Reflections on a Saturday evening well spent

There is nothing better than waking up on a refreshed, Sunday morning and recollecting the meal that was indulged in the evening before. This meal was a culmination of certain dishes that we both wanted to create.

Tomato Trio Tart

This simple light tart is made from three types of tomatoes on a bed of shallots sauteed in balsamic oil placed on a puff pastry base. I had been craving a tart similar to this ever since I was bitterly disappointed by a plate of sliced supermarket-grade uncooked tomatoes on a cold pastry base which was flaunted on the menu as a tomato tarte tatin in an overpriced restaurant. This one I made was the answer to my dreams and so appropriate to this time of year.

Bream me up, Scotty!

According to Gordon Ramsey, bream is a chef's secret. Dan originally followed Gordon's recipe for poached bream but felt that one bream was a little small for two people and poaching isn't really all that tasty. A couple of months down the line, we were able to get a hold of two whole bream and Dan roasted it with a wedge of lemon and a basil leaf in the cavity of each fish. We served it for the main course with roasted new potatoes. The bream was succulent and sweet and well worth the £5 each that we paid for them.

Passionfruit & Strawberry Roulade

I don't think I really believed my ears when I heard Dan declare his intentions of creating the dessert for the evening. Afterall, he's not really known as the 'pudding chef' of the family. His inspiration came from a punnet of strawberries and four passionfruit that we had purchased on a whim. When both ingredients were typed into Google, the most common suggestions were either a Pavlova or a roulade. He chose the latter, since pavolva is one of my specialties and he didn't want to live up to expectations. The roulade, in fact, was amazing, with crushed nuts and chocolate shavings adding a special touch. I will savour this creation, as I expect I will have to wait a very long time for Dan's next adventures in dessert cooking...

In all, we had a delightful evening with each dish being relatively easy to create. We polished off a bottle of my favourite wine, Brown Brother's Chenin Blanc, which was a perfect accompaniment to these relatively sweet dishes. I certainly would not be disappointed if I was presented with this menu at restaurant.