A few years ago, circumstances made me move to a house share. Soon, I realised my move created a new problem for entertaining. I lacked space in the kitchen to store and cook, in the dining room to sit guests, and independence to host often without fear of asking too much from my fellow house mates.
So I had to find an alternative. I had to. Entertaining at home, preparing meals for my friends, experimenting in the kitchen is simply part of my life. In the preparation of a dinner or lunch I lose myself in the creativity of blending the ingredients into a unique dish. It is wonderfully blissful and therapeutic. Then comes the joy of sharing the love I put in the cooking and baking: for me, inviting my friends over to share a meal is all about giving; giving some care, some love, some attention and, this most valued thing, some time for the people around me. They matter to me, my family and friends, and it is my way of showing it to them, even if that is little.
This is why I came up with the Kitchen Invasion idea. If my guests cannot come to me, I will go to them. I will invade their kitchens and take over their stoves. This can take many forms: it might be that I will host a dinner at theirs with our common friends and organise the whole evening myself. It might be that they will invite me to cook for a dinner and invite me as a guest when my chef duties are done with. Or, as it happened in late December 2015, I would just show up and see what happened.
T
he idea, as agreed with my friends a few days before, was for me to arrive early evening and prepare a meal with whatever was in their kitchen, freezer and cupboard. It was the first time I purposely went to a friend to cook without bringing any ingredients, suggest a menu prior or provide a list of errands.
The spontaneity of the challenge was exciting! They also decided to up the ante and, on purpose, did not do a big shop prior – except champagne! As they are not fond of cooking and keep the bare minimum in their kitchen (at least by comparison with my usual), the dishes were simple but thankfully a success. So after an hour of cooking, here is what I concocted for four hungry people.
MENU & RECIPES
– Chichen casserole in a spicy fondue of peppers, tomatoes and onions;
– Roasted sweet potatoes with a hint of blue cheese and cumin
– Pear clafoutis (a French pudding between flan and sponge cake), with an original cream and bread mix to replace flour and butter.
For the chicken casserole, I first threw in a deep pan (previously heated up with some oil) 1 large sliced onion, 3 different coloured sliced peppers and 3 large chopped tomatoes with a rosemary, cumin seeds, salt and barbecue spices (apparently from Namibia) and stirred fry it all. When the vegetables were soft, I added 500g of chicken thighs and half a glass of water, then covered and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. The sauce was thick, the vegetable blended together perfectly, and the chicken most and savoury. The hostess was hoping for leftovers as the pot was for 6 people, but as most of us had three servings, there was but two tiny thighs remaining.
When the casserole was simmering, the sweet potatoes (about 6 large ones) were unpeeled and placed in a heated oven at 200°C with few drops of oil, rosemary, salt and the same barbeque spices used for the casserole. It slowly cooked and caramelised in the oven for 30 minutes. About 15 minutes before serving, I sprinkled blue cheese on top of the sweet potatoes and put back in the oven. The sweet potatoes had a nice cheesy crunchy outside and a soft core that was juicy and tasty. We could not get enough.
Now for the pudding, I mixed white bread, sugar, 4 large eggs, 25cl of cream, a dash of milk, 3 pears, some ground almond and cinnamon. It is difficult for me to share a recipe as I made it up focusing on finding the right texture and taste for the ‘dough’. When I was satisfied with the mix, I poured it in a low cake pan and placed it in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes at 200°C, dusting on top a generous amount of sugar to get a caramelised crunchy crust. Served hot with ice-cream and a fruity bailey, it was yummy. Maybe more almond and no milk next time though, to make it less spongy. It was good but with room for improvement.
Great Result!
This new addition to the Kitchen Invasion concept was conclusive. I already look forward to many more of this kind. So dear friends, stock up your kitchen and get your pans out, I am coming!