Yesterday evening me and the missus treated ourselves to a home made three course dinner and a little wine. This was our first real attempt on whipping out something as complicated as a starter, main course and dessert all in one evening and I must say that we were both very pleased with the end result. The food tasted very nice and we managed to prepare everything without any serious injuries and none of us are struggling with food poisoning today.

Preparing the food was surprisingly easy and quick and I thought I’d share the recipes with you in case you’d like to have a little fun in the kitchen yourself. We got the recipes for the starter and the dessert from the book “Mine beste sider” by Andreas Viestad and the main course from Matoppskrifter.no. It was all in Norwegian, but I’ve made an honest attempt on an English translation. Please don’t hold it against me.

Starter: Classic Bruschetta

A few slices of a type of bread you like

Parma ham

Rucola salad

Mozzarella cheese

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Pour olive oil on the slices of bread and fry them in a frying pan. When they look exactly the way you like them, take the slices out of the frying pan and add Parma ham, Rucola salad, Mozzarella cheese, salt and pepper. Easy as pie!

Main course: Crayfish Tails and Pasta in Gorgonzola Sauce

2 dl Crème fraîche

125 grams Gorgonzola

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup of parsley

A bell pepper

1 can of crayfish tails - in brine or frozen

400 grams of Pasta

Boil the pasta as directed on package. Pour the water from the pot, then add crumbled Gorgonzola, then Crème fraîche and the bell pepper. Stir well and heat to the boiling point. Add pepper and the crayfish tails until it’s all heated. Sprinkle with parsley and serve in warm, deep plates.

Dessert: Triple Chocolate Dessert

1 liter of chocolate ice cream

6-8 crackers with chocolate bits in them, for instance Maryland Cookies

1 large bar of semisweet chocolate

50 grams unsalted butter

The seeds from 1 vanilla pod

Take the ice cream out of the freezer and let it soften a bit. Smash the crackers and mix them with the ice cream, then put the ice cream back into the freezer. Just before you’re going to serve the dessert, take the ice cream out of the freezer again. Melt the chocolate bar and the butter in a mixing bowl placed in hot water. Add the vanilla seeds into the mix. Serve the ice cream on large plates or in ice cream bowls. Pour the chocolate sauce on the ice cream and serve while it’s still hot.

You might consider not using all the seeds from the vanilla pod depending on what kind of chocolate you use. If you’re using chocolate with a mild flavor, the vanilla taste might be a bit dominating if you add all the seeds.

The “show” in the title of this entry refers to the episodes of the second season of Dexter that we watched when the food was gone. It’s a good show, the second season might not be as good as the first one, but it’s still not the worst kind of entertainment on a lazy Saturday evening.