(simple) menu help needed

[curlywurlyfi]

Am having several old friends over for dinner tomorrow night. My kitchen, which is also where we eat, is too small to really cook in when seven of us are sitting down at the table. With this in mind, I'm planning a menu 99% of which I can prepare tonight. I am also suffering budget constraints. So far, this is what I've come up with:

- bread + EVOO + balsamic for dipping

- gazpacho

- Puy lentil salad

- xx

- cold grilled courgettes with basil + lemon

- vanilla panna cotta with fresh raspberries

So - what I need is some sort of protein at the main-course point. and I have completely run out of inspiration.

I had thought about combining my lentils with eggs to make a hard-boiled egg curry a la Delia. That might work (and would be nice and cheap). I also thought about making a big tortilla, but one of my guests is Spanish and I'd rather not show myself up quite that much.

Bright ideas, anyone? all suggestions gratefully, etc.

[jackal10]

Long cooked pork (or bacon) hock in a casserole would go well with the lentils, and cheap too.

If you are constrained to be veggie then a roulade (spinach/tomato sauce or mushroom/goats cheese) might work.

Edited July 4, 2005 by jackal10 (log)

[Jon Tseng]

Just get some monster-sized salad action going

My student favourite:

Frizzy lettuce

Chorizo (waitrose do very reasonably prices pata negra chorizo)

Raw mozarella

Home-made croutons (olive oil + bread cubes + bake)

Egg (hard-boiled? poached?)

Black pudding (!)

Honey-mustard vinaigrette

Whatever other savoury stuff is to hand... (variations are endless)

Alternately classic salad lyonnais:

Frizzy Lettuce

Poached egg

Crispy lardons

Home-made croutons

Classic vinaigrette.

Cheap and very difficult to beat

J

[Chufi]

Little meatballs could be prepared ahead and reheated. The meatballs could be flavored in anumber of ways - a recent favorite of mine is sultanas, pinenuts and thyme. Dill and lemon zest is also great. You could simmer them in a tomatosauce but maybe that's too much tomato after the gazpacho.

Maybe some goats-cheese crumbled over the lentils?

For a veggie option: quiche instead of tortilla? spinach & red pepper quiche would go really well with the lentils.

just thought of another one. Don't know how you feel about roast cauliflower but I can highly recommend a salad of roast cauliflower, hardboiled eggs, and lots of chopped parsley, and breadcrumbs fried in butter sprinkled on top. Good as it is but even better with bits of crispy bacon. I have also added chickpeas to this but in combination with the lentils that's maybe not a good idea.

Edited July 4, 2005 by Chufi (log)

[therese]

Kebabs. Marinate meat chunks (I use beef---there's a cut here in the U.S. that's specifically for kebabs, I don't know what it's from) in some oil/vinegar/spice mixture (I use olive oil, red wine vinegar, bay leaf, and garlic), thread on skewers, and broil (it's very quick, as the meat's in small pieces). You can add onions, peppers, etc. if you like.

You can do these ahead of time and arrange on a platter. Because you decide how much meat's on each skewer you've got instant portion/expense control. You can also do a variety of skewers---some beef, some chicken, etc.

[Carlovski]

At first I though aubergine involitini - but that overlaps a bit with your courgettes.

If that isn't a problem then an alternative is cheats mousakka - instead of fiddling with slicing and layering and making 2 sauces just scoop out the insides of aubergines, use it to bulk out the lamb, top with some yoghurt mixed with feta and give a blast in the oven - actually best served just warm for that taverna feel!

Or how about a sort of tagine and some couscous? Could be veggy too. But that might seem a bit 'soupy' after the gazpacho!

Or for the full protein hit how about a shouder of lamb cooked in the oven (Don't know why I am feeling so mediterranean today)? lots of garlic herbs and maybe anchovy in there. Not sure if you have time for it though - really needs slow cooking.

[ludja]

Similar to the quiche idea above, but some sort of savory tart would be nice. Pehaps leeks, eggs and cheese or another vegetable with proscuitto? I don't have the book, but I've also seen a nice 'Mediterranean' tuna tart in Linda Dannenberg's book, "French Tarts". It uses canned albarcore tuna.

The rest of the menu sounds very nice already. A nice French rose wine would go well and is also economical.

Edited July 5, 2005 by ludja (log)

[curlywurlyfi]

thank you all for your invaluable suggestions, and you will see, from my final menu, that I incorporated many of them!

this was a smash hit dinner - I was really pleased - esp with the gazpacho. Please don't let on that its secret ingredient is a carton of Libby's tomato juice...

- suitably garlicky gazpacho, with croutons made from the herb bread I had originally intended to use to be dipped in EVOO. The bread had gone a little stale by Monday night so would have been totally stale by Tuesday - but transformed into croutons, it was perfect

- 18-egg frittata! with bacon + peas, parsley + nutmeg

- Puy lentil salad with lemon + spinach + lots of EVOO

- roasted cauliflower with cumin

- vanilla panna cotta with strawberries

Andrew + Mary who have just been on holiday in Uzbekistan brought me back a Kilner jar of dried Uzbekistani mountain mint leaves, so we had several pots of that after dinner. Tasted like meadow... We had some fino to start - Gutierrez Colosia, beautifully pale and delicate, and then Domaine du Petit Chaumont Gris de Gris 2003 rose afterwards - not an expensive wine (about £6, from memory), but very good - fruity but dry.

This was my second attempt at making panna cotta, and despite using a different recipe, they were still like little rubber hockey pucks. Disappointing. However, when I came back into the kitchen after my guests had gone home, the texture was totally different - perfectly wobbly and tender. Note to self: serve panna cotta at room temperature, not straight out of the fridge.

[Chufi]

Glad your dinner went well!

I would have been a happy guest at your table!

from looking at the menu, I can almost feel how your mind worked while you were checking out all the suggestions, and how you combined them into the meal. I love that process and it's fun seeing it at work in someone else.

Edited July 6, 2005 by Chufi (log)