Cookbook:Perfect Three Course Dinner

Perfect Three Course Dinner
Category	Dinner recipes
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Appetizers: Greek feta cheese wrapped in cold ham or beef served with home-made white bread and extra virgin olive oil

First Course: Carpaccio of beef on chicory leaves, with olive oil, Parmesan, Provençal herbs, and grissini

Main Course: Salmon fillet on green ribbon noodles with lemon-chive sauce and florets of broccoli

Dessert: Mousse au Chocolat

Bread

Ingredients

• 1 kg (8 cups) strong white bread flour
• 625 ml (3 cups) lukewarm water
• 2 ea. 7-gram sachets (1½ tbsp total) dried yeast
• 30 g (2 tbsp) salt
• 30 g (2 tbsp) white sugar

Procedure

1. Mound the flour in a heap on a clean work surface. Form a hole in the middle of the heap.
2. Pour half of the water into this hole, then add the yeast, sugar and salt. Take a fork and start stirring, gradually bringing in the flour from the sides and swirling it into the liquid. Keep stirring and add the water little by little. Be careful not to pour too much water into the flour hole at a time, otherwise you might get your clothes stained.
3. As soon as all the ingredients are mixed together, knead the dough, which becomes really sticky by then. When you have a smooth ball of dough, put it into a bowl, and let it rise in a warm place and wait until it has doubled in size (about 30 minutes).
4. Next you shape the dough into a loaf, then let it double in size again.
5. Bake the loaf at 200°C (390°F) for about 15–20 minutes. The bread is ready if it sounds hollow when you knock on it. Let cool before slicing.

Feta cheese with ham or beef, white bread, and extra virgin olive oil

Appetizers

Ingredients

• Cold ham or beef, sliced thin
• Greek feta cheese, cubed
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Fresh-baked bread (see recipe above)
• Aperitif such as Bellini or Aperol Spritz

Procedure

1. Wrap a slice of ham or beef around each piece of cheese.
2. Serve with olive oil, fresh bread, and the aperitif of choice.

Carpaccio of beef on chicory with olive oil, Parmesan, and Provençal herbs

First course: Carpaccio on chicory with parmesan

Ingredients

• Good quality beef carpaccio (2–3 slices per person)
• Chicory leaves, or other lettuce
• Parmesan cheese
• Olive oil
• Provençal herbs
• Grissini
• White bread (see recipe above)
• Red wine

Procedure

1. On each individual plate, arrange the carpaccio on top of the chicory leaves.
2. Finely grate some parmesan over the top.
3. Drizzle with a little olive oil.
4. Sprinkle the herbs over the top, and decorate the plate with two grissini.
5. Serve with bread and red wine.

Salmon fillet on green ribbon noodles with lemon-chives-sauce and florets of broccoli

At this point it gets busy in the kitchen, but do not worry as this is a foolproof recipe—just follow the instructions and prepare the ingredients in advance. Begin with the sauce, since it is the most difficult.

Main course: Salmon fillet

Ingredients

• 3 egg yolks
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 125 g (9 tbsp) melted butter
• 1 bundle of chives, chopped fine
• 300 g (10.5 oz) green ribbon noodles
• ½ head of broccoli, cut into florets
• 4 salmon fillets (about 125 g each)
• Flour
• Olive oil
• Salt
• Black pepper

Procedure

Sauce

1. Mix the egg yolks with the lemon juice in a glass bowl. Set the glass bowl over a pot of simmering water.
2. Mix the butter into the egg mixture little by little, stirring constantly until the sauce thickens.
3. Mix in the chives, and season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Noodles

1. Boil noodles in a large pot of salted water, stirring occasionally.
2. Drain noodles when al dente. They should take about 8 minutes to cook.

Broccoli

1. Boil the broccoli florets in salted water for about 10 minutes.
2. Remove florets when they are still firm to the bite. Do not cook them too early because they get cold very quickly.

Salmon

1. Coat the skin of the fish fillets with flour.
2. Heat a thin layer of oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Place the fillets in the pan flour-side down.
3. Drizzle some lemon juice over the fish, then season with salt and pepper.
4. Continue cooking the fillets until crispy, about 12 minutes. Do not be intimidated by the sizzling and spluttering of the fish, but beware of the splattering fat.

Assembly

1. Arrange the noodles, salmon, and broccoli on the plate.
2. Top with the sauce.

Mousse au chocolat

Dessert: Mousse au Chocolat

Often mousse au chocolat is considered extremely difficult to prepare, but it is not necessarily so.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 100 g (3.5 oz) dark chocolate
• 100 g (3.5 oz) milk chocolate
• 40 g (3½ tbsp) sugar
• 2 tbsp hot water
• 200 ml (¾ cup) whipped cream

Procedure

1. Separate the eggs, and whip the egg whites.
2. Melt the both chocolates in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water. Then let it cool down until it is lukewarm.
3. Now whip the egg yolks with the hot water. Gradually add the sugar, and whip the mixture until it is creamy. Quickly add the melted chocolate, and mix in the whipped cream and the egg whites.
4. Chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours.