To celebrate my birthday, I wanted to be able to buy food that I normally don't buy because of cost and create a dinner that one could order at a fancy restaurant. Well, I'd say it was a success. The 3 courses (+ a 4th course of tres leches cake made by hubby) were pretty delicious.
Scallops + Wild Mushrooms + Apple Truffle Butter Sauce
For the appetizer, I used some wild mushrooms that were on sale at whole foods and seared 6 scallops (2 for each person). The recipe that I used for the sauce would work double the amount of mushrooms and scallops, so you could either halve the recipe, or double the stuff.
6 really large scallops
2 cups of assorted wild mushrooms, sliced thinly (if needed)
4 T butter
1 T shallots
3 t white wine
1 t apple cider vinegar
3 T chopped apples (divided)
1 T truffle oil
salt and pepper to taste.
Procedure
1. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Combine the butter, shallots and cook until the shallots are slightly browned. Add the wine, vinegar, and half of the apples. Cook until reduced to about half and the apples are nice and soft. Set the sauce aside. Add 1 T of truffle oil to finish. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a really hot oven safe pan, place a little bit of olive oil, enough to coat the pan. Place the scallops down to sear for about 2 minutes each side.
4. Transfer the pan into the oven for about 1-2 minutes.
5. In the meantime, add a little bit of olive oil and saute the mushrooms until they are wilted.
6. To plate, create a bed of mushrooms, lay the scallops on top, and drizzle the sauce over everything. Garnish with the left over raw apples for a tart crunch. You can also use sprouts or micro greens.
Blood Orange + Smoked Sea Bass Salad
The salad dressing that I made was just a simple vinaigrette with orange juice, orange zest, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. The thing that made it was the smoked Chilean Sea Bass that I picked up at Whole Foods. It was smoky, sweet, and flaky. With the freshness of the zesty dressing, blood orange, and the crunchiness of greens, each bite of the fish was bursting with flavor. Just bring the fish to room temp, (I stuck it in the oven with the scallops for a minute)
No recipe
Mussels + Baked Potato Frites + Pesto Aioli
I had no idea that Mussels and Fries were a common french combo. I usually have mussels with crusty bread (which we had too), but the fries went well too.
Pesto Aioli
I kind of cheated and used pesto that I made at the end of last summer and froze as a base, and added olive oil mayonnaise.
Baked Potato Frites
2 large potatoes
Salt and pepper or seasoned salt (I used Lowery's seasoning)
Procedure
1. Cute the potato into fries and soak the fries in water for at least 20 minutes. (I ended up soaking them for about 2 hours)
2. Drain the potatoes and let the water drip off of them in a colander for a few minutes while you wait for the oven to heat up.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees F.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix 3 T of olive oil, potatoes, and sprinkle some seasoning. Mix well. Make sure the fries are well coated with the oil.
5. Spread the fries out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, turn, and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes. You just want to make sure they are a little brown.
While they are baking, you can prepare the Mussels
Mussels + Saffron White Wine Sauce
Ingredients
1.5 T butter
1.5 T olive oil
1/2 c sweet onion
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 tomato (diced)
1 small pinch of saffron
3/4 c of white wine
2 bay leaves
parsley or thyme
Procedure
1. After you have cleaned the mussels set them aside.
2. In a hot pan, add the butter, olive oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until slightly fragrant.
3. Add the tomato, saffron, wine, bay leaves and stir to mix evenly.
4. Add the mussels, give everything a quick turn and put the lid on for about 8-10 minutes (until all the mussels have opened).
5. Sprinkle some parsley or thyme and stir right before plating.
Make sure you have an empty bowl on the table for people to put their shells in when they are finished.
Scallops + Wild Mushrooms + Apple Truffle Butter Sauce
For the appetizer, I used some wild mushrooms that were on sale at whole foods and seared 6 scallops (2 for each person). The recipe that I used for the sauce would work double the amount of mushrooms and scallops, so you could either halve the recipe, or double the stuff.
6 really large scallops
2 cups of assorted wild mushrooms, sliced thinly (if needed)
4 T butter
1 T shallots
3 t white wine
1 t apple cider vinegar
3 T chopped apples (divided)
1 T truffle oil
salt and pepper to taste.
Procedure
1. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
2. Combine the butter, shallots and cook until the shallots are slightly browned. Add the wine, vinegar, and half of the apples. Cook until reduced to about half and the apples are nice and soft. Set the sauce aside. Add 1 T of truffle oil to finish. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a really hot oven safe pan, place a little bit of olive oil, enough to coat the pan. Place the scallops down to sear for about 2 minutes each side.
4. Transfer the pan into the oven for about 1-2 minutes.
5. In the meantime, add a little bit of olive oil and saute the mushrooms until they are wilted.
6. To plate, create a bed of mushrooms, lay the scallops on top, and drizzle the sauce over everything. Garnish with the left over raw apples for a tart crunch. You can also use sprouts or micro greens.
Blood Orange + Smoked Sea Bass Salad
The salad dressing that I made was just a simple vinaigrette with orange juice, orange zest, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and olive oil. The thing that made it was the smoked Chilean Sea Bass that I picked up at Whole Foods. It was smoky, sweet, and flaky. With the freshness of the zesty dressing, blood orange, and the crunchiness of greens, each bite of the fish was bursting with flavor. Just bring the fish to room temp, (I stuck it in the oven with the scallops for a minute)
No recipe
Mussels + Baked Potato Frites + Pesto Aioli
I had no idea that Mussels and Fries were a common french combo. I usually have mussels with crusty bread (which we had too), but the fries went well too.
Pesto Aioli
I kind of cheated and used pesto that I made at the end of last summer and froze as a base, and added olive oil mayonnaise.
Baked Potato Frites
2 large potatoes
Salt and pepper or seasoned salt (I used Lowery's seasoning)
Procedure
1. Cute the potato into fries and soak the fries in water for at least 20 minutes. (I ended up soaking them for about 2 hours)
2. Drain the potatoes and let the water drip off of them in a colander for a few minutes while you wait for the oven to heat up.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 475 degrees F.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix 3 T of olive oil, potatoes, and sprinkle some seasoning. Mix well. Make sure the fries are well coated with the oil.
5. Spread the fries out on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for about 15 minutes, turn, and bake for another 10 - 15 minutes. You just want to make sure they are a little brown.
While they are baking, you can prepare the Mussels
Mussels + Saffron White Wine Sauce
Ingredients
1.5 T butter
1.5 T olive oil
1/2 c sweet onion
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 tomato (diced)
1 small pinch of saffron
3/4 c of white wine
2 bay leaves
parsley or thyme
Procedure
1. After you have cleaned the mussels set them aside.
2. In a hot pan, add the butter, olive oil, onion, and garlic. Cook until slightly fragrant.
3. Add the tomato, saffron, wine, bay leaves and stir to mix evenly.
4. Add the mussels, give everything a quick turn and put the lid on for about 8-10 minutes (until all the mussels have opened).
5. Sprinkle some parsley or thyme and stir right before plating.
Make sure you have an empty bowl on the table for people to put their shells in when they are finished.