Mix 2oz Vodka with 1oz Kahula. Top up with cola and serve in a short glass with ice

6 firm pears (William or similar)
2 bottles of Primitivo. (Red wine from Puglia Italy) You will have some leftover but that can be considered the chef’s perk!
225gm sugar
420ml water
1 vanilla bean/ vanilla essence
½ lemon
1 pound dried black figs
3 tbls Honey
250ml of double or whipping cream
2 tbls of cassis
6 leaves of mint

Method :

1. Peel the pears leaving the stems on and rub with 1/2 lemon.
2. Pour a bottle of Primitivo, 225gm sugar, 420ml water, and the vanilla into a heavy based saucepan and bring to a fast simmer and stir to dissolve the sugar.
3. Add the pears, and reduce the heat to a slow simmer and poach the pears until they take on a translucent appearance and feel slightly soft but are still firm. Keeping the pears in the pot remove from heat and leave in the liquid to cool.  They will be soft but still have certain firmness.
4. In a saucepan bring 500ml of Primitivo with 3 tablespoons honey to a fast simmer and add the figs and reduce the heat to a simmer.  Simmer the figs until they are plump and soft, which will take about 1 hour. When ready let the figs cool in the poaching liquor.
5. Remove the figs and put them aside and reduce the liquid until it is slightly thickened.
6. Whip the cream to soft peaks and add the cassis.
7. To serve the dessert place a pear on each plate with the figs arranged around the base.  Pour the reduced poaching liquid from the figs over the pears and spoon over the cream.  At the top of each pear decorate with a mint leaf.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place beetroot on the centre of a large sheet of baking foil and sprinkle with olive oil seasoning and the herbs. Make a neat foil package and place this on a baking sheet and cook for about 30-40 minutes or until tender.  Let the beets cool before peeling.  The beetroot can be cooked the day before and kept in the fridge in a sealed container.  When wanted they can be taken out and peeled.   Using an adjustable blade slicer or very sharp knife, slice 3 of the beets very thinly.
2. Puree the remaining beet with 2 tbsp honey and pass through a fine sieve.  You should now have a nice thick silky puree which you can put in a piping bag or squeeze bottle.  This can be prepared the day before and kept in the fridge.
3. Crumble goat’s cheese and place in a bowl and mix preferable using an electric mixer.  When the goat’s cheese is nice and light reduce the speed of the mixer and at a gently rate add the cream being careful not too over whip the mixture or it will turn grainy as the cream turns to butter.
4. This colourful starter really looks dramatic on a long rectangular white plate.  Slightly overlap in a straight line 6 slices on each of the 6 plates.  Using two teaspoons carefully quenelle three dollops of the whipped goats cheese and place them evenly along the row of beets.
5. Choose the same spot on each plate and place the tsp of the honey comb.
6. For the final flourish scatter the pine nuts over the beetroot and make decorative swirls of the honeyed beetroot sauce.

Roast guinea fowl: Serves 4, cooking time of approximately 1 hour

Ingredients

• 2 small guinea fowl ( Keep the giblets to make the stock)
• 75g butter
• 80ml of olive oil
• 1 Carrot, 1 medium sized onion, 1 stick of celery and ¼ head of garlic with skin, 1 quartered tomato ( This is for the stock)
• Sprigs of  tarragon
• 350g streaky dry smoked bacon rashers
• 400ml dry white wine
• 80ml sherry
• 200g seedless white seedless grapes,
• salt and pepper
• juice of a lemon

Preparation method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180˚C.
2. Put 15g butter and a sprig of tarragon inside each guinea fowl. Melt 25g butter and brush liberally over the birds. Cover the breasts with streaky bacon and using some butchers string secure this to the birds.
3. Put the olive oil in a roasting dish and warm it in the oven for about 5 mins before placing the bird breast side down with the giblets and returning it into the oven for 1 hour at 180˚. (Guinea fowl is a game bird and consequently it can be dry if not cooked carefully.  I always place poultry breast side down for the first 15 mins of cooking as I find it helps keep the breasts nice and moist.)  After 15 mins turn the birds over and baste and repeat basting every 15 mins. At the same time place around the fowl the stock vegetables and the reserved giblets.   Remove the bacon for the last 20 minutes to allow the meat to brown.
4. After an hour remove the guinea fowl from the oven and carve into joints.
5. Pour most of the fat from the roasting tin, leaving all the residues with the vegetables and giblets, and then add the wine, sherry and 350ml of water. Boil through, and then add the guinea fowl and 150g grapes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and lemon juice.
6. Cover and cook for about 15 minutes in the oven. Remove the joints from the sauce and place on a warm serving dish.
7. Strain the sauce and stir in 25g butter. Pour over the birds and serve garnished with the remaining grapes

The Music
Create a list of songs you “do” want your band/DJ to play, but DO NOT create a specific list and playing order for them to follow.  Many brides and grooms have over managing the beats; resulting in missing those “festive highs” the pros know how to attain. Leave it to the talent of the professional you hired.

The Menu
Don’t plan a menu thinking you’re going to please everyone.
Do design your menu to celebrate the season and to please the majority.

Be yourself
Voice what is important to you.  The best weddings we see are the ones that allow the personalities of the couple to shine through.

Traditions
Honor traditions; they create those touching moments. Try not to combine more than two toasts at a time…it will get tedious. Get the guests back on the dance floor.

DO accept help when offered
You cannot be everywhere and do everything.  If a friend offers to pickup Auntie Mary at the airport – let her!

DO stay organised
Keep everything in one place for easy reference, whether it is on your IPad or in that huge wedding binder your best friend bought for you the second you got engaged; it will save time in the long run.

DON’T forget to enjoy yourself!
Be a guest at your own wedding!!!  This is a once in a lifetime experience and you should cherish every second!

DO hire a videographer and great photographer
You don’t want to forget one minute of this special day and plan to show your kids one day.

In Book V of The Annals, Tacitus writes that “the entertainment took place on a raft constructed on Marcus Agrippa’s lake. It was towed by other vessels, with gold and ivory fittings. Their rowers were degenerates, assorted according to age and vice.”
Although Tacitus’ recollection of the event does not extend to a menu card (there, are, however, details of eye-watering sexual feats), we may assume the feast ran along the lines of the one mapped out by Petronius in his Satyricon. At that banquet guests were treated to dormice sprinkled with poppy seed; sow’s udders; a hare with wings attached, to represent Pegasus; a calf boiled whole and wearing a helmet; and more than 50 other Roman delicacies.

THE MEDICI WEDDING Florence, 1600
In 1600, a great dynastic wedding took place in Florence when Marie de Medici married Henry IV, the King of France. The ceremony in the cathedral was an impressive feat of theatre but had nothing on a party for 300 guests, held at the Palazzo Vecchio’s Salone dei Cinquecento. The festivities were designed by the Florentine sculptor and architect Bernardo Buontalenti, who, it seems, had a limitless budget. Historical reports say there were more than 50 courses at the banquet. The first surprise, though, came shortly before the starter - when the guests sat down, unfolded their napkins and saw songbirds fly out. The highlight of the meal was sherbets of milk and honey, which were created by Buontalenti and inspired by Marie, who had brought the recipe for sherbet from France.

THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD Balinghem, 1520
In the early 16th century, Europe, a continent divided between the great powers - most notably the French and the Habsburg empires - was threatened from the East. And, in 1518, the major powers had signed the Treaty of London, a non-aggression pact to ensure they repelled the march of the Ottoman Empire. In the spirit of this new-found bonhomie, Henry VIII of England and François I of France agreed to hold a carnival, over three weeks in June, which would become known as The Field of the Cloth of Gold. The party, which took place between Guines and Ardres, near Calais, was one of the most lavish diplomatic splurges ever recorded. There was jousting, music, huge tents (Henry had a 12,000 sq ft temporary palace built), and a disgusting amount of food. The festival turned sour for Henry when, in its last week, he lost a wrestling match to François.

NICOLAS FOUQUET’S FÊTE WORSE THAN DEATH Vaux-le-Vicomte, 17 August 1661
Nicolas Fouquet, finance minister to Louis XIV, had not only enjoyed a stellar career at the court of the capricious French king, but also bought himself a glorious estate at Vaux-le-Vicomte. There, he developed the greatest chateau in France. So sumptious were the grounds, and so generous was its host, the castle became a centre for society dandies and great artists. But the fun had to stop eventually. On 17 August 1661, Fouquet threw such a lavish banquet that he was arrested. To celebrate the inauguration of the chateau, a play by Molière called Les Fâcheux (The Bores) was performed before thousands of guests who were determined to be anything but the title of the drama. Then Vatel, the highly strung chef who created Chantilly cream and killed himself when he was unable to provide fresh fish for the king’s dinner, made a sumptuous, dairy-heavy feast. Fireworks marked the end of the meal, but there were more to come: Fouquet’s party had been deemed too ostentatious by the king, who inferred a misappropriation of the Crown’s money. Fouquet was arrested and later imprisoned for life. His wife was then exiled, and his beloved chateau was taken away from him. All this for holding the greatest shindig of the 17th century.

THE REGENT’S BANQUET Brighton, 18 January 1817
The Prince Regent - later George IV of England - was such a glutton that it was said his uncorseted belly hung between his knees. No doubt he had a special place in his cholesterol-saturated heart for the greatest knees-up of his Regency: the “Regent’s Banquet” at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton.  On 18 January 1817, George invited the greatest (and most expensive) chef in the world, Marie-Antoine Carême, to prepare a unique and extravagant dinner in honour of the visiting Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia. Carême had previously cooked for Napoleon, the Rothschilds and the Tsar. But on that cold night in 1817, Carême outdid all his previous achievements - creating 127 dishes. The evening’s pièce de résistance was a 4ft-high Turkish mosque constructed entirely out of marzipan, although there were pigeon pies, saddles of lamb and a hundred other delicacies. So pleasurable was the feast that the Prince Regent exclaimed: “It is wonderful to be back in Brighton where I am truly loved.”

THE FEAST OF BEASTS Paris, 31 December 1870
On New Year’s Eve 1870, at Noel Peter’s restaurant in Paris, Monsieur Bonvalet, the mayor of the third arrondissement, arranged the ultimate carnivore’s party for 20 of his friends. It was, you might have thought, an odd time to throw a celebratory dinner - Paris had been under siege from the Germans for months and food was scarce in the capital. Nevertheless, Bonvalet, using his connections at the local zoo, designed an innovative menu. Guests were treated to such unusual fare as escalope d’elephant with a shallot sauce and roast bear à la sauce Toussenel. It was, according to reports, a roaring success - proof, for Bonvalet at least, that if the siege of Paris continued much longer, the poor could be fed using animals from the zoo. There are no reports, though, to suggest that Bonvalet’s bold solution to Paris’s food shortage was ever put to the test. The city fell to the advancing Germans on 28 January. One can only assume that Bonvalet and his friends were eating elephant casserole all January.

ST PATRICK’S DAY FOR THE PRESIDENTS Washington, 17 March 1959
On Saint Patrick’s Day in the US, everyone is Irish. So when on St Patrick’s Day in 1959, Ireland’s President O’Kelly visited President Eisenhower at the White House, the scene was set for an almighty diplomatic splurge. “Ike” had always loved his food and was famed for cooking barbeques on the roof of the West Wing, while President O’Kelly was a noted talker. Together, they had a ball, in every sense. The menu for the state dinner on 17 March 1959, was prodigious. According to John Lane, whose book Taste of the Past chronicled the event, the party started with prosciutto ham and melon, before moving on to cream of watercress soup with melba toast, celery hearts and olives. Guests then tucked into lobster newbergs - made from lobster, butter, cream, cognac, sherry, eggs and cayenne pepper - before a round of vol-au-vents, preceded by cucumber sandwiches.
The main course was a roast, stuffed Long Island duckling with apple sauce, a casserole of aubergine, French string beans almandine and a green salad with anchovy and cheese crusts, after which came a huge frosted mint delight - essentially an ice cream sundae - and nuts and bonbons for anyone still peckish. It was washed down with copious amounts of Pol Roger 1952.

THE CRITIC’S REVENGE Paris, 10 November 1975
It’s not often the Pontiff takes time out of his busy schedule to chastise a restaurant critic. But, in 1975, Pope Paul VI did just that, after the New York Times food critic Craig Claiborne pulled off one of the greatest individual feats of gluttony ever witnessed.

Claiborne had bid $300 (£175) at a television charity auction and won a meal for two, anywhere in the world - paid for by American Express. Somewhat surprised that a relatively low sum had won such a luxurious prize, he and his friend Pierre Franey chose the Parisian restaurant Chez Denis, where they asked the chef, Claude Mornay, to prepare a special menu for them.

Mornay produced a five-hour, 31-course dinner including caviar, foie gras, ortolans, truffles, sweetbreads, woodcock and - a culinary extravagance - a dish made of hundreds of chicken “oysters”. The wine list was equally impressive. Among the highlights were a 1918 Chateau Latour, a 1928 Mouton Rothschild and d’Yquem and a 1961 Petrus. Despite the considerable expense to American Express - the meal cost $4,000 - Claiborne gave the restaurant a mixed review in his ensuing front-page story for The New York Times.

Claiborne said his lobster was “chewinggommeux” and that his chicken oysters reached the table cold.
The restaurant wasn’t the only one offended by Claiborne. The newspaper received thousands of angry letters, with many condemning their critic’s stunt as being obscene in a hungry world, while the Vatican issued its famous rebuke - calling the meal “scandalous”.

FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND’S LAST MEAL Latche, 31 December 1995
When François Mitterrand - a man who had, in his 14 years as President of the French Republic, garnered something of a reputation as a gourmand - discovered he did not have long to live, he planned a meal. And not just any old meal.

On New Year’s Eve 1995, Mitterrand invited 30 friends to Landes, in the south-west, to share a dinner of oysters, foie gras, capons and the endangered ortolan bunting bird.

The ortolan, which is about the size of a man’s thumb, is said to embody the soul of France, but is illegal to eat. Mitterrand’s party consumed their ortolan in the traditional way. After being drowned in Armagnac, the ortolan was roasted, then eaten entire - bones and all. It is customary for diners to wear a napkin over their heads, to hide the sinful act of eating the tiny bird from God. Mitterrand was bashful enough to wear his napkin, but brazen enough to eat two birds - a sin he could explain to his maker eight days later, when he died from prostate cancer.

THE EPICUREAN MASTERS OF THE WORLD Bangkok, 10 February 2007
If you advertise a banquet as “The Epicurean Masters of the World”, you’d better make it good. So let’s hope for the sake of the 15 gourmets who have paid £15,000 each (tax and service not included) for a seat at the Dome Restaurant in Bangkok’s State Tower, this evening lives up to their - and their 25 invited guests’ - expectations.

Tonight’s menu, which will be prepared by six three-star Michelin chefs (including Alain Soliveres of the Taillevent in Paris and Antoine Westermann of the Buerehiesel in Strasbourg) certainly looks impressive. Highlights of the 10-course meal include a “crème brûlée of foie gras with Tonga beans”, which will be served with a 1990 Louis Roederer Cristal; “a tartare of Kobe beef with Imperial Beluga caviar and Belons oyster”, served with a 1995 Krug; and “Veal cheeks with Perigord truffles”, served with a 1955 Château Latour.

The chefs have flown in ingredients from 35 different countries for the 1 million-baht blow-out, but there are, notably, no Thai dishes on the menu. One of the chefs, Heinz Winkler (of the Residenz Heinz Winkler in Aschau, Germany), is unrepentant. “What we want to do is to improve the standard and inspire Thai chefs to raise their level of inspiration,” he explained.

Celebrate the apple season with these homely sticky buns filled with thin slices of fruit.

Requires

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons grated lemon peel
1/4 cup (1/8 lb.) butter, chilled, plus 1/2 cup (1/4 lb.)
3/4 cup milk
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup pecan halves
2 Granny Smith apples (about 12 oz. total)
1/3 cup raisins

Method 

1. Preheat oven to 190°C In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and lemon peel. Cut the 1/4 cup chilled butter into 1/4-inch pieces. With a pastry blender or your fingers, cut or rub butter into flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. Pour in milk all at once; stir just until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until cool, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, in a 1 1/2- to 2-quart pan over medium-low heat, melt remaining 1/2 cup butter. Stir in corn syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Pour mixture into the bottom of an 8- by 8-inch baking pan. Sprinkle pecans evenly over mixture. Peel and core apples and slice as thinly as possible.

3. Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead about 15 times, adding just enough flour to keep dough from sticking. With a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 12-inch square.
4. Distribute apple slices and raisins over dough, leaving a 1-inch border along top edge. Working from the bottom, roll up dough, squeezing as you go: pinch edge to seal. Cut roll crosswise into 9 slices. Lay slices flat over syrup and pecans in pan.

5. Bake until rolls are golden brown, about 30 minutes. Invert a platter over pan and, holding both tightly together, invert again. Lift off pan and let rolls cool about 15 minutes. Serve warm.

4-6 pears
1 carton pure apple juice
cinnamon stick
4 tbsp hone
200g caster sugar
1 bay leaf
100g almond blanched
The Method

Cut off bottom off pears so then can stand up and peel, place in pot. Add all other ingredients and poach until just tender (depends on ripeness).

Remove pears and reduce liquor to syrup and pour over pears. Almonds should be toasted beforehand sliced lengthways. Place a pear on a plate, pour over syrup, sprinkle on almonds and serve with clotted cream or a good vanilla ice cream.

An easy, but delicious crumble that’s perfect for a follow up to Sunday lunch

The Ingredients

900g (2lb) Bramley apples (approx 4 to 6)
150g (5oz) blackberries
75g (3oz) caster sugar, plus extra for fruit
100g (4oz) butter
150g (5oz) plain flour
75g (3oz) pecan nuts, roughly chopped

For the custard;
3 egg yolks
1tsp cornflour
3tbsp sugar
1 x 284ml pot double cream
300ml (½pt) milk
1tsp vanilla bean paste or extract

You will need;
14 x 8cm (5½ x 3in) gratin dish
The Method

For ease, cook the apple, blackberry and pecan crumble about four hours before and warm it before serving. The custard can be made the day before and reheated in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, it has a richer flavour if made earlier.

1 Preheat oven to 200 C, 180 C fan oven, 400 F, gas 6. Peel and cut the apples into sliced chunks. Put into the dish with the blackberries, then lightly flatten the fruit with your hand. Scatter over about 2 to 3tbsp sugar to taste.[I always use unrefined brown ]

2 To make the crumble, rub the butter into the flour, then add the sugar and nuts. Scatter over the fruit and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the topping has browned and the fruit is bubbling.

3 Meanwhile, mix the yolks, cornflour and sugar. Scald the cream and milk in a saucepan, pour over the egg mixture, mix well and return to the pan, stirring over a low heat until thick. Then add the vanilla, stir and serve with the crumble. This can be warm or chilled as preferred.

2 large red, yellow or orange peppers
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup each diced celery and onion
1 lb. mushrooms, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry bread crumbs
1/4 cup each grated parmesan cheese
1 medium finely chopped tomato [skinned]
1 tsp. each dried basil and oregano (chopped fresh would be lovely too!)
1 cup grated Mozzarella or crumbled feta

The Method
1.  Cut peppers in half lengthwise and scoop out seeds. Be careful to retain and slice the protruding stalks, as these looks good when served

2.  In large skillet heat oil over medium heat, sauté celery and onion for 1-2 minutes, or until softened

3.  Add mushrooms and sauté another 3-4 minutes or until starting to brown

4.  Stir in garlic and remove from heat

5.  Stir in breadcrumbs, parmesan, chopped tomato, basil, oregano and either the mozzarella or the feta cheese

6.  Spoon mixture into peppers and place in shallow baking pan

7.  Bake 20 minutes in 375 degree oven until peppers are tender and stuffing is golden

8.  Garnish with fresh chopped herbs