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Help me with a dinner menu?


MatthewB

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We're having another couple over for dinner this Saturday night.

I'm planning on grilled flank steaks over a Thai-style cucumber & onion relish/salad. With that, stir-fried rice.

Any ideas for some starters and a dessert to compliment the above?

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For dessert, grilled peaches with balsamic glaze and either vanilla ice cream or some good blue cheese. My preference is the ice cream. :biggrin:

"These pretzels are making me thirsty." --Kramer

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First of all, I'd get skirt steak instead of flank steak. I hate flank steak.

For a starter I'd go with gazpacho. August and September are really the only time of year you can make it right. If you need a recipe I'll post mine. Another good one is cherry tomatoes soaked in vodka in the freezer. Sprinkle with kosher salt before you serve them.

Booby Flay made those grilled peaches last week, so the Food Network would have a recipe. They looked really good.

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The recipe for the peaches I was referring to came from Chris Schlesinger, I believe in Thrill of the Grill. You basically reduce a cup balsamic vinegar with some fresh ground pepper until only a few tablespoons are left and glaze the peaches with it after grilling the cut side brushed with olive oil. The key is to use peaches that are slightly underripe. The ripe ones get a little too mushy after cooking. Spoon any leftover glaze over the ice cream or blue cheese.

Goes great with port.

For whatever its worth, I also much prefer skirt steak to flank steak. :biggrin:

Edited by sammy (log)

"These pretzels are making me thirsty." --Kramer

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Quesadillas would be another good starter. Use some goat cheese and grilled vegetables (zuchinni, peppers, eggplant, etc.) as fillings.

What wine are you going to serve? I'd go with a lightly chilled Cru Beaujolais. And two bottles of Cava as an apertif. :raz:

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What's looking good at the mkt where you are? Our peaches have been average so far. Cantaloupe, however, has been delicious (and I don't even like cantaloupe).

Made this starter a couple of weeks ago:

Thin slices of cantaloupe, homemade gravlax (store bought smoked salmon should work) and ripe avocado. Arranged it and drizzled with a good balsamic. Omigod it was good. Only thing I would change is to reduce the balsamic but, in the interest of time, it was fine in its natural state. Took me maybe 7 minutes to prep (minus curing the gravlax).

For dessert, if your peaches aren't good:

We made homemade ice cream sandwiches a couple of weeks ago for a cookout. Major hit. Tried a couple of different ice creams and cookies but had the best results with chocolate cookies with a good mint choc chip on the inside. Covered the edges with those teeny little chocolate chips and then froze for a couple of hours. Warning: Making these things is messy and will result in some broken cookies, ice cream and choc chips. Yeah, that was a really bummer having to eat the broken mess. :biggrin:

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Thin slices of cantaloupe, homemade gravlax (store bought smoked salmon should work) and ripe avocado.  Arranged it and drizzled with a good balsamic. Omigod it was good.  Only thing I would change is to reduce the balsamic but, in the interest of time, it was fine in its natural state. Took me maybe 7 minutes to prep (minus curing the gravlax).

Yum, I am definately making this.

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The peaches sound good.

Since you're serving steak and stir fried rice, I would start with something vegetable-y and cool and crisp (i did notice the cucumber salad- sounds good)

May some sort of spring roll? Not sure if you like Nigella lawson, but in her new Forever Summer book, there is a yummy and easy spring roll recipe.

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Dessert:

coconut Pots du Creme

(what's wrong with flank steak???? Makes a great Barciol  :biggrin: )

FM

Braised flank steak is fine. I really like it in Ropa Viaja too. I don't think there's enough fat in it for grilling, though. As my butcher says, "I can't see why anybody would want to eat that stuff."

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For starters, have you thought of something involving tomato--chilled tomato-sage soup or bruschetta, for instance? And I do like the idea of peaches for dessert if yours aren't rock-hard.

Arthur Johnson, aka "fresco"
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a tuna tartare dish to start.  chopped with ponzu/soy/scallion.  maybe some sriracha to make it spicy.

Something like this? Or do you have a better recipe?

oh dear. i wouldn't sear it, as i don't like cooked tuna. and i wouldn't make ponzu, but i'd buy it. :biggrin:

that dish sounds good, but a little labor intensive for me. i make tuna tartare because it's quick and easy and light.

i usually do something that turns out looking like this.

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a tuna tartare dish to start.  chopped with ponzu/soy/scallion.  maybe some sriracha to make it spicy.

Something like this? Or do you have a better recipe?

oh dear. i wouldn't sear it, as i don't like cooked tuna. and i wouldn't make ponzu, but i'd buy it. :biggrin:

that dish sounds good, but a little labor intensive for me. i make tuna tartare because it's quick and easy and light.

i usually do something that turns out looking like this.

Well, I'd admit that I've never done tuna tartare. And I want to do *your* tuna tartare that you're talking about here, tommy. :smile:

Gimme a recipe, even if it's only shorthand style a la Elizabeth David.

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For a starter I'd go with gazpacho. August and September are really the only time of year you can make it right. If you need a recipe I'll post mine. Another good one is cherry tomatoes soaked in vodka in the freezer. Sprinkle with kosher salt before you serve them.

Whether he wants the gazpacho recipe or not, I do.

Will you please post it in the archives?

And now -

About those vodka cherry tomatoes.

Do you do anything to them? Just dump them into some vodka and stick them in the freezer? How long do you leave them there? I know the vodka won't freeze, but do the tomatoes? Do you serve them frozen? Cold? Room temp?

Absolutely fascinating.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I am one of those people that if I am cooking a main course of a particular ethnicity (in this case, Thai), I like to have the starters, sides and desserts all from the same ethnicity of at least have those flavors.

How about an appetizer of Kanom Jeeb (Thai pork and crab dumplings) or I also like the Laab idea.

For dessert, something with coconut (although if I were your guest, I don't like coconut myself) or maybe Lychee.

Bill Russell

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Gimme a recipe, even if it's only shorthand style a la Elizabeth David.

i don't have a recipe, but i just chop the tuna to a pleasing texture, same with scallion (green parts), mix them together and add some ponzu for salt/sweetness. put it in a round mold and plop it on top of sliced japanese cucumbers. i top it with roe, as i like the "snap, crackle and pop". i also mix sriracha with mayo, and serve on the side or drizzled over. if i want a spicier richer dish, i mix a bit with the tuna.

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For a starter I'd go with gazpacho. August and September are really the only time of year you can make it right. If you need a recipe I'll post mine. Another good one is cherry tomatoes soaked in vodka in the freezer. Sprinkle with kosher salt before you serve them.

I'm with Jaymes.

Recipes, please! :smile:

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