Elliott Sanderson of Barclay Meade invited me to a networking event that he held at The cookery school in Little Portland St in London.  I wasn’t sure what to expect but it was such fun and a really great way of getting together with people you don’t know to network.  We got straight into the cooking – well after a glass of wine and some falafels and humus served to us by the resident chefs.

Barclay Meade Networking dinner

Appetiser

Falafel

Hummus

Main Course

Chicken Tagine

Herbed Couscous

Dessert

Baklava

We split into groups to make the 3 recipes.

First the Chicken Tagine – this was not my task – I just got to watch and eat it at the end and it really was the best tagine I have tasted.  Traditionally tagine is a Moroccan dish and the tagine is the earthenware that the casserole is cooked in.  We just used a great big pot but you can use any oven proff casserole dish to make this.  The best way is to let the chicken marinate overnight in the oil and spices.  This had been done for us – a little like in Blue Peter if you are my generation!

When we got there we had to fry the chicken pieces – thighs worked really well until they were browned all over.  We then set aside the chicken and using the same pot fried the onions with the garlic, adding a little water so as not to let the onions stick to the pot.  You then put the chicken pieces back and add the spices, coriander, tomatoes and honey and enough water to cover the chicken.  This should be then simmered and cooked slowly for 1 and a half hours.   Meanwhile brown the almonds and sesame seed which you use to sprinkle over when serving.

To make the herbed couscous  we added grated lemon rind, chopped mint and chopped coriander to the couscous- the lemon and herb  really gave a delicious flavour to the couscous – I never order couscous in a restaurant and I have never made it at home but I really am going to make this recipe now that I have been shown how to cook it and tasted how good it was….and I am going to try to get my very stubborn children to try it (they are not good at trying something different!)  The interesting thing about this recipe is that you don’t actually cook the couscous – but the boiling stock is added and you put a lid on the stainless steel bowl with the couscous and herbs and just let it steam.

Now for the Baklava- It was so good and so easy.  First you chop the walnuts (you can add variation by mixing in pistachios)

Then you butter a pan and lay half of the filo sheets – brushing each individual layer with melted butter

You then layer half of the chopped nuts that have been mixed with cinnamon on to the pastry and repeat with half the remaining filo sheet – again brushing each individual sheet with melted butter.  Then another layer of walnuts and finish with the remaining filo sheets remembering to butter each individual sheet

Now it is really important to cut through the pastry otherwise it is really difficult to serve and eat once cooked!  Cut diagonally in lines about 2 inches apart across the pan and make sure you use a sharp knife and cut all the way through to the base.

Now put the pan in a preheated oven 180C and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.  Oh i forgot to describe the honey / syrup but that is because it was another Blue Peter thing – something they had made earlier and kept in the fridge.  Check out the Baklava recipe on Elliot’s profile to see how you can make the syrup at home!

As soon as the baklava comes out of the oven drizzle the syrup all over the top – particularly in the diagonal slashes.

That was a lot of fun and the best bit was we all got to gather round a makeshift dining table and eat what we had made – Thanks Elliott for inviting me along! – Elliott is the one with the cheeky grin!

This is our 33 menu out of our target of 52 – a different menu for every week of the year – so if you are reading this and can send in your favourite menu for friends, family for 2 people, 4, 6 or more no matter what it is for if you have a favourite dinner party menu please share it with us!