Guest Author - Fay Olinsky

It was a glorious day yesterday and I felt a little miffed having to spend much of it in the kitchen. I had a couple of breaks for coffee and one trip to the Potager garden for herbs and leaves for the cheese board. I had a very nice old-fashioned dinner party to prepare for.


My client a fairly young bachelor, senior executive of one of the biggest IT companies in the world was hosting a belated birthday dinner. I love working in a single man's kitchen, so neat and tidy…and unused! Tons of gadgets given by well meaning lady friends, all still in the boxes.

I like working minimalist, for instance in most kitchens you will find an array of pots and pans that will blow your mind, a bachelor's kitchen has 3 saucepans The cutlery drawers only have four sets of eating utensils. And one of each gadget. If a new one arrives the old one is dumped. The usual greeting is "The kitchen is yours" and I am left to perform my tasks in peace…no extra advice.

The meal was the client's choice, nice substantial Bruchetta with red pesto, green Marmande tomatoes chopped fine and topped with strips of Parma Ham. These were served warm in the conservatory with chilled champagne.

At 8.15 the guests were seated and the first course of Soufflés Suisse's (recipes for these and other things in this article are in my book) were quickly placed in front of them by the host, his lady and myself. Oven to table in 20 seconds!

These rich little Gruyere cheese soufflés in a delicious sauce are ideal to take away any acidity from champagne and line the stomach well for the Pouilly Fume that accompanied them. Seeded knot home made dinner rolls get dipped into the sauce and another basket is requested. I used to wonder why dinner rolls were traditionally made as knots but it is because there is a nice lot of tasty crusty bits when you break them off and not too much doughy centre. I always buy a ceramic pot of fresh churned French butter for my dinner party clients but very little is ever used. If I put margarine on the table it all goes: so I feel I am doing all those dieters a favour! I cannot bring myself to put chemically treated oil as an accompaniment to my lovingly made rolls anyway.


I had plenty of time to get the main course ready. Roast leg of Lamb with rich gravy and home made mint sauce (from my garden) This may sound ordinary but believe me it is one of the most difficult to get right in this country. First you must have a butcher who is skilled and buys from reputable suppliers.

English lamb at this time of year can be atrocious. All fat and bone with no meat. Fast grown hothouse lambs fed on supplements just don't have the flesh or flavour required for a decent meal.

I bought a new season Cornish leg of lamb weighing around 2.85kg The two cushions of meat were nice and plump giving me ample for six people. My butcher trims off all of the fat that I do not want, prior to weighing! Also the knobbly end of the shank bone so I can clip my silver manche à gigot Handle on for carving. Most English butchers smash through the shank without even consulting the customer to make the leg fit into a small roasting pan. I become very angry if this happens! The lamb cost £34.24, which is quite a lot, and if I were unscrupulous I could purchase a leg from the cash and carry for around £12. I am very happy that my business allows me to choose quality above profit and as the client gives me a budget float to purchase his food I have no worries about cost cutting. I am not going to spend all my skill on rubbish ingredients just to save a few pounds.


Making sure there was no excess fatty lumps I scored the skin criss cross fashion, placed a small piece of garlic under the skin at each cross topped with a sprig of rosemary. This was placed in a hot oven at 7pm to be ready for carving at 8.15.

I had new baby carrots from the garden and some nice mange tout peas from my favourite vegetable man. Both of these were blanched quickly and lifted out to steam until just crisp.

The potatoes go through a great ritual to be just right. First I try to use home grown but if not then new season reasonable size oval shapes. If it were beef I would use old King Edwards or Maris Piper but lamb needs fresh tasting vegetables and you cannot beat freshly lifted garden potatoes for that.
I try to use all same size vegetables for dinner parties and carefully peel the potatoes to be uniform. A few minutes in UNSALTED boiling water until the tip of a knife just penetrates the surface easily. Drain with the lid on and shake the pan vigorously to roughen up the surfaces. If you over boil you will end up with mash!

Dress the potatoes with drizzles of olive oil softened butter and some herb salt. (I use big salt for this)
Place them in a roasting pan and roast one side until brown. You can then take them out and cook everything else and when the starter course has gone out the potatoes can be turned and finished off in the hot oven.

At 8.15 I removed the lamb and put the leg on a board, starting from the shank end where I have secured the handle I slightly tilt the joint and with a newly sharpened knife I carve down the large rounded cushion side. I carve one large slice for each diner then turn the leg around to the under cushion and carve another slice per diner. The juices go into the gravy (no recipe that's my secret!) and the meat is placed on the heated serving dish. If you have been careful the leg with its handle can be placed on the serving dish for guests to cut another slice themselves. The silver handle makes this easy and the presentation is very stylish. Do not worry if the lamb looks pink at this stage it soon tones down. If it isn't pink then it is well done which not so many people like these days. Only worry if the meat inside is red and transparent looking. That means your oven was not hot enough!
This dinner party was in French style with the dishes on the table and guests would help themselves with the assistance of the host.


Part 2 follows..