Help Table D'Hote Menus

[Quillan]

First, many thanks for the suggestions.

Secondly, I can't be just a taker so here are a couple that I have tried and liked.

Salmon Pasta (Single portion just multiply by number of people).

Put a good slug of Olive Oil in a pan then chop 1/2 a red onion and add one clove of crushed garlic. Saute them for about three minutes or until the onion is soft.

Add 75g of salmon fillet cut in to cubes and about 125ml of Double Cream (I found the 18% blue cream from Carrefour has a good thick consistency) and cook for about 5 minutes till the salmon is cooked.

While all this is going on cook up 100g of Penne pasta (thats the round tube one) then drain and add the sauce with about a table spoon full of chopped parsley (frozen will do), mix and serve.

Its a very quick meal, about 15 minutes unless you use frozen salmon in which case you obviously need to let it thaw out.

Here is a nice potato dish if you are running out of ways to cook them (for two people).

Put about a tea spoonful of cumin seeds in a preheated dry in a saute pan (or frying pan) for about 30 seconds.

Add a slug of vegetable oil and one large potato (peeled and cubed) and cook until the potatoes turn golden. Stir in 1/4 of chopped red onion and continue cooking for about a minute or until the onion is soft.

Add two crushed cloves of garlic, a tea spoonful of curry powder and four chopped cherry tomatoes or one ordinary one finely chopped and continue to to cook until the tomato breaks down.

Finally add about 85 grams of course chopped spinach (or a couple of balls of frozen and wait till they have melted). When the spinach has started to wilt mix it all up, add seasoning (salt and pepper) to taste and serve.

This should take about 30 minutes to prep and cook.

 

[NormanH]

I have sent you a pm

[chocccie]

Personally, if I were staying in a CdH for three weeks, I would fully expect to get the same dinners more than once.  If I ate in a restaurant I wouldn't be able to eat a different meal every night for three weeks. (unless it was a really naff one that had 72 items on the menu!!!!)

Don't give yourself too hard a task.  If a dish is scrummy, then don't worry about serving it twice.  I would be happy to eat most things twice over a three week period.

[Quillan]

Thanks Norman for the PM.

What I wanted was two weeks worth and I agree for week three you can go back to week one although if you have some 'backup' recipes you can use them for week three. At the moment I have a weeks worth but have extended that with some suggestions here (thanks) and am now looking at deserts. The biggest issue it time, as many will say running a CDH is hard work and very time consuming especially at this time of the year and basically you have about two hours to prep and cook a meal which is why recipes can't be complicated.

Another area I need to explore is vegetarian food. I am afraid that vegan is totally out (people will just have to pick out what they don't want) but I really need to expand my repertoire of veggie food that is also acceptable to non veggies. I do have a few meals I can do but not a weeks worth. With just one person cooking in a normal domestic kitchen for ten people making a seperate vegan meal at the same time is just not practical. The other issue is getting the ingredients. Unlike the UK where you can get anything at anytime it can be difficult here in semi rural France at the best of times especially with food being seasonal which adds another complication to the pot.

[PatHCA]

STUFFED COURGETTES

Boil courgettes [how many depends on number eating, if you are having this for starter or main etc] until cooked but not over squidgy.Cut in half and scrape out flesh from the shells reserve both

Combine equal amounts of goats cheese and grated hard cheese add the cougette flesh ,chopped spring onions and mixed herbs to taste, season and mix all together using an egg yolk to bind.Mix to a fairly smooth consistency

Place the courgette shells on an oven tray and fill with the cheesy mix .At this point you can leave them in the fridge for a while.When you are ready to cook cover the stuffed shells with breadcrumbs and pour a small amount of melted butter over the top Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees until golden brown

This is good for a lunch, a starter or a veggie main course