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🥂 Veuve Clicquot…

A brief history of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin. ⏱️ Sixty second read.

Born in 1777 in Reims, she married Francoise Clicquot in 1798 and was widowed in 1805. She launched her own company Veuve Clicquot-Ponsardin 1810. She died in 1866 in Paris.

Two businessmen, Mr Ponsardin and Mr Clicquot ‘arranged’ the marriage of their children Francoise Cliquot and Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin. This practice was quite common at the time and designed to protect families fortunes.

When Francoise died suddenly aged just 30 his father intended to wind up the business he had built with his son. However, Barbe-Nicole convinced her father in law, Philippe Clicquot to invest in her and keep the business going.

To cut a long story short, this proved a shrewd move and Veuve Clicquot became the first known vintage champagne in 1810, the first rosé was introduced in 1818. In a moment of genius Barbe-Nicole came up with the technique of removing the yeast by-product that comes from making champagne.

The distinctive yellow label, a sign of quality.

In addition to establishing champagne as the luxury drink for special occasions, Madam Clicquot also established the technique known as riddling which enabled removal of sediment formed from yeast fermentation. This process has been adapted by nearly all champagne and fizzy wine producers. For more information about the process > HERE

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🥁 Marvin Gaye – I Heard It Through The Grapevine…

UK Demo (EX+) £10

Postage is £5 (1-3 records) in the UK Text 0044 (0) 7788 215744 or email deesu@hotmail.co.uk

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🥁 Marvin Gaye – I Want You…

Original USA Demo (EX+) £10

Postage is £5 (1-3 records) in the UK Text 0044 (0) 7788 215744 or email deesu@hotmail.co.uk

Record Gradings – New Listings

🥁 Marvin Gaye – What’s Going On…

Original USA Demo (EX+) £20

Postage is £5 (1-3 records) in the UK Text 0044 (0) 7788 215744 or email deesu@hotmail.co.uk

Record Gradings – New Listings

🥘 Carole’s Rhubarb cheesecake…

This attractive cheesecake is ideal for a dinner party dessert. Serve with stewed rhubarb pulp.

Equipment needed:

A loose bottomed 20cm round cake tin and a food processor

Ingredients:

FOR THE BASE

flavourless oil, to grease
200g digestive biscuits
75g butter, melted

FOR THE CHEESECAKE

4 sheets of leaf gelatine
juice and zest of 2 lemons
500g mascarpone
2 x 180g packs full-fat soft cheese (we used Philadelphia)
100g caster sugar

FOR THE RHUBARB JELLY

400g rhubarb, chopped
125g caster sugar
4 sheets of leaf gelatine

Line the base of the cake tin and brush the sides lightly with oil.
For the base, blitz the biscuits into crumbs in a food processor, combine them with the melted butter and stir well so all the crumbs are coated in the butter. Press into the base of the tin in an even layer. Chill in the fridge while you make the filling.
For the cheesecake layer, soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Put the lemon juice in a pan and heat until just simmering. Remove from the heat. Squeeze out any excess liquid from the gelatine, then add it to the lemon juice. Stir until dissolved, then set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Put the mascarpone, soft cheese, sugar and lemon zest in a large bowl and whisk together. Add the lemon and gelatine mixture and continue to whisk until fully incorporated. Pour into the tin and smooth the top, making sure that it’s as level as you can make it. Chill in the fridge for a minimum of 2 hours or until set firm.
To make the jelly, put the rhubarb and sugar in a saucepan. Heat gently until the sugar has dissolved, then bring to a simmer for 8-10 minutes, or until the rhubarb is very soft. Meanwhile, soak the gelatine leaves in cold water for 5 minutes until soft.
Press the rhubarb through a sieve, catching the juice in a jug underneath, then set the rhubarb pulp aside. Add the gelatine to the hot rhubarb liquid and stir until dissolved. Set aside to cool to room temperature, then pour the jelly over the top of the cheesecake. Cover and chill for at least 4-6 hours, or overnight if possible, to set firmly.
To serve, remove the cheesecake from the tin and slice into 8 slices.

🥘 Carole’s baked fish with tomatoes, olives and capers…

**🥘 1 pan 🍽 Serves 2 🛒 10 ingredients ⏱ 30 minutes £12**

This recipe is adapted from Rachel Roddy’s fish baked al cartoccio, which as she explains means ‘in paper’, the French call it en papillote. Cooking al cartoccio creates a flavoursome soft texture with the steam creating a frothy scented sauce inside the paper parcel.

We used haddock loins which are available in Sainsbury’s – Taste The Difference range, approximately £7 for two.

You will need baking paper and a baking tray or oven proof dish

Ingredients:

1 large beefsteak tomato
2 garlic cloves
2 fish fillets (110g-140g per person)
olives
capers
fennel seeds (or fronds)
vine ripened tomatoes
lemon
olive oil
parsley

Step by step:

Step 1

Heat your oven to 200C (180C fan), gas 6 and prepare four squares of baking paper approximately 23cm x 23cm.

Peel the large tomato. Simply cover it in boiling water for a couple of minutes and then plunge it into cold water and the skin should peel away easily. Remove any seeds or hard white bits and chop finely.

Step 2

Peel the garlic cloves and cut them into very thin slices. Rub the centre of the baking paper with olive oil and place the fish in the centre. Add the tomato, slivers of garlic, olives, capers and fennel seeds. Season to taste.

Step 3

Make the fish parcel by lifting the edges of the baking paper and folding them into the centre. Place them on your baking sheet, or in the oven proof dish and cook for 15-20 minutes. The fish will be cooked through and poached in delicious tomato, olive and garlic and caper flavoured juice

Roddy suggests serving the fish with rice or couscous. We opted for vegetables and my current favourite Sweet Potato Fries, also available from Sainsbury’s – Taste The Difference range £3.80 for 300g enough to serve 2.

Notes and Tips:

Whilst you can serve the fish al cartoccio and let guests undo the parcel, we prefer to serve it unwrapped with parsley butter and a good extra glug of olive oil.

We serve the fish with a small pot of tartar sauce, mayonnaise or aioli.