Friends for dinner

We had our friends over for dinner this weekend. I thought I would share the menu.

For starters, Holming made up a spicy salmon roll and a California roll. He has his own special (and secret) recipe for these that I'm not allowed to share. But, believe me they were yum.

Pancetta Wrapped Chicken Thighs
Marinate boneless/skinless chicken thighs in olive oil, fresh thyme, crushed garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper for 3 hours.
Lift from marinade. Place fresh sprig of thyme in the thigh then wrap the whole thigh with a strip of pancetta. Grill for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Pear, Blue Cheese and Caramelized Walnut Salad
1 pear
Rocket lettuce
Puhoi Valley Matakana blue cheese
Caramelized walnuts- I used 1 Tbls balsamic vinaigrette with 1/4 cup sugar. melted into a syrup then added 1 cup of walnuts. Once coated bake for 10 minutes.

Dressing- whisk together:
walnut oil (you can use olive oil)
Lemon juice 3 parts oil to 1 part juice
dijon mustard
salt and pepper

Garlic, Thyme and Mascarpone Polenta
2 tsp fresh thyme
2 cloves of garlic
saute in 20 grams of butter for 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cups of chicken stalk and bring to a boil. Then add 1/2 cup of polenta and continue cooking for 3 minutes.
add 1/4 cup of mascarpone and serve.

I opted out of making desert because when we went to Japan Mart earlier that day, we ran across these yummy Mochi ice cream balls that our friend Zoltan really loves.

What a great night of food, wine and laughter. If anyone wants to come to dinner at our place, email me.