Friday fun: Your favourite meal?

[Liam Green]

So to follow on my Friday fun food topics, I want to know about your favourite meal. 

Skill, location, time, etc are all no problem in this scenario - I just want food details!

Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to describe your perfect three course meal.  I'll go first:

Starter: Prawn cocktail

Main: A really good spaghetti and meatballs

Dessert: This is where it gets tricky, but I'm going to go with a rich chocolate orange torte

So ... what are you choosing?  Pictures and / or links to unusual recipes would be appreciated!

[Cheri Hansen]

Pasta, pasta, pasta.  

[Liam Green]

I do love pasta!

[Capi [resolution]]

Arroz con calamares en su tinta. Don't ask me how to say that in English

[Liam Green]

I think a rough translation might be squid risotto - it looks delicious anyway

[Capi [resolution]]

Squid risotto is a rough equivalent that I also enjoy. The recipe's a bit different I think!

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Starter - I like "nibble trays" where you get one or two bites of several things.  Ideally a little bit of bread with oil and vinegar, a couple of cheesey bites, some mixed olives, etc

Main - Mushroom, fennel & courgette millefeuille – layers of filo pastry, mushrooms, fennel & courgettes with a blue cheese cream sauce, oven baked charlotte potatoes and steamed broccoli (yup, stolen straight from the menu of the place I went 2 weeks ago)

Dessert - I really do not have a sweet tooth and I usually head for the cheese board (but if I must go sweet, I remember a place that fed me a Lychee Parfait that I am still looking to find again )

Although, as a proper Englishman, I do always defer to wanting something like our national dish - a good curry is never a bad choice.

[Liam Green]

I'm not a fan of olives, or blue cheese - but that main does sound interesting

[John Funk]

Unfortunately, I like most everything! So my favorite is more of what I am in the mood for at the time. A good jambalaya that's got a little spice to it is always nice though. Also, a really good hamburger is one of my favorites - I could probably eat that everyday and be happy. 

[Liam Green]

I think people massively underestimate a good burger!  I don't really do spicy food though

[Dave Liao]

One of my favorite meals:

• Starter - a salad with a light vinaigrette
• Main - canard à l'orange
• Dessert - coffee, usually - or a digestif (usually a little liquor)

In France, did you know that the main and starter are reversed for formal meals? 😉

[Capi [resolution]]

I did not know that. I know they eat lots of cheese for dessert though.

[Liam Green]

I didn't know that either, it does make sense. I always enjoy an amaretto after a meal

[Jimmy Seddon]

@Liam Green love this!

I agree with you on the Starter: Prawn/Shrimp Cocktail.

Main: BBQ Back Ribs & Corn on the Cob

Dessert: My Mom's Key Lime Pie - It's like a key lime mousse on a graham cracker crust.

[Liam Green]

I don't really eat ribs but I'm certainly on board with the rest of this meal!

[Linda Milne_Togetha Group_]

Too hard. Is FOOD a course?

Just about anything with garlic &/or cauliflower... onions and leeks...

[Liam Green]

I love onion but my fiancee can't stand it. Makes it difficult when I cook!

[Capi [resolution]]

I have the same problem. Don't chop the garlic.

You should cook entire cloves and take them out when the flavor is in. That way it's just the aroma that you get.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Slight argument on that - sliced garlic, crushed/minced garlic, whole cloves and half and half (slice it then crush it a bit with the flat of the knife) all add different flavours to a dish.

[Matthew Tutcher]

That rich chocolate orange torte is an absolute shout, almost had me walk to the shop to get the ingredients!

First course: Home made bruschetta; home made ciabatta, thinly diced red onion and garlic (lightly fried to sweat), any olive oil recommended by a friend (What does everyone else use?), dash of basil, home grown tomatoes and some pink sea salt.

It's so good we decided to make it a permanent dish for Christmas day!

Main course: (Beware, might make your nose turn up!) We had a friend bring some horse meat flown over from Kazakhstan a few years ago that was left overnight in a chili oil concoction and we stuck it on the braai. Best meat I've ever had, hands down.

Dessert: Mum's apple & raspberry crumble and clotted cream. No contest. Apart from that passion fruit and caramel cheesecake.. Or my grandmother's fruit cake with icing thicker than the Earth's crust.

I'm a foodie, I love to cook!

[Liam Green]

Ok, there is quite a lot to unpack here...

The ciabatta sounds delicious - and an excellent fresh way to start a meal.

The main course isn't something I fancy - but I think that's more a cultural issue than anything - also, not a fan of chili!

Dessert - yes!  Crumble is amazing, I'm all in favour of that 

[Kristin Lyons]

I could never get sick of either pepperoni pizza or buffalo chicken calzones.

[Liam Green]

I do love a calzone!!

[Teodora V _Fun Inc_]

There is a one truly special thing in my life and I'm no afraid to admit it - food. 

I am always carefully observing, preparing, and serving my food, and when it comes to restaurants, wow, beware. Checking the menu prior to the reservation, annoying everyone with the decision-making. Hard life :) 

So it's not easy to pick just three, but I'll give my best.

For starter, I'm glad to have my favorite salad with fresh greens, goat cheese and figs.

My main dish, no matter home-cooked or at a restaurant is always the same. It's compliant with my fitness goals, my food preferences, and my taste: baked chicken breast, a poached egg and whatever in the season as a veggie (but I'm much into asparagus).

And my arch enemy - the DESSERT. I'm a true evil creature when it comes to dessert and I can't hold myself in front of any good sweet invention. Today I am choosing the Basque Cheesecake - an amazing recipe with plain ingredients, an unorthodox way of cooking and complex taste. I even made a youtube video about it in my channel :))

Awesome topic, @Liam Green 😍

[Liam Green]

@Teodora V _Fun Inc_ my fiancée is always looking up a menu before we go somewhere.  I like her reading to me whist I imagine what I want to eat!

Your choices are all really good, although I don't like feta cheese.  That cheesecake looks delicious, and I'll certainly be looking up the recipe and passing it to someone more proficient to provide me with a completed version!!

[Adam Rypel _MoroSystems_]

This question is always so hard for me. I love pasta, but I feel it is kind of hard to make a really delicious pasta. And of course I love pizza - that is a classic. 

Another food that came to my mind is butter chicken with garlic naan - Indian food. Incredible taste. But I never dared to do it by myself yet.

And of course any of our Czech food - ideally cooked from my mother / grandmother, as they are always the best cooks for that type of food.

[Liam Green]

I don't think I'm really familiar with any Czech food - but I do agree that anything is better if cooked by your mother / grandmother!

[Marjorie]

My mom makes a chicken and dumpling Czech recipe.  Not sure what it is called, but her brothers some running any time she makes it.

[Brant Schroeder]

Hmmm, so many choices.  I would have to go with tacos.  Just a great street taco.

[G subramanyam]

Yummy Friday fun with favourite meal, nice topic @Liam Green 

To have a best meal, I will choose the best buffet restaurant and menu for the day. 

Starters:  Veg. Pizza, Chilli Panner, Cheese balls with red wine.

Main meal: India's all time favourite veg. cashew Biryani with a cocktail. I reserve the buffet days for main occasions.

[Alex Koxaras _Relational_]

Pasta, burger, pizza, souvlaki, vegetables!

[Marjorie]

Anything I dont have to cook.... my husband is the cook.  So... everything but liver.