Having spent the better part of this year looking for a house, finding one, moving and carrying out any number of related activities, Monsieur and I have finally been able to introduce our new home to family and friends. At last we have our own little garden and room for a barbecue, so Monsieur has been honing his barbie skills, and the number of people invited to be his guinea pigs has gradually risen to the point where we felt confident to have a small housewarming.

The kind folk at Courvoisier contributed to our evening by sending over everything necessary for a Courvoisier punch: bottles of cognac, lemonade, bitters, fruit, even the punch bowl and ladle. It made a delicious cocktail with which to welcome our guests and is a doddle to make:

250ml Courvoisier cognac

750ml lemonade

20 dashes of Angostura bitters

slices of fruit

combine all in punch bowl

(if you don’t have a punch bowl, use a large salad bowl and soup ladle instead)

The menu:

Anchoïade and a french onion dip served with crudités

Smoked salmon and dill cream pastry cups

Duck and Sauternes mini-toasts

Meats from  M Moen & Sons, barbecued by Monsieur:

 chipolata, merguez and Cumberland sausages

chicken breasts in a smoky paprika marinade from the Weber cookbook  bible

spicy chicken and chorizo skewers

and some Epic creations:

vegetarian kebabs with peppers, onions, mushrooms and halloumi

field mushrooms stuffed with Boursin and sprinkled with grated Parmesan

prawn skewers in teriyaki sauce

courgette ribbons in teriyaki sauce

potato salad laced with wholegrain mustard

classic lemon cream linguine

Dessert:

red berries soaked in Courvoisier with warm fudge sauce and vanilla ice cream

We had a wonderful time with the friends who could make it. For all those who couldn’t, rest assured we’ll be doing it again. And again. And again and again and again.

Special thanks to Holly Saich and Courvoisier UK for so kindly helping our housewarming to get off to a tasty start. And a special mention for Monsieur, who just might become the next barbecue expert on the block.  I’m really quite impressed by his fast-developing barbie skills. At the rate he stokes those flames, we just might have to rename him Lucifer.