Curry Buffet Dinner for 12 - Part 2

Today's recipes are: Potato Curry Soup; and Compressed Ginger Rice
A photo of a Potato Curry Soup.

A photo of compressed ginger rice.

As promised yesterday, here are more of my curry recipes. Today you get the Potato Curry Soup recipe and then the Compressed Ginger Rice recipe. You can serve both of them on any occasion – they don’t have to be part of an Indian evening. The soup is velvety smooth and delicately spiced – everyone asked for the recipe – and the Ginger rice is great because you can prepare it ahead of time and warm it in the oven at your leisure. But first the stories…

Crab, avocado and radish salad with Ponzu dressing

Photo of crab salad with Ponzu dressing.

As I mentioned in older posts, I was in the USofA at the beginning of the year and joined up with 2 of my 3 American sisters. While at The Cape (Cape Cod to be precise), Lynn and I went out for Chinese and she introduced me to a Crab, Avocado and Radish Salad. It was deevine to say the very least and I have since been looking for a recipe.

Fish Chowder made the Narragansett way

Photo of Fish Chowder.

As I mentioned in my last post, we had my in-laws to stay for a few weeks and were able to celebrate my brother-in-law’s 42nd birthday with friends, 16 of us to be precise. For this special event, I made a Narragansett Fish Chowder for starters, stuffed smoked salmon parcels for an in-between course, and then smoked chicken and salads for the main course. I had Sally and Em bring the desserts – very clever on my part as they were both delicious. All recipes will follow in due course!

Jill's 50th and other birthdays

Today’s recipe: Sausage Pie
A photo of Sausage pie on a mixed plate.

I am absolutely terrible at remembering birthdays. A couple of years ago we were invited to one of my absolute best friend’s birthday parties and I completely forgot that it was her birthday on that day. We arrived at their home, chatted a bit and one of the other guests (who had flown from England to France for the event) mentioned that she had brought a special birthday cake with her. From another country, through 2 airports, 2 hour security checkpoint lines, with the icing still intact and no slices missing.

Girls day out vs. Ladies luncheon

Today’s recipe is: Sweet corn chilli flan
A photo of a Sweet corn chili flan.

A friend recently told me that she went to a Ladies Luncheon (as opposed to a Girls Day Out). I have never actually been invited to a Ladies Luncheon. There could be several reasons for this, but I think it’s possibly because I’m not a lady. And it’s not that I haven’t tried. I put on high heels, nice dresses buttoned most of the way to the top and sip demurely on a cold glass of white wine. That’s the first 10 minutes. Then I’m knocking back whatever drinks are passing my way, my dress is unbuttoned most of the way to the bottom and I’m telling rude jokes. This will not do at a Ladies Luncheon, but a Girls Day Out is something different. Yes, we too have lunch in a feeding frenzy type of a way, but there are many differences so I will give a short list of the major ones.

Leek and Potato Soup

A photo of Leek and Potato Soup.

Joerg is one of the world’s greatest gardeners. If he leaves a tool out with a wooden handle, voila, we have a spade tree. In February, we cut back the vines at the front of the house and he stuck some of the off cuts into the ground….now we have more vines to cut back. Same with the red currant bushes. He also always plants as though we are going to be asked by WHO to supply food to all of Africa on a daily basis. My current surplus is leeks, which was preceded by winter lettuce and Swiss chard. We let one chard plant go to seed last year, let it self-seed and we get new plants coming up daily. Anyone out there have chard recipes for a desperate woman?? Anyone want any chard plants??

Mystery Murder Dinner

Today’s recipe is: Carrot Roulade/Swiss Roll
When (my darling) Em and Pikey first invited us to a murder mystery dinner, I had no idea what to expect. That no-one was to actually die, seemed fairly logical, but what then? We each received our own personal invite with the character you were to play. I was Angel Roni, the beautiful (thank you, Em!) young daughter of the deceased, and Joerg was Rocco Scarfazzi, a slightly dodgy Italian businessman. We dressed as our roles required – me in a short black dress with fishnet stockings/nylons and Joerg with his head almost shaved and in a dark suit – and hoped the whole way to their house that we wouldn’t be stopped as we looked like a hooker and her pimp!

Pumpkin Chestnut Soup

A photo of Pumpkin Chestnut Soup.

Mid-April we were invited to a dinner party at Sally and Ed’s, along with Jane and Rob. Sally has eleven Siamese cats so one feels like you’re in kitty heaven! They also have 3 dogs, 30-odd sheep, 6 horses, lots of chickens, a couple of ducks and a Guinea pig called “Poo”. Occasionally I house sit for them for a few days, which is always fun and sometimes interesting, like the time Tiger Lily, one of the kitties, decided to use my shoe as a kitty tray…..!