Supper in a bag?

American friends know my penchant for ZipLoc bags, which have a multitude of uses in this household.  Last night, though, they really came into their own when our Three Peaks Challenge friends reunited for supper to bring the project to an end.

I thought it would be fun to revisit some of the culinary adventures they had too, so our supper began with noodles in a bag – really Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall’s Tomato and Chorizo Pot Noodle made in a ziploc, which magically withstands a cup of just-off-boiling water being poured into it.

Thinking our friends deserved something different for their main course, I cooked Gordon Ramsay’s Chicken Biryani from his Indian Escapades book rather than the plain old beef in beer or meatballs they had on their challenge weekend.  This biryani has become a firm favourite here and is a great reason to get out the tiffin tin, bought in Cochin last April.

With gluten-free and dairy-free friends at the table, desserts can be a challenge.  These foil packets contain baked bananas with brown sugar and cointreau – not that we had much more than a KitKat for dessert on the challenge weekend, however.

And the most popular thing on the menu last night?  The basket of 200kcal snacks, handed round to stave off hunger or to stash into pockets for the next adventure.  After all, you never know when you’re going to need an emergency jelly baby…

Incidentally, the final total raised, including the giftaid, for NASS was £3500 or thereabouts.  A pretty amazing sum, don’t you think?