$300 budget for dinner for 3! What should I make??
A chef friend and his wife had us and another couple over for dinner on Saturday--eight courses. We provided wine.
Hors d' oeuvres: BLT-stuffed cherry tomatoes; aged cheddar with pistachio; salmon and cucumber on crostini.
First: Steamed asparagus tips with hollandaise;
Second: Roast chicken salad on red pepper coulis, topped with Asian slaw (the dressing on which may have been the best thing I've ever tasted);
Third: Carrot ginger soup poured from individual boats at the table into bowls of shredded baby rainbow carrots, topped with parsley gremolata;
Fourth: Seared diver scallop topped with shrimp and pancetta in a vanilla beurre blanc;
Fifth: Meyer lemon granita;
Sixth: Filet with wild mushrooms, served on a potato cake (at this point, I was too drunk to remember exactly what else was in the potato cake) with sauteed swiss chard and raisins;
Seventh: Butter lettuce, simply dressed, served with goat cheese and orange marmalade crostini;
Eighth: Chocolate-mint mousse in tuile cups.
We went through five bottles: Lockwood Reserve Merlot; J. Lohr Wildflower; Rombauer Chardonnay; Paraiso Late Harvest Pinot and something else that I was too drunk to remember. The company was excellent, the food was even better. They must have spent a small fortune, and our friends made it look effortless.
I'd do a cheese course, a salad, maybe a seafood appetizer (mussels?), a red meat main and an excellent dessert. And booze. Lots of booze.
Website: http://www.maryrduan.typepad.com
Location: Central Coast of California
About: I edit a quarterly magazine on business issues in the agriculture industry and write for a weekly business paper and a monthly real estate magazine based in Manhattan.
Favorite foods: Cheese, specifically St. Andre; good bread; more cheese; salami; a good green salad with ultra lemony dressing; crisp fries; sweet green grapes. I've rarely met a potato chip I didn't like.
Last bite on earth: A good cheeseburger with caramelized onions.