A Special Dinner Party

My parents recently celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. They have a wonderful table that seats 20 people so I offered to cook for them and together we decided on a special menu. Most of these dishes I have made before and are already on this blog so I won't go in to detail of them all. If you want more detail just click on one of the core ingredients in the list on the right and you should find it! You will also have to excuse my photography as I didn't have time to play and get the "perfect" photo of each dish.

We started with 4 items of finger food which were enjoyed with pre dinner drinks.
The first were cold Mini Poppodums with Creamy Chicken Tikka http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2009/06/mini-poppodums.html

These were followed by a cold Asian Crab Salad on Witlof. I found this recipe at http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2009/12/asian-crab-salad-croustades.html 

I was unable to buy croustades and trialled some crispy bread cases but found the salad made the cases soggy very quickly so went with a witlof leaf instead. Witlof is a cigar-shaped white vegetable with a crisp texture and slightly bitter flavour. It is related to the endive and is perfect for serving finger food on. This dish was lovely and light with beautiful flavours.

Next were warm Gorgonzola Quichettes with Red Onion and Thyme Confit. I did make some with Camembert for those that don't enjoy blue cheese. These are very simple and tasty.

http://thepassionatecook.typepad.com/thepassionatecook/2007/01/gorgonzola_quic.html

Finally I served Spiced Pork Belly with Pear Salad and Apple Sauce on spoons. This was a recipe based on one I found in the Masterchef Magazine, Issue 4.

Once the guests were seated I served an amuse-bouche of Cauliflower and Bacon Soup in small cappuccino cups. http://aww.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=777145

This was followed by an entree of Smoked Salmon Filled with Avocado Mousse served with Toasted Sourdough Bread. http://www.avocado.org.au/recipes/recipe_finder.aspx?recipeID=177&SearchString=smoked+salmon

Main was Beef Wellington with Veal Jus served with Green Beans and Tarragon. I followed the recipe in the Masterchef Magazine, Issue 1 but a similar recipe can be found at http://www.masterchef.com.au/beef-wellington.htm

Dessert was a very refreshing Lemon Semi-Freddo with Citrus Salad and Pashmak http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/better-homes-gardens/tv/watch/-/7833496/semifreddo-with-citrus-salad/

Finally I made some Donna Hay Vanilla Truffles and Vanilla Snap Biscuits to serve with coffee. This menu was very well received but would not be something I would attempt if I was also trying to entertain guests as it was fairly time demanding. I have never cooked a sit down menu for 20 people so it was a great experience and very successful for my first "catering" attempt!