Good cooks, advice please

[cally]

I've invited 10 people over for dinner tomorrow night. A couple of them are gourmet cooks and are married to professional chefs. I am absolutely not a gourmet cook. I've invited them because they are here crunching on a project for work. Whatever I serve is better than hotel food.

Here's my plan:

Greek salad
Salmon marinated with a citrus olive oil. Then put on the BBQ
Bread
Turkish eggplant dish
Fresh strawberries
roasted vegies on BBQ

Any ideas or recomendations for the marinades on the salmon or vegies.

[Donkeyboy75]

1. I always like

to add a lemon/dill/butter sauce to the salmon as it's cooking, but it's also good as a marinade. Use fresh dill if you have it.

I typically eat veggies plain...but butter always keeps them moist (as you can probably tell, I'm from the Julia Child school of cooking)

[Bertha Venation]

2. beware the marinade on the salmon

Sweet things tend to burn on the grill, and meat or fish marinated in sweet things will get a hard crust burnt on the outside. Just be sure your marinade isn't too sweet.

Sounds like a great meal!

[put out]

3. Sounds just lovely.

You might try making a dessert sauce of Grand Marnier (orange liqueur, hope I spelled it right) and sour cream for the strawberries. Sprinkle with brown sugar. Just mix the booze and the sour cream together until it "looks right". It's yum, I think, when spooned on berries.

[orwell]

4. Have Fun

First of all, good cooks love to be entertained. They don't expect the world. They are happy that someone cares enough to cook for them. Don't stress out over it.

Keep it simple. Use the best ingredients. Less is more.

Put foil under the salmon so it doesn't stick. I like to do a whole side or two instead of steaks for that many people. Use indirect heat.

I would probably drop the grilled veggies as you will already have this smoked flavor in the salmon. If you are going to grill a veggie try only one, such as a half a tomato or squash. My favorite veggie with grilled salmon is fresh spinach fried quickly in garlic and butter.

Get really good quality ingredients, especially the bread. If you can, get wild salmon instead of farm raised. Serve a flavored olive oil for people to dip the bread in.

Put some fresh whipped cream on the strawbs or buy some good quality vanilla ice cream. Only buy ripe strawberries that are fragrant.

Alway try to get height on the plate. I would put a bed of garlicky herbed rice under the serving of salmon with a sprig or two of dill on the top.

It doesn't hurt to have some melted butter with a little of the marinade added to it to drizzle over the top.

Do as much in advance as possible. The most important thing have fun and enjoy yourself.


O

[Robb]

6. I'd like to add this, on the salmon:

Oil instead of foil; brush the fish liberally, or better still (if you can spare the towel) soak a towel in oil, roll it up, take a pair of tongs, and brush the grill itself right before you put the fish on.

Nice trick for grill marks on the fish, plop 'er down, wait just a few minutes, then rotate the fish 90 degrees to finish cooking that side. Then when you flip you've got nice pretty marks.

You're gonna have a blast, nothing cooks love more than being cooked for -- even hot dogs! :)

[cally]

5. As always, DUers give great advice

Thanks.

I'm giving up the roasted vegies. I will get great ingredients and have fun, and I will not use sugar in the marinade. I'm still deciding on the strawberries. If I find great strawberries then I will leave them alone. Otherwise, I'll use one of your suggestions. Thanks for the help.