. Drew’s turkey was a particular triumph - moist, delicious and cooked to perfection. After dinner it was time for a hilarious game of Articulate, which we interrupted briefly for Holly’s delightful dessert of rhubarb crumble and cream. Some more mulled wine and we found it was well past midnight. Turns out we were having a ‘Christmas in August’ party after all!

Playing (in)Articulate

Announcing Christmas in July

The perfect Christmas in July soundtrack:

Jan Terri's "Rock and Roll Santa"

It's almost the end of July already, and we are well and truly in winter's icy grip. Given that the cold weather is perfect for open fires, hearty roasts and red wine, we thought we'd take yet another detour from our usual format by holding a "Christmas in July" dinner before the month is up.

And so, on July 31st, we are heading back to our friend Holly Williams' cozy inner west home to cook up a Yuletide feast, complete with traditional mulled wine. Now, mulled wine is something we haven't prepared before. In fact, no one can remember even trying it, since it is naturally never on the menu during our sweaty 30 degrees-plus Aussie Christmas lunches. But Holly assures us that mulled wine is delightful and that she has the perfect recipe. All we need to do is bring a bottle of red, ideally either a shiraz, cabernet or some sort of easy-drinking blend. At this stage we think we'll use De Bortoli's Windy Peak Cabernet Merlot because it has balanced berry and plum flavours that should be just the thing for spicing up.

Now we just have to decide whether:
a) to roast a stuffed turkey or do delicious pork with crackling?
b) to have a Secret Santa gift system?
c) get some mistletoe and have a "kiss in"?

Tough decisions. See you next week!

Cooking July

Potts Point is a relaxed sort of place on a Sunday morning. Cafes brim with city-dwellers lingering over brunch. People sun themselves for hours in Fitzroy Gardens while they read the newspapers. Others just mindlessly dawdle and daydream around the boutiques and shops.

Daniel and Natasha crack open the Rococo

But this Sunday morning, relaxation, dawdling and daydreaming were definitely not on the agenda for the Cooking Your Calendar team. For one, we were tackling our cooking nemesis, polenta, a dish we have failed to impress with so far this year. Even though Melissa De Bortoli’s Roasted Rosemary Polenta Chips recipe seems simple enough, in our experience you can never underestimate polenta. So we were already a bit nervous about whether we could do justice to Melissa's dish. We also had a series of “small plate” tapas-style starters to prepare by mid afternoon to accompany the polenta chips. Unexpectedly, however, it turned out we had a few crises to deal with first. To start with, Drew couldn’t find any fresh sardines fillets which he planned to lightly crumb, pan fry and then serve with a homemade gribiche sauce. After much pacing and deliberation at the fishmongers, Drew decided to make the recipe using fresh flathead fillets instead, and simply forge ahead.

Rachel re-enacts the meatball meltdown

Rachel had decided to bake a full round of Camembert cheese. But, in addition, she bought some pre-made gourmet meatballs from a local butcher to cook ahead of time, as a way of quite literally “beefing up” the meal. Oh dear, bad idea. After an hour of watching the meatballs disintegrate in the fry pan into nothing more than saucy mince (which, mind you, Daniel happily ate for lunch) Rachel was in an apoplectic rage. Livid and running out of time, she gathered up the remaining uncooked meatballs and marched back to the butcher to demand a refund. Witnesses later said they had spotted a furious Medusa storming down Macleay street with a Tupperware container of mince in her hands at about 1.20pm. So it was back to the drawing board for Rachel too.

Special guests arrive

With our menu plan hastily re-jigged, we arrived at the glorious Art Deco apartment of our friends Natasha, Michael and their adorable daughter Saskia in desperate need of a glass of wine. First stop was Natasha and Michael's roof top terrace for a glass of bubbles to unwind, catch-up and have a laugh about Rachel's meatball meltdown. Two rainbow lorikeets joined us to watch the sun set over the city from what surely must be one of the best vantage points in Sydney.

The baked camembert moments before its annihilation

Back in Natasha and Michael's apartment, Drew and Rachel then got down to business, turning out each tapas dish in turn. First we served the baked Camembert cheese with some warmed marinated olives. This was the first time Rachel had tried baked Camembert cheese, but it certainly won't be the last. It is essentially a fail safe and utterly decadent fondue that is worth every single calorie.

Drew rates his flathead fillets a perfect 10

Next came Drew’s delicious crumbed flat fillets with the gribiche sauce. Technically speaking, fish isn’t a dish you would serve with red wine, but since there are no rules when it comes to wine and food Drew wasn't worried about serving his dish alongside De Bortoli's Will's Hill Shiraz.

Saskia minds the bar while the grown-ups toast

For our third course, in lieu of meatballs, we served slices of panfried chorizo speared with warmed dates together with the crispy Roasted Rosemary Polenta Chips. And this time, hurrah, our polenta was a success. We all agreed that the herby flavour of the chips went particularly well with the soft and rounded Will's Hill Shiraz.

The Roasted Rosemary Polenta Chips are served

But it didn't stop there because Natasha and Michael had very kindly prepared dessert. This was beautifully sweet marinated strawberries served with rich vanilla ice cream, as well as a cheese plate of gorgonzola cheese and crackers. Our humble night of wine and tapas had turned out to be quite a feast.

Saskia presents her playlist of cabaret showtunes

By the end of the evening we had been treated to some Liza Minnelli cabaret classics and collectively tried to revive John Farnham's career, thanks to two-year old Saskia's very mature taste in music. After tucking Saskia into bed, the grown-ups debated the merits of the current "Paths to Abstraction" exhibition at the Art Gallery of NSW and pondered that age-old question - can a good book ever be made into an equally good film? Drew's suggestion that The Exorcist was a better movie than it was a book, was perhaps the only example that didn't warrant debate.

But waking up this morning, another question loomed large in our minds. And that is: Where is Will's Hill? Does it have nice view? Can it cure our shiraz hangovers?

Announcing July

Bring it on!

So July is here and we can't believe we're now half way through the calendar! To mark the midway point De Bortoli kindly sent us another shipment of wine, as you can see in the picture above. This month we are keeping things close to home. Definitely no more trips to the Wild Wild Inner West for us. Instead, on Sunday 18th July, we are simply sauntering across Darlinghurst Road to the beautiful apartment of fellow "Potts Pointilists" and art-lovers, Natasha Nadj, Michael Scheib and their gorgeous two year old daughter Saskia. And for a change we have decided to meet in the late afternoon so we can enjoy the simply jawdropping city view from Natasha and Michael's rooftop terrace. The recipe this month is Melissa De Bortoli's Roasted Rosemary Polenta Chips teamed with the De Bortoli Hunter Valley "Will's Hill" Shiraz. So far, we've had very little success cooking polenta, so the pressure is really on to deliver something impressive. We're also planning to throw in a variety of other "small plate" tapas-style dishes suitable for afternoon drinks. We're not sure what though and are currently workshoppping some ideas. Drew thinks he might try cooking sardine fillets, while Rachel is keen to try baking a full round of baked camembert cheese. Feel free to leave a recipe suggestion because we're still definitely open to ideas. See you on the 18th of July!

Just Desserts

Well, we promised we would post the recipe for the Deconstructed Baklava, Poached Pears and Walnut Praline dessert which Todd Robinson prepared at our last dinner party, so here it is. It's an absolutely superb dish but not as easy to prepare as we first thought. Don't be put off though. If you have a sweet tooth, you are going to be in heaven when you knock this recipe together. All we can say is "Masterchef, eat your heart out!"

Actually, given how delightful Todd's dessert is, we couldn't resist recreating it ourselves tonight. So, in a deviation from the usual format, we've added this non-scheduled, "just because we felt like it" blog entry to document this impromptu dinner amongst just us, the Cooking Your Calendar team.

We thought long and hard about what De Bortoli wine we should team with Todd's dessert, and ultimately decided that the lovely, slightly sweet bubbles of De Bortoli's Pink Moscato would be perfect. The Pink Moscato is a beautiful celebratory wine too, making it a good choice to congratulate ourselves for getting halfway through the De Bortoli calendar without any major cooking disasters!

Like before, Todd's dessert was a mouthwatering mountain of flaky pastry, sweet crunchy praline, warm pears and drippy icecream. And while we're embarrassed to admit it, just like last time, we fought over the last serve. Good thing it was just us this time. As it turns out, it was great to get together amongst ourselves to make plans for the next six months, and have a laugh about the year so far. And, all we want to know, is what happened? Weren't we just celebrating New Years Eve a few weeks ago? Basically, we need to start shopping for Christmas again. A trip to the Hunter Valley anyone?

Crushed Nuts anyone? Stay tuned... in a few days we will announce July's dinner party.

Cooking June

Punch drunk

This month’s Cooking Your Calendar Challenge was the old favourite Shepherd’s Pie. We took ourselves over to Erskineville to the beautiful home of artist couple Cherine Fahd and Todd Robinson for a wintery feast of this simple but satisfying classic dish.

Daniel, Cherine and the kids catch up

There are really two steps to making Shepherd's Pie. The first step is preparing and cooking it. The second, somewhat more challenging part, is sexing it up. After it all, it’s a homely looking dish. Not much to look at. You’ve got your beef and you’ve got your potatoes and... well, it's sloppy. It’s a meal that has relinquished the glory associated with refined culinary style, to fulfil its civic duty as an economical, functional and tasty belly-filler. The Shepherd’s Pie has no airs and graces. It doesn’t even bother with the discretion of a pastry shell, preferring to bare all. It’s meaty bits plopped onto the plate in a proud display of delicious vulgarity. Making this look good could be tricky.

If looks could kill

Drew was Chef this time and from the outset he wanted to jazz up the common approach to the pie. Forgoing the recipe’s use of the traditional beef mince, he decided to whip out the crock-pot for a slow-cooked variation, using diced lean beef with vegetables and red wine. The beef cooked all day at his apartment and the delicious aroma soon hinted that the flavour was going to compensate for any aesthetic shortfall. Perhaps blindfolding our guests during dinner was looking to be an option?

Bring on the Winter carbs!

When we arrived in Erskineville with crock-pot in hand, Drew and Rachel immediately took to the kitchen. Rachel shelled fresh peas and Drew worked on the mashed potato that would crown the beef filling. Meanwhile Cherine and Todd’s gorgeous 2 year-old daughter Rei entertained us with a contemporary and very conceptual ballet performance. A couple of bottles of De Bortoli’s Petit Verdot were cracked open as we all relished the impending sleep-in that this long weekend would provide (World Cup 4.30am wake-up call notwithstanding).

Rei puts her best food forward

Twenty minutes in the oven and the pie came out looking pretty good. Let’s face it, this is a hard meal to stuff up too drastically. The slow cooking had tenderised the meat perfectly and the creamy mash had browned to create a crisp lid of carbs. Served simply with steamed green beans and crusty bread, this was definitely a recession-buster meal.

Todd begins the autopsy

So ultimately what the pie lacked in the looks department it made up for in taste. It ended up being the perfect meal for a cold winter's night and Petit Verdot was giving us all a rosy glow. But then Todd surprised us all with his killer "deconstructed" baklava-style dessert of oven baked filo pastry layered with sugar and honey topped with a praline crumble, and served with ice cream. Absolutely amazing. We're definitely putting his recipe on the blog as soon as we get it, so stay tuned.

Dinner is served

All in all, the Shepherd's Pie, De Bortoli Petit Verdot and Todd's dessert was a complete winner of a meal. Just a pity we can't say the same thing about the Socceroos. Good thing we ended up sleeping right through the game.

Thanks to Todd and Cherine for hosting!

Announcing June

Cherine Fahd

Day 8 from Hiding: Self Portraits, 2009-10

Courtesy of the artist

Are we sad about summer coming to an end? Of course we are. Are we happy about coming into June? Absolutely! We might be whinging about the colder weather but June gives us an excuse to:

a) see as many films as humanly possible at the Sydney Film Festival
b) wear Ugg boots outside the house with impunity
c) cozy-up indoors and cook delicious comfort food
d) drink plenty of red wine

Certainly on Sunday 13th June we will be practicing (c) and (d) with great gusto. The calendar's recipe this month is that old family favourite, Shepherd's Pie served with De Bortoli Deen Vat Series Petit Verdot. Once again we are venturing westward to join the very talented artist couple, Cherine Fahd and Todd Robinson with their two children, at their home in Erskineville. If you were gallery hopping in Sydney in January you would have encountered Cherine's wonderful photo series at MOP Projects, where she presented 100 self-portraits of herself "hiding" her face, shot over 100 days. On day 28, her second child was born making the series a poignant record of domestic life.

Once again Drew and Rachel will be joining forces in the kitchen to cook. Daniel is not sure how he will contribute but he did once curate a survey exhibition of Cherine's work, so perhaps he will spontaneously curate their house on the night. Maybe he will take on the all-important job of opening the wine. It's anyone's guess and we'll find out on the 13th. See you then!

Remembering May

May's recipe was such a hit with our fans that we were compelled to cook it again. And as we did, we had to acknowledge the passing of rabbits gone before. Bon appetite. Cue tissues.