Two fellow IP’ers came for dinner last night and I have to admit it’s the first time I’ve had a dinner party without some welcoming ‘amuse-bouche’ and especially without any wine to wash the whole thing down with - so this is what we had....(recipes below)
Welcome ‘cocktail’ of ginger lemonade
Main course consisting of surf and turf (6oz filet mignon accompanied by 3 shrimp weighing in at an additional 2oz), roast asparagus, mashed ‘potato’ and grilled portabello mushroom.
All finished off with our favourite dessert of rhubarb and vanilla pudding with a touch of cinnamon.
It was all surprisingly ok - a glass of wine would of course have been lovely (a nice meaty red to go with the steak!) but it was all very do-able and certainly a meal worthy of our pre (and hopefully one day post!) IP days and one we’ll certainly do again. So the recipes for the lemonade, the shrimp and the mash are given below.
Ginger lemonade
Take about 2-3 inches of ginger and peel then grate (I use the large grater not the zester for this). Place in a cafetiere if you have one and if not any glass jug or bowl will do. Boil the kettle and once boiled, pour about 1 litre of water on top of the ginger and leave to steep for 1/2 hour to an hour. Meanwhile, juice 2-3 lemons. If using a cafetiere simply pour the ginger juice into a jug, if using a bowl, sieve the ginger juice into a jug to get rid of the bits - add the lemon juice and about 1/2 tsp stevia - mix well and serve chilled with ice, a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint. CHEERS!
Chili Ginger Mint Shrimp (given on an earlier blog but repeated for your ease of reference)
2-3 (uncooked) shrimp per person (if accompanying the steak as above)
1/2 inch of ginger, peeled and finely grated (I like to use the zester so you get lots of the juice)
zest and juice of 1 lime
splash of olive oil
1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh mint
1 thai red chili pepper or 1/2 scotch bonnet or a shake of some crushed red pepper
1-2 cloves garlic, crushed or finely chopped
Mix the ingredients together - let the shrimp marinade (in the super duper marinator (see earlier posting on the subject) or even overnight) - pop the shrimp on skewers and bbq as normal.
Mashed ‘Potato’ (also given on an earlier blog but improved here!)
1 head of cauliflower
splash of olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
garlic powder
dijon mustard
Wash and break up the head of cauliflower. Bring a large pot of water to the boil - pop in the cauliflower and simmer for 10-15 mins. Drain well (BUT reserve about 1/2 cup of the water) - leave to drain until the cauliflower has somewhat dried out.
Place in a food processor with a teaspoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of the cauliflower water, add a teaspoon of sea salt and some freshly ground pepper, a teaspoon of garlic powder and a generous teaspoon of dijon mustard.
Process until you have the smooth consistency of mash potatoes.
Serve with some chopped parsley, chives or spring onions.
For an interesting variation you can also add steamed leeks to the mash - just add after the processor stage and mix well.
Rhubard and vanilla ‘custard’
1 pack of vanilla pudding mix
1/2 rhubarb stalk
sprinkle of stevia
cinnamon
Roughly chop the rhubarb (this is for an individual portion - when I make it I usually make a bigger batch and either keep in the fridge or freeze until I need it), place it in a pan with a splash of water - you do not need to cover the rhubarb just wet the pan - the rhubarb will also release some juice when cooking. Bring to a boil then simmer gently until the rhubarb has broken down - leave aside to cool then chill in the fridge until ready to use (best to make this the day before).
Make the IP vanilla pudding mix per the instructions, add a sprinkling of cinnamon and mix well.
Pour the vanilla pudding into your ramekin for serving and top with a dollop of rhubarb.
BON APETIT!
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