Madeline over at Everthing Rachael Ray tagged me for a meme. The first thing I had to do was look up what "tagged" meant, and the second was to look up what a "meme" was. If you are like me, and are new to the whole meme thing, click on this helpful link which was provided in Madeline's post.
The question posed was this: Which menu would you serve to blogging friends for a welcome dinner upon their first visit to your home?
Excellent question. A little ambitious, but excellent nonetheless. I first have to point out, that if I have people over, I probably won't make a dinner with five parts to it, like Madeline. In fact, my dinners usually consist of about three things, a bread/rice dish, a meat (usually chicken), and a vegetable.
But, in keeping with the 5 part theme, I will answer with some recipes that I have posted in weekly recipe attempts and fill in the gaps with other Food Network chef recipes. When I cook for people, I want to impress them. In order to impress someone with my cooking, it has to be easy and attempted before hand to ensure minimum screw ups. Here goes nothing.
Appetizer: Black Pepper-Basil Farmer's Cheese Bruschetta with Tomato from Bobby Flay's Boy Meets Grill. It's really tasty. Looks impressive. And it's pretty simple to make.
Salad: I'm sorry. I have to break the recipe pattern with this one. My salads usually come out of whatever ingredients I have left on hand once I make the rest of the meal. It would be a salad with romaine lettuce and leftover vegtables. That's just how I do salads.
Entree: Chicken Francese from Tyler Florence's Food 911. I made this one last week, and I loved it. It also think it would go well with the bruschetta, and, again, it looks impressive.
Side Dish: Oven Roasted Green Beans from Emeril. I love these things and cook them all the time. I like to use them in place of rice or potatoes when I'm trying to watch my girlish figure.
Dessert: Chocolate Hazelnut Biscotti from Giada's Everyday Italian. I haven't actually made this one yet, but I think the best way to end any type of gathering is with a cup of coffee and a delicious treat. What goes better with coffee than biscotti?
Here's who I'm tagging: