Thursday, July 22, 2010

All we do is eat!

So - meals at Mansfield College are serious business.

Every day, breakfast is as large as you want it to be. We begin with juice, fresh toast (in little toast carriers) with jam, honey, nutella, or Marmite (shudder) while you wait for your cooked breakfast. There are also cereals (USA favorites and UK home team players like Wheatabix).

Fruit? Yes. Cheese and smoked salmon? Yes.

Cooked breakfast includes - eggs fried or scrambled, beans, tomato, hash browns, pork, sausage, bacon, and mushrooms. Mix and match.

Coffee or tea - and you are ready to face the day.

Dinner has been three or four courses depending on how you count them.
Sunday night:
Caprese salad, rolls and butter
Roast chicken with a timbale of stuffing, bacon wrapped sausage, haricort vert, roasted potatoes, and carrots.
Chocolate coated caramel ice cream.
Coffee and chocolates

Monday:
Melon and prosciutto, rolls and butter
Poached chicken breast with tarragon sauce, roasted potatoes, green vegetable, and carrots
Strawberry Shortcake (made with shortbread).
Coffee and chocolates

Tuesday
Avocado and baby shrimp in a lemon vinaigrette, rolls and butter
Lamb cutlet with a mint sauce, roasted diced potatoes, leek gratin, and sauteed courgettes (zucchini)
Creme brulee
Coffee and chocolates

Wednesday
Butternut squash soup, rolls and butter
Chicken Kiev, roasted potatoes, corn on the cob, carrots
Fresh fruit compote with honey cream and a madeleine
Coffee and chocolates

Thursday
Hummus and pita
Poached salmon with hollandaise, boiled potatoes, Haricort vert, steamed broccoli
Pear tart
Coffee and chocolates

I will complete this report from the front lines of overeating as meals are served. - and so...

Friday
Creepy shirred egg with spinach and cheese - way too glisten-y uncooked for me. The first "Ew, what is that?" food
Beefsteak with a green peppercorn sauce, zucchini, boiled potatoes, and broccoli/cauliflower medley - our first overcooked vegetables
Peach fool
Coffee and chocolates

Saturday
The only bad meal of the entire week
This was a formal meal with menus on the table. We began with a sparkling wine made delicious with a splash of elderflower cordial.
I've forgotten the first course (probably the fault of the delicious wine and elderflower mixture. Whatever - it was not memorable.)
Herb encrusted lamb loin (over cooked and unassailable given the cutlery at hand), Roasted root vegetables - potatoes, parsnip, turnip, and carrot, sauteed sugar snap peas
Chocolate tart (with a cement tart shell)
Coffee and Chocolates

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