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Dinner Party Wars continue with duck rillette and rack of lamb

As you may know, amongst our friends are many keen cookery types but none more so than Richard 9pictured above) and Peter, and we take it in turns to go to each others houses to sample each others cooking. No don’t get me wrong here, this isn’t “Come dine with me”, we don’t use this as an excuse to rummage around each others’ knicker drawers, it really is all about the cooking, but no matter how nonchalantly we pretend we treat this, this is serious competition .  This last time, we went to Richard and Lisa’s house. Richard is famous for his ability to smoke and preserve things, he’s the only person I know who has been on a foraging course and would know a wild mushroom from a deadly toadstool. So on this occasion, he didn’t disappoint and to follow, here were his divine recipes for duck rillette and rack of lamb. Lisa always cooks the dessert and this was absolutely delicious, and as below, recipe courtesy of James Martin.

Starter -Duck Rillettes.


A great evening starter or snack…..make it in lots of small jars as it keeps for weeks and can also be frozen.

Ingredients
4 duck legs
Rendered pork fat
1 bottle Cider
1 star anise
Salt and pepper
Mace
3 cloves
2 bay leaves
1 bulb of garlic
(Christmas cheat: use mulled cider and remove the star anise and mace from the ingredients)

Brown the duck legs in a pan.
Add all the remaining ingredients except the cider. Bring to a slow simmer.
Add the cider.
Cook on the hob (covered) on a low heat for 2 hours.

Remove the duck legs and strain the remaining liquid into a bowl through a sieve and retain.

Remove the meat from the bones making sure you shred it as much as you can with two forks.

While you have been removing the meat from the bones, the fat and sediments you retained will have settled with the fat on the top, and the juices and sediment at the bottom. Use a spoon to remove the fat keeping the sediment and the juices.

Combine the sediment, juices and meat in a bowl and mix by hand tasting and seasoning as you go.

Spoon into sterile jars.

Place the jars sealed into a pan of boiling water and place in an oven at 120 deg c for 20 mins.

Allow to cool and leave in the fridge for a few days before eating as it gets better with ageing (comment from Kim: unlike me!).

Serve with toasted brioches, pickle and sliced gherkins.

Main course –

Rack of lamb with haggis.


Most can be made in advance and heated up. A great winter warmer!

Ingredients.
Rack of lamb
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Fresh rosemary (chopped)
Garlic (chopped)
Mashed potatoes
Mashed parsnip
Lamb stock
Mulled wine
Bramble and recurrent jelly
Port

Place the lamb, garlic and rosemary in a bag with some olive oil and leave it for 6 hours in the fridge.

Using a cooks ring place some haggis on the bottom layer, some parsnip in the middle and top with mashed potato make one per diner. Place in a pre heated oven (180 deg c) for 8 minutes. While this is baking brown the lamb on hob in a pan, then place into the oven for 12 minutes.
Then place the lamb on a board to rest for 10 mins, turn off the oven but leave the mash in to keep warm.

While the lamb is resting place the lamb pan on the hob and heat. De glaze with red wine add stock and port, reduce and finish with the bramble and recurrent jelly.

Plate up and enjoy!

Pudding – (Alas no photos, so here is the lovely Lisa instead!)

Chocolate fondants (serves 6)
(courtesy of James Martin, ‘Desserts’)

190g dark chocolate
100g butter
35g ground almonds
2 large eggs separated
35g cornflour
85g caster sugar
6 plain chocolate truffles
Berries to garnish

Pre heat oven to 180deg C.

Grate 40g of the chocolate. Rub half the butter over the inside of the dariole moulds, then dust with the grated chocolate. Put on a baking tray.

Melt the rest of the chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pan of simmering water, to melt. Scrape into a bigger bowl and add ground almonds, egg yolks and cornflour.

Whisk egg whites separately until they form stiff peaks, then beat in caster sugar. Fold the merringue into the chocolate mixture. Spoon half the mixture into the bottoms of the moulds, then add the truffles, then the rest of the mixture.

Bake for 10-15 mins until still squidgy to the touch on top…this is trial and error and depends on the heat of your oven, but you don’t really want to over cook it!!

Serve with berries and creme fraiche.

Thank you for the above, Richard. My turn next…oh dear, any suggestions anyone??

(Peter, I’m not ignoring you – but you haven’t sent me your recipes!)

It’s flipping pancake day again!

It’s that time of year again when you are racing home late from work and remember that it’s Shrove Tuesday and that traditionally you should be making pancakes. Now there are options here, you can nip into your local supermarket and buy ready made ones; you can buy ready-made mix and pretend it was your own, or you can ignore completely and pretend that you a) hadn’t remembered or b) that you don’t like them anyway. Finally, you can just bite the bullet and make them yourself. Simples! As that ghastly meerkat thing would say.

Pancakes are very easy to make and are good for both savoury and sweet toppings. They always remind me of those brilliant crepe stalls you get in France, where even if you’re not hungry, there’s always room for a crepe.

Pancake recipe

110g plain flour, Pinch of salt, 2 large eggs, 200ml milk, mixed with 75ml of water (Optional 1 tablespoon of Grande Marnier or any other orange liqueur); Groundnut oil for frying (I like this best, as it doesn’t burn as easily as olive oil)

Method

  • Chuck eggs and the flour in to a food processor or use an electric whisk. I mix it with my hand whisk straight in a jug which makes it easier
  • Add water and milk mixture
  • Add liqueur if wished, this is for really fancy “crepe suzette” type pancakes
  • Whisk until all lumps have gone and it had a texture like thin cream
  • Add a  little groundnut in to a hot frying pan
  • Add a little of mixture and immediately swish round the pan until it is thinly covered, you’ll soon get the hang of how much mixture you need, the thinner the better and the first one is always a disaster so don’t be downhearted
  • When the underside of the pancake is beginning to go very light gold, either flip with a spatula or toss confidently in the air to cook the other side

At this point, I like to add a couple of broken chocolate truffles and a spoonful of golden syrup to the pancake so it starts to go melty and lovely, but that’s optional

  • Slide off the plate and serve
  • Use my topping as above, or alternatives are:
    • Chunks of chocolate, with golden syrup and whipped double cream
    • Chopped banana, with greek yogurt and honey
    • Lemon juice and sugar – Shrove Tuesday purists will say this is the best way to go
    • Nutella – just on its own (Ellie’s favourite)
    • Very thinly sliced apples with a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon (if you cook the apple with a little, butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a saucepan beforehand, just for a few minutes it is a really lovely topping)
    • Chopped up walnuts and maple syrup
    • Ham or salami and grated cheese (omit the orange liqueur if you choose this)

Oh and of course, all of the above should be with a big scoop of the ice cream of your choice!

Let me know your choice of topping!

What Kim’s blog did in 2011

This is very exciting!  The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for my blog and I think it makes very interesting reading, click on the link below to have a good look.

Thank you so much everyone who has taken the time to visit the blog (6,500 visits!) and wishing you a happy and healthy New Year! (Our New Year’s Eve was definitely happy but maybe not so healthy, did Sherri and I really think we looked good in those glasses?? John and Mark clearly didn’t think so)

Here’s an excerpt:

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 6,500 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 5 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

We’ll leave the last word to Josh as he sings in to 2012 in to his Cobra microphone..

 

My beautiful bread sauce recipe

Bread sauce is a wonderful thing provided you make it yourself.  The bizarre thing is that if you don’t have the time to do it yourself,  I actually prefer the Knorr packet variety to the fresh  ready-made goo that you can buy in Supermarkets, does that tell you something about my taste buds? Oh well…. I think the key to a great bread sauce is to keep the onions in it, if you cook them very gently and make sure they are finely chopped  they make the flavour amazing. The other good thing, is that it freezes really well, so if you make it now, you can just take it out of the freezer on Christmas Eve.

We love bread sauce hot with our turkey on Christmas Day, but most of all we love it cold in the ultimate left-overs Boxing Day  sandwich (turkey, bacon, cold stuffing, tomatos, mayonnaise, cranberry sauce and bread sauce – add avocado if you have any knocking around). Trust me, try it before you immediately dismiss the idea! Anyway, for it’s more traditional usage here is my recipe! I have got 10 people for lunch on Christmas Day and I have made double quantities.

 Ingredients: 1 small or half of a large, mild white onion, finely chopped (don’t use a red onion, it won’t work), 10 cloves, 10 peppercorns, 1 bayleaf and 2 sprigs of thyme, 500ml full cream milk, 100g butter, 100g of dried white breadcrumbs or cubed, stale white bread, Salt and pepper to taste

 To serve:   4 tablespoons double cream, knob of  butter (what is a knob? No rude suggestions please! It is approximately 1 teaspoon), fresh grated nutmeg   

Method 

  1. Melt 100g butter in a saucepan on a low heat and add the finely chopped onion
  2. Sweat the onion gently (that means heat them gently on a low heat, don’t fry them), until soft and translucent for 5 to 10 minutess – do not allow to brown, they should be soft and translucent
  3. Add the cloves, peppercorns, bayleaf and thyme and the milk
  4. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat and stand for at least 2 hours or overnight if preferred
  5. Fish out the herbs, cloves and peppercorns (You’ll be very pleased you counted them!) but leave the lovely soft onion bits in
  6. Place over a low heat and add the breadcrumbs
  7. Bring to the boil
  8. Simmer for 3-4 minutes
  9. IF YOU ARE GOING TO FREEZE YOUR BREAD SAUCE, ALLOW IT TO COOL AND FREEZE NOW 
  10. If you’re serving straight away,take off the heat,  stir in the double cream and the knob of butter and serve with a sprinkling of nutmeg

If you have defrosted your bread sauce, place in a saucepan and add the 4 tablespoons of cream and the knob of butter and heat gently without boiling and serve as above.

I love these “Pour and Store” bags for freezing or for storing sauces and soups. They are a really handy shape and you can pour things in to them whilst they are still hot.

The Bonnie and Wild in Islington – Scottish seafood and game of the highest quality

The Bonnie & Wild is one of the new concept restaurants that are spreading through London, although they prefer to be known as a part-time restaurant rather than a pop-up. It is a fantastic idea, and this group of young, passionate food enthusiasts is doing a stalwart job that deserves our support. Based at 74 Chapel Market Islington, on Friday and Saturday nights  they turn what is a renowned Pie and Mash shop ( M Manze) in to a showcase for their cooking and produce. The best part of Bonnie and Wild is the quality of the food they serve, amazing game brought down fresh from Scotland mixed with other locally sourced produce, simply, but effectively cooked. The victorian building is listed and has that wonderful charm that is somewhere between a high-class public convenience and a cosy pub. (Fay Maschler might have been right about the cushions though, guys!) The tables are narrow and functional and the seating is booth-style, maximum of 6.  The name Bonnie & Wilde comes from the two suppliers used  Bonnie Gull Ltd and the Wild Game Co, who bring Scottish game down to a variety of markets, such as Leadenhall, However, here with the use of a BBQ they bring themselves, the kitchen is not the most sophisticated after all, it was just to cook pies, they cook their own produce. The chef is Iain Sim, who during the week cooks at the Mussel Inn in Edinburgh and he does a great job. The menu is simple and changes on a weekly basis, with a choice of 3 starters and 3 main courses, with a pud or cheese to follow for £29.00 per head.  It’s a bring your own booze joint, at a charge of £3.50 per head.. This is always a mixed blessing and if your party is anything like ours was, we all totally over-compensated and ended up bringing twice as much as we would normally order and and of course, felt duty-bound to drink it. Judging from the raucous conversations coming from some of the other tables, this seems to be fairly normal here. Quiet and intimate it isn’t, lively and buzzing definitely.

On to the food, we started by ordering one of the starters, the fresh oysters, as a separate dish to have with our drinks and to accompany the rather delicious bread with balsamic vingaer and olive oil that was served. The oysters were traditionally served with lemon and a well prepared shallots in a red wine vinegar and were plump and delicious.  The other two choices were a goats’ cheese and walnut salad, served on a crouton which was fine, the goats’ cheese was of a high quality and the simple salad and dressing went well. Nothing exceptional, but good solid food.  However, my choice of first course was exceptional and is one of the things that they do so well there. I had the pigeon breast on a  simple salad and it was cookedto prfection. Rare enough to be succulent, but cooked on their BBQ enough to get a beautiful flavour, I would go back just to eat that again. The choices for the next course were a vegetarian pasta, sea bass or venison fillet. Given Bonnie & Wild’s specialities, this is really not the place to go for vegetarian food, not because it isn’t good, although I ahve to confess I didn’t even try it, but because the meat is so fine, that it’s criminal to eat anythign else.  Talking to Andy (pictured above with the lovely Errol Fuller – check him out on Youtube and see what you get – I guarantee you’ll love him), one of the co-owners the venison is apparently at the best of the season at the moment, and OMG (I’ve turned in to a texting teenage girl in my enthusiasm) it showed. This was without doubt the best and most delicous venison I have ever tasted. Don’t be put off by the presentation above, the truth is that we were all so greedy that we had already started eating before we realised we hadn’t taken a photograph.  A fillet was shared between 2 people and was simply served on board, with chips and a little salad. There were 2 sauces served seperately – a redcurrant jus, which was pleasant and a hollandaise that had lovely flavours (you might want to re-think the consistency though guys) but the star of the dish was the  venison itself. I do like mine super-rare, but those in our party who had it more cooked agreed it was still succulent and tender. Am I rambling? yes, possibly as I am positively watering at the mouth just thinking back to it!

 The dessert/cheese menu was a little limited and the advertised pear and almond tart was substituted by an apricot version which was fine, but not amazing.

I went for the cheeseboard and would have liked a little more history about the cheeses that were served and where they came from, but again, perfectly adequate.

All in all, this is definitely worth a visit if you like simple high quality game and seafood, beautifully cooked then go and support this worthy venture. You can book direct on their website http://bonniewild.co.uk/ but hurry, because places go fast.

Mango Jam – trust me there isn’t another decent recipe for it!

Those of you who know me well, understand my secret vice. No, not that one…..but jam making. I absolutely adore it, there is something so therapeutic about a large pan full of bubbling fruit and sugar which you then place in to crystal clean glass jars. It’s a blend of 50’s housewife meets “Charlie and the Chocolate factory”.  So there I was in the supermarket, and I see a pile of delicious, Alfonso mangoes on special offer – 4 for £1, can you believe it? I had to have them and so bought 8, with visions of a delicious, tropical jam in mind.  However, I get home and scour through my adored Marguerite Patten’s “Guide to Jams and Jellies” and there is nothing, I then resort to the internet and again, the only recipe that pops up is far too over-spiced for my liking. So it’s invention time! I decide that there is probably very little pectin and mangoes and will therefore rely on my good friend, commercial pectin. 1 hour later, I have six bottles of the most delightful looking mango jam and it was easy, easy, easy. Try it and see. Ingredients:

  • 1 kilo of fresh, chopped up ripe mango (that’s the worst bit of the recipe, as they can be messy)  
  • 1.5 kilos of preserving sugar
  • 1 bottle of commercial pectin (I use Certo).

Method

  • Place the sugar and the mangoes in to a large preserving pan and heat very gently until all the sugar has dissolved
  • Boil rapidly – that’s really bubbling for just 1 minute
  • Remove from the heat and stir in the Certo
  • Leave for 20 minutes and then bottle in to clean, sterilised jam jars.I made the mistake of bottling straight away, and that meant that all the fruit floated to the tops of the jars. Next time, I’ll leave it in the pan for twenty minutes and bottle it then. I’m also planning to make a vanilla sponge cake and put mango jam and whipped double cream with coconut liquer in it as a sort of tropical victoria jam sponge. Watch out for pictures.

Last and totlally unrelated to jam,  I just had to put in this picture of me meeting “One Direction” at the Katie Piper Ball on Thursday. They look faintly terrified don’t they??

A secret passion – canapés – a lifetime love of little things on toast

Those of you who know me well, know I have a secret passion …Louis Vuitton, champagne…oh, the list goes on. It’s bizarrely for canapés, I just love those wonderful little concoctions that you can eat in one bite at drinks parties, or before a lovely dinner. Call it an amuse bouche and frankly, I’m anybody’s! I am truly in heaven when at one of those lovely restaurants where chef sends out a little amuse bouche just before your main course, or a palate tickler as I like to think of it. Small bites of paradise.

So enough of my secret sausage on a  stick vice, last Sunday we were having the lovely neighbours round for drinks, so I took the opportunity to unleash the cocktail sticks. To follow are some unbelievably easy canapé recipes, plus I rolled out Joyce’s lovely cream cheese concoction which is always a winner. (See “Joyce takes a dip…and it’s a cream cheese one” under Everyday Grub)

 

New potatoes stuffed with smoked salmon: You will need the smallest new potatoes you can find, just roast them with groundnut oil and sea salt for about 20 minutes, Gas Mark 6/200C or 180 Fan. Allow them to cool and then using the end of a vegetable peeler, scoop out a little hollow in each one. Just before serving fill them with sour cream, a little smoked salmon and a tiny bit of caviar (real or faux depending on your budget!). These are also really good with crumbled crispy bacon instead of smoked salmon.

Chilli Prawn and Mango Skewers: Throw some ready cooked prawns in to some lime juice (about 2 limes) , with about 1 inch of grated ginger, a chopped red chilli (take out the seeds) and a small bunch of chopped coriander, with a crushed clove of garlic and leave for a couple of hours.

Thread them on cocktail sticks with a  chunk of sweet mango and then pour the rest of the marinade on top and serve.

Meatballs with Chilli Jam or minted yogurt: Take 500g minced beef or lamb and mix with 3 flat teaspoons of ground coriander and ground cumin. Add a tablespoon each of chopped coriander and fresh rosemary and some salt and pepper. Combine together with one large egg and roll into small meatballs. Insert a small cube of feta cheese in to the centre of each one, making sure that the meat covers it completely. Place a tablespoon of sunflower oil in to a hot frying pan, and fry the meatballs for about 15 minutes until browned and well-cooked.  Either serve straight away, or allow to cool and then place in an ovenproof dish at 180/160 fan Gas Mark 4 for 15 minutes and serve with a dish of either chilli jelly or yogurt mixed with fresh mint.Then to finish, some lovely sweet ones . Strawberries with a Chocolate Dip: All you need is strawberries and a jar of chocolate spread. If you want to be really clever, swirl some melted white chocolate in it, or mix it with a little malibu. So simple, but everyone thinks you’re so clever. My kind of cooking!

What to eat with Mike Grgich’s 2008 Chardonnay? Only Pete Russell knows the answer

I love hearing from Pete and Lynda Russell, our Californian based guest bloggers, their search for the perfect wine and it’s equally perfect food accompaniment takes them all over the vineyards of California. it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it. Today, they are matching a world famous Chardonnay with their own simple, chicken recipe.

If you want to follow his exploits directly, go to

russep3.posterous.com

Over to you, Pete!!

 

What to eat with Mike Grgich’s 2008 Chardonnay?

We were delighted to find that the maker of the world renowned 1973 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, one Mike Grgich, is still making Chardonnay in California, and we bought a 2008. Now, what to eat it with?

First of all, Lynda and I had different opinions about the wine. I loved it, thought it elegant, nicely oaked, but not too much, while Lynda thought it a tad overblown. Others feel it should be left for 5 years or so to attain its potential.

We selected our tried & tested, Saltimbocca-style Chicken with Lemony Crushed Potatoes, which is low fat and ready in under 30 minutes, and is one of our favourites. This recipe serves 4.

 Ingredients

  • 500g baby new potatoes, halved
  • 4 Chicken Breast Fillets
  • 4 thin slices Roast Ham
  • 4 large fresh sage leaves
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp chicken stock or 2 tbsp Sherry
  • 3 tbsp half fat crème fraîche
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • Green beans

Method

  1. Cook the potatoes in a large pan of boiling water for 10-15 minutes, until tender. 
  2. Meanwhile, place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and bash the living daylights out of it with a rolling pin until they are about 5mm thick, but are still intact and in one piece. Season. Lay a piece of ham on top of each chicken breast and top with a sage leaf. Secure with a cocktail stick.
  3. Heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan and add the chicken, ham-side down. Fry for 2-3 minutes, until starting to turn golden. Turn the chicken over and cook for a further 3 minutes.
  4. Reduce the heat slightly and pour in the chicken stock and/or sherry, depending on your predeliction. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover the pan with a lid or foil and simmer for 3-4 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear when pierced with the tip of a knife.
  5. Drain the potatoes well and crush with a fork. Stir in the crème fraîche, lemon zest and seasoning. Serve with the chicken and steamed green beans.

The tricks here are to:

  • ensure the breasts are properly ‘bashed’ to allow the chicken to cook quickly, 
  • don’t substitute the creme fraiche with sour cream, this won’t give the potatoes the required creaminess.
  • use new potatoes, don’t overcook, but do crush lightly to give the mash proper body.

Saltimbocca is Italian for jump in the mouth, and is classically used to describe a dish of veal, lined or topped with prosciutto and sage and marinated in wine, oil or salt water, but hey, when in San Francisco, anything goes, right?

This dish is a) really easy, even a bloke can do it and b) quick enough to leave the rest of evening for amore, or going to the pub/playing on the computer if you’re alone, and c) relatively inexpensive

A Street Party named Desire and peanut butter cookies (gluten free, too!)

Peanut Butter Cookies …

..and one hell of a street party. Named Desire? maybe not, just having a Marlon Brando moment. On to the Royal Wedding..

I am very lucky with my neighbours, not only are they polite, don’t make too much noise, are always willing to help out, but most important of all…they love a good party! The Royal wedding was the perfect excuse to have a street party. It wasn’t actually in the street, it was in our generous neighbour Paul’s garden and he beenvolently looked on whilst we put up marquees, bunting (isn’t that a great word?) and organised egg and spoon races.

We also used a new BBQ company run by Stephen Heyes  (www.royalqpitcrew.com) who conjured up some of the most amazing BBQ food I’ve ever tasted. if you just wanted bangers and burgers thsi sin’t for you, if you want pork and chicken that’s been gently smoked for hours and hours, so that it’s  incredibly tender and flavoursome, then check them out. To complement Steve’s food, there had been an amazing team effort to provide dips (we love Rachel’s avocado dip and the 7-layer dip went down well, see other recipes) fantastic salads,( yes Joe your aubergine salad is now legendary) and a beautiful array of puddings. As part of the pudding contribution, which included cupcakes and Sherri’s white chocolate cookies, I also made peanut butter cookies, recipe courtesy of Ellie. These were snapped up very early and were honestly the easiest cookies I have ever made, plus they have no flour in them which makes them gluten-free! This is all you need:

To make 24 cookies: 1 large jar of crunchy peanut butter (454g), 2 cups or 450g/1lb of any sort of sugar, 2 eggs and 2 teaspoons of vanilla essence. You can add chocolate chips  or anything else you fancy.

Method: Pre-heat oven to Gas Mark 4, 180 C/160 fan. Mix it all together, place 24 spoonfuls, well spaced out on 2 baking sheets.

Place in the oven for approximately 15  minutes or until they are golden brown

We were very lucky with the weather, but some people came prepared anyway…

It was an amazing day, and yes, we partied until we dropped thanks to the fabulous 80’s disco. All we need now is another excuse….

Walnut pesto – not just a super-food but super-tasty, too

Suddenly everyone loves walnuts! Not that I have any objections to the crinkly little guys, but apparently they can cure everything from obesity to cancer. So let’s give them a go, I say! Now my first inclination would be to go straight for a coffee walnut cake, but as I’m still stuck on the boring low carb stuff, I have had to content myself with something savoury. So hey presto, walnut pesto (see what I did there?). This is great stuff to keep in the fridge to dollop on top of steaks or lamb chops and is also delicious on cauliflower. Oh yes, it is also great on pasta.

 Ingredients:                         

You will need 2 cloves of garlic (well crushed), a bunch of basil – see the picture, 50g shelled walnuts, 50g grated finely parmesan, 150g olive oil, salt to taste ( approx 1/2 teaspoon)

Method: Place all the ingredients except for the oil and salt in a food processor.

Pulse until they are finely chopped.  Pour in the oil and mix briefly and add salt to taste.

Place in to a screwtop jar and keep in the fridge;

This is great stuff to keep in the fridge. A teaspoon or so mixed with mayonnaise adds a great flavour.

 A last word on walnuts. At Christmas my grandmother used to make after-dinner treats, by sticking two walnut halves together with some marzipan. They are simple little petits four, and delicious to have with coffee along with some truffles. I still make them every year as a little homage to her and somehow it always brings a lump to my throat every time I do.