We held a second Asian Banquet for the year on the 27^th of November 2004. As before it took place at the frost Pavilion, Mt Barker. After the success of the first banquet it was always going to be a case of if we would be able to match what we had done before, because the first one had gone so well but to my surprise we not only matched it but I believe we bettered it.

We had almost 100 paying guests and they were treated to nine very different dishes. The origin of the dishes came from several Asian countries and was cooked by Maurice Fong and myself and served up by five waitpersons who did their job so well that the feeling in the kitchen was quite relaxed after the initial rush of getting the first two dishes out into the hall to our guest, plus they came up with several good ideas on how we can improve this area in or next banquet.   The Sweet and Sour pork was again amongst the favourite dishes with the lamb and spinach also very popular and for those who have asked for the recipe for this dish I will include it with this news letter.

A big thankyou to all the volunteer helpers who were great, very professional and without their help we could never have put this banquet together. Michelle Stanley was our MC for the night and I hope Michelle with you doing such a great job you will come on board for our next one. Gayle was once again in charge of the bar with Violet her helper, so we had two professional bar people.

The music for the night came from the group called the Magnetic South and it is a testament to how good they were that after the dinner had been served the dance floor was filled by people having fun and it was quite late when the last of the guest went home.

From this banquet the Friends of the Porongurup Range raised for the Twin Creek Conservation project $3,233-80, a wonderful amount of money for such a great cause.

I want to finish this letter (I know I should not really single any helpers out) but June Scott and Bev Stan-Bishop spent the whole evening washing and drying all the plates etc and recycling all the pots and pans from the cooks so no mean feet at all (not one of my favourite jobs) and I am sure like me they would not have got home until the early hours of the morning.

A big thankyou goes out to our many sponsors.

Lamb with Spinach Sauce

I kilo of lamb cut into bite-size cubes,
I fresh green chilli, scape out the seeds and chop up the flesh finely (I myself like 4 chillies),
1 and a half teaspoons crushed garlic,
1 and a half teaspoons minced fresh ginger.
Oil for cooking.
1 tablespoon poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon salt, 4 tablespoons yogurt, half a teaspoon cardamom seeds (crushed)
500g fresh English spinach.
150ml double cream. And last but not least half a teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg.

To cook :
In a large saucepan put a little oil and add the garlic, ginger and chilli and cook for about 2 minutes. Add the lamb which you have cubed and sauté until the meat is lightly coloured.

Grind the poppy seed and add to the pan, Also the salt then stir in the yogurt and cardamom.
You should have enough moisture because you will get some from the meat but if not you can add some water. (I never have).
Cook over a low heat with the pan covered until the lamb is tender (about 50 minutes)

To cook spinach:
Thoroughly wash the spinach and simmer in a saucepan for seven minutes.
Drain and transfer to a food blender and puree. Add to the lamb when the meat is cooked and simmer for three minutes. Finally stir in the cream and nutmeg and heat through and serve.
Serve with plain rice. 

This will serve 6 people.

For the people who have asked when we are going to have another banquet, I am afraid with calving coming up it will not be for some time but at the moment I am looking towards next July/Aug.

Regards  David (Smith)