Dinner for 7
Fried Mozzarella
Brown Butter Fillet Mignon
Dukkah Fish
Sesame Spinach Salad
Rice Pilaf with Almonds & Apricots
Poached Pears
My parents were in town this weekend so they got to attend a Friday night dinner. I love cooking for my folks but they have some food sensitivities that limit my menu choices. I definitely can't go spicy with them. My parents like frozen mozzarella sticks that you can heat and serve so I definitely knew my made from scratch ones would be a hit as the starter. These are super easy.
I decided on two main dishes to try and make sure everyone was satisfied. You could cut and share if you wanted to try both which is what most people chose in the end. The brown butter fillet mignon turned out to be one on the best steaks I have ever cooked in my opinion. This is going to be added to my special treat dinners for sure. So tasty and really quite easy to prepare.
Dukkah is an Egyptian spice and nut mix that I could simply by in Adelaide, South Australia but back here in Guelph, Ontario I have had to learn to make it myself. Luckily it isn't that hard. You can use dukkah in many ways. One favourite is to slice a baguette, dip it in olive oil and then dip it in the dukkah served with cheese and such as a mid day meal. Today though I used it as a coating before baking my white fish. I simply dipped the fish in a little milk and then dipped it in the spice mixture with a little flour mixed in. I baked it in a 180C oven until it was cooked. This has been a favourite quick and tasty fish for along time.
The sides for the mains were chosen to blend with both 'meat' dishes. Sesame spinach salad and rice pilaf with almonds and apricots.
Dessert was poached pears which I have done a few times before, but never for my parents. I love these pears (actually I really just love pears) and they turned out nicely. Only thing I forgot to reduce some of the poaching liquid to use as a sauce on the pears. Good thing no one but me noticed it's absence.
