This weekend I had the opportunity to plan, cook and serve a meal for 100 people and it was quite the challenge (I honestly felt like I was in my own little Top Chef episode)! Thank you so much to the 5 people who helped me cook this meal - you guys are the best!
The meal was intended to be sort of fancy, sort of special, so I decided to make what I consider to be the best recipe I've ever modified: Lamb Meatballs. I took Nigella Lawson's Aromatic Lamb Meatballs Recipe and made a few tweaks to suit my tastes better. I had to come up with other things to accompany the meatballs, so, here's the final menu:
Lamb Meatballs
Tri-color Couscous
Tarragon Hummus w/ Pita Chips
Spinach & Feta Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette
Baklava
Here are the recipes:
Tri-color Couscous
Tarragon Hummus w/ Pita Chips
Spinach & Feta Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette
Baklava
Here are the recipes:
Aromatic Lamb Meatballs
Modifications
Modifications
- Instead of the scallions, I use 1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onions.
- I add about 2 tablespoons of minced garlic (addition to the recipe).
- I sautee the above ingredients for 5 - 7 minutes, until the onions are starting to get clear (make sure not to burn the garlic!).
- I also add 1 cup of craisins.
- And I add 1 teaspoon of coriander.
- As a side note, you can substitute the semolina for ground-up triscuit or any breading you choose to use.
Tri-color Couscous
I uses the tri-color, pearl couscous and follow the directions on the box.
Tarragon Hummus
Ingredients
I uses the tri-color, pearl couscous and follow the directions on the box.
Tarragon Hummus
Ingredients
- 2 cups of canned chick peas (drained into a container for later)
- 1/3 cup of tahini
- 4 - 6 garlic cloves
- 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons of the liquid drained from the chick peas
- 2 tablespoons of tarragon
Preparations
- Drop the cloves of garlic into your food processor or blender and chop.
- Then add the rest of the ingredients and continue to mix.
- If you feel the consistency of the paste is too viscous, add more of the drained chick pea liquid until you achieve your desired consistency.
Spinach & Feta Salad w/ Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 9 oz bag of pre-washed Spinach
- 4 oz of walnuts, chopped
- 4 oz of feta cheese
- 4 oz of golden raisins
- 4 oz of whole black olives
- 1/3 cup of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/3 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
- Salt & Pepper to taste
Preparation
- Place the spinach in a large bowl and add the walnuts, feta cheese, golden raisins & whole black olives on top.
- Whisk the extra virgin olive oil with the balsamic vinegar and the lemon or lime juice. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the dressing and toss right before serving.
Baklava
Modification
- I mixed 2 parts pistachios and 1 part walnuts.
- Instead of those bread crumbs, I use very finely ground wheat thins.
- I use half the recipe for the simple syrup.
- Here's a tip: when doing the outer layers, make sure to use a lot of butter so the nuts and the layers will stick together when you cut into it after baking.
- Another tip: it took me 45min to bake the baklava, not 1hr like the recipe suggests.
