Our first dinner party

Steve and I love food, and consider ourselves adventurous eaters. We are constantly trying new recipes, and when we go out to eat, one of us is likely to choose something simply because it is new and unchartered food territory. 


As we were building our new house, we were envisioning ourselves hosting various kinds of parties in which we'd be able to share our adventurous tastes with our circle of friends. Last weekend, the first (of hopefully many) dinner parties at The Ward Residence took place.

The Menu
(written on our nifty black dry-erase board)

Our appetizers: 

Caprese Skewers

Tomatoes and basil and mozzarella, oh my! We love caprese salad, and it's a classic, so naturally we wanted to serve it at our party. 

Seared Scallops on Parmigiano crips

One of our guests was a vegetarian, who's only exception was scallops. Once we learned that, we were more than happy to add this to our repertoire. One of our favorite scallop dishes are bacon-wrapped scallops from a favorite restaurant, AND we had scallops at our wedding reception. This dish was especially fun, because it was my first time making parmigiano crisps.

Beef Carpaccio

Who doesn't like raw meat?  Well OK, a lot of people don't, but we do! Fillet sliced ultra thin on a toasted baguette slice, topped with a shaving of parmigiano cheese, white truffle oil and chives. Steve put this together, and it turned out great!

Can't forget the cheese plate!

From the top-left of the board going clockwise: double cream Mirabo with walnuts, cheddar with Guinness, plum fruit paste, goat cheese Gouda, and maple-smoked cheddar. Along the right side from the top: crispy prosciutto, candied walnuts, and whole wheat crackers.

The Main Course(s)

Grilled Tuna w/ White Bean Puree, Olive Tapenade and Roasted Cherry Tomatoes
(with a sprig of rosemary and a pair of blood orange supremes, just for kicks)

This dish turned out fantastic! What I like about this recipe, is the olive tapenade brings a salty component to the seared fish that is very similar to what is found in a sushi & soy sauce pairing. Steve added some chopped roasted red peppers to the beans that added a nice touch.

Gnocchi w/ Wild Mushroom Ragu
topped with mascarpone cheese and mint

Steve found this recipe and we thought it was perfect for the vegetarians coming to eat with us. When we test-drove this recipe earlier in the week, we forgot the mascarpone cheese that topped it off. I have it on good authority that the cheese adds a very tasty aspect to the dish. I'm sad I missed out!

A combo plate, for those who are indecisive (or want to try everything).

There are two parts of the meal I forgot to take pictures of. We also made a melon gazpacho shooter.  The inspiration for this came from a meal Steve and I had in Atlanta on our first Valentine's Day. We were served an amuse-bouche in the form of a soup, in a shooter glass. Ever since, I found the idea of soup shooters to be fascinating. I'm so glad the melon gazpacho turned out well, and equally excited there are leftovers!


To end the meal, Steve made Chocolate Raspberry Creme Brulee. Over the last couple of years, Steve has combined two different creme brulee recipes and tweaked them just right, and has created Steve's Chocolate Raspberry Creme Brulee. We topped the creme brulee with slightly sweetened whipped cream (whipped from scratch, of course!) and a sprig of mint. One of our guests liked it so much, she said she'd drive all they way to our house just for that one dish! Now that's a compliment!

We also tried a raspberry lime tea, in case people didn't want alcohol or soda. This recipe was a fantastic discovery!

In my opinion, good food shared with good friends is always a recipe for good times. Overall, I would say the night was a success! Thank you to our guests who drove all the way out to the country so we could indulge ourselves in this little dinner party. I'm already looking forward to the next one!