A Formal Dinner

Russ and I have been married for almost a year and a half now and we have yet to use our wedding china, silver, and crystal. I thought about cooking a nice meal for our anniversary and using it and I’ve joked to Russ that maybe I would pull it out sometime when we were having burgers and beer, but I still haven’t used it. I guess I always thought that something would come up where I would need to serve a dinner on fine china. The reality is that Russ and I are just not that formal and we don’t have situations that come up where wine needs to be served in crystal goblets and meat must be cut with a silver knife. So, I decided that I would make a reason to pull out the china plates, beautiful chargers, silver forks and knives, crystal goblets, and linen napkins - we invited my parents over for dinner. We have had them over before and used our regular everyday plates and glasses and they have always enjoyed it. While I know they would be happy even if we used paper plates I also know that there is not a single person that would appreciate my using all these beautiful things more than my Mother. So, tonight we are pulling out all our finest things and having a formal dinner… well kind of formal as I’m wearing jeans and Crocs and Russ is in jeans and tennis shoes.

For our formal dinner we decided to serve beef tenderloin, roasted asparagus and brussel sprouts, and mashed red potatoes. While Russ has lots of experience on the grill he has never cooked a whole beef tenderloin before and always wanted to give it a try. Tonight he marinated it in Mr. P’s for about an hour and then grilled it perfectly on The Egg. It was fantastic! The meat was juicy, tender, and flavorful. Russ rates it a 9.

The October issue of Fine Cooking had a section on brussel sprouts. I love brussel sprouts and Russ hates them. I have cooked them once before just for me, but since I know my Dad also loves them I put them on the menu for tonight. All the recipes in the section looked wonderful, but I decided on their To prepare the brussel sprouts you quarter them and then toss them with Dijon mustard, olive oil, and Worcestershire. The recipe also calls for Caraway seeds which I thought I had… but I don’t, so I left them out. These roast for about 20 minutes and then are topped with fresh bread crumbs that are toasted with a little bit of butter and chopped walnuts. They were very tasty and Dad loved them! The beef took a little longer than Russ expected, so the brussel sprouts got a little over done, but they were still very tasty. Russ ate a quarter of a brussel sprout, but he is going pass on rating them. I give them an 8.

For the asparagus we went with a Cookling Light recipe that we have made before and loved, Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter. It is super simple and usually a 10. You roast the asparagus with a little salt, pepper, and cooking spray. When you pull them out you drizzle them with melted butter that has soy sauce and balsamic vinegar mixed in it. Tonight the asparagus got a little overcooked and they turned out okay, so Russ gives them a 9. When they are not overcooked then these are very tasty and a 10.