Mike's Crisp Sea Bass, Crushed Violet Potatoes and Samphire Beurre Noisette

(Serves 2)

1 Sea Bass (filleted, scaled and pin boned)

400g washed violet potatoes

500g marsh samphire (alternativly sea purslaine)

1 lemon

Knob of unsalted butter

Salt and pepper

Flour for dusting

Flat leaf parlsey to garnish

Extra virgin olive oil

This is a nice, simple and quick dish that anyone can rustle up after a hard days work and best of all its packed full of flavours and amazing colours.

1. Boil the potatoes in salted water until soft enough to break up with a fork. Drizzle with some olive oil, season and set aside somewhere warm

2. Lightly flour the skin of the sea bass and place in a cool, oiled, non-stick pan and place on a high heat. When cooking fish like this, it is important not to fiddle with it whilst its cooking. You want to leave it until its 80-90% cooked (You will notice the flesh changing colour and a nice brown edge starting to creep up the sides)

3. Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon on the fish and throw in a small knob of butter before flipping it over. Keep basting the skin with the foaming butter until the fish is just cooked through before taking it out and letting it rest on some kitchen towel

4. Whilst the pan is still hot, add another small knob of butter and add the samphire. You want to let the butter turn brown and nutty (Beurre Noisette = Nutty Butter)

5. To assemble, place the potatoes in the centre of the plate and lay the fish on top. Spoon over the samphire and butter. Finally sprinkle with some choppped parsley and another squeeze of lemon juice

Using food and drink to decorate your wedding

Food is for eating, and drinks are for drinking, right? Mostly, yes. But you can use food and drink for all sorts of things on your big day. Here are some unique ways to incorporate food and drink into your reception.

Your reception drinks can set the entire theme for the rest of your wedding reception. In 2013, vintage wedding receptions were rife, starting the theme off with a bang. Traditionally, your reception drinks would be a simple table cloth + glass + drink combination. But gone are those days! You can do all sorts wtih your reception drinks. Funky drinking vessels, vintage drink crates, beautiful straws and fancy cocktails. These drinks can look as beautiful as the rest of your decorations!

By layering heights, textures and colours you can create a beautiful centerpiece for the reception room or outdoor reception. 

Fruit has also been seen used as a wedding decoration. This wedding in the woodland features fantastic, raw and natural centrepieces made entirely of apples. Simple green and white flowers have been added to keep the whole theme subtle but beautiful.

You can also use fruit for your place names. Apples and pears are such beautiful shapes and colours, you don't need to spend lots of money on place names. Spray paint your chosen fruit gold for a more decorative place name, or keep them plain for a natural feel.

Clear glass vases of fruit are an extremely effective way of colour blocking. Layer oranges, limes and lemons in a bowl for a beautiful centrepiece for a summer wedding or fill oversized cocktail glasses with winter berries for a festive feel.

This year, a huge trend is going to be unique and interesting bouquets featuring fruit, vegetables and herbs. Last year saw the rise of the herb bouquet, with rosemary being extremely popular. However this year, you will be seeing more striking and interesting additions such as artichokes and crab apples.

Now, we're not quite sure how many vases made of squash you might come across at weddings this year... but we stumbled upon this on Pinterest and thought it was such an amazing idea! Whacky, but amazing.

Sweets and cakes have been an extremely popular way of decorating weddings last year, and we hope to see more of it this year because it works so well! Use candy floss as a way of colour blocking for a pastel palette wedding.

We cannot believe how popular macarons have been this year. Such versatile little treats, you could use them like a cake pop and put them into a tall vase to decorate your dessert table, or alternatively poke name flags in for your place names.

Finally, how about a centrepiece made of cake? We like the sound of that. Instead of having a traditional bouquet of flowers in the centre of your tables, why not use beautifully iced cupcakes?

Sequins for 2014!

We stumbled across this lovely blog http://www.beforethebigday.co.uk/2014/01/wedding-trends-of-2014-sequins.html and it inspired us to do our own post about this sparkling new trend for 2014.

When we heard this new trend, panic did strike us slightly... As when you think of sequins, your mind might wander to the bright pink or tacky gold sequins that adorned your childhood dressing up box. But the designers of the catwalk pieces that have inspired this trend have chosen striking and unique colours and shapes that have completely transformed the idea of your average sequin!

Something we've not come across before, statement table cloths! You can bring sequins into your wedding breakfast by dressing your table in striking golds and subtle silvers. Dark petrol blues also look stunning and will set the mood for the whole room. 

There are so many different styles, shapes, textures and colours of sequin wedding dresses. One of the main and most elegant styles we have come across are dresses adorned with sequins mainly around the bodice that spread out and become more sparse as you move down to the skirt. Teamed with chiffon, this would become a more charming, light and soft look. 

Sequin dresses aren't just gold and silver it seems! This bride has steered clear of tradition, wearing beautiful sea green sequins on a flapper style 1920's dress. Teamed with a Gatsby-type head dress, this bride has created the perfect look for a 2014 wedding. We love it!

Sequin head dresses are also in with a bang this year! If you feel that the average wire or metal head band is too heavy or frustrating to keep on your head throughout the day, a sequin head dress is a perfect alternative. Most feature a tie up back, and they're extremely light and comfortable.

Sequins aren't just for traditional, indoor weddings. This dress, bouquet and head band combo are the perfect ingredients for a bohemian outdoor woodland wedding http://www.wasing.co.uk/wasing-woodland-weddings-_202/.

Using sequins as confetti, during photographs or as your decorations are also options! Whilst browsing Pinterest, we came across the idea of filling empty light bulbs with differently shaped sequins and hanging them with thin threads. This would look magical in any indoor or outdoor wedding. What a fantastic idea!

Happy New Year everyone! Last year was host to many fantastic weddings and events that have made the year such a special one. However, we're extremely excited to see what 2014 has in store for us. We are using this post to sum up the themes and trends of last month, and speculate what exciting themes are to come in the new year.

Winter warmers seemed to be the main theme throughout wedding breakfasts and canapés. During the winter months, our guests seemed to crave comforting game and familiar, traditional dishes. Venison was very popular and often teamed with a classic - creamy dauphinoise potatoes. This often had our mouths watering! Clare and Dave's wedding at North Hidden Barn featured big rustic dishes of venison and dauphinoise on each table for their guests to share.

Venison and shallots with rosemary at Clare and Dave's wedding

Crispy and creamy dauphinoise potatoes

Another favourite was pork belly. Whether this be as a canapé with black pudding and apple sauce, or paired with caramelized apple as a hearty main course. Daisy and Martin's Japanese themed wedding also kept with traditional winter themes, and they too had pork belly and braeburn apple as an option for their guests to enjoy at the wedding breakfast in Ufton Court's Tithe Barn.

Pork belly was a popular option for guests at Daisy and Martin's wedding

Cheese towers were definitely very fashionable the whole way through 2013, but especially during the winter months. Everybody knows how important cheese is during December, we just can't get enough can we! Who doesn't love a great selection of local cheeses with a great red wine? We witnessed some truly artistic towers and hope that the theme doesn't die down in 2014, because we loved it!

This cheese tower was beautifully decorated with brightly coloured fruit

If you haven't witnessed the naked wedding cake of 2013, we're not quite sure where you've been? Especially popular over the last month, this cake doesn't feature any icing on the outside, just different flavoured sponges layered with butter cream and jams. We think this cake was so popular in the winter months because it is so beautiful to decorate in Christmassy decorations. We saw many dressed in icing sugar and winter fruit, and also some sprinkled with edible glitter and cream roses. At Daisy and Martin's wedding, there was a naked wedding cake that featured a spiced apple sponge; perfect for a winter wedding.

A stunning example of a naked wedding cake at a wedding at Wasing Estate's walled garden

Daisy and Martin's Christmassy naked wedding cake

Location, location, location. One of the first things on the to do list. During the winter we found ourselves very often in beautiful countryside barns. Yes, they are a fantastic venue for all months of the year. But they really do come to life in the winter, and there is something so comforting about enjoying each other's company in a barn covered in fairy lights and rustic timber.

Ufton Court's Tithe Barn is somewhere we found ourselves often in the winter months of 2013. Their Christmas tree and fairy lights are a stunning backdrop for your winter wedding.

Festive strings of fairy lights at Ufton Court's Tithe Barn

Sally and Lisa's ceremony at Ufton Court's Tithe Barn

Ufton's beautiful Christmas tree

2013 has been a very busy and exciting year. We have seen many trends that have held on throughout the whole year - including shabby chic crockery, pick n mix sweet tables, cheese towers, naked wedding cakes, vintage reception drinks and traditional game and British cooking. We are left wondering what this year will hold. Will we shy away from the whole 'shabby chic' craze or will it be so popular that it shines through 2014 too. Will we dress our naked cakes back up, or keep them going throughout the next year. A little birdy gave us a heads up for all the future brides and bridesmaids; this year, mismatched shades and styles of bridesmaids dressing are going to be very popular, so get ahead of the game!

We feel there are going to be big changes in the year to come, visit our twitter @potkilnanywhere and tweet us the changes you think are coming to the wedding and event scene of 2014.

Daisy and Martin's Wedding

Yesterday we spent the day at Ufton Court to cater for Daisy and Martin's special day. 

Daisy and Martin invited their guests with a unique 'save the date' canvas bag

This couple shied away from a traditional Christmas themed wedding and instead followed Martin's roots to Japan. The whole of Tithe Barn was full of 1000 paper cranes which the couple had made together as a Japanese tradition to represent hope and happiness. Some were hung on the tree decorations in the middle of the tables, others hung on strings from the barn's rustic beams and individual cranes were given as favours. 

Paper cranes hung from the big rustic beams of Tithe Barn

Beautiful Japanese paper was used in the origami cranes

Tithe Barn decorated with festive fairy lights

At the back of the barn was a 'best wishes' cherry blossom tree which lit up and featured all the guests best wishes for the couple. Cherry blossom was also featured on the table plan as the guests entered and brought the whole theme together beautifully.

Instructions for the guests to use the 'best wishes' tree

The 'best wishes' tree before the guests decorated it with their messages

The 'best wishes' tree covered with guests wishes for the bride and groom

Beautifully decorated tables and chairs

The mother of the bride knitted unique napkin rings for the place settings

Canapés were served in Ufton's lovely Archery Hall whilst champagne and mulled wine were served for reception drinks. The guests enjoyed teriyaki beef, edamame beans in a soy and chili glaze, tempura vegetables with a chili dipping sauce, salmon blinis, duck and hoisin pancakes, lime and garlic king prawns, lamb koftas and pork belly with black pudding all cooked by our wonderful chefs.

Our delicious canapés

The guests made their way into the barn for the speeches before their three course meal. It was one of the most touching and heartfelt speeches we'd heard and the groom had everyone in tears, including us! A starter of seasonal gnocci garnished with pine nuts was served and followed by a traditional Japanese rice wine called Sake. The bride stood up and made a small speech in Japanese and everyone toasted to the couple with their Sake in hand. The meal continued with pork belly, braised cabbage, roasted baby carrots finished with caramelized braeburn apple. Vegetarians could enjoy the option of carrot fritters with halloumi cheese. 

Gnocci with ricotta and pine nuts

Pork belly, baby carrots, braised cabbage and caramelized apple

For dessert the naked wedding cake was cut and presented on platters with beautiful roses and festive cranberries. There were two different flavours; spiced apple or a traditional Victorian sponge. Our chefs served the cake with cinnamon and vanilla icecream.

Naked wedding cake with origami paper cranes and roses

After the three course meal, space was cleared to make way for dancing to a live band. The bar was opened for the evening and included a Japanese Lager called Asahi which was very popular with the guests and went down a treat.