Note: this range of food is no longer available to buy here, but it was a fun shoot, so I felt I had to include it in the archive of old blog posts.
Over the years, I've been involved in food and recipe development; one of my biggest influences and inspirations has been British chef; Heston Blumenthal. His noted and famed/mind-blowing approach to Molecular gastronomy aside, I find his general attitude to food and his whole process of making food fun, surprising and a holistic experience for his diners utterly mesmerising.
Being an ex-graphic designer, I have always marvelled at the sense of playfulness he instils and his magical 'Willy Wonka' approach to cooking. I was lucky enough this time last year to eat at Dinner by Heston in London's Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
Coles asked me a few years ago if I would be interested in throwing a dinner party for my friends using Heston's new range of food for Coles. I have long been a fan of his Heston Feasts show, as I adore the playfulness and awe he instils in his diners through the food and its presentation. It's a wondrous-themed experience as he takes his guests on a fantastic food journey.
I jumped at the chance as it meant I could have a dinner party for mates and throw an element of mirth and frivolity into the occasion while serving up great food, which was supplied to me by Coles.
I don't usually use my WKA blog as a platform to showcase mass-produced food. Still, I was blown away by the standard of this new range of products and thought it would be a bit of fun.
I tried out the Beef, Onion and Shiraz pies that night for dinner and was super impressed with the outcome. Massively packed full of flavour, rich and super tasty, especially when paired with the accompanying Remarkable Tomato Sauce, which is thick and textural and moves the usual bog-standard tomato sauce into a gourmet realm. The BBQ sauce is even better. I have loved a decent pie ever since moving to Australia, and these are some of the best I have eaten, especially for ones you can cook at home.
Therefore with my brief in hand to host a dinner party, I thought the only option was to do a good old-fashioned and fun, British-style-themed night, what with Heston being English himself and given the style of food within the range ~ aka sausages, pies and wonderfully slow cooked meats, as well as burgers, slow-roasted meats and a great range of bottled sauces. I wanted to have a lot of fun with this dinner party and celebrate full-on British-ness in its pomp and splendour. Create my own 'Katie's Feast, ' so to speak.
After 2 days of sourcing all things British props and decorations and sprucing up the house (with much help from Romina Panetta ~ a great girl who was a fantastic styling help to me in preparation for the night), I invited 9 of my good mates over for dinner 2 Saturdays ago ~ a lot of whom are British (thought it only fitting) and we had a total ball ~ black tie/dickie bows/bow ties and all! It was one of the best dinner parties I have ever thrown. Everyone adored the food and the conversation. Much laughter (and wine) flowed. Being used to throwing dinner parties and serving up quite great food, I was thrilled with the outcome of the food on the menu and made a pleasant change from me cooking up my own recipes. Having eaten the food, I felt confident that it would stand up to the plate (no pun intended) and that my guests would stay hungry.
A friend Andy Arnfield from the Gourmet Grocer was a great hand to me in the kitchen. He's an incredible cook and manically passionate about food, so he was a no better person to have to help at such events. He's like a little whirlwind in the kitchen; ergo, between the two of us, we cooked up all the items ~ all of which go in the oven at the same temp and for the same time ~ a brilliant advantage when cooking pre-prepared food for a dinner party for 10 ~ which are, let's face it usually pretty stressful events. I found cooking the pies, ribs and pork a total doddle due to all the equal cooking time and temps, which were generally 180˚C for 25 mins, so everything cooked quickly. I decided to pair the range with some of my super creamy mashed potatoes and minted peas, roasted carrots, and the broccoli recipe which featured on the Heston for Coles website.
The sausages, pies and ribs were the biggest hit of the night. Being Irish is something I really miss from home ~ like most Irish and English ex-pats will attest... are decent sausages. Back home in that part of the world, sausages have a finer meat texture and thinner casing than many of the ones you find in Aus. Heston's ones were good for all of the ex-pat guests. They're the closest to the sausages I used to miss at home and have great texture and flavour. They'd be brilliant for an Aussie BBQ or equally suitable for a weeknight family dinner.