|
|
Post by treehugger on Mar 21, 2013 11:20:38 GMT -5
I'm cooking for a very good chef tomorrow night. She's really lovely and not expecting anything more than a family dinner, but I am feeling ENORMOUS pressure. I just made the mistake of looking at her website and now I feel even more so...
What shall I do??
My ideas:
A goats cheese, spinach and butternut squash lasagne for us and meat lasagne for the kids/husband plus salad (ideas?)
followed by blood orange polenta cake and lemon ice cream
OR
A mexican feast of black beans, meat chili, fresh guac, mango salsa and homemade torillas
I need ideas for pudding to go with this
I want to be able to cook as much as possible of it tonight so I'm not stressed tomorrow. The upside to option 1 is I know it's all bloody good together, but the two lasagnes are going to take me forever (and yes, OCD woman that I am, I need to do them both).
The upside to #2 is everyone loves Mexican and it will take less time. I can't think of anything to go with it though - any ideas?
|
|
|
|
Post by princessofpenguins on Mar 21, 2013 14:05:30 GMT -5
The Mexican feast sounds great. Why not have the blood orange cake and lemon ice cream with that?
|
|
|
|
Post by viv on Mar 21, 2013 14:37:13 GMT -5
Yep, can't see any reason for the cake and icecream not to work with the mexican grub!
|
|
|
|
Post by treehugger on Mar 21, 2013 16:12:15 GMT -5
it's too heavy somehow, not sure why but it just doesn't "go" in my head. I took your advice - decided on Mexican but doing a baked lime and passion fruit cheesecake for pud... wish me luck  |
|
|
|
Post by crazycat on Mar 21, 2013 22:20:20 GMT -5
The sound of that cheesecake has made my mouth water!
Good luck!
|
|
|
|
Post by princessofpenguins on Mar 22, 2013 1:44:28 GMT -5
I want some of that cheesecake! (And the Mexican!)
|
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Mar 22, 2013 4:26:31 GMT -5
i want to be in zoe's house.
|
|
|
|
Post by treehugger on Mar 22, 2013 5:08:29 GMT -5
thanks I made the cheesecake last night - looks delish, I can't quite believe that my first effort seems to have worked, hurrah! Also got the black beans and roasted veggeis ready. I had a slight disaster with defrosting the meat - the Mr told me to do it in the microwave and instead of defrosting it I nuked it to a crisp, so the meal is going to be pretty much vegan, save the cheesecake. Ah well, everyone will be happy except the Mr. I'll make the salsa and guac when I get home and then we can do the tortillas - it's been ages since I've made them from scratch and I can't wait! So much tastier that way. |
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Mar 22, 2013 10:15:42 GMT -5
my tortillas always come out rubbery.
did i mention that you could buy red pepper powder and paste and all sorts to make the Mr happy while you're in seoul?
|
|
|
|
Post by treehugger on Mar 22, 2013 10:47:25 GMT -5
can I also smuggle them back to the UK legally/semi-legally? |
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Mar 23, 2013 1:12:49 GMT -5
can't see why not--my omani neighbour managed to bring 90kg with her here, and suspect that at least 50 was cooking supplies and spices.
|
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Mar 23, 2013 1:18:26 GMT -5
i thaw meat in the microwave, but generally in two minute stages. i tear off meat as soon as it's thawed, otherwise, yes, it cooks in a not nice way.
if you have the time, leaving it out is better.
|
|
|
|
Post by treehugger on Mar 26, 2013 5:13:56 GMT -5
yeah, I've always left it out before, but I forgot to defrost it earlier and panicked. Won't make that mistake again! So, the meal on Friday way awesome (the cheesecake was soooo good! I can't believe I never made it before). And then I did the other menu goats's cheese and butternut squash lasagne with orange polenta cake and lemon icecream on Sunday night. Also awesome. Next time she stays, the chef has promised to show us some tricks |
|
|
|
Post by sprite on Mar 26, 2013 7:23:13 GMT -5
sorry, i don't think you're an eejit, i just know taht you don't eat so much meat. |
|
|
|
Post by treehugger on Mar 26, 2013 7:45:52 GMT -5
oh, I think I'm an eejit, no worries on that  |
|
