Mothering Sunday Tea with Hannah & Chilli-Chocolate Brownie Disaster

Like a diligent and loving son I headed back to the ranch for Mothering Sunday, safe in the knowledge that I was in for a feast. Whenever we see Hannah we know we're not going to go hungry - as you'll see from the links below.

BBQ on the bales
Hannah's epic afternoon tea
Christmas Eve with Hannah
Cowie's Brownies for Hannah

This isn't going to be a long post. Just a brief pictorial summary in honour of the lost art of afternoon tea. Enjoy the slide show.


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

The highlight of the spread wasn't the first bite of Jane's incredible scones with clotted cream, or Mum's amazing violet and lemon cake. No the highlight was my disastrous foray into interfering with Cowie's (now sacred) brownie recipe. I thought it would be a good idea to add some chilli chocolate sauce to the mix. But I failed to check the sauce I used resulting in Cowie's, normally amazing, brownies tasting more of curry than chocolate.

On closer inspection of the jar it turned out that the sauce I had haphazardly lobbed in was actually actually a sauvory sauce for use in Mexican moles! DISASTER! I had single handedly ruined Mother's Day. Or so Dad said. And then Hannah broke down crying and I feared the worst... but they were happy tears. None of us have eaten anything this nasty in a long time and it was hilarious. Take it from me. The brownies below may look delicious.



But because I used this stuff. They tasted gross!



Hannah. It was great to see you. I hope the Aga gets better soon!

Hannah's Epic Afternoon Tea

What better way to catch up on Master Chef gossip than to spend the afternoon with Hannah over at her wonderful cottage. The Brown and Cowie team descended on poor Hannah on Sunday afternoon having starved ourselves in expectation!

Hannah was completely bamboozled by Cowie trying to park Mum's car as she shot backwards and forwards like a child on a swing... only to then park the car neatly by Hannah's garrage. I arrived with Mum and Dad bearing a few goodies of our own. Rococo do some lovely mushroom shaped chocolates on Marylebone High Street that make really nice pressies. Or at least I like going into their shop and trying things out. But I always come out with the same thing! Must be my fascination with mushrooms!

Hannah showed us her hens which she's had to keep couped up because an evil fox destroyed her last lot of cluckers. They are incredibly lively girls. All pecking away at their porrige and seeds. I imagine there can be few happier chickens than those that are lucky enough to live with Hannah. They're great layers apparently.

We were greeted in Hannah's kitchen by the most friendly, comforting smell in the world. Baking. That sweet smell of being at home. Of cookies. Of naughty roulades. Of suger and sinful deserts. Hannah and her lovely friend Maren from Germany had enjoyed themselves by cooking up an absolute feast.

The star of the show and by far the most unusual cake was a poppie seed cake made with curd with a star shapes instead of lattice. They were soft, squidgy and unusual in a way that made you keep nibbling to see if you could closer to working out what made them taste so good! Mum and Hannah started dreaming up ways to grow poppies commercially without being arrested for opium related crimes! If the guys in Afganistan can get away with it I'm sure Mum and Hannah can!



Dad was then given a huge slice of roulade that oozed cream and plum compote. The sharpness of the plums was sensational when combined with the cinamon icing sugar! Hannah is so clever with her flavours. Everything exudes flair and creativity... not to mention edible glitter!



I have fallen in love with Hannah's peanut and chocolate cookies. Craggy little chaps with enough illicit temptation inside them to have had them banned by Oliver Cromwell back in his time! I've taken a few back to work and they were wolfed down by Oli who claims they are a miracle cure for migraines! Quick Hannah... call Pfizer immediately!



Mum and Hannah both have an unhealhy obsession with violets. Mum even managed to get them into our tagine on Saturday. And she turned up with violet ice cubes for Hannah! It's a little bit lost on me, but Hannah's chocolate cup cakes with violet icing looked divine.




But the star of the show for me were these incredibly dainty lemon cup cakes with rose icing. I doubt anyone will ever see a prettier cup cake! Or at least not until Hannah opens the world's best tea rooms!



Hannah also made some very dainty cucumber and smoked salmon sandwiches with the crusts neatly trimmed off which brought back fond memories for Dad of his childhood. I wolfed down my welsh rarebit crumpet and have resolved to make them myself soon. They are brilliant. And give you just the savoury kick you need when enjoying so much sugar.

We had the most wonderful time with Hannah and can't wait to repay the invitation. Hannah, thank you so much for an unforgettable afternoon!

Love from the Browns and two very chirpy Cowie girls.

x

Christmas Eve with Hannah and Family

Mum invited Hannah and her entire family over for dinner on Christmas Eve. We had a brilliant evening eating good food and playing silly games. After a day of fetching the goose and finishing off neglected Christmas shopping it really got us in festive spirit... to the extent that Dad did a recital of the Bird in the Guilded Cage in a throw back to his days as a choir boy.

As a present Hannah brought over some fondant fancies covered in edible glitter and psychodelic icing. They look utterly stunning and fit in well with our wallpaper! They are a huge speciality of Hannah's and I can't wait for her to bring another batch over.





When we collected the goose earlier in the day we asked whether they had any venison fillet and were delighted when a gigantic piece of dark, tender meat appeared. I decided to make a venison carpaccio starter with a roquette salad dressed with juniper oli, black chocolate and parmesan. Later on in proceedings after a glass or two of champagne I decided it might be a good idea to add a dollop of Mum's 2004 vintage damson jam to the mix!

Whilst the venison was chilling in the freezer to firm up, I whizzed up loads of juniper berries with black pepper, salt, olive oil and a sprinkling of dried chilli. Mum always holds us back with chilli because it makes Dad sneeze! Having made a very fragrant oil I tried it out on Suz and Mum. Mum said it was too gritty and Suz added some lemon. So I sieved the liquid and held it back for later.

Slicing the venison was a very therepeutic experience. There's something very soothing about taking a really sharp knife and slicing through super tender flesh. I tried my hardest to slice it as thin as possible and then layered the meat on top of the salad leaves before dressing them with the fragrant oil, parmesan scrapings, dark chocolate shavings and damson jam.





We served the venison with the delicious curry paste bread that Hannah brought with her and popped a few bowls of extra chocolate and parmesan on the table in case people wanted more. I was delighted to see 11 clean plates as well as people helping themselves to extra toppings! It made a great alternative to smoked salmon and was actually quite economical.



A delicious salad Nicoise followed the venison which made for a great alternative to turkey or ham. We were so relieved that it allowed all to breathe a sigh anticipation for the goose and turkey later in the week.

Suz slaved for hours over some delicious cinamon and white chocolate pannacottas. They turned out perfectly and looked fab. Well done little Sis.



What a brilliant Christmas Eve. Great to catch up with Hannaa and the Miles gang.

Check out Hannah's brilliant blog here.

Hannah's Floral Cookery Demonstration

Last weekend was very special. Mum had around 400 people around our garden for charity despite the horrible rain. Hannah gave 2 brilliant demonstrations of how to make delicious desserts including a sinful Toblerone tiramisu, a ginger cheesecake, a strawberry tart and some fantastic lavender shortcake.

Here are some of the snaps I took:

Hannah signing autographs...









Everyone in the audience loved the demonstration and Hannah was an inspiration. There was a collective intake of breath as the fifth layer of double cream was layered on top of the tiramisu! And you've never seen desserts guzzled more quickly than when Hannah's creations were handed around the audience. It was as if no one had eaten for 40 days or nights!