My duck noire (combination of lame duck and bete noire) colleague and her boyfriend are coming round for dinner tomorrow night. We’re going to watch this week’s semifinal episode of Top Chef. So, I plan to cook something a bit gourmet, but just a bit, since I’m in camp this week, and coming home utterly exhausted.
The plan so far…
A sunchoke puree
Roast broccoli and brussels sprouts, maybe roast butternut squash too. Peas?
Some kind of roast meat - a nice beef perhaps? Maybe a chimichurri kind of sauce?
Pavlova with whipped cream and kiwifruit (and passionfruit if I can find any)
Some kind of custard to use up the yolks - as I don’t think said colleague likes meringue. (sigh)
What do you think? I can make the pav tonight, chop the veggies, maybe do the sauce too; then whack the meat in to roast when I get home at 5, dinner at 7. Can anyone suggest a good, smallish cut of beef to roast, too? I usually roast lamb…
My first thought, given that you have limited time & energy, is why you’d be considering roast broccoli AND brussels sprouts AND (maybe) roast squash AND (maybe) peas. Can’t you get along with one vegy side?
And same thing with the desserts - if colleague doesn’t like meringue, why not choose one non-meringue desert and go with that? (I’ve been lusting over this Blood Orange Olive Oil Cake today, if that’s at all appealing. Please invite me over if you make it.)
What do you plan to do with the sunchoke puree?
As far as the beef - hmm, you could do a tenderloin in that amount of time, and you can get 2# tenderloins (thus the “smallish” roast). Chimichurri goes nicely with medium/medium-rare meat, so that would work.
I guess overall, I’d go for fewer things cooked really nicely as opposed to a lot of stuff that might potentially be too much for you to do after work. And having just watched that episode of Top Chef, I can say it’s a good one! Have fun!
Never mind, dinner is postponed - we’re both sick. Revolting germy children. Ugh. Sunchoke puree will keep in the fridge for a few days, right? (It’s delicious - sunchokes and a few Yukon golds and milk and a splash of chicken stock.)
I like simple food. I also like asparagus. So I’d make:
Steak au poivre (made with cognac)
Steamed asparagus
Baby red potatoes
I might make escargots as an appetizer.
Or:
Fresh wild-caught salmon baked with freshly-chopped dill and kosher salt with a lemon-dill béchamel sauce, with steamed asparagus as the veg.
Dessert? You’re on your own. I typically don’t eat desserts, so I don’t really know how to make them. Maybe Crêpes Suzette?
As for your menu: I agree with Athena on the veg. I’d roast one or two of kinds of squash, red potatoes, and Brussels sprouts. For the beef, I’m not big on sauces for meats. I do like the sauce with steak au poivre, but most of the time I like the flavour of the beef without adornment. If you’re grilling, chimichurri might be nice. Me? I’d probably just do carne asada (which would change the sides, obviously). If you want meat-and-sauce, I’d go for the steak au poivre. Or maybe filet mignon with sauce moutarde or sauce Diane.