Ameliaranne's Birthday Dinner

A few weeks ago our family came together to celebrate our older sister, Ameliaranne's birthday. Her dinner request was pretty simple, she wanted salmon as the main and then crème brûlée for dessert. We immediately thought of Gwenyth Paltrow's Salmon with Sriracha Sauce and Lime from her new cookbook It's All Good because you really can't go wrong with Gwenyth, right? 

Because the dessert was pretty decadent we decided we should try to keep the rest of the meal plan as healthy and light as possible. We whipped up The Londoner's Kali Spera Feta Dip  and our own White Bean dip, recipe below. Side note, if you have never read The Londoner blog, you are really missing out - check it out, but only after you are done reading ours. :) To accompany the salmon we decide on beat, avocado and arugula salad and roasted asparagus, recipe below. 

When we arrived at our Parent's house to start prepping for the evening, our mother was pulling the crème brûlée from the over and getting it into the fridge to cool. Mom had used Ina Garten’s recipe because “it’s perfection”. She was then starting on making some meringue with all the left over egg whites for our nieces. She used a basic meringue recipe from The Meringue Cookbook by Margaret N.Shakespeare. So we started on the two dips and cracked open a bottle of Rose. Queue Lisa Vanderpump’s ROBH opening line “Life isn't all diamonds and rose... but it should be". Ah so true!

We served dinner with some Sauvignon Blanc and Ameliaranne’s favorite, a Sangiovese. We enjoyed the crème brûlée with some espresso and a batch of 44 Liqueur Mom had just made. If you have never heard of 44, you basically take one orange and insert 44 coffee beans into the skin, and then you drop it into vodka and sugar mixture and let us sit for 44 days. The result is pretty tasty. We first tried the 44 over ice but we all decided it was best at room temp. Over all the birthday was a hit and everyone enjoyed celebrating together. 

White Bean Dip (makes about 1.5 cups)

1 Can Cannellini Beans (drained and rinsed)

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

8 Garlic Cloves, roasteåd

Juice of 1/4 Lemon and 1/4 Teaspoon of Lemon Zest

1 Teaspoon Crush Red Pepper Flakes

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place beans, garlic, lemon, zest, pepper flakes, salt and pepper in blender or food processor. Once everything starts to come together, slowly add in the olive oil and blend until smooth. Occasionally when we have made this, we've had to add some additional olive oil to get it perfectly smooth, add one additional tablespoon until you get it to the consistency you prefer. You can serve immediately at room temperature. Dip will keep in the fridge for a few days.

Roasted Asparagus (serves 8)

2 Bunches of Fresh Asparagus, rinsed and trimmed

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Parmesan Cheese

Salt & Pepper (do you think we should give measurements)

Preheat oven to 375 Degree Fahrenheit (or is it more). Toss asparagus in olive oil and then season with salt and pepper. Arrange the asparagus on a baking sheet (we used two sheet for this amount, you do not want too many on one sheet, otherwise they will steam instead of roast). Grate some parmesan cheese over the asparagus and then place in oven for 25 min (more or less time?). Serve immediately.