Family Style dinner

Family style dinner-08/2/2019

Kevin and Kristie are back in town and I am inviting a few of Kevin's childhood friends and a few of our friends for dinner so the kids have a chance to spend some time together. Our regular helper cannot make it so I am doing a family style dinner so it is much easier to serve and clean up. Without the help I am keeping the dinner to a small size and still end up with 14 people.

Summer is here so the menu is light with lots of vegetables and fruits.

Sitting down for diner. The adults on the left and the young adults on the right.

They have not seen each other in a while so the conversation was very lively, at times we can barely hear what we are saying...

Right: Phuc, Huyen, Maily, Nicky, Jenna

Kevin and Kristie in the center

On the left: Mark, Alice, Tuan, Spencer, and Andrew (Kevin's childhood friend since elementary school).

Very precious to see them having a good time and bonding over food and beer...

First Course: Asparagus vichyssoise, quiche with caramelized peal onions.

Asparagus are in season right now so I transformed them into a Vichyssoise soup with Jalapeno-really delicious! I kept the portion small so I served them in a shot glass.

Kevin loves quiche so I made a quiche Lorraine with bacon, caramelized onion, mushroom and on top is bunch of caramelized pearl onions (so sweet). The pearl onions make the quiche really interesting. This is a portion for 4 people

Click HERE to see preparation

2nd Course: Corn madeleine, salmon Gravlax, crème fraiche with pickled vegetable

For the corn Madeleine, I used fresh grilled corn and they tasted like corn bread. I served them with salmon gravlax (cured salmon) and crème fraiche, and pickled vegetables.

Very light and fun to eat as you as the option to eat what you want. This is also a portion for 4 people.

Click HERE to see preparation of the salmon Gravlax.

3rd Course: Assorted melon, cucumber, mango, plum, burrata in a aguachile sauce.

This is the ultimate summer dish! I used ripe, juicy, and sweet fruits: melon, watermelon, mango, plum, cucumber served with aguachile (lime, jalapeno, passion fruit) and burrata. So Fresh and so delicious. I can eat this all day.

4th Course: Beef Carpaccio, seared trumpet mushrooms, fried garlic chips, fried capers

I just served this dish recently and everyone loves it so I decided to serve it again since Kevin loves beef. The did not disappoint and the addition of the pan seared trumpet mushrooms, fried garlic chips, and fried capers are really taking the dish to another level.

5th Course: Grilled squid salad , capers, pistachios, chili, mint and Lemon .

I saw this dish while watching Jamie Oliver preparing it in Italy. He went to small towns and ask grandmother to prepare local food.

Here the squid is grilled and served in a mixture of lemon juice (lots of them), capers, anchovies, and parsley and served with fresh ripe tomatoes.

6th Course: Rolled chicken with chopped almond & capers wrapped in prosciutto, Mango salsa

This also a recipe by Jamie Oliver but he served with roasted potatoes, I changed it as I wanted a light meal so I went with a Mango salsa since mangoes are in season now.

The chicken turned out to be delicious, pretty interesting dish and everyone seems to enjoy it. Again small portion is served. This is also for 4 people.

7th Course: Crispy pork belly served with caramelized peach, grilled shishito peppers and okra, saffron honey

The kids really like the crispy pork belly. I served with grilled shishito peppers, grilled okra and caramelized peach drizzled with saffron honey.

8th Course: Pasta with braised short ribs in red wine and sautéed mushrooms.

First I have to braised the short ribs in red wine (3 hours in the oven) but it is worth all the work. The meat is succulent, the sauce is so flavorful and it so comforting to eat it. Thumbs up for this dish!