Girls dinner party...

Girly dinner at home - a bunch of stunning girls, drinking martinis and champagne, getting ready together to hit town... to me it also means new recipes to be invented and my girlfriends being my guinea pigs.

So 24 hours earlier i start marinating and cooking so that on the evening itself i can have a drink and enjoy myself as well and not spend the whole evening cooking in the kitchen whilst my girlies will be sipping on fab cocktails...

I wanted to make something relatively healthy, carb free ( the carbs will be consumed in the form of a liquid) and appealing to the eye. It is important to analyze the audience and design a menu accordingly. 

I want all senses to be awakened...

So i decided to create a slightly far eastern and fusion inspired menu starting with a confit duck salad, with coriander, watermelon and cashew nuts; for main miso marinated black cod and steamed pak choy with a sesame dressing and for the daring i made my infamous oreo cookie cheesecake. Ideally i wanted to make a white chocolate and ginger cheesecake, but just when i started making the filling i realized i had run out of stem ginger, an obviously vital ingredient, hence decided to improvise and make something out of what i found in the cupboards! Oreo cookies:)

To complement these dishes i stirred up some Jasmine Cosmopolitans! yum!

The best thing about this menu, excluding the fact that its delicious, that seemed to be the common consensus, is that i prepared most of it the day before, so on the actual evening i spent hardly any time cooking. There's not fuss about cooking the steaks to everyones liking, here you put all the marinated fish in the oven together for 20 min whilst you enjoy a cocktail, salad is prepared ahead and so is the cheesecake. Super easy. Your only job is to present it on the plate pretty much.

Pick: Steamed Edamame beans with maldon salt
Starter: Confit duck salad with coriander, watermelon and roasted cashew nuts
Main: Miso Black Cod - http://thejussichef.blogspot.com/2010/10/miso-black-cod.html
Dessert: Oreo cookie cheesecake with a forest fruit coulis - http://thejussichef.blogspot.com/2010/10/oreo-american-cheesecake.html