Elegant Menu

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kimbaby

Executive Chef
Joined
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just suppose you have been asked to make a very ellegant dinner for a very famous person,what would you make?just the menu only (no recipes needed):chef:
 
Well... I would figure that the very famous person had fancy dinners all the time and that he needed a simple good home cooked meal.

I'd make him or her a bowl of my world famous ( ok...it's only famous in my house) clam chowder and serve it with some good warm French bread and a spinach salad. Dessert would be a Lemon pie and Earl Gray tea.

Or Greek Leg of lamb with roasted potatoes, Greek salad, Greek zucchine, Rice and berries and for dessert Baklava and Greek Twisty cookies!

Either way.. he'd leave happy and full.

What would you make Kim?
 
I would make maybe a seafood platter.with fish gumbo and serve rice
and warm biscuits,hush puppies,bar-b-q beans,slaw... and key lime pie for dessert...
 
pdswife said:
Well... I would figure that the very famous person had fancy dinners all the time and that he needed a simple good home cooked meal.

I'd make him or her a bowl of my world famous ( ok...it's only famous in my house) clam chowder and serve it with some good warm French bread and a spinach salad. Dessert would be a Lemon pie and Earl Gray tea.

Or Greek Leg of lamb with roasted potatoes, Greek salad, Greek zucchine, Rice and berries and for dessert Baklava and Greek Twisty cookies!

Either way.. he'd leave happy and full.

What would you make Kim?

very ellegant if you ask me PDS :)
 
:) Thats a tough question.I say make what you make best.I have actually cooked 2 years ago for some one famous but not as well known as his father.I cant remember the whole menu but the dinner was white tail venison tenderloin with a blueberry compote, the rest I honestly dont remember I would hafto look it up. But for brunch the next day I do know he absolutly loved my Hollandaise I had sliced ciabatta toast with poached eggs, pancetta,steamed asparagas and oven roasted tomato topped with my hollandaise recipe very much like eggs bennedict, actually my holandaise isn't a true hollandaise as I put a little garlic powder,brandy and tabasco to my version.He came back to the kitchen to get more sauce.With that breakfast I made dutch babies with fresh fruit and vanilla yoqurt,mini morning glory muffins I dont remember what else I made.
I hafto admit the egg dish was from a Jamie Oliver Book but the sauce was definitly my recipe.
 
thumpershere2 said:
Good ole beef roast, mashed potatoes and gravy, baby carrots creamed and cole slaw. home made dinner rolls and apple pie.

sounds like a wonderful dinner:)
 
you know, often it's not what we make, but how we serve it. A fancy dinner of many courses may not have a whole lot more food than an American family dinner, but the service is different. A soup course, a salad course, a first, a main, etc.

One could start with a cup of corn or clam chowder, then a light salad, followed by a simple pasta (even a form of mac and cheese) or fish item, then the main meat with green vegetable, (which could be baked ham and sauteed broccoli).
I mean, what's more festive and fancy than what we serve for Thanksgiving?
However, what I like to serve begins with a light salad often with sauteed shrimp or milanesed swordfish medalions. (that's two courses right there.) for the primo, I like to do a light pasta such as putanesca or in brodo (broth)with sauteed cabbage and prosciuto. The main could be a hunters stew with meat and lots of root vegetables, or a simple elegant salimbuco. (sauteed meat wrapped around herbs and cheese.) Desert...crepe with fresh fruit! bingo
 
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Robo410 said:
you know, often it's not what we make, but how we serve it. A fancy dinner of many courses may not have a whole lot more food than an American family dinner, but the service is different. A soup course, a salad course, a first, a main, etc.

One could start with a cup of corn or clam chowder, then a light salad, followed by a simple pasta (even a form of mac and cheese) or fish item, then the main meat with green vegetable, (which could be baked ham and sauteed broccoli).
I mean, what's more festive and fancy than what we serve for Thanksgiving?
However, what I like to serve begins with a light salad often with sauteed shrimp or milanesed swordfish medalions. (that's two courses right there.) for the primo, I like to do a light pasta such as putanesca or in brodo (broth)with sauteed cabbage and prosciuto. The main could be a hunters stew with meat and lots of root vegetables, or a simple elegant salimbuco. (sauteed meat wrapped around herbs and cheese.) Desert...crepe with fresh fruit! bingo
I agree the server truely makes it ellegant:) or not...
 
:chef: Here you go Licia,

Dutch Baby Pancakes [tried&true]
Serving size 2

Batter
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup flour
2 lg eggs
1 1/2 TBL sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 TBL unsalted butter


TOPPING
Confectioners Sugar
Sliced Peaches,Nectarines,Raspberries, or Blueberries or Lemon Wedges


Preheat oven to 450 degrees 15 minutes before baking,have rack in middle of oven.Have a 10 inchglass pie plate or cast iron skillet ready.
Mix milk,flour,eggs,sugar in food processcor,blender or with whisk .[I use whisk.]
Batter can be made a day ahead and refridgerated.
Put butter in pan and put in hot oven until melted.Brush the butter up the sides and onto rim of pan
so entire inside is well coated.
Slowly pour batter into pie plate or pan and bake 20 minutes.
Reduce oven to 350 degrees and continue baking untill pancake is well browned and cooked in center,8 to 10 minutes longer.
Remove from oven and sift confectioner sugar on .
Serve immediately, with fruit spooned in center or with lemon wedges.



I like to have the option of syrup or whipped cream or vanilla yogurt to go with it
Another filling option is saute green apples in butter cook thru and add either brown sugar or maple syrup and cinnamon to apples.Put apple filling in pancakes serve with lemon wedges. Really delicious.

I have also used teflon coated cake pans.and have actually made up to 4 at a time.
Ive never made the batter the day before so I dont know how that turns out.
Its easy very much like a popover.

I made a note at the bottom of recipe where I bake them at a straight 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes instead the instructions above.
Dont be afraid to put lots of powdered sugar on them if you want
 
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I'd start the meal with fresh asparagus, sauteed in olive oil with minced garlic, S&P, then steamed by squeezing fresh lemon juice over the top, reducing the heat, and covering with lid. When crisp tender, I'd serve on a bed of pretty lettuce with a few pimento strips and a sprinkle of freshly grated or peeled parmesan cheese on top.
Along with that, I'd serve crostini with a choice of two toppings: Creole mushrooms, or venison salami with a good mustard.

Since we have such nice venison available, I'd probably make pan-seared venison medallions simmered in a light tomato/wine sauce and topped with caramelized sweet onions. With that, I'd serve oven-roasted vegetables (sweet red peppers, baby Yukon Gold Potatoes, and baby carrots).

My dessert would have to be apple crumb pie a la mode. It's the best thing I make.
 
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:) Sounds delicious Constance.

I cook alot for other people,my job and they love it but have you ever got tired of your own cooking? I know I do even basic scrambled eggs taste better to me if I didnt hafto to make them.Sometimes I work so hard at a menu the shopping the prepping the final cooking of meal that Im not impressed with myself or the meal. I know its good but just can not get into it.By that point Im not even hungry anymore
I might hafto start a new thread on this subject.I dont live in a place where I can just go out and eat 45 miles one way to a really tiny town so I cook all meals at home if we have a pot luck at the ranch I am in heaven when there are other people cooking different dishes.
Your menu made my mouth water but you would hafto make it, I would be in heaven especially if I didn't hafto help with cleanup afterwards.
 
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Sounds wonderful Constance.

jpmcgrew, since I don't "cook" every day ... often I just heat up lesft overs for myself, I really enjoy the two or three times I really cook each week. I am also not cooking for a large and finicky family. And I think all these considerations often make a difference.
 
:) Robo, Me and Hubby also eat left overs for a couple of days and they always are better to me because I didnt hafto to cook that night.Even something like butter bean soup with ham hocks is something I could eat several times in a row.Bless his heart as he does not demand a new meal every night.
Hubby knows how to cook but a funny thing happened when he married me he all of of a sudden forgot how to cook.
Imagine that!
 
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jpmcgrew said:
:) Sounds delicious Constance.

I cook alot for other people,my job and they love it but have you ever got tired of your own cooking? I know I do even basic scrambled eggs taste better to me if I didnt hafto to make them.Sometimes I work so hard at a menu the shopping the prepping the final cooking of meal that Im not impressed with myself or the meal. I know its good but just can not get into it.By that point Im not even hungry anymore
I might hafto start a new thread on this subject.I dont live in a place where I can just go out and eat 45 miles one way to a really tiny town so I cook all meals at home if we have a pot luck at the ranch I am in heaven when there are other people cooking different dishes.
Your menu made my mouth water but you would hafto make it, I would be in heaven especially if I didn't hafto help with cleanup afterwards.


I know exactly how you feel, my friend. By the time I get done with a Christmas or Thanksgiving meal, I can't even eat. It doesn't look good until the next day.
And I do enjoy somebody else's cooking.

If I made this meal for you, I would supply you with the beverage of your choice, and you and my husband would sit at the "T" and chop vegies. You might also have to get up occasionaly to stir a sauce.
Since I'm all stove up, friends alway have to help, but it's a good time for everyone.
People always tell me they feel at home in our house. :)

PS...if we do this meal on a Thursday, the cleaning woman will be in on Friday to clean up the mess. LOL!
And we have a dishwasher. And I clean up as I go along.
 
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Thanks

JP,Thanks so much for the dutch baby recipe.

Constance, I've never heard anyone else say that about a holiday meal, but thought I was the only one. I get tired of the smells and actually being so involved in so much cooking at that time. Leftovers are always better to me than the actual holiday meal.
 
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Constance said:
I'd start the meal with fresh asparagus, sauteed in olive oil with minced garlic, S&P, then steamed by squeezing fresh lemon juice over the top, reducing the heat, and covering with lid. When crisp tender, I'd serve on a bed of pretty lettuce with a few pimento strips and a sprinkle of freshly grated or peeled parmesan cheese on top.
Along with that, I'd serve crostini with a choice of two toppings: Creole mushrooms, or venison salami with a good mustard.

Since we have such nice venison available, I'd probably make pan-seared venison medallions simmered in a light tomato/wine sauce and topped with caramelized sweet onions. With that, I'd serve oven-roasted vegetables (sweet red peppers, baby Yukon Gold Potatoes, and baby carrots).

My dessert would have to be apple crumb pie a la mode. It's the best thing I make.

Constance I am not famous,but I would love to have some of your ellegant dinner it sounds heavenly...:)
 
I'm glad everyone feels the same as I do. I love to cook, but also love not to cook. If I was cooking for someone I really needed to impress, I would do something I know would turn out perfect. A roast chicken (or, a variation, cornish games hens) with a simple lemon inisde and garlic cloves is a favorite. Then I do the sides to match the guest. Roasted potatoes for the un-adventurous, but couscous for those with more flair. Quite often, spagetti with my own red sauce. If children are involved, we make the pasta from scratch, and they always love doing it. I never make a roast (beef or pork) because I have had too many rare/medium/well done arguments in my life to want to go through one more. So roasted poultry or pasta with red sauce get my vote. (I know, those of you in Italy will say that the pasta should be the first course, the roasted chicken the second. Thank heaven I don't have to work quite that hard!!). A green veggie (hubby's favorite is brussels sprouts) to round out the meal. Seasonal -- in the winter, straight out of the freezer and into the microwave. I might add that orange juice -- yes, even right out of the frozen can -- is a great flavoring for cruciferous vegs. There will always be a salad with a light olive oil/wine vinegar dressing. Other ingredients to the salad are seasonal. If I'm making something that requires last minute prep, then instead of the leafy salad, I make a cucumber/mushroom marinaded salad, and add some shrimp at the last minute, so that it 'qualifies' as a full course. If I needed one more course, I'd put in a simple soup. Hubby makes a great French onion soup, and you can stick it in the freezer and thaw and heat it in the microwave. Desert I'd either buy (I happen to have a neighbor who is a professional cheescake maker), or put out a cheese, nuts, fruit and port.
 
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