Dinner Party: Secret Ingredient-Style

Last weekend we celebrated the birthdays of two wonderful friends and fellow newlyweds, Lauren and Jeremy. (Aren't fall birthdays the best?) We invited L&J to our apartment for a dinner party in their birthday honor. The twist: they each got to choose 2 ingredients to be incorporated into the meal.

After days of deliberation, the secret ingredients were chosen...

She picked:

1. Apples
2. Sweet potatoes 

He picked:
     3.  Butterscotch
     4.  Fish

Apparently ingredient-choosing was particularly difficult for Jeremy, who, inspired by the show Chopped, also considered- quail eggs, goat brains, preserved duck eggs, sweet tea vodka, rack of wild boar, frozen waffles, hot dogs, and watermelon. What helped him decide was the realization that he should probably choose something he actually wants to eat.

Choosing this menu was too fun! The fish threw me the most... when it comes to fish, I only know what I like, which is basically exclusively salmon. But what better time to try something new! The best of friends are the best audience for recipe experiments. Especially on their birthdays.

With the inspiration of multiple cookbooks from my library (Giada, Moosewood, Clean Food) as well as a favorite website (CookingLight.com), the final menu came to be:

First Course:

Autumn Salad

fresh apple, dried mission figs, gorgonzola cheese with maple balsamic vinaigrette

Entree:

Dill and Mustard-Encrusted Wild Haddock

with a yogurt-chive sauce

Sweet Potato Fries 

with curry ketchup

Sauteed Zucchini

Dessert:

Butterscotchies 

with Vanilla Ice Cream 

Happy Birthday to you two!

First, the salad dressing... THE cure to salad boredom... guaranteed! You can even add it to roasted veggies like I did, here.

Maple-Dijon Balsamic Vinaigrette
Shake up these ingredients:
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

baby arugula with fresh pink lady apple, dried black mission figs, gorgonzola cheese and of course, maple-dijon balsamic vinaigrette

For the fish, I chose haddock, a firm white fish, which the experts say is great for breading. I went with wild-caught for sustainability, and the kind gentleman at the Wegman's fish counter even took the skin off for me! (Without a snobby fish-filleting knife, skinning it myself would not have ended well. Ask my dad about filleting whole fish, it's his favorite hobby.) About 6 oz of fish per person. I dipped each fillet in egg whites (2 total), and then a seasoning mixture of 3/4 cup panko bread crumbs, 1 tablespoon dried dill, 1 1/2 teaspoon dried mustard, 1 tsp paprika, 3 cloves minced garlic. I lined up those bad bad boys in a baking dish and baked at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.



A chive and yogurt sauce complemented the fish.

Giada says, mix together the following-
1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
2 tsp honey
1 tsp dijon
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons chopped fresh chive.

It was a little different for me, but it was worth a shot. It's always good to have some curry ketchup from Germany on hand, too!

This was a meal we got so into eating up, I almost forgot to photograph it. You'll get the picture from these snapshots of my half-eaten plate.


Now, onto dessert... Butterscotch Bars! I used a Cooking Light recipe, so sweet and delicious. I made them the day before, but popped them into the warm oven before serving with vanilla ice cream.

This little butterscotchie just got smothered right before the picture was taken.

Having our friends choose ingredients was such a fun way to inspire a dinner party. I encourage you to do the same! Just be willing to follow through if they choose quail eggs... but I'm glad I didn't have to. Thanks Lauren and Jeremy... and happy birthday!