Tonight's dinner party was a success; I think. It felt as though people had a good time and, if I say so myself, the food was particularly good...Recipes for a few of the best dishes will follow soon but, in the meantime, here is a slight visual preview.
Beet Marinated Grilled Octopus with Clams and Bouillabaisse Aioli; Micro Pea Green Salad with Roasted Meyer Lemon Dressing and Bay Salt.
Next time I am only making the octopus and the pea shoot salad with lemon vinaigrette. The clams were not necessary. And I discovered while washing up that I had forgotten to add the Boullabaisse Aioli to the plate. Sigh. I will be making this again soon; the octopus was REALLY good.
Baked Chicken Thighs with Nut-Tomatillo Sauce, Bulgar Wheat Pilaf with Herbs, Pumpkin Seeds and Dried Fruit; Sauteed Spinach
Truly a terrible photo but the chicken, the pilaf and the sauce were STELLAR. I had happy expectations of leftovers for lunch for L. and myself but we ate absolutely everything. This is definitly going into the rotation of dishes that i might make again and recommend that all readers attempt.
Chocolate Pavlova Trifle with Raspberries
This was supposed to be a traditional Pavlova but my chocolate meringue refused to do its thing. Necessity being the mother of invention, I used the leftover egg yolks to make a chocolate custard and turned my failed Pavlova into a modern trifle. This worked well. Of course, Bourbon in the whipped cream helped.