A whole new world... of lentils.

Puy lentils. What on earth are puy lentils?! I’ve yet to find out, since they were frustratingly elusive and replaced with green lentils in the final recipe, so if anyone can enlighten me to the difference, please do.

So, the menu:

Starters: Smashed spiced chickpeas on tortilla crisps; and Cherry tomato and basil on garlic ciabatta
Main: Lentils (green not puy) on baby salad leaves with red peppers, feta and salsa verde
Dessert: Sponge cake with whipped cream and raspberries, drizzled with WHITE CHOCOLATE (not anything else)

I spent most of the start of the evening in the kitchen - which was all Jamie Oliver’s fault and not at all mine. Mr. Oliver your smashed chickpeas are NOT quick and easy to make and you clearly used a food processer! Stop saving obese northerners and write some decent recipes again please!

I eventually managed to serve up some yummy food judging by the oohs and aahs and empty plates (even the lentils!) and totally redeemed any lateness or oddness of dishes by bringing in the yummiest sponge cake with cream and raspberries and WHITE CHOCOLATE. Just wanted to make that clear...

And then just when people thought that they’d had enough food, out came Helen’s cheese board and the gooiest camembert ever, which went perfectly with the 5th bottle of wine we were on... Probably for the best, we managed to forget about the huge selection of sweets that Lucy brought, but they made an excellent breakfast on Friday...

Valuable lessons learned from the first Dinner Club:

1. I’m not the only one who still knows the words to A Whole New World.
2. Red wine, orange and grapefruit juice is drinkable. Although not by me…
3. A little bit of garlic makes a lot of difference
4. Always end with cake. Always.

To use someone else’s analogy, this whole experience has been a bit like baking a cake. When we first had the idea, I looked in my cupboard and realised I had some good ingredients already, but that I needed a few more. So 6 bottles of wine, 1 packet of lentils, hours of laughter and a bit of a restructure later, the Dinner Club was born. And I think a lot more successful than some other metaphorical cakes...

Maria
xx