birthday quiche
September 30th, 2012
I went to Fiona’s birthday on Friday, a little early, with the intention of knocking up a quiche and some sausage rolls before the other guests arrived. Things didn’t go quite to schedule, but there’s no harm in the guests smelling the food cooking and there were lots of other nibbles to prevent the wine getting too wet!
ready for the oven
I made the pastry beforehand and it rolled out perfectly – my biggest worry had been that it might split slightly and then leak while cooking. Fiona bought a very nice new quiche dish for the occasion – I was impressed by the weight (other cooks will appreciate that detail). The quiche contained bacon, onions, tomatoes and cheese, as per my recipe here, plus an additional 3 eggs – I think the dish is deeper than my one. I was very happy to see that the quiche didn’t last long – I think that’s a good sign.
chicken liver paté
Meanwhile Jenny served her delicious home made chicken liver paté on toasted bread, with basil leaves.
bombay pizza
Susy arrived with three Bombay Pizzas, which she’d bought in Kingsbury. I’ve no idea what was in them, but they were pungent and spicy with jalapeños on top. I was suitably impressed and ate at least two slices.
chorizo sausage rolls
I modified last year’s sausage rolls – this year I used soft chorizo, the type one would normally cook in a stew. The spicy pimentón gave them a welcome kick – definitely something to make again!
Susy bought a beautiful glass tiered cake stand and filled it full of cakes from Lisboa, the famous Portuguese bakery on Goldborne Road – I really wanted to photograph it, but it was quite big and I couldn’t put it anywhere where there was enough light.
About 2 hours in to the party, Fiona’s friend Hilary made a spectacular entrance, playing happy birthday on the bagpipes, as she climbed several flight of stairs to the flat. I stayed until about 2.30, but there was no sign of the party ending when I left…
Mad Dog TV Dinners 
What a wonderful feast mate. Lovely to have such foodie friends too.
Cheers
Marcus
Thanks Marcus, IMHO foodie friends are the best kind to have 😉
I love the image of the friend ascending the stairs playing the bagpipes. I’m sure the neighbours were impressed.
Best,
Conor
The bagpipes were amazing, especially when played by a tall blonde girl. Apparently one of the neighbours came out onto the stairs to see what was going on, because it was his birthday too!
Brilliant!
Beautiful quiche! And, that chicken liver pate… simply delicious!
Thanks Tessa – that’s my favourite quiche recipe 😉
At one point I had a studio in West Hampstead and I have fond memories of stopping at the Lisboa on my there each day. The custard tarts are wonderful. The Portuguese grocer over the road had a saw horse with a huge piece of bacalao leaning against it, ready for a bit to be sawn off.
The great thing about Lisboa is that it’s still the same – even the street retains most of its charm. I must go over there in the day time this week, there’s a stall on Portobello Road that does fantastic cheap cheese and prosciutto.
Now that’s a party! What a great selection of eats, too. Whenever I bring a dish to a dinner, on the way over I tell myself that whether people eat it isn’t a reflection on the dish. There are a 100 reasons why they may not eat it all. But, it sure does feel good leaving with a serving plate that was empty mid-way through the party. 🙂
It was a great party and brilliant when your own food goes quickly 😉
Ah, what a great birthday party. And those bagpipes…shame you couldn´t record it for us to listen, now that would have been fun 🙂 Love the quiche, and glad it stopped the wine getting too wet!
Ha ha – I think the bagpipes were “of the moment” and that wine does get a bit wet at times 😉
sounds like a right good feast, I haven’t had quiche forever, will have to get one on the summer menu
Thanks Allison, I hadn’t made one for ages either 😉
Honoured Mad Dog for not only your presence, pastry, quiche and sausage rolls but a blog entry on said gathering… Delicious company and food. One looks forward to using the new [and lightweight]… flan dish. AND by special request the tail end of the bagpipes were from Hilary Knox (available for private functions by special request…)
Thanks Fiona – my favourite place is the kitchen at parties 😉
I love it when you guys have dinners and those sausage rolls!!! YUM! .. I bet you all had a fab night, and really we don’t want our wine to get too wet do we! c
Thanks Cecilia, that was the best party I’ve been to for a long time 😉
¡Qué bien os lo pasáis! Todo tiene una pinta buenísma 🙂
Gracias Giovanna, era casi tan emocionante como una fiesta española 😉