While I would have preferred the view above, the apartment attached to the balcony garden looked a little more like this after the inaugural Balcony Garden Dinner Party ...
This is how we led up to it.
Course 1
Carpaccio of Balcony Garden Heirloom Tomato with Buffalo Mozzarella, Basil, Avocado, Olives and Panfried Proscuitto Viniagrette
The verdict on this one was excellent. The Green Zebras were the favourite, with the smokey Black Russian coming in a close second. The viniagrette topped it off well, and the buffalo mozarella did not go unnoticed.
Course 2
Balcony Garden Fresh Pesto Chicken with Rice, Steamed Broccoli and Strawberry Spinach topped Salad.
Another hit in the evening meal. The pesto was a little lumpy, as I traded pinenuts for walnuts which perhaps did not break down equally well.
However the taste was there and all enjoyed it. Though the jury is still out on the berries from the strawberry spinach.
Course 3
Poached Pear Stuffed with Vanilla Cheesecake, topped with nut crumble served with icecream and Lemon thyme, Lime basil Reduction
The aforeblogged Deconstructed Poached Pear Cheesecake. Absolutely divine, though we have so so so much crumble left over.
Course 4
Not really a course, we we had a cheese platter. The blue was almost roaring forties style in strength but the brie was soft a creamy and went down oh so quickly.
So the first ever balcony garden dinner pearty went down a treat. Lovely meals, great wine supplied by all the guests, including the first dessert wine I have ever enjoyed (usually find the sweetness offputting) However, with the dishwasher on the blink (and the fine china being brought out for the occasion which will NEVER see the inside of the dishwasher) the cleanup went well into the next day.
3 comments:
Looks like you had a good dinner party. All your dishes look great! The pan fried prosciutto vinaigrette sound particularly tasty.
I can't wait until it is summer again so I can have spreads of tomatoes like yours. Until then I can only look back to last summer when I prepared a similar dish, here is the link
Sounds like it was a huge success! Course one looked yummy! I've grown the B. Russian and really liked the flavor and texture. Green Zebra sounds interesting.
It was the most amazing dinner! Thanks again. I think my verdict on the strawberry spinach berries was that they were edible, and I think I ended up eating a few, but they weren't terribly exciting to taste... but they were memorable because they were so interesting to look at!
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