One of most popular events proved to be the Psychic Supper followed by the Murder Mystery Evening. I've held mediumship evenings at the Cat before but this was the first time it was held as an event with a 3 course meal. Guests brought their wine. Medium Clairvoyant Leo Bonomo sat at a side table to give private one-to-one readings to each guest while the others tucked into the feast, chattered amongst themselves and made friends.
Our next Psychic Supper with Medium Lindsay Duncan will be on 23 November - you can book for this on our supperclub page.
As it was All Hallows or Samhain, the food served reflected the time of year with autumnal seasonal food. The first course was
Cream of Watercress soup - serves 6
50g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
Pinch of salt
1tbsp flour
250ml vegetable stock
400ml whole milk
500g watercress, washed and roughly chopped
75ml double cream
- Prepare a large bowl of iced water. Bring a pan of water to the boil, add the watercress. Leave until it has wilted which should take no more than a couple of minutes. Drain off the hot liquid and sit the pan into the bowl of cold water and leave to go cold. This stops it overcooking.
- Heat the butter in a large pan over a medium-low heat and add the onion. Season and cook gently until soft, but not coloured. Stir in the flour and cook for a minute. Gradually stir in the milk and 250ml vegetable stock. Bring to just below the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Squeeze the cooled watercress out and add to the pan. Using a stick blender, puree the mixture, then add the cream and season to taste.
1 large leg of lamb (approx 2kg)
1 head of garlic, sliced in half horizontally
1 red onion, peeled and sliced
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Marinade
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup red wine
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp brown sugar
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
- Using a sharp knife, make a few small incisions in the fattiest parts of the lamb. Mix all the marinade ingredients and rub over the lamb, making sure you push it into the incisions. Leave to marinate in the fridge for 12–18 hours or overnight.
- Remove the lamb from the fridge 1 hour before cooking, and preheat the oven to 220C.
- Place the sliced head of garlic and onion in the base of a large roasting tin.
- Make sure there is no chopped garlic on the surface of the lamb otherwise it will burn while the lamb is cooking.
- Rub a little olive oil and salt onto the meat, then place the lamb on top of the vegetables and put in the oven, uncovered. Cook for 5 minutes then turn down the oven temperature down to 150°C (300°F)
- After 40 minutes, pour 2 cups of hot water over the meat and return to the oven for 3–4 hours, basting the whole joint with the cooking liquid every half hour or so.
- When the lamb starts falling off the bone, remove from the oven and leave in a warmish place to rest for 15 minutes while you make the sauce.
Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan and skim off the excess fat.
Boil rapidly over a high heat until the sauce has reduced to your desired consistency, adding a little more sugar, cumin and seasoning.
Serve with Vegetables roasted with wholegrain mustard and lemon (recipe later!)