Seven Course Meal Prepared by Our Friend Laura with Pictures and Descriptions... So Good!

Table is Set and Ready for Dinner

Our friends Laura and Jason invited us over for a fancy dinner. We received an invitation for the event a few weeks ago and we were looking forward to it as the date approached. On Saturday, April 13, we picked up Greg and Erin to head to Laura and Jason's house for dinner. A wonderful evening was had by all and here are some of the pictures of the night of what we ate. 

Laura did all the cooking and Jason ran up and down the stairs to get items from the basement. Laura had the table set for us as we arrived and made us a fancy cocktail to start the night.

Menu for the Night

No pictures of the chef or others at the event, but I did manage to take pictures of the menu and each of the dishes. We had an enjoyable evening while Laura was cooking and preparing each dish for us. She had Jason serve the dish and made sure to direct him on how to have the dish facing when served. So fun and we had some good laughs and stories as we enjoyed the evening.

Now to start getting into the courses of the night. We had wine served with the courses with white wine to start and then transitioned to red wine as we arrived at the meat dish.

Jalapeno Popper Deviled Egg

Amuse Bouche which was a blue cheese walnut apricot. Then we had the appetizer (picture to the left) which was Jalapeno Popper Deviled Egg and it was perfect! I ate the whole thing at once which I think was the best move to get all the flavors together.  I realized that I did not get a picture of the Amuse Bouche as I just ate it and then I started taking pictures of the food. I tell you, the Amuse Bouche was a good way to start with the food.

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Next was the Creamy Broccoli Soup. I am not a big fan of broccoli, but this was really good. I told Carrie that I could eat broccoli all the time if we had it as soup like this dish. Delicious! 

Laura told us when she makes the soup everything from the broccoli goes into the pot. The stocks are left on the top until finally those are worked into the soup. Yes, we might need to have Carrie get this recipe from Laura so we can make this at home.

Next was the Spring Pea, Prosciutto and Burrata. Once again, a wonderful dish for the multi course meal. 

Seared Halibut with Lemon Basil Risotto

Next was the fish dish which was a Seared Halibut with Lemon Basil Risotto. The seasoning on the fish was excellent. Erin, who does not like seafood, tried this dish and she liked this dish too. I think this is the first time I have ever seen Erin eat anything from the sea. Halibut is a good selection to have Erin enjoy as it is not fishy and this was cooked perfectly with the meat flaking off with the Lemon Basil Risotto and a bite of fish, oh my goodness, it was so good!

After fish, we had the second to last dish of the night. So, it was time to change up the wine in our glasses. We moved to a red to go along with the beef.

Red Wine Braised Beef

Pictured to the right is the Red Wine Braised Beef with Garlic Parmesan Mashed Potatoes. The sauce with the meat and potatoes was crazy good. Jason said he likes the sauce so much that he could put it in a cup and drink it. Yes, it was that good and I completely agree with Jason that I could drink it straight.

We sipped on wine as Laura prepared the last dish of the night. Chatting and telling stories, and one or two of us finishing off others dishes, or drinks, that had not finished their dish yet. We were all getting full but had to make room for the final dish of the dessert.

Salted Caramel Butterscotch Pot de Creme

Yum! Yum! Yum! Perfect end to the evening of dishes. The Salted Caramel Butterscotch Pot de Creme was excellent. The sea salt on the top went well with the caramel and butterscotch. At this point, I was feeling rather full, but I wanted to make sure I made it through my own dish. I think there were some that were not finished, but I knew if I ate those too, I would be miserable.

Thank you so much to Laura for cooking for us. What a treat! Thank you to Jason for running trips to the basement and for sampling all of the dishes prior to the big night. Sounds like that was tough to do, but someone has to do the sampling and suggestions.  Thank you both for opening your home to us to enjoy a wonderful evening.

Until next time, have a great rest of your Sunday and a fantastic week.

Cooked Beef Stir Fry in the Rain on Saturday Night on Big Green Egg Using a Wok ... Turned Out Great!

Peppers and Onions Ready

Saturday night was time to do stir fry in the Big Green Egg (BGE). I believe this was the fourth time we have used the wok on the BGE. It had been raining most of the day, but that did not stop me from firing of the BGE and getting the wok ready. It did take a while to the fire going with the rain. I was finally able to close the lid to the BGE and leave the top open which helped and got the temperature up to around 400 degrees. I wanted the temperature to be between 450 and 500 but with the rain during preparation and then when I was finally cooking the stir fry, the temperature was consistently around 400 degrees.

Marinated Beef Ready for Wok

The beef was done in a sauce that Carrie had put together. Some spice, soy, and a little more spice. The beef smelled so good as it marinated and I got the BGE ready. With how long it took to get the BGE going in the rain, the beef marinated for about 45 - 60 minutes. Carrie knows that I like to have a lot of sauce, so it was nice a saucy ready for the wok. No, you cannot tell from the picture to the right that it is saucy, but it was very nice and smelled so good.

We had the veggies and meat ready to go and the fire was right. I put the wok on the BGE to let it warm up for about five minutes. The temperature was still right around 400 degrees. Added some oil and then the meat. Immediately started sizzling and a lot of smoke with the coldness outside. Carrie came out to help me and held an umbrella over us while I cooked. I cooked the meet for about five minutes and then spread it out to the edges of the wok. Now it was time to add in the veggies that I put right in the middle. Still a lot of liquid from the sauce, but it worked out great as the veggies kind of boiled in the liquid. 

Finished Stir Fry from BGE

I cooked the veggies in the middle of the meat for three or four minutes. It was then time to mix everything together and continue starring in the meat to the veggies. For another minutes or two and then it was time for more sauce. We used a packet for the stir fry sauce that needed to thicken up a little after it was added. After about two minutes, I could see the sauce had thickened and it was time to take it inside. 

Another success as it was delicious! Carrie did some rice in our rice cooker and we have enough for leftovers for us both tomorrow for lunch. We had some kimchi in our fridge that went along great with the stir fry. 

Following dinner, I went out to put the BGE back together and prepare it for the night. I noticed that it had cooled down very quickly with the chill in the air and rain. Normally, it takes a few hours for the grill to cool off, but tonight it had cooled down quickly.

Another successful night of grilling with the BGE using a wok. We loved it and I cannot wait to cook again with the wok. Our plan is to do multiple wok cooks this summer so we can have leftovers of various options through the week. Rice works great, but we also want to try doing noddles with with one of these cooks.

Have a great week and I will talk to you next week for Super Bowl Sunday.