Ten Dinner Parties for Two
$25.00
For Frances Bissell, a simple evening at home with her husband can turn into a memorable dinner party. In this book, her pleasure has been distilled into a set of menus and recipes for anyone who enjoys the intimacy of a shared meal with good wine and food. Drawing her inspiration from France, Italy, America and Hong Kong, while bearing everyday practicality in mind, Frances Bissell provides accessible, unpretentious recipes which are graceful and original.
- RRP: £8.95 (Incl. VAT)
- Format: 247 mm x 190 mm (9 ¾ x 7 ½ in)
- Pages: 128
- Weight: 0.6 kg (1.3 lb)
- Pictures: 40 colour photographs, 15 colour drawings
- Binding: Hardback
- Publication: 1989
Every day that she is at home with her husband Tom Frances Bissel gives dinner party, a dinner party for two. There will be a tablecloth, linen napkins, appropriate wine, flowers, a candle in winter, an open window in summer and a thoughtfully prepared meal made from the freshest ingredients. Creating a treat for a treasured companion, spouse or friend is what she likes doing best, and in this book her pleasure has been distilled into a set of menus and recipes for anyone who enjoys the intimacy of a shared meal with good wine and food.
There are some dates in the calendar, such as Christmas and St Valentine’s Day, that demand a special effort and Frances Bissell has accordingly suggested menus that add to the sense of occasion; but in her view every dinner is special, whether it be a carefully planned treat or a quick and easy meal to restore the equilibrium after a stressful day.
Frances Bissell has retained the sound common sense towards food that prevails in her native county of Yorkshire while drawing inspiration from the cuisine of the countries in which she has travelled, notably France, Italy, America and Hong Kong. Since she came in to the public eye in 1983 after winning The Observer’s Mouton Cadet award, she has built a reputation for providing accessible, unpretentious recipes that are nonetheless graced with a rare quality of subtlety and originality.
Introduction
Some Notes on My Store Cupboard and Kitchen
Basic Recipes
CHAPTER 1: SPRING FLAVOURS
Quails’ Eggs Baked in New Potatoes
Snails Baked in New Potatoes
Asparagus and White Wine Risotto
Cod Fillets with Beetroot Sauce
Hedgerow Salad with Walnut and Nettle Dressing
Light Lemon and Hazelnut Sponge
CHAPTER 2: ST VALENTINE’S DAY
Mousseline of Scallop Roe
Scallops with Julienne of Vegetables
Stuffed Poussin with Vegetables
Wild Rice, Rosé Champagne Granita
Almond Biscuits
Rose Hearts, Rhubarb Sauce
Demi-Sec Champagnes
CHAPTER 3: GARDEN DAYS
Carrot and Rosemary Flower Soup
Broccoli, Pear and Tarragon Soup
Tomato and Redcurrant Soup
Tomato and Garlic Soup
Tomato
Basil and Cardamom Salad
Note on Salad Dressings
Tarragon Pot-Roasted Quail
Warm Potato Salad
Apricots in Muscat Wine
Melon in Honey Ginger Syrup
CHAPTER 4: SUMMER BY THE SEA
Crab and Vegetable Tart
Samphire with Lemon Butter
Turbot with Laver Sauce
Strawberries with Honey and Balsamic Vinegar
Muscat Jelly
CHAPTER 5: TASTES OF SUMMER
Almond Soup
Gazpacho Andaluz
Calf’s Liver with Sage and Balsamic Vinegar
Lamb Fillet with Basil and Sauvignon Sauce
Broccoli with Tomato and Soy Butter
Stir-Fried Green Vegetables
Cherry Kissel
Clafoutis
CHAPTER 6: HARVEST FESTIVAL
Bean and Vegetable Soup
Bean and Pasta Soup
Medallions of Venison Marinated in Pomegranate
Celeriac and Potato Cake
Fennel Salad
Pears and Fresh Ginger in Spiced Red Wine Syrup
Caramel Pears
Quince Jelly
Rosemary Jelly
CHAPTER 7: WINTER WARMER
Brill with Celery
Leeks and Tomatoes
Oxtail Terrine
Chilled Rhubarb Soup
Oxtail Stew
Thimble Dumplings
Lemon Rice Pudding
Green Fruit Salad
CHAPTER 8: CHRISTMAS DINNER FOR TWO
Smoked Salmon Shapes
Oysters in Spinach Overcoats
Sicilian Orange Sorbet
Roast Fillet of Beef
Roast Barbary Duck
Pot Roast Partridges
Rice Stuffing
Baked Jerusalem Artichokes
Chicken or Turkey Filo Pastry Pie
Grilled Radicchio and Goat’s Cheese
Chilled Persimmon Creams
Mincemeat Soufflé
CHAPTER 9: MOVING DAY
Vegetable Fondue
Salmon Fillets in Red Wine Sauce
Prawns with Garlic
Chicken with Walnuts
Grilled Tomatoes and Cheese on Toast
Hot Fruit Salad
Zabaglione
CHAPTER 10: PLANNED ECONOMY
Duck Liver and Roquefort Salad
Home-Made Ravioli Stuffed with Duck
Duck Rillettes
Note on Potted Meats
Duck Breasts in Chinon
Duck and Green Olive Casserole
Cassoulet
Stir-Fried Mixed Cabbage
Mango Mousse
Mango Sorbet with Jasmine Tea Sauce
Frances Bissell made a dramatic entrance into the world of cookery when, in 1983, she entered and won an Observer competition for the best dinner party menu to accompany Mouton Cadet wines. The contest brought her immediate recognition and, at the suggestion of Jane Grigson, she used the personal food diaries she had kept for over a decade as material for A Cook’s Calendar, published by Chatto & Windus. A further book, The Pleasures of Cookery, epitomizes the approach to food that has made Frances Bissell such a popular author. Winner of the Glenfiddich Award for Cookery Writer of the Year and the first woman chef to become a member of the Académie Culinaire de France, she is now the author of nine books including Frances Bissell’s West Country Kitchen, The A-Z of Food and Wine, Modern Classics and Entertaining. Frances has also written for The Times, The Sunday Times, Homes and Gardens, À La Carte and Harpers and Queen.
INTRODUCTION
Cooking food according to its season has always been very important to me, both for practical reasons as well as more intangible ones. Food cooked and eaten during its growing and harvesting season reaches us in a much fresher condition and is better in texture, smell and flavour than if it has been stored. You have only to think of the delightful aroma of the first English apples as they appear in August and September to know what I mean. Although it is unlikely to be so, they actually smell as if they had been picked a moment ago. Summer and early autumn tomatoes sometimes still have that freshly picked ‘green’ smell by the time they reach the shops.
TASTES OF SUMMER
From all our travels we bring back mementos. Sometimes it is photographs we look at to remind us of a particular place. More often, it will be recipes that have been given to me by the people who have cooked the dishes for us, or that I have re-created as closely as possible to the original. Then, of course, I begin to add my own touches and it is no longer possible to say that that is the original shellfish dish from Brittany or that the original pasta dish from Emilia Romagna.
The Almond Soup here is, however, still very closely related to the bowl of Gazpacho Blanco we tasted during a visit to southern Spain some years ago. Before that visit I had thought there was only one gazpacho, the tomato and olive-based Gazpacho Andaluz. In fact there are three, the third made of beans.
