3-course meal for my grandparents.

Hello fellow chefs,

I told my grandparents that I would prepare a nice 3 course meal for them, as soon as I was settled in my new flat. It will be kind of a late birthday present for them.

Unfortunately they will not be able to eat a lot of sugar. The maximum of meat they can handle is about 100g poultry. Also alcohol will be off the table. What makes it really difficult is, that due my veeeeery small kitchen I will not be able to work on more than one course at a time.

Do you have any suggestions on how to manage the menu? Some suggesetions on the courses would also help.

Best regards to all of you

A.

Hi Abnimex,

It would look to me as if you need to have two of your three courses which can be time shifted - i.e. prepared beforehand.

A starter course can well be a salad of some sort, such as gravad lax or smoked salmon - it is expensive, but you do not need a lot per person, accompanied by some leaves and perhaps brown bread and butter. An alternative might be to make some potted shrimps - peel some shrimps and cook briefly in melted butter with some nutmeg or garlic and chilled in little dishes.

As a pud, you could make a lemon tart, which you can cook the day before and keep in the fridge. Then you only have to worry about a main course. A coq au vin is old fashioned these days, but it delivers small amounts of chicken in a wine flavoured sauce . and might appeal to people of your grandparent's generation. Serve with rice and maybe some mixed mange tout and frozen peas as a vegetable.

Just a few thoughts to perhaps trigger a few ideas!

Good Luck,

A.

I agree with Androcles suggestions, especially the coq au vin, prepared in advance gives you enough time for the side dishes and for your grandparents.

Do they eat any dessert at all? If not, then serve them a nice plate with several small pieces of good cheese with some grapes.

And probably they prefer a soup for a starter? How about a light soup, e.g. the Pavia soup ? The chicken stock you can cook in advance too.

Regards
Heidi

Good morning Abnimex !

I am using your thread to congratulate you on being COOK OF THE MONTH. Well done !!!

I know I may be boring but the Coq au vin is a brilliant and not that old-fashioned idea. I just recently made it again after years and enjoyed it so much. It is also easy to eat and a real "comfort" dish.

And I agree with Heidi, cheese and biscuits, maybe served with some grapes and an apple are a very good idea.
Or you could prepare a simple fruit salad with some pouring cream or joghurt.

Regards,
Angelika

Well thanks first of all thanks for the compliments and all your suggestions. I know I could count on you guys.

I think I will try the Pavia soup as a starter and a fruit salad as a dessert.
But I am still not so sure about the main course. As I said my grandparents can´t really handle much alcohol. If I prepare a red wine sauce, do you think that the alcohol will evaporate so they can eat it?

Regards

A.

Dear Abnimex,

There will b no alcohol in the coq au vin at all by the time it is cooked, just beautiful flavour. It will evaporate as soon as you apply heat! Classically it is made with red wine, but there is a white wine version as well, if you prefer.

Best wishes,

A.

If you have an oven in your kitchen, you could prepare the hot and spicy lemon chicken . It is alcohol free and I made it several times also for elderly people, all of them liked it very much. You can prepare it in advance and just put into the oven in time. If you don't want to joint a chicken for yourself, you also can buy chicken thighs, legs and breast, but with the skin on!!

Kind regards
Heidi

Hey guys,

just wanted to let you know that the meal was quite a success.
I prepared pavia soup and a fruit salad in advance.
For the main course we had tha coq au vin, just like Androcles suggested.

Thanks for your suggestions and help.

Have a great Sunday

A.

Hi Abnimex,

glad to know that the meal turned out successfully I hope your grandparents know how lucky they are.
Haven1t you made any photos ?

Kind regards,
Angelika

Hi Abnimex,

Glad it went well - I expect you will have them fishing for more invitations!!


Best wishes,

A.

Hey everybody,

no I did not make any photos, because I wasn´t sure i it was appropriate.
Yeah I guess they want to repeat it. But first my other grandparents will visit me.

I´ll let you know what I prepare next time and maybe I will take some photos.