Cooking to Impress :)

[Eve]

I am soon to have a very lovely man round for dinner for the first time and looking for some menu help as am really wanting to make something really really nice.

I'm ok as a cook, just not really cooked much for ages having fallen into the single trap of not being bothered to cook for myself.

My ideas at the moment, bearing in mind he is Hindu and can't eat beef (also avoiding any kind of indian style cooking with him being of Indian origin) are:

Baked camembert with fresh crusty bread as a starter or sweet chilli duck salad, probably the cheese as I know he likes continental cheeses. I've never done my own baked camembert before though so tips welcome.

Main of either pan fried salmon with sweet chilli salad and/pr rice and maybe some kind of additional veggies if rice or maybe something with big juicy prawns as I know he loves them from a tapas night we went to recently.

I want something which looks and tastes great without being faffy food or anything too complicated flavour wise as we both like quite simple food.

Any ideas or variations or ideas for extra impress factor welcome :)

[mandimoo]

no ideas of my own, but what you have said here sounds lovely. good luck and have fun, enjoy.

[merciasounds]

Hi, well the trick is to keep it simple, but look fab - the salmon is a great idea, BUT I would do it in foil or greaseproof paper parcels and cook it in the oven, that way you can spend time with your guest while it's cooking- you could top the salmon with raw prawns, sprinkle with lime/lemon juice, fresh coriander leaves, sweet chili sauce or a little grated fresh ginger (wonderful with salmon) and bake in the oven. Or cook a couple of good free-range or corn-fed chicken portions (I say portions so you don't have to do any carving, just plate up and serve) again use fresh herbs, garlic, chili, soy or teryaki sauce. Have a nice salad bowl of mixed salad leaves, add diced cucumber, cherry tomatoes (or serve roasted cherry tomatoes on the vine with the fish) and have some good rustic bread to mop up the juices. Make a nice salad dressing. Jacket potatoes, rice or noodles can all be cooked beforehand, and re-heated in the oven when cooking the main course, serve a simple dessert such as a mousse, fresh fruit salad or ice cream. Garnish your food, what looks nice will usually taste nice remember we eat with our eyes first!

[jack daniels]

why avoid food of indian origin?
find out what his favourite food/foods are and take it from there.
you could do a starter of prawns followed by a Thai red/green curry with fragrant rice.
I love cheese but don't like camembert or goats cheese - are you sure he does?

good luck

Anna x

[Eve]

Some great ideas, thank you :)

I've checked and he does like continental cheese, just hope that includes camembert!

Avoiding Indian as he is of Indian origin and his mum makes a lot of traditional food properly and not even going to try to compete :)

Am hoping to avoid chicken as, as he knows well, I am a raving Nando's fan and it'd just be too cliched haha!