A fishing expedition and a dinner party

We have new neighbours who are lovely. It's their birthdays close together in August and during an impromptu early evening glass of wine we invited them for dinner as a birthday gift.

It was vital that I found out what foods they enjoyed – hence the title “fishing expedition”. During our glass of wine I fished for their favourites and, as importantly, the opposite!

Here's the menu :

Garlic Mushrooms with Ciabatta

for the boys

Steak and Kidney Pie

Roast potatoes

Steamed mixed veggies

for the girls

Cheese, Potato and Onion Pie

Coleslaw

Beetroot

Lemon Tiramisu with Limoncello Shots

I picked up all the ideas during the evening – I have to confess it was a very large glass of wine – as a consequence they had no idea I was on a mission.

They adore mushrooms and in particular the retro “garlic mushrooms”. You've got to have good bread to dunk and soak up all that garlicky, buttery deliciousness. One plain, one black olive ciabatta will be perfect. I didn't know but, as it turned out, one didn't like olives, one did – big fat tick!

I didn't want to serve a giant starter – with pies for the main course I wanted to make sure there'd be room. I pondered about serving dishes for the mushrooms, here's what I chose :

 

Le Creuset Stoneware Petite Round Casseroles

Perfect for single portion servings of the mushrooms,

measuring 9.5cms as a guide. Ideal for oven to table

and quite stylish!

I've had a set of 4 for years and gulped when I saw the current price - £21 each – although you can buy sets of 4 Le Creuset Mini Cocottes at £75.53.

I'm not suggesting you rush out and spend big money – if you like the look of the casseroles you might want to keep an eye out for sales or outlets or, there are similar casseroles but not of the same quality, check out your favourite search engine.

Up next – the pie plan!