Great recipes (menu) to impress the inlaws this weekend for dinner?!
If someone could provide a few recipes that would go well together, that would be awesome!!
Answers: Looking for a dinner plan that will be simple yet impressive. Perhaps something mediterranean?
If someone could provide a few recipes that would go well together, that would be awesome!!
Mediterranean Salad:
INGREDIENTS
2 heads Tanimura and Antle Sweet Gem? Gourmet Lettuce, chopped
2 heads radicchio, shredded
2 heads fennel bulb, thinly sliced
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2/3 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
6 cups baby arugula
Dressing
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
In small bowl which balsamic vinegar, mustard, salt, pepper. Add oil in stream, whisking until dressing is emulsified.
In another bowl toss Tanimura & Antle Sweet Gem? lettuce, radicchio, fennel, walnuts, Gorgonzola and dressing. Arrange arugula on 8 plates, and then place salad mixture on top.
STUFFED CHICKEN:
INGREDIENTS
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded thin
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup feta cheese
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons dried dill weed
2 tablespoons melted butter
salt and pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
TO MAKE FILLING: In a large bowl beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the feta cheese, dill weed and garlic powder. Beat until smooth and creamy.
Put a dollop of 1/4 of the filling on each breast, then roll and tie the breasts with cooking string to seal. Brush each breast with melted butter/margarine and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the juices run clear.
SUMMER TOMATOES:
INGREDIENTS
5 fresh tomatoes
5 shallots, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 loaf French bread, for dipping (optional)
DIRECTIONS
Core and slice the tomatoes, and arrange them in a serving dish. Sprinkle the shallots over the tomatoes. Whisk the olive oil and balsamic vinegar together with a fork, then pour over the tomatoes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving, or refrigerate, covered, for up to 3 days. Eat with French bread, and dip the bread in the marinade when finished with the tomatoes.
I would go to the food network, and use either a Rachel Ray recipe or Giada De Laurentis...Everything I have made of theirs ends up being a crowd pleaser.
foodnetwork.com will have some awesome recipes for you!!!
The meal I make and everyone loves is cut corn, homemade mash potatoes, fresh green salad and BBQ chicken, the chicken I make in the crock pot, I cover the chicken in Thick BBQ not diluted and let it cook on high for about 4 hours. You can do whole or pieces, Best chicken you will ever have. Apple pie ala mode.
pork or chicken kabobs with rice and beans. Marinate chicken and pork in mojo crijollo. you can find it in almost any grocery store by the marinades. serve with a salad and you'll have a good fun meal.
Check out epicurious.com, we use a coupla' these recipes in the kitchen at a country club I work for.
One of my favorite meals that is really pretty easy is a fettucine alfredo with sauted or grilled shrimp or chicken. With some steamed broccoli on the side it is fast, simple and always impressive.
For the fettucine, cook the required amount and set it to drain then melt a couple of tablespoons of butter in that pot and add a half cup of cream for each serving of pasta. When the cream has heated to the point where it starts to have little bubbles around the edges but not boiling, put the drained pasta in, turn off the heat and add a half cup of freshly grated parmesan per serving of pasta. Toss well and finish with freshly ground pepper and some italian parsley and grate some extra parmesan to pass at the table.
You can saute the shrimp in a little butter with some Chesapeake Bay seasoning or skewer them and use the same seasoning to put them on the grill. Cook until just pink and take them off the heat immediately or they get tough and dry.
Get some Ben and Jerry's for dessert and you've got a great meal!
Something that my husband loves is parmasean chicken breasts.
4 chicken breasts pounded thin
flour
3 eggs whisked
seasoned bread crumbs ( the amount depends on how big the chicken is)
1/2 cup parmasean cheese
olive oil
mix the cheese and bread crumbs and set aside. Pound out chicken breasts till about 1/2 thick. Coat chicken breasts in flour, then egg, then coat in bread crumb mixture. Pour enough olive oil to coat the pan and cook breasts till they are golden brown and cooked through.
The really good thing about this recipe is it is fast, and if you can only do 1 or 2 breasts at a time you can cover the breasts you have cooked and just put them in the oven on warm, they are still great. I usually serve with garlic mashed potatoes and a green salad.
Mediterranean can be simple... Try doing shiskabobbs of steak, chicken and lamb... marinate them and then grill. Warm some pita bread and use either a good store bought hummus or make your own (for spreading on the pita). Along with hummus I usually make this recipe:
Mediterranean Eggplant Dip
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Greek style or plain yogurt
1 packet (1.0 oz) Hidden Valley? Original Ranch? Salad Dressing and Seasoning Mix
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 eggplant (1 lb), peeled, grated*
1 large onion, grated* and drained
1 to 2 tablespoons dried mint
Throw in a side dish and you are good to go. For some good ideas just google Mediterranean side dishes... Good Luck!