Stomachs Eleven: Lunching heaven

The best part about a weekend lunch is being able to sleep-in, skip breakfast and scoot to your fabulous host, arriving ravenous and ready for maximum feasting.

I say this because today's was a Stomachs Eleven meet-up, a group of food-loving friends who each take turns to host a dinner or lunch. Today we headed to the home of Silvrlily and Super Mario.


Slicing the vegetable terrine

Pig Flyin can never resist bringing an edible contribution. I think this is why we love him so. He and his Mrs presented their homemade vegetable terrine to a crowd of admirers. Florets of cauliflower and stalks of zucchini, carrot, French beans and okra were carefully layered in gelatine, huddled around a central column of scallop mousse.

Vegetable terrine with scallop mousse and mustard vinaigrette

The entire terrine was wrapped in wafer-thin strips of carrot and leek, each slice looking like an exquisite stained glass window. Eating this was like being a kid again, admiring the green bean soldiers, the star-shaped okra, the soft wobble of jelly and, at its heart, the sweet delicacy of scallop boudin blanc.

EDIT: For those who have been asking, the terrine was featured in a Japanese magazine book on terrines. The scallop boudin blanc in the middle is from Ratio by Michael Ruhlman.


Charcuterie plate with prosciutto, duck and rabbit rilletes, and chicken liver pate

Pig Flyin also brought along a ramekin of chicken liver pate and a jar of homemade duck and rabbit rillettes. We slathered these on shards of thin toast, scoffing velvety ribbons of prosciutto in-between.

Smoked salmon quiche

Do I need to tell you we ate ourselves into a stupor? Silvrlily had cooked and baked all morning until the table groaned under the collection of dishes.


Spicy bourbon chicken wings



Cutting the smoked salmon quiche


Chicken and pistachio sandwiches

We nibbled on spicy bourbon wings, dousing them with Louisiana hot sauce until our lips tingled. Smoked salmon quiche was all buttery pastry and warm and eggy middle. I could not stop eating the chicken and pistachio sandwiches, with its fat chunks of chunk mixed through with mayonnaise and bright green pistachio kernels that gave a welcoming crunch.


Moroccan lamb and sultana sausage rolls


Smoky beef and bacon sausage rolls

And sausage rolls fresh from the oven! The fillings were made using sausages from Tender Value Meats in Hornsby, releasing the mince from their casings and wrapping it up in store-bought puff pastry. The fastest way to make Moroccan lamb and Smoky beef and bacon sausage rolls.

Quinoa and corn salad

Salad makes everything healthy again. A quinoa and corn salad was the perfect pick-me-up, zingy with lemon zest, parsley and sprigs of mint.

Petit fours

Hello dessert.


Tying the ribbon on the strawberry charlotte

Silvrlily was worried about her strawberry charlotte, but she shouldn't have been. It was perfectly constructed and beautifully decorated.

EDIT: The recipe for strawberry charlotte is by Bea at La Tartine Gourmande.


Strawberry charlotte


Strawberry charlotte success!


Inside the strawberry charlotte

Sponge cake, fresh strawberries, strawberry mousse and a fence of savoiardi fingers around the edges. Dessert was light, summery and elegant.


Pate de fruits

Pate fours were all homemade by Silvrlily too - pate de fruits were sugar-crusted jellies of pear and raspberry.

Chocolate caramel Matzo crunch and marshmallows in green tea and passionfruit

Mr and Mrs Pig Flyin made fresh marshmallows: soft squidgy pillows of tropical passionfruit and pleasantly bitter green tea.

Silvrlily's final contribution was one of my favourites of the day: chocolate caramel Matzoh crunch.



Chocolate caramel Matzoh crunch

This is an irresistible shard of deliciousness - a thin brittle of toffee combined with chocolate and toasted almonds. And then add Matzoh, a Jewish cracker eaten at Passover. The Matzoh is all crunch, alleviating some of the sweetness, even as it carries a layer of excess toffee on its underside carriage.

Since then Silvrily has made more variations, substituting the toasted almonds with crushed candy canes or crispy bacon. Bacon caramel chocolate. Oh yeah.

Need some of this in your life right now? Check out the recipe by David Lebovitz. It's incredibly easy. And dangerously addictive.


Related Grab Your Fork posts:
Stomachs Eleven: Thai dinner (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Christmas Dinner 2010 (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Teochew feast (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Mole poblano and pulled pork tacos (Me)
Stomachs Eleven: Pizza and friends (Miss Rice)
Stomachs Eleven: Ten kilograms of mussels (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Shanghainese banquet (M&L)
Stomachs Eleven: Wagyu shabu shabu and dessert sushi (Silverlily)
Stomachs Eleven: Stuffed deboned pig's head + nose-to-tail eating (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: French feast (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Whole suckling pig and Chinese banquet (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Hotpot night (M&L)
Stomachs Eleven: Crackling roast pork and black sesame cupcakes (me)
Stomachs Eleven: No ordinary steak dinner (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Polish feast (Miss Rice)
Stomachs Eleven: Christmas feast (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Char siu and Hainan chicken (me)
Stomachs Eleven: Amazing impromptu dinner party (Pig Flyin)
Stomachs Eleven: Dumplings and Shanghai soy duck (M&L)