Supper Club for American expats

On Sunday we had a couple over for our supper club that we met on the American expats meetup group. They were Bryan and Kim: he grew up in the US in different cities (his father was in the Coast Guard) and she was born in the US but grew up in South Africa.  They are in Nottinghamshire because Bryan's grandfather bequeathed him a historical (18th century? 19th century? house).  They were very interesting and nice people; it was a wonderful evening with good company.

waiting for the guests:

fish with walnuts:

I'm making the chocolate cake, multitasking, whisk  the chocolate and beat the eggs 

before the tofu was steamed:

after 8mins steamed, add roasted red pepper:

Seafood soup:

Here is the menu  we served:

Appetizer

Dried fish with honey  and walnuts  

This is a little spicy with tiny dried fish, fried until crispy; then crystal sugar and walnuts added for a complex taste.
  

Steamed tofu with pickled olive

Bite-sized stuffed with ground pork and Cantonese pickled olives, which give it a unique flavor.



Main Course

Seafood soup

Clam, squid, whitefish, large prawns，slice lamp with homemade tomato soup base - this a very fulfilling concoction, particularly on cold winter nights.

French bean and mangetout with hazelnut and orange
The peel of the orange adds a citric tang to the nutty flavour of the hazelnuts and green crunch of the beans and mangetout. The three tastes balance each other, no one dominates.
Dessert

Dark Goddess Cake 
A gluten-free chocolate cake