Burns Night

After a quiet January on the restaurant and entertaining front Burns Night arrives at just the right time when I can get enthusiastic about the art of planning and cooking a meal for friends. Given that our crowd is a good representation of the UK's four nations the Scottish theme was very fitting.

There seem to be a great selection of recipes giving ideas for Burns Night  and seafood, haggis and raspberries (from last years bountiful crop) were the ingredients I used to develop my plan.

To start I went for an easy fish selection of shrimps, prawns, and salmon served with lemon mayonnaise, rocket and crusty brown bread.

Main course was pork fillet stuffed with haggis and wrapped in bacon served with a sauce flavoured with a little drambuie and cream. Rosti potato cake, mashed swede and red cabbage with onion and apple went perfectly and the extra haggis all disappeared too.

We finished with a stunningly simple dessert of Raspberry Cranachan. Whipped cream with toasted oatmeal flavoured with honey and whiskey was layered between raspberries sweetened with caster sugar.

Luckily for me there is a portion left

Den Huzaar Bruges

Some years ago and by lucky chance we discovered the restaurant Den Huzaar. It was a day when all restaurants in the busy Bruges Market were full and we had the wit to venture off to the left of the main square.  Since then we have returned many times, as have friends all arriving home to enthuse about the welcome, the authentic flemish interior and most of all the food.

Lobster bisque, french onion soup, perfectly cooked sole, duck confit and the fabled pork with cherries all appear on the varied and seasonal menu of chef Willy Bostyn. The quality and presentation of every dish is exquisite and the value amazingly good.

Seven of us last visited on a wet night in late November Den Huzaar was busy, warm and inviting with our requested sociable round table waiting. It was only when we got to the dessert that I realised that I had been so busy eating and chatting that photos for the blog had been forgotten.

This however was the perfect excuse to choose the very indulgent "Special Coffee" and here it is

It gives you a good indication of the style and quality of this great bistro www.denhuzaar.be/

The perfect medieval town of Bruges makes for an excellent weekend break as driving from Calais takes just one hour. Horsedrawn carriage rides, canal trips, shopping, bars, cafes and restaurants offer year round entertainment.

In the run up to Christmas lights skating and the slightly overrated christmas market all feature. The huts selling hot coffee and chocolate laced with liqueurs and steaming gluhwein are very popular. Then of course there are the delicious chocolates with an ever increasing range of designs to suit all tastes.