New Years Eve - 3 Course Meal for Two

Ok, so not a new make/bake but I'm keen to back date this blog so that I can really track my journey over the last year as that is when I really started to get into cooking (plus I took photos). I've only ever attempted a three course meal once before but I thought NYE was a good a time as any to give it another whirl!

Starter: Brie and Parma Ham Filo Parcels with Cranberry and Caramelised Onion Chutney

I always have difficulty menu planning when I'm cooking for M as he's so fussy! He'll argue he isn't and I know we all have foods we don't like and that we'd rather not eat but it's just his list is quite long which tends to exclude quite a lot of typically dinner party type dishes. M doesn't think any meal is complete without meat so all courses (except dessert) need to be suitable for a carnivore. He also hates all fish, except tinned Tuna, so anything for pescatarian's are off the list.  With this in mind, I wanted something I could prepare before hand and pop into the oven when we were ready so I decided to make something up to use up the leftover Xmas Brie and Chutneys! I wrapped chunks of Brie with Parma harm and then wrapped in them layers of filo pastry. I then baked them in the oven for about 15 minutes and served them with the chutney (not home made sadly) and a dressing of watercress and rocket. They were really nice, very salty from the Parma ham, but still very tasty.

Main: Rib-Eye Steak with Chilli Butter and Home-made Chips

For this course I more or less followed a recipe from the BBC Good Food Site here

I don't do spicy food, so I made my butter with garlic instead of Chilli. As it was a special occasion I bought finest steak. M nearly keeled over when I told him I'd spend over £8 on two bits of steak but it was really worth it. I've only ever bought cheaper cuts before and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to go back to it. I let the steak come to room temperature and seasoned before frying on a griddle pan. I cooked mine for about 4 (Medium to Medium Well) minutes per side and M's for about 5 (Well done) and then let it rest for about 5 minutes. It was lovely, definitely the best steak I've ever cooked. The chips were also lovely, so much better than oven chips and I've actually made them again on thier own since as M said they were nicer than chips he'd had in some restaurants.

 The cat also fancied the look of M's steak by the look of it...

Pudding: Chocolate Fondant with Boozy Cream

For this course I used a recipe from one of my Xmas presents (a signed copy of) Home Bake by Eric Lanlard. I've never attempted a Chocolate Fondant Pudding but it's something I always order if I see it in a restaurant as it's so lovely, chocolatey and gooey. I made the Fondants along with the starter in  the afternoon and kept them ready in the fridge until after we'd finished the main course. The recipe was really easy to follow and Eric recommended making extra puddings so you could check to see if the middle was ready. The recipe I used served 4 and as there was only 2 of us I cooked extras as I couldn't be bothered to half the quantities! I'm glad I did becuase when I checked a pudding after the recommended 8 minutes I found it was a bit too gooey. I gave them 10 minutes in total and they turned out perfectly! I served them with some whipped cream with some booze added: Amaretto for me and Irish Cream for M.

All this topped off with some Champers and a cosy night watching the fireworks on the telly, made for a lovely NYE.