Okay, I have a dinner party coming up and I have promised I'll make my version of Chateau Briand...which is a lot of filet for for 14 people. However, I need to make plenty of side dishes that are both excellent and out of the ordinary. I mean, I can always throw some fresh green beans, onions and garlic in a skillet, but I'm looking for recipe suggestions that are more interesting. However, it must go with grilled steak...

Please post suggestions and recipes! Thanks,

Skoegahom...

P.S. One thing I'm thinking about is stuffed mushrooms. I do this cream cheese, chopped mushroom thing that's pretty good, but not everyone likes mushrooms...

One side dish I get a lot of compliments on is marinated aparagus. Steam a bunch of trimmed asparagus stalks (the skinnier the better) using a cup of water mixed with a cup of white wine for about ten minutes, and then marinate them in your favorite vinaigrette in the refrigerator overnight. Serve cold.

::drool::

Keith,

Thanks! This is the kind of thing that I'm hunting for... I may have to try this.

Skoegahom...

Here’s the menu for my dinner party tonight. (Pardonnez-moi l'expression! Sil vous plait. It has been 20+ years since I attempted to learn Français):

Hors d’oeuvre:

Mushrooms in Puff Pastry
Tomato Mozzarella Brochette
Shrimp Cocktail

Salade:

Grec Salade Assaisonnée

Entrée:

Châteaubriand (béarnais sauce…très difficile!)

À la carte:

Frais rôti Asperge
Frais haricot vert sauté
Pomme de terre au four
Patate douce
Croissants

Dessert:

Jamaican Blue Mountain Crème Brûlée

Bon appétit!


Skoegahom...

all i know is

someone upstairs made

shrimp gumbo tonight

and it smells pretty good!

*runs upstairs to eat gumbo on a Saturday night*

*wonders if the spirt of Forrest Gump is nearby*

One side dish that you could do the night before and reheat in the oven is garlic mashed potatoes ... try garlic paste in a tube, brown in a lot of browned unsalted butter. I'd go for six tbs butter and six cloves of garlic or more.

Boil and mash about five lbs of potatoes, mix in garlic and butter and whip with heavy cream or half and half until you get your desired texture. You could throw in some fresh chives and black pepper to taste.

Leave it in a pyrex flat pan overnight, then reheat in the oven with tabs of butter on the top.