Fly away on my Zephyr

zephyr (plural zephyrs)
1. a light wind from the west
2. any light refreshing wind; a gentle breeze
3. any thing of fine, soft, or light quality, especially fabric

Strangely, I cannot find zéphire(s) in the dictionary so I'm just going with zephyr, and considering cheese zéphires are made with whipped cream it probably fits. I thought they were a touch boring on their own but served on garlic toasts with a bit of tomato, quite yum.


CHEESE ZÉPHIRES.

INGREDIENTS. - 3 heaped tablespoonfuls of Parmesan cheese
1 oz. of gelatine
1/2 a pint of cream
1/2 a pint of milk
cayenne
salt

METHOD. - Soak the gelatine in the milk for about 1/2 an hour, then stir it over the fire until it is dissolved.
Let it cool, add the cheese, the cream previously stiffly whipped, and seasoning to taste.
Turn into oval fluted zéphire moulds, set on ice until firm, then unmould, and serve garnished with chopped aspic jelly and shredded truffle and pimiento.

TIME. - About 4 hours. SUFFICIENT for 6 or 7 persons.

And I'm not sure what a zéphire mould is either, I just used a round cupcake pan to get some cute little domes.

The devil is in the detail

Angels on Horseback and Devils on Horseback - which is which? You guess. Angels on Horseback are actually a 'savoury' in Mrs Beeton which would therefore come at the end of the meal. But seeing as we are not really in the habit of eating more after the sweets, I decided to make them as an Hors d'œuvre instead.



"ANGELS ON HORSEBACK"

INGREDIENTS. - 12 oysters
12 small thin slices of bacon
12 small round croûtes of bread
1/2 a teaspoon of finely-chopped shallot
1/2 a teaspoon of finely-chopped parsley
a little lemon juice
Krona pepper

METHOD. - Beard the oysters, trim the bacon, cutting each piece just large enough to roll round an oyster, season with Krona pepper, sprinkle on a little shallot and parsley.
Lay an oyster on each, add a few drops of lemon-juice, roll up tightly, and secure the bacon in position with a large pin.
Fry in a frying-pan or bake in a hot oven just long enough to crisp the bacon (further cooking would harden the oyster), remove the pins and serve on the croûtes.

TIME. - About 20 minutes. SUFFICIENT for 8 or 9 persons.

If you are planning on serving these at a party, baking needs less attention allowing you to enjoy more time with your guests. I left my pins (or toothpick in this case) in for ease of serving and eating when hors d'œuvring.

"DEVILS ON HORSEBACK."

INGREDIENTS. - 12 prunes
12 small thin slices of bacon
12 small round croûtes of bread
1/2 a teaspoon of finely-chopped shallot
1/2 a teaspoon of finely-chopped parsley
Krona pepper

METHOD. - Trim the bacon, cutting each piece just large enough to roll round an oyster, season with Krona pepper, sprinkle on a little shallot and parsley.
Lay a prune on each, roll up tightly, and secure the bacon in position with a large pin.
Fry in a frying-pan or bake in a hot oven just long enough to crisp the bacon and warm the prune, remove the pins and serve on the croûtes.

TIME. - About 20 minutes. SUFFICIENT for 8 or 9 persons.

These are also pretty tasty, but remember they still have a pip in them (being dried plums) so have a little bowl or something to receive the pips.

The secret to staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age.

Well, I had a birthday recently. And for said birthday I had a dinner party of almost Herculean standards. Well for me anyway. It was a "How to host a Murder" Party set at a movie premiere in 1936.

So naturally I go way overboard with the cooking but it was all in good fun.


Here is my table all beautifully set. I polished the silver myself as it's so hard to get good staff these days. I even measured my table to ensure everyone had the required 24". It required 1 extra leaf in my table, just to seat 8. And an appropriate use flowers to follow the colour scheme. I think it's pretty if I do say so myself.

So to a brief overview of the menu then.

Hors d'œuvres
Oysters au Naturel
Cheese Zephires
Angels on Horseback
Devils on Horseback

Soup
Clear Julienne Soup

Entrées
Chicken Cannelons
Salmon Mousse
Rabbit Rillet

Main
Roast Beef
Roast Potatoes confit in Duck fat
Asparagus
Carrots
Peas
Gravy

Sweets
Raspberry Cream

Cake
Ingrid's Chocolate cake

And now on to some recipes:


OYSTERS AU NATUREL.

There are many ways of dressing oysters, either hot or cold, but only one way of serving them, "au naturel," which is considered the most popular hor's dœurve. Only the best kinds, natives - Whitstable or Colchester oysters, should be served "au naturel," i.e., raw. All the need, after being opened, is to be placed on the upper shell with a little of the liquor; they are then ranged on a dish, garnished with sprigs of fresh parsley, and if possible, surrounded with shaved ice.

Some thin slices of buttered brown bread, and quarters of lemon are handed round at the same time; also Nepaul or cayenne pepper.

I have to confess I didn't check to see if my oysters were Whitstable or Colchester but they were yummy none the less. I substitued those garlic toast biscuits instead of the buttered brown bread.