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The BIG K
August 7th 2009

Once again Mike and Josie Kirkham produced another amazing BIG K food and wine pairing for 24 appreciative members at their house in Thorpe End, Norwich. Ably assisted by Amanda and Tim, and with 'guest' contributions from Kate, James, and Christine, the evening was a great success. The usual eclectic choice of wines were selected by Mike, six different wines to taste and compare throughout the meal, plus Aquavidt and two dessert wines. A fantastic seven course meal was provided as follows:
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Greek Meze Platter (Kate Howlett)

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Mediterranean Fish Soup with Lobster, Crab, Croutons, Rouille and Gruyere (Josie)

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Twice baked Goats Cheese souffle' with onion jam and salad leaves (Josie)

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Sweet Cured Herring on black bread with curry salt, prawns and Lumpfish roe (James Chant)

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Roast Fillet of Beef wrapped in Parma Ham and Porcini mushrooms with a bubble and squeak cake, fresh vegetables and a red wine and beetroot jus (Mike)

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A selection of European Cheeses

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A trio of delicious deserts (Christine Perfect)

Coffee, Desert wine and choclates to finish

Meze starter	Mediterranean Soup	Sweet Cured Herring	Roast fillet of Beef	A trio of desserts
Mike and Josie hard at it!		Waiter!	All set for dinner

Imagine the scene!
A warm Summers evening. Wannabe chefs were prepping their dishes. The promise of good food and wine was on the menu – what could go wrong?!  NOTHING…….

The East Anglian group had another historic evening around the K’s house – commonly known as Mike & Josie Kirkham. These people really know how to host and boy didn’t they work hard! To ease the sweat and stress of the evening’s entertainment some ‘guest’ cooks were invited to help out the European Themed evening.
As part of the evening rituals Mike would present 6 glasses and deliver 6 wines which we all would ‘match’ to our favourite dish and try and guess the wine. As if by magic these glasses would miraculously be topped up all night by the Kirkham house elves. (Well it was Mike but wouldn’t it be fun if Harry Potter stylie elves did exist!)

Kate Howlett (that’s me!) produced a tasty mezze of the Greek sort. Consisting of :
Homemade hummus, courgette, mint & feta fritters (courgettes&mint from the garden I may add!), griddled Haloumi with a black olive and lemon salsa to name but a few dishes.
Vernon & Julie Bane kindly supplied a selection of tasty breads to accompany the first & second courses.
Josie Kirkham swiftly followed with a Mediterranean Fish Soup with Lobster, Crab and crouton rouille and gruyere. This was a most tasty and decadent soup which pleased all pallets.
Josie then produced a Twice Baked Goats cheese Soufflé with Onion Jam with Salad Leaves.
As you can imagine there was a strict time plan to follow which in my opinion puts some professional kitchens to shame – so there!
James Chant was the next guest cook to wow us with a fabulous dish.
Sweet Cured Herring on black bread with Curry Salat, prawns and Lumpfish Roe were presented with a glass of schnapps to compliment the ‘Danish’ themed dish.
James not only produced this dish but helped out most of the evening with the other courses.

Mike Kirkham was next up with his Roast Fillet of Beef wrapped in Porcini mushrooms and Parma Ham with a bubble & squeak cake, fresh vegetables with a red wine and beetroot jus.
Mike even had time to ask all guests – 24 of us how we would like our beef cooked. And surprise surprise what we asked for we received – again even some professionals are unable to achieve this.!

By this time most people were feeling the strain of all the food and the wine, but we were all looking forward in anticipation of dessert.
Christine Perfect did produce the three most perfect desserts which consisted of a three tier chocolate terrine, summer pudding and a Pimms jelly. This was the British contingent of the European tour.

Cheese was then offered, but I must admit it was getting near 12.30am and I was totally full up.
I’m sure the cheese course was delicious and Mike gave it a lot of thought but to be fair, all I wanted was my bed!

Well done to all involved in the BIG K evening 2009 – looking forward to 2010!!

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Kate Howlett (Secretary East Anglian Group).