Franki's birthday!

My good friend Franki had his birthday a few weeks ago. Since we all ditched him for his celebration I wanted to make it up to him the best way I knew how...by cooking of course!

I started off with my spiffy cocktail Warp 9. Followed by Ras El Hanout Parsnip Foam with Shrimp. Then we had the main meal which was had three parts: Lemon chicken brochettes with red pepper aïoli, saffron roasted potatoes and strawberry walnut with goat cheese salad. All of which will be described in greater detail below. Last but not least dessert was served, Lemon mousse verrines.

Although the real treat for me was the movie Franki brought us. Now anyone who knows me or my sister know that we enjoy B movies, especially gory ones with lots of senseless violence and undead denizens. The movie is called Dead Snow. It's Norwegian and was at the Fantasia film festival a few years ago. We dismissed it back then, somehow thinking that it would too silly. Boy was I in for a surprise. Yes it was silly, but take some humour and gore and mix in a few undead Nazis and you've got yourself a hell of a ride! Recommended to anyone who enjoys a good horror flick!

Now, on that note and the very appetizing poster above, let's move on to the food.

All the recipes except for the salad are from my Diva cooking book, mentioned numerous times on this blog. I'm telling you, these recipes are fantastic for entertaining.

Lemon chicken brochettes with sage and croutons. Serves 8.

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 12 slices of prosciutto, each cut into 4 pieces
• 1/2 stick of French bread, cut into 32 chucks
• 32 sage leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 lemon, juiced and zested
• salt and pepper
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 16 wooden skewers, soaked in water for an 1 hour

Cut the chicken into 8 pieces each. Wrap a piece of prosciutto around each chunck of chicken. Assemble the skewers. Thread a piece of chicken, a sage leaf, a chunck of bread, another piece of chicken, sage, bread and a last piece of chicken. Repeat for all 16 skewers. This part is a bit long, so if you have people to help you out, all the better!

Mix together the garlic, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper with the olive oil. Brush on the brochette and leave to marinate for 30 minutes. Sear or bbq the brochettes for 15 minutes, turning from time to time. Serve with the aïoli (below).

Red-pepper aïoli. 

• 2 tablespoons of white-wine vinegar
• 2 egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon of brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and pepper
• 1 cup of sunflower oil
• 1 cup of roasted red bell pepper (jarred or home-made)
• 3 garlic cloves
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 small handful of fresh basil

This is basically a mayonnaise with some fancy stuff added to it. Combine the first 5 ingredients in a food processor or blender. While the motor is running, slowly pour in the oil until thick. Add the last four ingredients and purée until smooth. Serve with the chicken skewers.

Saffron-roasted potatoes with rosemary and red onions. Serves 8.

• 1kg of large potatoes, peeled and cut into 6 wedges each
• 3 red onions, cut into 6 wedges
• 4 tablespoons boiling water
• a large pinch of saffron threads (real saffron people, not safflower)
• 2 lemons, zested and juiced
• 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• 6 tablespoons of butter, diced
• 1 teaspoons of sugar
• 3 tablespoons of chopped rosemary
• salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Pour boiling water over the saffron and leave to infuse for 5 minutes. Mix lemon zest, juice, saffron liquid, olive oil, butter, sugar, rosemary, and salt and pepper Place potatoes and onions in a large roasting pan. Pour over the saffron dressing. Roast for 45 minutes to an hour, turning every 15 minutes.

Strawberry walnut and goat cheese salad. Serves 8. (Sorry, I can't remember where I got this recipe, so I apologize to the author for not crediting them.)

•  2 tablespoons of canola oil
• 2 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
• 2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon of finely minced shallot
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 6 cups of salad (any variety will do, except iceberg)
• 1 cup of strawberries, sliced
• 1/4 of toasted broken walnuts
• 100 gr of goat cheese, crumbled
• ground black peppe, for taste

Combine oil, molasses, shallots and salt and whisk together. Put salad, strawberries, walnuts and goat cheese in a large salad bowl. Pour over dressing and season with pepper.