A fine dinner is one ingredient to a successful evening with friends; the other elements include the guests, the spirit of the event and what I’m sure is a long list of intangibles. All these things came together Saturday evening.
Preparing a dinner takes some planning and organization, followed by execution. Preparing for a dinner like this starts several days in advance. For example, one of the dishes included avocado. More often than not these fruits require a few days on the shelf for them to ripen. In some cases, sauces or other components of the meal can be made in advance. While cooking the meal is generally done when the guests arrive, preparing the food can be done beforehand.
Of course having a suitable technology infrastructure is key: a gas stove top with a barbecue certainly helps, but key when baking, especially puddings, is an oven that can maintain its temperature.
When roasting beef it is important to know the internal temperature, and to have that information in a timely manner. The thermometer I use (Redichek) has a remote device connected wirelessly to the base unit (SSL encrypted to ensure privacy as well as to prevent spoofing) that will send me a message when the meal is cooked.
The meal I prepared for Saturday evening included three courses:
Appetizer
- Grapefruit and avocado salad
- Barbecued marinated Shrimp and scallops
Main Course
- Roast Beef, with gravy
- Yorkshire pudding
- Mushroom and asparagus Risotto
- Brussels Sprouts with Shitaki Mushrooms
- Asparagus with Morel Mushrooms
Desert
- Fruit Sherbet with rumtopf sauce
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