Dinner party
This weekend I made dinner for my cousin and her family ... the first time I've ever had to prepare that many dishes on my own (though they ended up helping some) and for that many people to depend on me for dinner! Kind of stressful and I definitely need more practice on the art of having everything come together at the same time, but also fun.
The menu was seafood and veggie focused, as my cousin's husband doesn't eat meat from creatures who walk the land: creamy scallop soup, Tarte à l'Oignon, shrimp scampi with fettucini, Zuni Cafe's buttermilk mashed potatoes, and sauteed zucchini strips
Dessert was "pooch-kees" from a local bakery (I never saw the actual word so don't know how to spell it -- but apparently it's Danish in origin if someone can help out), which were essentially glorified donuts. Yummy though.
The creamy scallop soup, which I've posted about before:
Tarte à l'Oignon - first time making this, and it came out well. There was no sugar at all in the dish, but onions (just plain yellow ones) are so naturally sweet that the tart came out surprisingly sweet on the tongue. The crust wasn't as crisp as I would have liked, but that's because I accidentally used too much water in the pâte brisée, so that's my fault and easily fixed next time.
Used one of my favorite shrimp scampi recipes. Unfortunately I wasn't "allowed" to season it with the proper amount of salt, so it was a bit bland this time around.
Used some of the leftover garlic and butter in the pan to saute some zucchini strips -- basically, just use a vegetable peeler to peel off strips of zucchini until you reach the seeds. Ideally you won't saute for more than 3 minutes, so that the zucchini retains some of its crispness. It was a bit overdone here, but someone else had taken charge of it so I am not responsible!
These buttermilk mashed potatoes are my absolute favorite recipe, from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. It's a bit fussy, but worth the trouble. Confession: I forgot to take a picture of them at the actual dinner, but made another batch 2 days later, which is shown here.
The aforementioned "pooch-kees." One was chocolate topped and filled, while the other was apple-caramel filled.
The menu was seafood and veggie focused, as my cousin's husband doesn't eat meat from creatures who walk the land: creamy scallop soup, Tarte à l'Oignon, shrimp scampi with fettucini, Zuni Cafe's buttermilk mashed potatoes, and sauteed zucchini strips
Dessert was "pooch-kees" from a local bakery (I never saw the actual word so don't know how to spell it -- but apparently it's Danish in origin if someone can help out), which were essentially glorified donuts. Yummy though.
The creamy scallop soup, which I've posted about before:
Tarte à l'Oignon - first time making this, and it came out well. There was no sugar at all in the dish, but onions (just plain yellow ones) are so naturally sweet that the tart came out surprisingly sweet on the tongue. The crust wasn't as crisp as I would have liked, but that's because I accidentally used too much water in the pâte brisée, so that's my fault and easily fixed next time.
Used one of my favorite shrimp scampi recipes. Unfortunately I wasn't "allowed" to season it with the proper amount of salt, so it was a bit bland this time around.
Used some of the leftover garlic and butter in the pan to saute some zucchini strips -- basically, just use a vegetable peeler to peel off strips of zucchini until you reach the seeds. Ideally you won't saute for more than 3 minutes, so that the zucchini retains some of its crispness. It was a bit overdone here, but someone else had taken charge of it so I am not responsible!
These buttermilk mashed potatoes are my absolute favorite recipe, from the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. It's a bit fussy, but worth the trouble. Confession: I forgot to take a picture of them at the actual dinner, but made another batch 2 days later, which is shown here.
The aforementioned "pooch-kees." One was chocolate topped and filled, while the other was apple-caramel filled.