Parent's anniversary

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cara

Master Chef
Joined
Aug 14, 2005
Messages
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Location
Hannover, Germany
My parents will have their 46th anniversary at the beginning of February.
We still don't know if we do something ourselves or if we ask a caterer to bring something.
Ourselves would be Frank & me and probably some help from my brother.
My sister can`t help that much, she has something do to that day and will be there for dinner.
Her two small children are the reason we are not going to a restaurant.

Do you have any ideas what we could do?
nothing with beef, my sister doesn't eat it and, if possible, no pork... I don't like it that much.

No Pasta, no Pizza, my dad don't like it.
 
I have yet to make this dish, but saved it, as it sounds so good:chef: .....

Baked Seafood Au Gratin
This was my Mom's favorite seafood recipe, she is now 88,
I am 60 and this is my all time favorite seafood recipe
also. I have had guests, who, when invited to dinner,
specifically request this to be served. Prep Time: approx. 20
Minutes. Cook Time: approx. 1 Hour . Ready in: approx. 1 Hour
20 Minutes. Makes 8 servings.
Printed from Allrecipes, Submitted by Katy B. Minchew
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup butter, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 pound fresh crabmeat
4 cups water
1 pound fresh shrimp, peeled
and deveined
1/2 pound small scallops
1/2 pound flounder fillets
3 cups milk
1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1 In a heavy skillet, saute the onion and the pepper in
1/2 cup of butter. Cook until tender. Mix in 1/2 cup of
the flour, and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes,
stirring frequently. Stir in crabmeat, remove from heat, and
set aside.
2 In a large Dutch oven, bring the water to a boil. Add
the shrimp, scallops, and flounder, and simmer for 3
minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid, and set
the seafood aside.
3 In a heavy saucepan, melt the remaining 1/2 cup butter
over low heat. Stir in remaining 1/2 cup flour. Cook and
stir constantly for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk plus
the 1 cup reserved cooking liquid. Raise heat to medium;
cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened
and bubbly. Mix in the shredded Cheddar cheese, vinegar,
Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Stir in cooked seafood.
4 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly
grease one 9x13 inch baking dish. Press crabmeat mixture into
the bottom of the prepared pan. Spoon the seafood mixture
over the crabmeat crust, and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
5 Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until
lightly browned. Serve immediately.



 
Wow, you make it tough with all the restrictions. And your sister really should be helping since it is her kids that stop you from going to the restaurant.

I'd say chicken is the easiest thing to make in this case.

This is a quick and easy recipe I make for the nice occasion. Bake or grill chicken breast.
For the side I make 2 things:
First, simple garlic whipped mashed potato, as Emril says “I don’t know where you get your potato, but where I get mine it doesn’t come seasoned”. For the sake of the potato, please season it during cooking and not afterwards, like some people do, to me it’s like eating potato with salt, and yes it needs salt. Throw an onion and few cloves of garlic, a bunch of dill, while cooking, discard after done. Also, I like to add couple of cubes of chicken bullion, or chicken stock. Use butter or margarine at the end, and use mixer to really whip the thing. To make it nice, use bakers bag (or whatever it is called) to push potato thru, and make a nice looking design on the plate.
For the second side I use red, yellow, orange, and green peepers, eggplant, green and yellow zucchini, carrots and parsnip root, Portobello mushrooms, and last but not list red onion. Julienne thinly/finely all the above vegetables and sauté with some olive oil and some sweet wine. Do it according the toughness, so start with parsnip and carrots and end with red onion. When everything is practically ready add some nice Italian dressing or vinaigrette, and cook just for few minutes. Veggies should be soft, but not mushy (is it a word).

That is it. The preparation is about half an hour and the cooking is about half an hour. Basically, while mashed potato is cooking everything else will get cooked too. Do not, please, do not overcook the chicken breast, so it doesn’t taste like a sole from an old shoe, as some restaurants, or cooks like to do that, brrrr.

Arrange potato on the plate, chicken breast next to it and spoon bunch of veggies on the top of the chicken, ladle a little bit more (or a lot more for me) of the same vinaigrette or dressing on the top of veggies. Use somewhat clear dressing so you can see the variety of colors of vegetables. It will be especially pleasant on a winter day, when we do not see as much bright colors.

Do not serve soda/pop, make a simple fruit drink, say couple of pounds of fresh or frozen strawberries (it could be anything, apples, raspberries, dried fruits, mixed barriers), boil in a big pot, say 8 quart with some sugar, can’t tell you how much, you can make it as sweet as you want or like, and a hint of lemon juice couple of teaspoons. Cool it serve it in a nice pitcher.
 
CharlieD said:
Wow, you make it tough with all the restrictions. And your sister really should be helping since it is her kids that stop you from going to the restaurant.

she's having an appointment that day, so she really can't... but in general you are right....

your chicken breast sounds delicious, but so does Texas Tamale's gratin...

what do you think about maybe some wild?
 
Congrats to your parents!
I think the chicken sounds great!
I think it's great that you want to celebrate with them.
They'll be happy whatever you make for them.
 
Oh, wow, now you’re talking. I love “wild” game. What did you have in mind, let me know and I’ll try to find something for you.
 
I am sure you will make a memorable day and dinner for your parents... my best wishes for them!! I also like the idea of chicken breasts, and to go with that how about a big batch of lasagne... fairly simple to prepare, you can make it ahead of time and just bake it before the dinner, also it is usually something everyone likes and eats!!
 
Licia - no Pasta, daddy said :glare:

Charlie, I'm still not sure, must see if I can get some and what that will be...

but your chicken was a good idea... just searched my cookbooks today for something "more" than just plain breast and found something interesting.. must talk to Frank about it ;o)

but I'm really sure there will be a carrot salad before and most likely Panna Cotta as Dessert..
 
just to let you know:

I planned to make a carrot salad
chicken breast with onion cream sauce and mashed potatoes (the way you described it, Charlie, is just delicious!!) and some veggies
Panna cotta

but everything came out different.

My BIL got bad weather holiday so he decided to go skiing in the swiss alps with me older niece, so she can learn how to ski.
My brother broke his knee while slipping on iced street and is still in hospital.

so just the five of us (Mom, Dad, my sister, Frank & me + 2year old young niece) left we decided to go out.
we spent a nice evening at a chinese restaurant.


But many many thanks for your help and ideas!
 
Oh... well it sounds like you still had a good time and got to share your parents special day. That's good!!
 
Thanks for the fallow up, I am so nousy I just neeeeed to know what happens in the end.
Well, there is always next year.
 
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