Cooking for Dad

My mother always told me the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. Well, I’m pretty sure I already have my dad’s heart, as well as my Father-in-law’s, but I figured for Father’s Day we should treat them to a feast!

Mom and I decided to tackle the menu & cooking together - coordinating the menu from the appetizers to the dessert course. Then we divvied up the dishes and grocery shopping, and met up in the kitchen to construct the meal. So this time, it really was Mother and Daughter…in the SAME kitchen.

The Menu:

Apps:

Fried Green Olives Stuffed with Cheese

Wood Grilled Artichokes

Lime Drizzled Shrimp

1^st Course:

Spinach salad with Avocado, Apples, and Bacon

Main Course:

Filet Mignon with Roquefort Butter

Vegetable Tian

Dessert:

Chocolate Tart with Chocolate glaze, and homemade vanilla ice cream

There wasn’t a single thing on the menu that wasn’t a success. The men were groaning with delight, the ladies were giggling from the tasty wine (Dry Reisling, Trefethen Vineyards = yummy). The wine went perfectly with the selection of appetizers, recipes shown below:

Fried Green Olives Stuffed with Cheese

40(ish) Large Green Olives – pitted

Feta cheese (recipe called for Blue Cheese – but I substituted for Feta)

2 eggs, whisked

1 cup bread crumbs

½ cup flour

Olive Oil (or vegetable oil)

Stuff olives with feta cheese and set aside. Place the next three ingredients in three separate bowls. Heat oil in large skillet (with enough oil to reach approx 1 inch up the side of the pan). Dip olives in the flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Once oil is hot enough, dunk the olives into the oil until fried (approx 30 seconds to 1 minute). Only do a handful of olives at a time to ensuring even cooking. Source: Bon Appetit Aug 2007

Sizzling Lime Shrimp

3 limes

1 lb. large prawns, shelled and deveined

3 tbl. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

splash of sherry

salt and pepper

3 tbl. chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

Grate the rind and squeeze the juice from two of the limes into a small bowl. Cut remaining lime into wedges for completed dish and set aside.

Rinse shelled and deveined shrimp under cold water, drain and dry well on paper towels. Heat olive oil in large, heavy skillet, then add garlic and cook for 30 seconds (careful not to burn it). Add the shrimp and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until they turn pink and start to curl. Mix in the lime rind/juice mixture, sherry to moisten and stir well.

Transfer cooked shrimp to serving dish, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with parsley. Serve hot accompanied by lime wedges. (Be sure to set out a small dish for your guests to discard the shrimp tails as they eat).

We tend to stuff ourselves in the appetizer course, and Father’s Day was no different, but we did manage to reserve a little room for the dinner itself. So we uncorked a Cabernet Sauvignon, and headed to the dinner table. What came next truly won hearts…

-- the daughter