On Sunday Christopher’s mother came over for lunch. It was lovely and sunny outside and it is such a shame we don’t have a patio or a balcony, but with windows open it felt quite summery inside.

We had a lovely Sunday and managed to show Eileen all the photos from Syria (without sending her to sleep), enjoyed a nice bottle of Chablis and had a spring-themed three course lunch.

We had Julia Child’s stuffed mushrooms as a starter, followed by trout, dilly baby new potatoes and the best sauce for fish ever. For dessert we had a new tweaked version of the pannacotta with raspberry syrup. I made the syrup from 150 g fresh raspberries, 75 ml sugar and 2 star anise, and that made all the difference – adding more star anise.

Julia Child’s stuffed mushrooms, (Champignons Farcis) serves 4

The recipe calls for 12 smaller mushrooms, but I used 4 of the large flat mushrooms, and the quantities work fine.

4 large flat mushrooms (or 12 smaller)

30 ml melted butter

3 tbsp finely chopped onion

butter and oil for frying

3 tbsp chopped spring onions

the stalks from the mushrooms, finely chopped

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

30 ml grated Swiss cheese (I used Emmenthaler)

30 ml grated Parmesan (I used Cheddar instead)

1/2 tsp dried tarragon

4 tbsp chopped parsley

salt & white pepper

2-3 tbsp cream

20 ml grated Swiss cheese

30 ml melted butter

Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and put aside. Wash the mushrooms and dry them. Grease a roasting tina, brush the mushrooms with melted butter and place them in it, hollow-side up.

Fry the onion in butter and oil for a few minutes until soft but not browned. Add spring onions and the mushroom stalks and fry for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat and add grated cheese, parsley, tarragon, breadcrumbs and season. Pour in the cream spoon by spoon to make the mixture come together but without making it too creamy. Fill the four mushroom caps with the mixture and flatten with a spoon. Sprinkle grated cheese on top and pour over drops of melted butter. Bake i preheated oven, 190C for 15 minutes. I served the mushrooms with rocket and crema di balsamico.