black tie dinner

[bubbles4920]

im wanting to cook a special dinner for friends and have it in the form of black tie. any ideas for a 3+ course menu? i was thinking of looking at jamie or gordon's cookbooks but do they look easy on tv but difficult to cook yourself maybe?

[coccinelle]

It all depends on your cooking skills. If you're not a great cook go for something that's easy so you know it'll turn out well. It's no good having your guests to get all dressed up and having to say 'well, this was supposed to be a .... but ...'
As for the menu, all depends on your tastes.

[Androcles]

If you ant it to be a black tie do then you need something special. How about smoked salmon parcels to start, made from smoked salmon wrapped some smoked salmon pate, with slices of lemon and a lettuce garnish.

Follow that with chicke breasts sauteed in butter with onion and mushrooms, with a dash of white wine and a chicken stock cube and add some cream at the end into the sauce. Serve with new potatoes and a mixture of Mange Tout and frozen or fresh peas.

Follow that with some strawberry ice cream, whip half a pint of double cream with a tin of condensed mik until it is thick, but not whipped. Make puree out of half a pound of strawberries with some sugar in a food processor and stir into the cream mixture, stick in the freezer in a plastic box - no need to break up ice crystals. Serve with a few sliced strawberries and some shorbread biscuits. (Xanthe Clay's recipe) - its easy!