Spooky Kabuki II Halloween Supper

The door is creaking open for our Halloween Special - Spooky Kabuki II which will take place on Friday 25th October. In a spooky house over 100 years old, you will be seated by candle light alongside the other ghosts at one large terrifying table. You will be force fed 7 deadly, sinful courses of feverish, frightening food. 


ill of fare

Draculas Delight
A Blood Curdling Cocktail
~
Puffed Rats Brains w. Spiced Drool
Popcorn w.Lime & Chipotle Sauce
~
Bag O'Fungus
Mushroom Parcel w. Home Made Bread
~
Crispy Skinned Banshee Belly
Pork Belly w. Celeriac Mash, Honey Thyme Parsnips, 
Home Grown Kale & Cider Gravy
~
Frozen Blood
Beetroot Sorbet
~
Ghosts in Goo
Poached Meringue w. Vanilla Custard & Quince Compote
~
Bitter Tea/ Burnt Coffee & Gristly Petit Fears
Tea/Espresso w. Mango Petit Fours



How do I Book?
Places are limited and it's first come first served -to reserve your place please email theopendoorsupperclub@gmail.com 
As soon as I am able to confirm your seat you will receive an email.


For those of you new to the experience of a supper club....you may have some questions;

Where does it happen? 
This event will take place at my home in Dublin, (close to the city center) on Friday 25th October @8.00pm finishing up around 11pm.

What will happen? 
12 people will sit together at one table, getting to know each other, over the shared experience of a meal. 

Can I bring my own wine/beer/fizzy pop? 
Yes you can- you will receive a welcome drink on arrival but please bring your own beverages for the rest of the evening.
 
What will it cost? 
There is a suggested donation of E35.

What should I wear? 
Fancy dress is encouraged but not a stipulation :)

Any house rules?
You will be in a house that is a home -please treat it as you would your own. Do come with an open mind, a sense of humour and a willingness to engage with others in conversation. You are welcome to come alone, in pairs or larger groups.

Cancellation policy-
If you are unable to attend please give me one weeks notice and try get a replacement for your space. If you cancel within 48 hours of the event and are unable to find a replacement for your seat there will be a E15 cancellation fee. Understand that the food is purchased in advance and we are not a restaurant.

Menu is subject to change -depending on availability of ingredients.

Please alert me, when booking, to any special dietary requirements you may have and within reason I will do my best to cater for you.

Peas & love,            
Aoife x

theopendoorsupperclub@gmail.com
facebook.com/TheOpenDoorSupperClub
TW @opendoorsuppers





Vintage Cocktail Club -Brunch -My Thoughts

Nice Tiles -Voce Fala Portugues?

 
Hadn't been. Was in town on Sunday. Needed grub. Fancied a cocktail too -et voila, found myself at the 'secret' door of the V.C.C. Rang the doorbell ...felt momentarily nervous...should we smile or look moody & cool or what? Was there a man looking at us on CCTV...one hand stroking a cat in his lap, one hand hovering between a red button and a green button?! Is this what it's like when you get to the gates of heaven?!

This Door. Somewhere in Temple Bar!


We were greeted by a very friendly girl/lady (I'm in my 30's but still like to be referred to as a girl!) who showed us up a dark stairwell and asked if we'd like to sit in the roof bar and she could pull the roof back for us....Well don't mind if we do so! For now the roof bar was empty, apart from the taxidermied duck, everyone else was in the park or at the beach or still trapped at home nursing hangovers -Hurrrah. 

The Perfect Sun Trap


S and myself perused the brunch menu, made quick decisions and moved swiftly on to the vast selection of spirits and cocktails. This decision happened rather more slowly, they are E11.95 for the standard non-aged ones so we would only be having 1. This is where my indecisive nature reeks havoc....I'm feeling pressure to choose the 'right' one...urrrrgh....Okay, okay, relax the furrowed brow...Housemade Marmalade Vodka?!....'Flip Out' SOLD! S went for the rather femininely named 'Baby Bliss' containing Housemade Beetroot, Balsamic & Strawberry Coulis...Aptly named as it did induce a state of bliss...

Flip Out & Baby Bliss


The beautifully presented cocktails arrived first, leaving us in a slightly boozy state for the grub -no harm done. They were pretty toothsome and if finances had allowed I would definitely have had more...many more.



I had chosen the Smoked Haddock & Poached Egg E14 on a lovely de rigure granny chic plate with wilted spinach, bacon and hollandaise -personnaly I'd have liked if the dish hadn't been under a grill as it dried the hollandaise slightly and a piece of toast would have been nice too, but it was damn tasty. S had Eggs in a Skillet E10(with toast!) deliciously flavoured shrooms with ricotta and eggs -aesthetically also yum.

Haddock & Eggs


Googs in a Skillet

The bill came to E47.90 and we were happy to pay it. Visually the place is nicely finished, the staff were friendly and we enjoyed our chow down and sip up. I imagine it's not as relaxing at night when apparently the place is pretty busy, but for a lazy, boozy Sunday brunch? I would return...(ahem)...anybody who knows me and wants a guide, I am very willing to show you the way...





A Rooty Rémoulade of Celeriac, Beetroot & Cashel Blue

A wonderful crunchy salad, a balance of fresh raw veg. and heady, aged blue cheese brought back to earth with toasted hazelnuts. Rémoulade is French in it's origins but is also popular in Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Louisiana Creole cuisine. I served this recently as the starter for the Good Friday Supper Club and it went down a treat! I adapted this recipe from Nigel (my food crush) Slaters Tender volume 1 book. You could eat this as a light lunch or a starter for 4 -let's begin...



What you need;                                   Serves 2 as a main course
  • 500g of nobbly celeriac -peel removed
  • 250g of creme fraiche
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 large fresh beetroot -peel removed
  • A hunk of Cashel Blue or Blue D'Auvergne -or any blue cheese you fancy
  • Salt & pepper to taste

What you need to do;
  • Using the grater setting on a Magi Mix or a large grater  grate your celeriac
  • Mix in the creme fraiche, lemon juice, salt and pepper with the celeriac
  • Grate your beetroot and in a separate bowl mix this with a handful of the celeriac mixture
  • On a dry skillet pan toast the hazels, rub off the skin in a tea towel, bash them up a bit
  • Arrange on a plate starting with the celeriac followed by the beetroot
  • Crumble the cheese over and sprinkle on the hazels
You could also omit the cheese, add mustard and crispy pancetta as per Nigels recipe.

Beetroot Cured Gravalax

This stunning dish was served as the starter of the most recent supper club, which was based on methods of preserving. Curing fish isn't something a lot of people would consider doing at home -time and space being contributory factors. After all you should probably go for a side of salmon if you're going to bother and it's not a dish you're going to tuck into that very evening but rather enjoy a few days later. However, I urge you to give this one a go -not only does it taste great, it is a feast for the eyes too. This recipe comes from Diane Henry's 'Salt Sugar Smoke' a beautiful, insightful addition to the anyone's cookbook shelf. Gravalax is Scandinavian in it's origins and it was a method of preserving first used by fishermen way back in the day, the salmon would be buried in sand and allowed it to ferment. The name comes from the Scandinavian words 'grav' meaning grave and 'lax' meaning salmon - literally then translating as 'salmon grave' ...sounds delightful eh?!




What you need;                - for 14 people
  • 1.2kg tail end piece of salmon -gutted & deboned with skin intact either cut in half or a large side of salmon
  • 6 tbsp of vodka
  • 125g granulated sugar
  • 100g sea salt flakes
  • 2tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
  • large bunch of dill roughly chopped
  • 400g raw beetroot grated

What you need to do;
  • Make sure your salmon is free of bones -use tweezers to remove any
  • Get a large dish that will hold your salmon and place a double layer of foil down
  • Put your piece of salmon in skin side down rub the vodka into it
  • Mix the sugar, salt, dill and pepper together and spread over the salmon

  • If you have two pieces divide the mixture in half and follow the above steps placing the second piece skin side up
  • Pull the foil up over the fish and place something weighty on top
Thank God I had this lying around!

  • Refrigerate and leave for at least two days -will keep for a week
  • Pour off the liquid that will appear in the dish 
  • Scrape off the cure and slice thinly as needed
  • At the supper club I served it with leaves and fresh horseradish sauce .....it went down a treat.I  also had lunch out of the last few slices which I put onto toasted sourdough with a good  unhealthy slathering of garlic aioli!

Bears Like Salmon

For the Love of ...Love - A St. Valentines Feast

Usually I don't go in much for Valentines day, it kind of has that Hallmark-ish feel, also I don't like being 'told what to do', plus most of my ex-boyfriends didn't really care for it.... so maybe I just made myself not care too!? Anyway this year was to be different, R. seemed a bit disappointed at my lack of enthusiasm so...deep breath..I decided to whole heartedly embrace it... just to see what it feels like. Celebration = food, naturally, so what to cook? Well, I wanted to indulge our senses, throwing caution to the wind about how much butter I was using and also do something a little bit tongue-in-cheek. I decided on the menu as below, although I had to abandon a few ideas for different reasons. Ms. Marmite Lover (Londons Supper Club Queen) had a nice recipe for Palm Hearts Salad in her book Supper Club, I really wanted it as a course, but for love nor money they weren't to be found anywhere in Dublin...even Fallon & Byrne didn't have them!





Cupids Din Dins

Prosecco with crushed Raspberry Hearts
*
Cupids Arrows with Poached Egg & heart-attack Hollandaise
Eat your Heart out Artichoke with Lemon Butter
Bitter/Sweet Figs baked with Honey & Gorgonzola Crema
Heart-Shaped Vol-au-Vents with Wild Mushrooms & Beetroot Hearts
*
Blueberry Blood Custard Cakes with Lemon Curd Cream


  • So, Prosecco with berries, it's so easy -you can use any kind of berry you like and you can use frozen! Essentially you make a coulis. I defrosted some frozen raspberries in a pan (no water), sweetened them with a little honey and passed them through a sieve, to get rid of the annoying little seeds. Once the coulis has come to room temperature, put some in the bottom of a glass and pour in your chilled Prosecco or Cava or Brut, give it a stir and hey presto a lovely aperitif. I'm not bothered with Champagne - it is over-rated and over-priced. Dunnes Stores do a lovely tasting and well packaged bottle of Prosecco for E6.99!
  • Hollandaise sauce- it was my first time making this and it didn't split! I only wanted a small amount so I took 1 egg yolk, 2 dstp of lemon juice -combine these with a whisk over a bain marie, then whisking all the time slowly add cold butter 1/4 cup in total. I steamed the asparagus until tender but slightly al-dente, oxymoron -yes! I like to poach my eggs in a non-stick frying pan, employing a Heston Blumenthal trick -crack your egg on a slotted spoon over a bowl and quickly put it into the warm water -so you discard the stringy egg white bits, that make a poached egg look ugly! Apparently this can be avoided by using a really, really fresh egg...like one you've just lifted from a hens nest.



Asparagus with Poached Egg & Hollandaise


  • I took a whole fresh artichoke, in place of my palm hearts, tearing off some of the exterior leaves then simmering it in a large pot of water with a lemon quartered. A large artichoke will take about 45 mins to cook. When it's ready, drain it on a tea-towel and melt some (lots of) butter, to which you add lemon juice, pepper and a little salt, to taste. Pull off the leaves dipping them into your sauce and sucking off any flesh, until you reach the heart -then scoop away the choke (furry inedible bits) and eat the exposed heart...show no mercy, smother it in the buttery sauce.

  • The figs, again easy peasy, turn on your oven to 180'C/Gas6. It's not fig season so the only ones I could get weren't as juicy as I would have liked, but how as ever we scoffed them. Split the fig into 4 to halfway down, R. loves Cambozola but Fallon & Byrne were out, so Gorgonzola Crema it was to be, put some cheese in the open fig, with a teaspoon of honey on top and bake for about 15 mins on some baking paper. Serve with some leaves and if you have some coulis left over drizzle it around the plate.
Fig with Gorgonzola Crema & Honey


    • Next the soppy, sentimental plate...I had this idea to make heart shaped vol-au-vents, so I bought some puff pastry (Aldi do a decent one), using a cookie cutter I cut out the hearts and a few smaller ones for decoration. Brush with some beaten egg and cook in oven at 180'/Gas 6 until they turn golden -about 15/20 mins. Meanwhile clean your mushrooms, (I used oyster and brown capped French) in a frying pan put lots of butter and fresh thyme, cook your mushrooms on a medium heat. I added a little cream before serving to get a nice sauce. I cooked a medium sized whole fresh beetroot in water for about 35 mins, I then sliced it and cut out more heart shapes....I know I was really getting into it! To finish the heart shaped vol-au-vents, I very carefully cut out a central heart shape from the large puffed hearts and gently removed the center, leaving the base. Fill these with the cooked mushrooms and top with a beetroot heart, serve with leaves.
    Vol-au-Vents with wild Mushrooms & Beetroot Hearts


      • I used the recipe for the Flognard/Custard Cake, see previous blog /theopendoorsupperclub/2012/02/flognardcustard-cake-with-currants.html using fresh blue berries instead of currants and serving it with a lemon curd cream, in individual ramekins. There was a little lemon curd left in one of the jars I made for R. at Christmas so I just swirled it through some whipped cream -easy.
      Blueberry Blood Custard Cake with Lemon Curd Cream

      So myself and R. enjoyed the feast, we were suitably stuffed and I was glad to have embraced the culinary opportunity of V-day... oh wait, is V-day Vagina day? -well that would certainly be an interesting theme for a 5 course dinner...




        Simple simple salad -Beetroot, Mackerel & Avocado

        a simple salad of avocado & mackerel with beetroot chutney....

        Who doesn't love fish? Yes, you are out there, you poor people who don't like fish, okay some of you have allergies but some of you just don't like 'fish'.... this may have stemmed from a traumatic fish incident when you were a child and that's such a pity. Maybe you could go speak to a professional and they will help you like fish again. Fish = Possibilities.....many. And we live on an island..... Island = fish.......!!

        I used a very good quality Italian mackerel from a jar for this and actually I think that it probably worked better than fresh fish ...oh and there were no bones!  (I was in Italy so there was no chance of having mackerel from Irish waters)



        • take some freshly cooked or jarred mackerel
        • put into a bowl and smother with beetroot chutney (it has to be beetroot)
        • prepare your salad leaves...baby leaves = good
        • cut up some pieces of a ripe avocado
        • cut some cherry tomatoes in half
        • combine all of the above, gently season with pepper, salt  & olive oil
        • toast some pumpkin seeds, sprinkle over the top
        • eat and enjoy!


        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVMBhaSIcao     a fishy song by Mr. Scruff

          Fall-a-fell of goodness pittas

          Falafel & Homemade Hummus Pittas



          I'm not really a breakfast person, preferring a large pot of herbal tea to wake up slowly and absorb the morning...But sometimes this means by lunchtime I'm ravenous. Luckily today the hunger was easily stemmed by some delicious Tamruc falafel (stocked in the Evergreen on Wexford St. Dublin), some salady bits and homemade hummus. Homemade hummus is so good for so many reasons -1 its much cheaper -2 you can add more of what you like, less of what you don't -3 you can get the texture you prefer - 4 it's simples to make! Tamruc falafel is different to the regular falafel because there are dates, raisins and basil.....so it has that lovely sweetness you associate with North African/Middle Eastern food...indeed the theory is that falafel originated in Egypt and of course nowadays is eaten right across the Middle East. Hummus also spelled hamos, hommos, hommus, homos, houmous, hummos, hummous, or humus is so easy to make ... I always keep a jar of tahinni (crushed sesame paste) in the cupbord usually then all I need are chickpeas.

          Anyway so to make the hummus -
          • 1 tin of chickpeas
          • juice of 1/2 a lemon
          • 1 dstp tahinni
          • 1 tsp ground cumin
          • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
          • glug of Olive oil
          • pepper
          • sml clove of garlic (optional -as it can make it a little hard to digest )
          Half drain the chickpeas...reserve the rest of the water -in case the hummus is too dry. Get your hand blender, throw everything into a container and whizz until you reach your desired consistency. Now grill some falafel, get some wholemeal pittas, put a good dollop of hummus inside the pittas, fill with whatever salady bits you fancy...beetroot, tomato, avocado, leaves etc......stick in the warm falafel et voila -a delicious any day of the week sandwich!

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIybz6axr1Q&feature=related    -check out this bizarre hummus rap I found on  the tubes of you..... Let the guys take you to hummusville.....I dare you!