Italian themed menu
To start;
Bruschetta with roasted red pepper and tomato salsa
Sliced Parma ham, dressed with olive oil, Parmesan shavings and blush tomatoes.
Mozzarella, black olive, tomato and red onion salad
Rocket leaves with basil pesto
Freshly made granary bread, blush tomatoes and Parmesan.
Main-course;
Free range chicken breast,
Stuffed with blush tomatoes and mozzarella, wrapped in Parma ham and puff pastry.
Roasted cherry tomato and basil sauce.
Served with:
Italian style rosemary roasted potatoes,
Glazed chantenay carrots and saute baby spinach leaves with garlic.
To follow:
Trio of desserts,
Chocolate and orange Tiramisu, with coffee and Amaretto cream,
Lemon and raspberry pannacotta,
Chocolate and roasted hazelnut brownie.
My latest dinner party was for Nikki Connolly, celebrating her birthday. Her husband, Gary, had contacted me to arrange the menu a while back and wanted to have it as a surprise for Nikki's guests. The great thing for me was that Gary had contacted me through friends of his that I had previously catered for, so I was really pleased that my services were recommended.
Gary and Nikki had browsed through my website and blog to gain some inspiration for their menu choice. Once the theme of an Italian style menu was confirmed, I came up with some bespoke menus which I forwarded on. I was really pleased with the menu choices when they were finalised and I had a few weeks to plan ahead the logistics.
I planned to arrive about 6:00p.m which would give me about an hour to set up and half an hour before Nikki's guests were scheduled to arrive. I arrived in Portsmouth on schedule, which is about half an hour from my house and I was welcomed at the door and led to the kitchen. It was left very clean and tidy for me and I had a shelf reserved for me in the fridge which was great. I set up fairly quickly in the kitchen and I then laid up the table with cutlery and napkins.
It wasn't long before all the guests had arrived. They were all very friendly and They relaxed in the lounge while I continued in the kitchen with a glass of lemonade, kindly poured for me by the hostess. I laid out the starters buffet style in the middle of the table so it was a very relaxed way to begin the dinner. I was pleased that the ladies had an appetite and it wasn't long before I cleared down and started plating up the main-course. This was well received and I carried on back to the kitchen to put the finishing touches to the desserts.
After all the food had been served, I was really pleased with the way the evening had gone and welcomed the positive feed back from my diners. I really love to cook and take a lot of pride in all my dinner parties and this was no exception as I had a great evening cooking for some really fun and friendly people.
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| Granary bread, blushed tomato, parmesan and fresh basil. |
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| Ciabatta bruschetta with roasted pepper salsa. |
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| Mozzarella, red onion, tomato and black olive salad. |
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| Parma ham, dressed with blush tomatoes and olive oil. |
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| Rocket leaves, dressed with basil pesto and parmesan shavings. |
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| Stuffed chicken breast |
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| Trio of desserts. |
"Nikki had a great night and would like to say thanks again. We will definitely have you back for another event" Quote from Gary Connolly
ChefGary
Private Dinner Parties
ChefGary Weddings
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