OUR collaboration with Trish Deseine and Neff continues. Each month we bring you seasonal recipes from Trish at home in France, perfect for entertaining, cooking at home and cooking for you.
My July finger-food menu is designed to spoil your guests, while keeping you cool, calm and collected and fully present at your own party! Thanks to my gorgeous Neff vented induction hob, and powerful oven grill, my days of slaving over a hot stove or barbecue are well and truly over. These appliances help this collection become more versatile and even easier to prep and serve. There is a distinct retro and indulgent feel to the recipes; from a centrepiece Super Bowl-style chicken dip which I guarantee will be devoured in a flash, to delicately seasoned devilled eggs – something your low-carb eating friends will love, and luscious peach melbas with intensely flavoured grilled peaches and vanilla Chantilly cream. As appetisers, I have included a classic Durrus Òg served with grilled fruit brioche and a cherry preserve and pan-fried Clonakilty puddings that are made even tastier thanks to store-bought fruit chutney, fresh peach, and cherry preserve laced with lots of ground black pepper. I’ve even included courgettes to cover what the summer abundance gardeners – and fortunate friends of gardeners – will inevitably soon face. @trishdeseineencore
The following recipes for Trish Deseine’s July Party Menu are prepared in her French kitchen using her Neff kitchen appliances; www.neff-home.com/ie .
Trish’s party settings feature Stable of Ireland table linen; www.stableofireland.com.
COURGETTE CANAPÉS WITH BACON, THYME AND PARMESAN
These pretty canapés are best served piping hot. My Neff oven Full Surface Grill heats up to 275°C (other models will go up to 290°C) and crisps them up very nicely indeed! The bacon version would also be fine cooked on a plancha or barbecue.
For 6
15 minutes preparation
10-15 minutes grilling
Ingredients
3-4 medium-sized courgettes
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp Herbes de Provence
4 tbsp grated parmesan
12-15 very thinly sliced bacon or prosciutto ham
Fresh thyme and basil for garnishing
Method
For the courgette discs
Preheat the grill to as high as it will go, or the Neff oven Full Surface Grill to 240°C.
Wash and dry the courgettes.
Slice one courgette into discs.
Toss the courgette discs in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place onto a lined baking tray.
Sprinkle them with Herbes de Provence and grated parmesan and grill for a few minutes until they are golden and bubbling. Remove them from the oven and serve hot.
For the courgette shards
Slice the remaining courgettes lengthways into unequal shard shapes.
Wrap the bacon or prosciutto slices around the courgettes.
Set them on a lined baking tray, sprinkle with herbs and grill for 7-10 minutes or so, until golden and crisp.
Garnish with fresh thyme and basil and serve immediately.
DEVILLED EGGS WITH LITTLE GEM LETTUCE
These simple, economical crowd-pleasers are even easier to prepare for me thanks to my powerful Neff induction hob PowerBoost function, and built-in timer, which gets a pan of water boiling in seconds and the eggs cooked to perfection.
For 6
10 minutes preparation
7 minutes cooking
Ingredients
6 free range eggs
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tsp mustard
1 tsp lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Cayenne pepper, Espelette pepper or another
Little gem leaves, washed and dried
Method
Bring a pan of water to the boil.
Cook the eggs for 10 minutes. Once removed from the pan, place them quickly under running cold water, then leave them to cool completely before removing the shells. Finally, refrigerate to chill.
Slice the eggs in half and remove the yolks.
Mash the yolks until soft with a fork or in a mini blender, with the mayonnaise, mustard and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper and a little chilli pepper.
Put the yolk mixture in a piping bag and pipe into the cavities of the cooked egg whites.
To serve, set them onto the little gem leaves, sprinkle with chilli pepper and serve.
CHICKEN TOMATO RAYU BAKE – FOR DIPPING
The wonderful CircoTherm function in my Neff oven keeps the chicken succulent, from the initial cooking of the chicken to finishing the dip off before serving. Prep everything, cook, reserve and then pop it under a hot grill just before digging in
For 6-8
5 minutes preparation
25 minutes cooking
Ingredients
250g cooked chicken breast, skin removed
350g cream cheese
350g grated cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper
1 garlic clove, crushed
Salt and pepper
15 cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tbsp peanut rayu (or another spicy condiment)
Crispbread, baguette, crackers or tortilla chips for dipping
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C, 190°C Fan/Neff CircoTherm.
Shred the chicken into small pieces. They must be small enough pieces to be able to scoop onto a tortilla chip!
Mix the cream cheese and cheddar cheese with the garlic and season with salt and pepper.
Then stir through the chicken and tomatoes through this mixture.
Spread the dip into a shallow ovenproof gratin-type dish, then dot the rayu throughout the mixture.
Stir the rayu very lightly to incorporate it.
Smooth over the surface and bake for 20–25 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbling. Serve hot with crispbread, baguette, crackers or tortilla chips.
GRILLED PEACH MELBA WITH VANILLA CHANTILLY CREAM
Peaches are usually poached in syrup to intensify their flavour, I much prefer grilling them in my Neff oven, which creates little delicious caramelised edges to boot. Whipped cream is elevated to Chantilly level with icing sugar and vanilla, while the raspberry coulis stays unsweetened for contrast.
For 6
20 minutes preparation
2 hours cooling
Ingredients
4-5 firm peaches
1 tbsp demerara sugar
200g fresh raspberries
200ml whipping or double cream
2 tbsp icing sugar, sieved
1/2 tsp natural vanilla extract
6 scoops good vanilla ice cream
Method
Preheat the grill as high as it will go, or the Neff oven Full Surface Grill to 240°C. Make sure to do this a few hours before you serve dessert so the peaches can chill before serving.
Peel the peaches and cut them into thick segments. Set them in a single layer on a lined baking tray or an ovenproof dish, sprinkle them with the sugar.
Grill the peaches for about 10–15 minutes, until the surface puckers and the edges are golden.
Remove them from the oven and leave to cool before letting them chill completely in the fridge.
Blitz the raspberries in a food blender, keeping a few of them for garnishing if you like, then sieve the blended pulp to remove the little seeds, and collect the smooth coulis. I like to add the grilled peach juice from their baking dish to the coulis at this stage.
To make the Chantilly cream, whip the cream with the sieved icing sugar and vanilla extract.
Using pretty, stemmed wine glasses, make up the melbas: start with a scoop of ice cream at the bottom, then top that with peach pieces, raspberry coulis and Chantilly cream, make another layer, and top the glass off with the Chantilly cream.
Drizzle over some raspberry coulis and pop a few raspberries on top if you wish. Serve immediately.
As appetisers, I have included a classic Durrus Òg served with grilled fruit brioche with cherry preserve…
… and pan-fried Clonakilty puddings that are made even tastier thanks to store-bought fruit chutney and brightened with fresh peach, and cherry preserve laced with lots of ground black pepper.
Trish Deseine uses the CircoTherm function on her Neff oven to bake her delicious Chicken Tomato Rayu Bake – For Dipping. www.neff-home.com/ie
Photography: Franck Schmitt @franckschmitt_photographe.
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