need help/recipes for MIL birthday dinner

FanOfFanboys

we are hosting dinner for my MIL a week from tomorrow. when we did my FIL's birthday dinner they hired a professional chef so already I am being setup to fail a little lol. here is the menu I have come up with:

Bacon wrapped artichoke hearts and ABTs with chorizo for appetizers

filet mignon topped with a garlic herb butter compound, chimichurri as a side topping. U13-15 shrimp

sides

Creamed spinach

bacon balsamic brussel sprouts

oven roasted potatoes

I picked up the filets and the shrimp from costco today. I think I am good on the steaks and oven roasted potatoes but I would like advice/recipes for everything else

I would like to do as much as possible ahead of time. I am thinking the garlic herb butter compound, chimichurri, and creamed spinach should be easy enough to do Thurs/Fri. right? also, I have never made any of those three things

the shrimp I am torn between grilling (on skewers?) or doing in a pan. thoughts?

I make brussel sprouts all the time for us but this will be a first for this many people (9 adults) and I would like to make something good like the bacon balsamic. 

So I know I am asking a lot but any advice on food prep, recipes, etc would be much appreciated. Between the cost of everything, it being her birthday, and trying to not be a complete disappointment compared to the professional chef a few weeks ago I have a lot riding on this :-)

Thanks!

buzd504

Let me say this - a dinner cooked by a professional chef is not the same thing as a dinner cooked by a loved one.  They can both be great for different reasons, but they really shouldn't be compared.  Don't beat yourself up comparing your dinner to the chef.  Just put your best product on the table and it will go great.  Your menu looks awesome.  You got this.

Wolfpack

I am not sure the recipe you are doing, but warning on the Brussel sprouts- when you double/triple the amount it cooks differently in a skillet. So think about a transition to oven roasted or multiple skillets- otherwise it tends to steam and nor char. 

poster

First things first. You like you MIL?

FanOfFanboys

poster said:

First things first. You like you MIL?

We get along pretty well and she's a great mom and grandma

poster

FanOfFanboys said:

poster said:

First things first. You like you MIL?

We get along pretty well and she's a great mom and grandma

Awesome, just being sarcastic by the way

dmourati

ABTs tend to be a little heavy for most distinguished ladies. You've got a lot of bacon in the menu. Think about lightening it up a bit.

For shrimp, you can't go wrong with GLS. I've also really liked APL's Grilled Shrimp Cocktail:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/grilled-shrimp-cocktail-358649

FanOfFanboys

dmourati said:

ABTs tend to be a little heavy for most distinguished ladies. You've got a lot of bacon in the menu. Think about lightening it up a bit.

For shrimp, you can't go wrong with GLS. I've also really liked APL's Grilled Shrimp Cocktail:

https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/grilled-shrimp-cocktail-358649

What is GLS? And I can remove the bacon from the brussel sprouts

FanOfFanboys

any recipes for the butter compound? creamed spinach? tips on the shrimp?

scdaf

Green Lightning Shrimp.  Fabulous and easy.

nolaegghead

Antoine's restaurant creamed spinach (is legendary):

Creamed Spinach Recipe

1 Cup Cooked and chopped Spinach, squeezed in a kitchen towel to remove excess water
1 Pint Heavy Cream, reduced by 3/4 of its volume
A pinch Freshly Grated Nutmeg
A pinch of Cayenne
1 tsp Crystal hot sauce
A few drops of Worcestershire sauce
Kosher salt to taste

Compound Butter:  (recipe will vary depending on end-use)

https://boulderlocavore.com/how-to-make-herb-butter/

GLS - search for it here

FanOfFanboys

great help, thank you!

any recommendations with the filets beyond salting a few hours prior? do I need anything else with the butter compound and the chimichurri? 

nolaegghead

You can SV the filets at 120F or whatever temp you want them at (you can do this with a ziploc bag and big pot of water) for maybe an hour, then just give them a quick, hot sear and you don't have to babysit the filets for the correct internal temp.  If they are thick.  If they aren't, just watch the internal temp and remember you get post-cook rise.

caliking

As for many things, your chimichurri is right here : 
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1221728/chimichurri-sauce

The Mailman version is the best I've had. Definitely make ahead, so the flavors have time to get friendly and sexy like. 

Lastly, if it's not too late, try to include at least one item that you know is a favorite of hers. I'm certain she'll appreciate it.  As she will the effort you're putting in to making her birthday special. You have an impressive menu lined up. 

FanOfFanboys

nolaegghead said:

You can SV the filets at 120F or whatever temp you want them at (you can do this with a ziploc bag and big pot of water) for maybe an hour, then just give them a quick, hot sear and you don't have to babysit the filets for the correct internal temp.  If they are thick.  If they aren't, just watch the internal temp and remember you get post-cook rise.

Good idea. Can add a little rosemary and white onion maybe to the sous vide bag. And a few folks want medium so I can setup two sous vide pots 

FanOfFanboys

caliking said:

As for many things, your chimichurri is right here : 
https://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1221728/chimichurri-sauce

The Mailman version is the best I've had. Definitely make ahead, so the flavors have time to get friendly and sexy like. 

Lastly, if it's not too late, try to include at least one item that you know is a favorite of hers. I'm certain she'll appreciate it.  As she will the effort you're putting in to making her birthday special. You have an impressive menu lined up. 

Thanks for the link! The prime filet mignon and shrimp are her request. 
I plan to do most of the food prep Thurs and Friday. That way the only thing to do Saturday really is cook and hang out 

FanOfFanboys

Productive evening yesterday
The chimichurri is made, so is the creamed spinach. I heat the latter up this afternoon. 
The potatoes are cut and soaking in water. Brussel sprouts are also cut. 
The ABTs are all wrapped. I used a food processor to mix cream cheese, shredded cheese, and Chipotle lime chorizo (it's all Publix had) 
The steaks are on a rack with a little salt and garlic powder. They'll go in the sous vide bath with a sprig of rosemary each later. The shrimp are in the GLS marinade (sans lime juice)
This afternoon I'll smoke the ABTs. Once they come off it'll be time to start the steaks and we'll eat a couple hours later 
She knows she is coming over but she thinks it's to hang out with her new grandbaby and that I'll make a small dinner. She doesn't know her son/DIL and their two kids are coming into town and that it's a big meal

Dessert is sweet potato cake from a bakery in Greenville SC. It's really darn good. 

Any other tips? I did grab a nice bottle of Chardonnay from Total Wine. Chardonnay is her favorite. 

buzd504

FanOfFanboys said:

Any other tips? I did grab a nice bottle of Chardonnay from Total Wine. Chardonnay is her favorite. 

Did you get a red to go with the steaks?

FanOfFanboys

Everything was a huge success. One steak I wish I had cooked more for that person but otherwise everything was delicious and cooked as well as I'm capable lol. I couldn't have done any better so I'm pretty happy. Thank you everyone who helped

StillH2OEgger

Great work, @FanOfFanboys! Was there ever a doubt?

Eggdicted_Dawgfan

Well done chef!