Was at a party recently, and my mates girlfriend suggested we do a come dine with me once a month. He's quite a keen amateur cook apparently.So I'm going to go first since I have a professional background and obviously need to set the bar too high for anyone to reach! 
Thought it might make an interesting idea for a thread, throwing full menu ideas around. My flat is quite small and not very well equipped, so I've had design a menu around ease of serving. Thankfully, I'm working at a restaurant in town for a couple of weeks, so I can get access to sous vide equipment, a dehydrator and cheap produce. So what I have in mind for mine is the following:
Amuse:
Porchetta - Fennel - Carbon
So I'll cure the pork belly for 24 hours then sous vide it for another 12, seal it off, and then serve it at room temperature, with orange-pickled, shaved fennel and onion ash; sliced onions heavily browned in a pan with butter, then dehydrated and powdered.
Starter:
Scallop - Vanilla - Bacon - Pistachio
I'm going to glaze the scallops with a vanilla gastrique, and serve it with crispy bacon bits and some form of pistachio. I'm undecided between a light air foam, a denser cream based foam produced with a whipping siphon, or a parfait set with agar so it doesn't melt.
Main:
Surf 'n Turf - Sweetcorn - Beetroot - Fig
I'll cook the fillet sous vide at 52° and simply pop it on the griddle before serving. It'll be half a lobster each, poached in beurre monte. A roast sweetcorn veloute will act as a kind of sauce, with caramelised candy beetroot discs and a roast fig
Dessert:
Praline - Chocolate - ? (Coffee?)
I'm kind of stuck on this one. I want to make a praline panna cotta. I'll make praline and blend it right through until it forms a paste. I'll steep the paste in the hot cream, then pass it and set it. That's as far as I can get at the moment.
Of course, it could well end up entirely different if there's the usual, 'I can't eat that', 'I don't like that' nonsense.
Any comments or suggestions? Anyone else like to share dinner party plans or menu ideas?
Thought it might make an interesting idea for a thread, throwing full menu ideas around. My flat is quite small and not very well equipped, so I've had design a menu around ease of serving. Thankfully, I'm working at a restaurant in town for a couple of weeks, so I can get access to sous vide equipment, a dehydrator and cheap produce. So what I have in mind for mine is the following:
Amuse:
Porchetta - Fennel - Carbon
So I'll cure the pork belly for 24 hours then sous vide it for another 12, seal it off, and then serve it at room temperature, with orange-pickled, shaved fennel and onion ash; sliced onions heavily browned in a pan with butter, then dehydrated and powdered.
Starter:
Scallop - Vanilla - Bacon - Pistachio
I'm going to glaze the scallops with a vanilla gastrique, and serve it with crispy bacon bits and some form of pistachio. I'm undecided between a light air foam, a denser cream based foam produced with a whipping siphon, or a parfait set with agar so it doesn't melt.
Main:
Surf 'n Turf - Sweetcorn - Beetroot - Fig
I'll cook the fillet sous vide at 52° and simply pop it on the griddle before serving. It'll be half a lobster each, poached in beurre monte. A roast sweetcorn veloute will act as a kind of sauce, with caramelised candy beetroot discs and a roast fig
Dessert:
Praline - Chocolate - ? (Coffee?)
I'm kind of stuck on this one. I want to make a praline panna cotta. I'll make praline and blend it right through until it forms a paste. I'll steep the paste in the hot cream, then pass it and set it. That's as far as I can get at the moment.
Of course, it could well end up entirely different if there's the usual, 'I can't eat that', 'I don't like that' nonsense.
Any comments or suggestions? Anyone else like to share dinner party plans or menu ideas?
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