It was a very chilled weekend – lots of catching up with friends. Also a chance to enjoy the rare sunshine after a miserable start to the month. Gin and Tonic on the balcony? Marvellous. For reference – Sipsmith Gin, Fever Tree Tonic Water, lemon round the rim, lots of ice.

I had my first opportunity to try the sous vide party pieces. The poached egg worked beautifully causing suitable “oohs” and “ahhs”. For the main course I wanted something a little lighter than I’ve done previously.

Sous Vide Chicken and Clams a la plancha

The chicken is cooked sous vide, while the clams are cleaned before being flamed in a red hot skillet. The sauce is made by reducing chicken stock with sherry vinegar – it’s surprisingly delicate, but works really well.

It was really nice, much lighter than I expected – beautifully moist. The clams are a bit time consuming and you need a massive pan to do 1kg at once!

Sticky Toffee Cupcake
Another Peggy Porschen recipe – stunning. Lovely light texture with a rich, gooey filling. Even better was having a very talented assistant to do all the work, I just got to stand around providing sage advice.