Philosophically, I struggle with big big meals between two trends: 1) reuse ingredients in as many dishes in as much as possible and reincorporate flavors, and 2) have a good amount of novelty in each dish. For example, I might pick arugula in my salad and also use arugula later as the main green in a sauce. Curious what people’s thoughts are here.
Cooking and my boy are my great loves in life, and I’m going to do this during my spring break so very labor intensive dishes are okay!
He’s vegetarian and don’t care much for tomato. I don’t eat dairy as a structural ingredient for the most part, but we feel fine eating bivalve mullosks.
I’m looking for an overarching theme but the overall pacing looks like this:
6:30 High-concept appertizer + Apertivo
6:50 Little soup or someth
7:00 Moderate course
7:30 Fruit
7:30 Entertainment intermission
8:00 High-concept appertizer (Like a one biter)
8:30 Cocktail
8:45 Heavy Course
9:00 Salad
9:10 Smoke Break
9:20 Dessert
9:30 Coffee
I really really like citrus, and in general my recent cooking interest has been using fruits in a savory way. It being Winter wrinkles that plan somewhat. Tentatively, I wanna end on scallops over some sort of risotto. I see the whole budget being about $60 + $20 of various drinks.
Kinda thinking about making spiced limoncello and using that six different ways. Just gotta pick a central theme.
i might not be qualified to help you here but for my money a french onion soup with properly sweet sauteed onions is a great start to a meal. you could experiment with replacing the gruyere with a vegan equivalent, but I also suspect it would be tasty naked (and this is something you could easily vary by bowl)
I’ve not attempted it since converting years ago, but French Onion Soup relies a lot on a very rich beef stock. Vegan alternatives might be great, but if you’re used to the “real thing” an alternative might fall flat
You could do it with a rich mushroom stock!
oh… yeah… i forgot about the beef stock…
Yeah it’s unfortunate, French Onion soup, vegetarian right!? I even have the special bowls for broiling the cheese that just sit as decoration.
Maybe I’ll try vegan alternatives and report back with results
I admire how detailed your organization is
o7 I am autistic. Realistically everything is going to come out 15-75 minutes later as the night progresses but its nice to have a fantasy to depart from :p
If you want some high concept hors d’oeuvres, try deviled quail eggs. They’re tiny and adorable.
Vegetarian, you could season it to match the rest of your meal
I know you said you are likely going to do scallops and risotto, but scallop crudo can be very good and make for a tasty appetizer. Have to use very good scallops though.
Alas i live within the Prefigurative boundaries of the Future Great Lakes People Republic so I don’t have access to raw-edible seafood.
You could do a lot with citrus as those are in season during the winter months. That or pears / apples. A nice citrus forward salad has been something I’ve done in the past for a home Valentine’s menu. Pomegranate is another. A lot would lend themselves to multiple courses too.
For example, a pomegranate reduction sauce for the main and then the seeds on their own in a salad or in desert. Citrus supremes with a salad or appetizer and then the juice in the cocktail.
I might be wrong but I think I’ve seen people dissolve away all the connective tissue in a grapefruit supreme to use the little juice capsules as faux caviar. I’ll have to search for it
pomegranate + goat cheese + balsamic makes for a really tasty salad
I’ll have to search for it
Can’t seem to find it but you may be interested in attempting it with molecular gastronomy, I’ve been interested in trying that and might be inspired to try it now.
That or if you can find finger limes the kernels are already caviar shaped
I’ve used pectinase to dissolve the pith of citrus, and then just broken them up into pearls by hand. There might be a more involved method that breaks less of them, though.
Ah that’s the name of it, thanks!
You’re welcome!
Do you have any ideas for those high-concept appetizers yet?
Lol it’s nothing that fancy. I made something the other day that was just saltines with garlic sauce on top and artfully arranged capers and sezchuan peppercorns. Then a blade of arugula artfully stuck into it.
My idea was that these courses would be one or two bites and based around the plating or aesthetics more than the food itself.
Ah, okay. Since you’re into using fruits in a savory way, I’ll share this idea I’ve had for a while (but haven’t tried yet):
Peel some grapes, saving the skins. Soak the peeled grapes in some sort of marinade (salt, vinegar, oil, herbs… could be anything you want, really; although simple is probably better?). Dry the grape skins completely, grind them into a powder along with some salt, msg, citric acid (or whatever seasonings sound good). To serve, wrap each grape in long, thin slices of… something that functions like prosciutto? Avocado could work, chilled roasted beets could be good… Then top with the powder (lots on half the plate or something) and maybe a tiny cheese crisp or some other crispy element for a garnish.
Edit: you could also slice the leftover peeled grapes really thin to use as a garnish in other courses.
This sounds amazing! I think I could use a peeler to make pickled beet strips and use those to wrap the grapes!
That sounds like a great idea! Pickled beets will probably hold their shape a bit better, and the acidity would be a nice touch.
If you end up trying it, please post a photo and let me know how it is!
Actually I was thinking of trying your grape idea as a test run in the next couple days!
Awesome, I’m excited to hear how it goes!
