Entertaining guests

We have house guests this week so it’s been a good opportunity to play around in the kitchen. We took them to Borough Market on Saturday and picked up all sorts of goodies. It’s easy to spend a lot of money at the market but there are some bargains to be found as well – for example, we found fresh figs from Turkey at £3 a tray and we’ve been enjoying them all week. They’re delicious plain or with a sliver of gorgonzola.

I picked up two punnets of English strawberries, probably just about the last of the crop. They were a little tart so I marinated them with a teaspoon of sugar and a teaspoon of balsamic vinegar. It’s not enough vinegar to drown the flavour of the strawberries but it’s enough to enhance the flavour and draw out the strawberry juices. I served it in teacups with a slice of lovely, creamy buffalo ricotta but it would go nicely with ice cream, cream or marscapone as well.

Last night I made the duck recipe I learnt in my Leiths course earlier this year – duck breasts with blackberry, apple and port sauce. I think we’ll have a few nights of simple, family dinners, perhaps eat out on Friday and Saturday night, and then the last hurrah will be a roast dinner on Sunday.