Clare's first foray

Overall rating 8.54

Starter - Honey and mustard glazed chicken salad with toasted pinenuts and goats' cheese

Main - Roast whole rainbow trout with red chilli, avocado and lime salsa and a fresh basil oil.

Dessert - Papaya skewers with a passion fruit coulis.

I was rather nervous about preparing and serving my very first meal to the boys, so I felt that I had to make an effort. I was going to do two courses, but in the end thought a three course affair would probably gain me more pointage. The starter went down well, especially with the Knocker - meister; James was slighty less impressed.

The delivery of the whole roast trouts - bearing in mind that the oven has only got one heat - was surpisingly successful. I was particularly proud of my salsa. James enjoyed same, whereas Knocker found it a tad over cooked.

I wanted to include a dessert in order to impress, but I knew that I would be pushed for time, so I opted for the papaya skewers, having sourced a bag of fifty skewers at the pound shop. The final course was both tasty and refreshing and I was rather proud of my first effort.

I did have a theme for the night which I asked the fellows to guess. They couldn't get it. Can you?

Washupability - 5/5 - I managed to clean up as I went along, without any disruption to our socialising.

Clare's score - 8

Knocker's score 9.124

This was an entertianing meal which involed some great tasks but I would like to say that if you could cook like this then you would live forever

James' score 8.5

Clare's introduction has taken presentation and complexity to a new level. A higher level, which is a little concerning. Overall the meal was excellent and you would quite happily pay for this in a good restaurant. That said, the starter could have done with a tad more goats cheese and I'm not a big trout fan - too many bones, so a bit fiddly. The dessert was on the money and not the type of thing you would knock up yourself, so nice to have someone make the effort. Still a little concerned about the expectations of me and Knocker making this amount of effort in the future.


Clare's answer is, it was carb-free.