March Supper – Reprise

Last night was our first supper of 2012; hosted at the same venue as our very first supper last year, the Granary at Hungerford Mill. A record number of attendees (19) and despite the usual hiccups involved in cooking in a kitchen with which we are not 100% familiar (cue text messages to select attendees to bring sugar) it went pretty smoothly.

The menu comprised of:

Campari, blood orange and soda

Fennel & black pepper biscuits

Wild garlic and Lancashire tarts

Woodpigeon, braised lentils, confit tomatoes and black pudding crumbs

Mango, labneh, almond cake and rose

Rhubarb Bakewell

March Supper

After something of a small hiatus we are back. The first Marches Supper of 2012 will be held on March 24th at the Granary in Hungerford (the same venue as the very first Marches Supper). In an inflation busting move the price of the supper will be the same as 2011: £25 per person. This will be 3 course plus something to nibble before and something sweet to accompany tea and coffee. Menu planning will commence shortly. If you want to book in please let us know and advise us if you have any dietary requirements at the same time.

December’s supper/feast

It was only as we gathered yesterday afternoon to cook supper that team Marches Supper realised the  . . . ummmmnnnn . . . potential windiness of our menu. Sprouts, Jerusalem artichokes and prunes might make for an interesting post supper experience. We won’t canvas opinions on whether this proved to be true.

Only three weeks since our last supper, this one was our nod to Christmas. Sian was on hand to photograph food and events so I will add these to this report as and when they come to me.

We served:

Bloody Mary/Virgin Mary

Deep fried sprouts w/ chilli and almond

Ham hock terrine w/ celeriac remoulade

or

Wild mushrooms on sourdough

Roast partridge with a roast apple, bread sauce, Jerusalem artichokes and quince jelly

or

Gurnard cooked with saffron, sherry and bay, w/ pink fir potatoes and cavolo nero

Chocolate and almond cake w/ prunes and creme fraiche

Tea/Coffee/Mint tea/Hippy tea w/ fig rolls and cantuccini

Onwards with planning Marches Supper does 2012!

November’s Supper

We had 18 for supper last night – the most people we’ve cooked for and the limit for the number we can host – we’re already pushing the available cutlery to it’s full extent.

There was a complete photography fail last night – and Sian wasn’t there as a punter to take pictures on our behalf.

So . . . . you’ll have to imagine . . .

 

Mulled cider or spiced warm apple juice

Rosemary and black olive scones

 

New season, local purple sprouting with hollandaise (this was magic hollandaise that drank butter and refused to entertain the prospect of splitting)

 

Pheasant and bacon pies, with red cabbage, carrot puree and pickled damsons

 

or . . . Whiting with savoy cabbage and potatoes

 

Roast quince and pear with nutmeg ice cream

 

A plate of Berkswell, Caws Myndd Du, pears and walnuts

 

Tea and coffee and clementine fudge

 

On with planning our December 3rd meal!

 

 

October’s Supper

Am hoping that the trajectory of our ability to photographically document our suppers will reverse at some point as, last night, we managed to take precisely zero pictures of the supper or the food that we ate. One of our guests was seen taking pictures so we may collar those and put them up here if they come our way. In short, when all of our 6 hands were trying to get 15 plates of food out while still hot, grabbing a camera and composing a decent shot is not a priority – not that we make our lives any easier by designing (in the case of our main last night) plates of food with 7 separate components.

15 was a new high for us in number of guests and I think we just about pulled it off.

The menu was as follows:

Elderberry cocktail

Parmesan biscuits

Roast squash with lime, chilli and a yoghurt and tahini dressing

Pig cheek cooked in cider, confit pork belly and crackling with potato and celeriac mash, pan-fried apples and chard

or

Roast tomato and thyme orzotto

Damson jelly with damson fool and hazelnut shortbread biscuits

Tea/coffee/mint tea with almond and cardomom cookies

 

October supper

Our next supper will take place on October 1st in a house in Culmington – 3 miles NE of Ludlow. Early autumn provides particularly rich pickings for us to cook from so we’re pretty excited about what we’ve got lined up. We promise the bosky, misty, fruitfulness of all things good.

If you would like to attend please drop us an e-mail.
We’re fully booked for our supper on October 1st. We’ll post a report shortly after the event.

August’s supper

I realise why people (restauarants) employ food stylists to document their offerings . . . when you’ve got hot plates, hot food and then rapidly melting ice cream it’s difficult to take well lit shots of the food that you’ve lovingly prepared . . . and your priority is to get the food in front of your guests. Which is a long excuse for this post being a little bit . . . dry!

Last night’s supper (our second) was . . . we think . . . a great success. Our guests ate (and enjoyed(?)) the following:

Elderflower champagne

Sourdough with almond, mint and anchovy paste

Pigeon escabeche with bulgar wheat

or

Warm lentil and radicchio salad with labneh and candied walnuts

Lamb breast with sweetbreads and chard

or

New season garlic soufflé with chicory

Whimberry tart with whimberry ripple ice cream

Tea, coffee and mint tea with chocolate brownies

 

Supper Soc – seconds out, round 2

Ok, the plan was always to make this a monthly adventure but . . . if the first event had gone disastrously we always had the option of permanently kicking our collective heels and not making it a regular occurrence. However . . . people seemed to like it.

So, with great imaginary fanfare, we can announce that the second Marches Supper Society event will be held on August 13th* – bear with us as we haven’t yet confirmed the venue, but will do so soon. The venue will be nearer to Ludlow than the last event – it may even be held outside, but we’re not counting any chickens on this front – there will be a suggested donation of £25, there will be 3 courses plus bits before and bits after, there will be fun and jollity aplenty. Come and join us.

Contact us either via twitter or e-mail us at info@marchessuppersociety.co.uk to book a place.

 

*please note we have moved this event to August 13th from August 6th – weddings etc got in the way of the 6th

Menu for June 4th

If you didn’t make it to our first event last night here’s what you missed:

Lemonade with Mint and raspberries

Seasonal vegetables with mayonniase

Fresh peas

Rabbit terrine with pickled cucumber and sourdough

or

Roast garlic and pea soup

Ham hock with broad beans, braised lettuce and new potatoes

or

Saffron and tomato tart

Warm gooseberry cake with elderflower ice cream

Coffee and shortbread

Thanks to Sian – for (a) being an excellent guest and (b) for letting us steal her photographs

Inaugural Supper Society event

Our first event will take place on June 4th.

We are fiddling with the menu as we speak, but rest assured, there will be 3 courses with something to nibble on before and something to scoff alongside a coffee/tea at the end of the evening. The suggested donation for the food will be in the region of £25 – it won’t be more than this but we may be able to bring it in under this. We are not licensed so please bring your own wine/beer/cider/alcopops etc.

The venue is in the Corvedale approx 15 minutes from Ludlow.

7.30 for 8.00

It’s going to be great.

For more information please DM us via our twitter account @MarchesSupper

*newsflash* – final costings are in and the suggested contribution will now be £20