Friday April 5, 2013

Dinner for 10

Cold marinated Peanuts
Spring Rolls
Rainbow Beef Lettuce Cups
Spring Onion Lamb
Spicy Stir Fried Chicken with Fresh vegetables
Golden Scallions and Ginger Scallops
Stir Fried Curry Celery
Flash Cooked Bean Sprouts
Seared baby Bok Choy
Noodles in Black Bean Sauce

My younger sister and her wonderful family live only 45 minutes away and until tonight had never been to a Friday Night Dinner.  How does that happen?  Busy schedules of active children mostly.  We are making it right tonight with a huge Chinese feast for us all to eat.  I am going to be introducing her children to more authentic Chinese food.

That was the best laid plans of course.  I had a meeting today that went extra long, then I had to get the shopping done.  That ment very little prep had been completed by the time my guests arrived.  Being in constant pain from a crazy elbow injury wasn't helping either.  I managed to get the appetizers out quickly and they were great but my young neice didn't eat any of them so she was totally starving.  A little snack from the pantry helped tie her over until I could start getting out the main food

Marinated peanuts.  I loved them.

Handmade spring rolls.  Yummy!

I then served the beef cups to hold everyone else over until I could finish the rest of the dishes.

Just scoop a little of this in a piece of lettuce, roll it up and stuff it in your gob.
 
A LOT later than planned everything else was served and everyone was eating happily.  My young niece even tried lamb and liked it.

Lamb

Chicken

Scallops

 

 Curried Celery

 Sprouts, these are fantastic.

 Bok Choy, always a favourite.

Noodles with Black Bean Sauce.  Tasty.!

All in all it was a fantastic evening with fantastic company.  Way better than any take away any day. 

Planning for a future dinner with this crew will include having my nephew (an enthusiastic home cook) working with me. 

Sources:  The recipes for cold marinated peanuts, spring rolls, rainbow beef lettuce cup, and stir fired curry celery came from Complete Chinese Cookbook by Ken Hom.   The recipes for spring onion lamb and noodles in black bean sauce came from EASY ASIAN.  The recipes for golden scallion & ginger scallops and seared baby bok choy came from Simple Asian Meals by Nina Simonds .  The recipe for flash cooked bean sprouts came from A Spoonful of Ginger by Nina Simonds