Escape Room Game

Time for another birthday lunch for the Kellys. This time to celebrate Tony and our friend Jordan’s birthdays. The Kellys and the Lockharts love to get together and play boardgames so for this gathering I wanted to do something different. Enter the escape room game we picked up at TK Maxx before Christmas. Here’s a link for a similar game and another one.

The object of the game is that you all work as a team to solve the puzzles to move through the rooms of the mansion in 90 minutes. It started out easy but did get a lot harder as we worked our way through it. Working together was a nice change as usually we are either in teams of two or on our own with the board games.

ESCAPE ROOM GAME TABLESCAPE

In the spirit of the old style of the game I decided on a vintage tablescape. I started with my good old white tablecloth🤣 and then raided my stash of vintage linens. I chose three short vintage runners and then added an old timber box in the centre. The box was layered with some old style faux flowers and some of my English tea cups (I have a lot!!!) which I had to lift with two small cake stands.

To give a little height I added some old books. I love using old books around the house to add height or interest to a vignette. For my tablescapes you will notice that I never have anything too high in the centre. Tony doesn’t like not being able to see everyone so if I have anything high it gets removed 🤣. I only want to show you what I actually use so thats why you will never see big flower arrangements or anything like that on my tables. The Cricut machine made another appearance – I cut out the initials for all our guests to add to the cutlery bundle.

ESCAPE ROOM GAME FOOD

In keeping with the vintage theme I decided to keep the meal very simple but elegant, think Downton Abbey but without the silver service! The menu was creamy taragon chicken, green beans and duchess potatoes. I have to say it was great food and every body commented on how nice it was. It’s true what they say, sometimes simple is better. The preparation was easy and stress free. The recipes are included and I urge you to give them a go. I’m sure you will love them.

CREAMY TARRAGON CHICKEN

This recipe is so easy but the flavour packs a punch. It’s not a strong flavour though so even fussy eaters will like its. I was able to make the recipe on the morning of our lunch and just put it on to simmer before serving. It was at this stage that I added the cornflour to thicken slightly. I was not able to find fresh Tarragon at this time of the year so I had to use dry but really it didn’t matter it was still delicious. I used parsley to garnish.

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Creamy Tarragon Chicken

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 4 Boneless chicken breasts
• 200 grams button mushrooms sliced
• 3 green onions sliced
• 1/2 garlic clove crushed
• 375 mls chicken stock
• 1/2 cup cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp dijon mustard (heaped)
• 1 tsp dried tarragon Fresh would be great I couldn't find any so I used the try version instead. If you use fresh you can use more than 1 tsp.
• 1 tsp cornflour
• fresh parsley to serve

Instructions

• Season the chicken breasts lightly with salt and pepper (or your favourite chicken seasoning).
• Heat oil and butter in a frypan, add chicken and cook on both sides until browned and almost cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.
• Add mushrooms and saute until brown and then add the green onions and garlic and cook for another minute.
• Add chicken stock and cream and mix for a minute.
• Add in the mustard and tarragon and stir well.
• Add the chicken and simmer for about 10 minutes.
• If needed mix the cornflour with a little cold water and then add to thicken the sauce.
• Serve in a beautiful dish topped with fresh tarragon or parsley.

Notes

I made this recipe an hour before everyone arrived to the point where the chicken was added.  I then turned it back on to simmer for 10 minutes before serving.  The chicken was super tender and very tasty.

GREEN BEANS

This recipe is amazing. The flavours are subtle but work so well together. But most importantly when entertaining, it’s made in no time. I sauted the shallots and herbs beforehand and when we were ready to eat I added the chicken stock and then followed the rest of the recipe. I will be using this a lot!!!

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GREEN BEANS WITH HERBS

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Ingredients

• 500 grams frozen green beans
• 3 tbsp french butter
• 2 shallots (not green onions) finely sliced
• 1 tbsp chives (finely chopped)
• 1 tbsp parsley (finely chopped)
• 1/4 cup chicken stock

Instructions

• Heat butter in large frypan and then add shallots. Cook for 2-3 minutes until softened.
• Add the herbs and chicken stock and bring to boil.
• Toss through the beans well and cook for about 5 minutes or until the beans are tender but not soft.

DUCHESS POTATOES

Ok I have mixed feelings on the duchess potatoes. The taste is absolutely amazing, probably one of the nicest type of potato I have ever tried. There was a little bit of work involved but nothing terribly difficult. The only issue I had is that I didn’t find that they were crisp enough to move from the tray easily so the finished product was a little messy. Would I make them again? Absolutely!!! Next time though I may just make the mash and not bother with the piping. Having said that though they fit perfectly with the theme of the day.

Definitely give them a go and see what you think. I thought they were possibly too soft because I cooked them in the oven on baking paper. However, I had a few leftover so I popped them in the air fryer just to see how they would come out and they were better but still fairly soft and got a bit messy when I tried to get them out. Obviously they are just meant to be soft and you just need to be careful when moving them to the plate. You will see from the picture below that the bottoms have not really held up well.

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Duchess Potatoes

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

freezing time1 day d

Equipment

• Potato Ricer (not necessary to make it – just makes it easier)
• Stand Mixer (not necessary to make it – just makes easier)

Ingredients

• 2 kgs potatoes any potato that is suitable for mash is good for this recipe
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 tbsp good french butter
• 1/3 cup pure cream
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk

Instructions

• Peel the potatoes and cut into fairly equal sizes. Boil in a large pot until tender. Drain in a colander allowing to steam off all the moisture and shaking every now and then.
• Using a potato ricer (if you have one) mash the potato into a large bowl for an electric mixer. (If you don't have a potato ricer or an electric mixer just use a masher and make sure there are no lumps).
• Add the butter, salt, nutmeg and cream. Mix with the mixer for approximately 5 minutes until really smooth.
• Add the egg yolks and mix on low until just combined. Do not overmix.
• Using a large piping bag with a star tip pipe the potatoes into high mounds. I piped them on to baking paper in the containers I would place into the freezer.
• If you're not going to freeze overnight I would recommend freezing for at least an hour.
• Preheat oven to 200C°. Mix the egg and milk well.
• Remove potato from freezer and place on a large tray, on baking paper. Brush with egg and milk mix – go lightly with this you don't want it to gather at the bottom as the stacks will collapse.
• Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

That is the full menu for the night. As I said I wanted to keep it simple. I made two lots of the chicken for those people in our party that didn’t like mushrooms. Personally I much prefer the mushrooms in it for extra flavour. I didn’t make a dessert because I made a birthday cake for Tony and Jordan instead. If you’re interested in the cake you will find it here.

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse into our fun escape room game night and it inspires you to try something different.