Fine dining at its best

Who needs to go out to a fancy restuarant when we have gourmands in the house! Wednesday night Linda and Lina did a 7 course dinner based on the 7 deadly sins, complete with accompaning wines. I wish I could remember the entire menu but I will do my best: a salmon filled croissant with capers and cream cheese, a shrimp and avocado citrus salad, crab cakes, sorbet, a beef tenderloin with pasta, mixed berries with ice cream, chocolate fondue with pound cake and fresh fruit, and I know I'm missing something (there were 2 desserts). Hopefully someone else can remind me. Su will be sending in pictures and I'll add them so you can see for yourself the feast.

Brenda also arrived late Wed night. To make her feel right at home we greeted her with undergarments on our head. OK, we had more fun waiting for her then anything. We sat around the card table with boxer shorts, bras and panties on our head just cracking ourselves up while playing spades. No you won't be seeing those pics, the girls would kill me, LOL.

On Thursday Barb took over the kitchen. She started the night with montery jack, gorgonzola and pear quesadillas served with a mango chutny and a mango salsa. I wanted to devour all of them but I saved room for the main dish. I can't remember what it was called but we wrapped risotto, scallops, asparagus and tilapia in parchment along with butter, white wine and some seasonings and baked it in the oven. A lot of fun to make and even more fun to eat.

and for dessert she made a chocolate pavlova which had me totally excited. I've been wanting to try one ever since Sarah posted about it on her Xmas post and let me say that it doesn't disappoint! I'm not a big dessert person and this one was fabulous!Because I loved this dessert and I love my Mannions I'm going to type out the recipe for you.

Chocolate Pavlova

chocolate meringue base:
6 egg whites
1 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 teaspoon balsamic or red wine vinegar
2 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

topping:
2 1/4 heavy cream
1 very full pint of rasberries (she used strawberries on Friday and I preferred that)
2-3 tablespoons coarsely grated bittersweet chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Beat the egg whites until satiny peaks form, and then beat in the sugar a spoonful at a time until the meringue is stiff and shiny. Sprinkle over the cocoa and vinegar and the chopped chocolate. Then gentyl fold everything until the cocoa is totally mixed in. Mound onto a baking sheet in a fat circle approximately 9 inches in diameter, smoothing the sides and top (Barb uses a springform pan to shape hers). Place in the oven, then immediately turn the temperature down to 300 degrees and cook for about one to one and a quarter hours. When it's ready it should look crisp around the edges and on the sides and be dry on top but when you prod the center you should feel the promise of squidginess (excellent word) beneath your fingers. Turn off the oven and open the door slightly, and let the chocolate meringue disk cool completely.

When you're ready to serve, invert onto a big, flat bottomed plate. Whisk the cream til thick but still soft and pile it on top of the meringue, then scatter over the rasberries. Coarsely grate the chocolate so that you get the curls rather than rubble, as you don't want the rasberries lucious color and form to be obscured, and sprinkle halfhazardly over the top, letitng some fall, as it will, on the plate's rim.

Serves 8-10

Share on Google Plus

About Leiha

I love to eat and sleep. One thing is more fun to blog about than the other. In between eating and sleeping I love to travel, spend time with my family and talk about myself. :)