Celebration Dinners!

[peter]

A thread for us to showcase dinners we are planning to celebrate particular events, to explain our choices and offer constructive criticism, advice and tips.

I'm planning a dinner for two guys I work with, one German, the other French, both in their mid twenties and good friends, to celebrate Tom (the French one) finally passing his degree after six years of study and repeated failures of each year (another story). Since he's been working at the shop I've been bullying him, cajoling him, bribing him and generally driving him from behind to get him through. This dinner is my final bribe to get him over the last hurdle, a dinner cooked by me and Mrs P for him and is best mate. Tom is a gastronome who lives on crap because he's too lazy to cook proper food, and so I'm going to serve him crap elevated to the gastronomic.

For appetisers with a glass of champagne I'll serve simply kalamata olives and ciabatta with a balsamic/oil dip.

Starters of thin and crispy pepperoni pizza (small pieces) with grated parmesan, oil and truffle and a small dressing of light salad leaves.

Next comes char grilled fillet steak (medium rare), three times cooked French fries and sun-blush tomatoes with a wine reduction used to deglaze the pans. Just a teaspoon of this on each steak. Warm crusty bread to mop up the steak juice.

In a nod to Toms frenchness we'll have our cheese next before dessert - a roqforte, a cruncher and a stinking bishop ( to show that we can do the hard stuff here as well) - then finally, round off with a sticky toffee pudding and melting marmalade ice cream.

Coffee and petit fours and a glass of brandy to dot the i's and cross the t's.

[Avatar]

I can't do truffles...I once dropped a whole bottle of truffle oil in my kitchen and it stank for weeks...haven't been able to look a truffle in the eye since.

Also, trust me on this, a teaspoon is not enough...at least have a little sauce boat on the side for them as is greedy about sauces.

Otherwise, sounds excellent...although I would skip the sticky toffee pudding...don't like toffee...personal taste though.

--A

[Sorus]

I can't do truffles...I once dropped a whole bottle of truffle oil in my kitchen and it stank for weeks...haven't been able to look a truffle in the eye since.

Gak. That's a pervasive scent even if used as intended. I can't even imagine - or at least, I'm trying not to.

[Avatar]

Trust me, you don't want to...

--A

[Menolly]

This Pacific Northwet household had a southern lucky meal for New Years Day.

Ham in a honey brown sugar sauce
Collard greens
Sweet potato casserole
Corn bread

The ham and collards were cooked in the Instant Pots. The sweet potatoes and corn bread were oven baked.

A nice white wine served with.

Happy New Year!

[Vader]

For Christmas Eve I prepared a buffet. Traditionally my parents, the in-laws, my sister and her partner are with us.

Crispy belly pork
Pork tenderloin marinated with rosemary and garlic
Waldorf salad
Homemade truffle butter
Bruschetta (which goes well with "zhoug" as I noticed)
Baked bacon wrapped dates
Crawfish salad
various smoked fish (salmon, halibut, ect.)
various cheeses
cheese creams (one with dried tomatoes, the other with olives)
Charosset

Charosset, though actutaully a typical jewish seder dish, fits well into christmas mass time, because of the ingeredients and spices. I made the version of the Sephardim with dates, almonds, rasins, cinnamon and stuff. Delicious.

On Christmas Day were at a restaurant with the in-laws, eating buffet again. That was below par and a complete waste of money. "Crispy goose legs" held warm in chafing dish with the lid on? Come on, you gotta be kiddin' me.

The Day after Christmas Day we had roasted turkey with my parents. I'm looking forward to this the whole year and I never get disappointed.

New Year's Eve I had a fantastic steak in a restaurant

[Skyweir]

Wow definitely a feast