Relax, enjoy and celebrate the moment.
Chef Lekker
What can I say, I love cooking, and I love making people happy. As an in-home chef, I create menus for smaller parties. Those are mainly four-course seated menus. four-course dinners have good service timing (not too long and not too short), and it is a complete meal. Creating menus is now a daily task for me. There are some all-time favourites, but I also like to research for new ideas and follow the seasons.
Dinner party menus
Here I would like you to introduce you to some of my most popular in-home chef dinner party dishes.
Appetizers
Homemade pasta is always a favourite at a dinner party. Ravioli, in particular, is a very versatile appetizer. On our menus, you will find them stuffed with truffle ricotta or duck confit
Quick-seared button scallops with roasted bacon, turmeric cauliflower and a sweet pea veloute. Spring, summer and fall, this dish is a staple. The earth tones of the bacon and cauliflower balance perfect with the lightness of the peas and scallops.
Salmon tartare with homemade brioche bread. Either served as a classic french starter or influenced with Asian or Mexican flavours. The salmon tartare always have people ask for seconds.
Salad and Soup
Scallops are like blue jeans, they match almost everything. Here they are paired with roasted apples on a bed of arugula salad with a lemon honey vinaigrette and finished with a pinch of black salt.
Balsamic roasted vegetable salad is rustic and elegant. The trick is to roast every type of vegetable individually and coat them with different seasoning. Combined, they will give the salad more depth and colour. This second course can be served cold or at room temperature. Topped with microgreens or pea shoots is the finishing touch.
Soups at a dinner party or lunch meeting can be either served as a starter or as a second course. In this picture, we are about to serve a roasted red pepper soup with watercress and grilled cheese crostini.
A classic salad in this picture. Arugula with balsamic glaze is paired with artichokes, semi-dried tomatoes and roasted prosciutto. This salad is great for multi-course dinner parties with a rich main course like steak.
Main course
Most people, including me, choose their main course based on what they normally don’t cook for themselves. Beef tenderloin is therefore always a popular menu item with our private chef dinner parties. Here the steak is paired with a Gruyere cheese potato gratin, lemon honey roasted asparagus and a classic Hollandaise sauce.
I love serving sablefish on a plated course menu. The buttery taste of the fish pairs well with a wide variety of cuisines, and it is native to the waters of B.C.! Here it is served with saffron risotto and mashed sweet peas with mint.
As an in-home chef, I enjoy serving game meat on menus but understand very well that it is not everybody’s taste. Here the Venison tenderloin is cut into medallions and served with a potato gratin, gravy and roasted baby carrots.
Dessert
Almond pear tart with banana ice cream and chocolate ganache. The pear tart is served warm with the ice cold banana ice cream. Like most of the desserts I serve as an in-home chef, I tend to make them less sweet.
This dessert is a small wink to a Dutch classic, the ‘tompoes‘. Vanilla custard served between two shortbread cookies and served with chocolate and fresh berries. The heart shape was from the strawberry itself and made this dessert extra lovely.
Creme brulees come in a wide variety of flavours. Therefore it was a definite on this list. Flavoured with Gran Marnier or Honey-Thyme, the possibilities are endless
Private chef at your place?
I hope you like the selection! If you are interested in hosting a dinner party (or lunch) at your place, I would love to send you some menu ideas. Visit our in-home chef contact page for a free quote.