When it comes to the High Holy Days, don’t you feel like Batman needing your very own Robin to help you out in the kitchen? There are so many meals and so many unexpected guests for dinner — “Holy chutzpah, how did they manage to get invited?” So here I am, your very own superhero, with a few tips on how to solve this riddle.
My first piece of advice: don’t get complicated, get clever and give your dish a fancy name. Your cut-up pineapple becomes a carpaccio — slice thin, then dowse with vodka, sprinkle with fresh lime juice and zest, finish with chopped mint and, “holy smoke”, a dessert that can get you out of a sticky situation.
It’s all in the Princess Presentation. Pour a chocolate mousse that normally feeds eight into espresso cups, add a few chocolate coffee beans and bam, a pot au chocolat that delivers at least a dozen portions.
When expecting large numbers, buffets are the best way to go. Buffets encourage guests to mix and serve themselves. So this week, as I prepare for Yom Kippur, my last piece of advice, don’t freeze when you realise that you have invited your mechuten’s mechuten , use your freezer and make my amazing raspberry ripple ice cream with dananananana Daim bars!
Serves 10
Ingredients
● 600 mls x 2 double cream
● 1 vanilla pod split
● 5 egg yolks
● 3 tablespoons caster sugar
● 8 Daim bars (28g) (broken into small pieces)
● Tinned raspberries x 2 (drained weight 115g)
Method
● Pour 900g double cream into saucepan and add vanilla pod.
● In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks and caster sugar.
● Bring to boiling point and take off the heat.
● Remove the vanilla pod and pour in the egg mixture.
● With a hand blender whisk the mixture continuously for approximately ten minutes or until the mixture thickens.
● Stir in the remaining cream.
● Pour the raspberries over a sieve to remove any excess liquid and stir into mixture together with the Daim bars.
● Transfer the ice cream into a plastic container and leave to cool.
● Place in a freezer and keep taking out at regular intervals to stir to allow the raspberries to distribute evenly throughout the ice cream and to make sure that iced crystals do not appear.
JP’s Notes: If you find you haven’t got enough help, why not book a penguin
