Credo Dinner Party

So a week before we departed on our holiday, Jo comes home and tells me she has invited her workmates home for dinner the week after our return, including partners that would be dinner for twelve, OK.  As it turned out a few were unable to make due to other commitments, so the table was set for eight and eventually with the bosses wife being crook there were seven of us sat for dinner.

It was while we were in Bali that we formulated the menu for the night, which was set for a four course meal, a great opportunity for me to cook some of the recipes I received from Lobong and to cook some of the other dishes we enjoyed whilst away, I really looked forward to the night.

First course

Spicy Chicken and Green Papaya Soup

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Second course

Grilled Tuna Salad

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Main Course

Beef Rendang

Green Curried Chicken

Green Papaya Salad

Tumeric, Ginger and Garlic Rice and Steamed White Wice

Chilli Tomato Sambal

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Dessert

Mango Soufflé with Vanilla Ice Cream

As unusual, Jo was in charge of setting the scene and this time around she also was responsible for the drinks for the night, Jo is good at drinks it seems and believe it or not there was not a drop of wine on the table, can you believe that?  But what she did produce was fantastic, she concocted a Asian styled cocktail as a welcome drink that was so nice some drank them all night, it was very spritsy and refreshing, and available as both alcoholic and non-alcholic, she also did a fruit punch, that I did not get to try but by all reports was very nice.

She showed her usual flair when decorating the table and venue for the evening, with a very tasteful setting in red, black and white, with a strong Asian persuasion, it looked spectacular she is a clever girl.

It was an early start with a quick trip to the Wanneroo Markets, I decided on going there as I was sure we would get all the ingredients I wanted, alas we left without about 6 of the things I wanted, but a quick stop at little Vietnam in Mirrabooka sorted that problem out and we were home by 12, in time for a quick lunch and the cooking began.  Well actually, I had started on Friday night, completing the dessert, which included making a Coconut and Lemongrass Ice Cream from scratch, and without an ice cream machine, it did not feature on the night though as I was not happy with the flavour, luckily we had a Connoisseur Vanilla on standby, which is pretty hard to beat anyway.

Having 6 hours to prepare everything for the other 3 courses was terrific, it was a very relaxed atmosphere in the kitchen preparing ingredients and even managed to add an unplanned salad and tomato sambal to the menu as I went along, it was a pleasurable day indeed.

I had the first course made and slowly ticking away when our guests began to arrive and whilst they slipped into their welcome drink, I started on the salad for the second course, by the time the last guests arrived I had started on the Green Chicken Curry, and actually took it off the stove just in time to put a little more heat in to the soup, the only thing left to do was to grill the tuna for second course, the early preparation had paid off.

Spicy Chicken and Green Papaya Soup

The soup was very well received by everyone, it was nice and spicy but has an incredible flavour, I made this soup with zucchini after we returned home from Bali and it was really good, with the papaya it was even better, a great way to kick off any meal.

Grilled Tuna Salad

I loved this course, the ingredients in the salad are packed full of flavour, the salad has no dressing at all, it just relies on the herbs and spices, the Chinese cabbage adds a nice soft crunch and I served the salad on poppadums which added a lovely crunchiness, the tuna is only grilled for a couple of minutes each side and served rare and thanks to my fish monger was delightfully fresh.

Beef Rendang

Green Curried Chicken

Green Papaya Salad

Tumeric, Ginger and Garlic Rice and Steamed White Wice

Chilli Tomato Sambal

In hind sight, I may have gone a bit big on the main, there was a lot of food on the table, I served up plates of rice and had two curries at each end of the table so people could help themselves to as much or little as they wanted, it took a little longer to get the Green Curry to the table than I had anticipated, and our guests were quite surprised when I brought it out, all had tucked into the rending by this stage and I was pleased to hear so many complimenting the dish, when I got to try it the sauce of the rending was rich in flavour and the beef almost melted in your mouth, I was pretty happy with it.

Mango Soufflé with Vanilla Ice Cream

I am not very good with desserts and I have never had an Asian dessert that I was totally taken by, so when I found the recipe for this I was a little excited, it sounded fantastic, unfortunately it did not turn out quite as I wanted and was way too big, having said all that the flavours were good, though it was more like a custard than a soufflé and it would have been better to have had a lot more fresh mango, we had one left over which Jo and I shared tonight and we had it as a custard over ice cream, it was so YUM YUM, it has given me some inspiration for a future dessert!

All in all it was a great night, both Jo and I enjoyed ourselves immensely and I think our guests had a pretty good night too, and at the end of day that is what you want, you can’t beat enjoying a night with nice people, sharing some good food and stories, it is what life is all about!