Tapas

Cooked dinner last weekend, and decided to try something light. First up was this Salad Plate, french beans, asparagus, baby corn, cherry tomatoes and Inarizushi. I made a wasabi mayonnaise dip to go with the veges cos I did not want to season them. Prep for the veges was simple. Blanch them and refresh in iced water, then store in the chiller till ready to serve. The dip was simplicity itself. Get some quality wasabi in a tube (get the stuff without preservatives and colouring) and Japanese Mayonnaise, mix to taste (I mixed 2 parts wasabi to 1 part mayo because I liked the kick, but it's all up to you), and chill.

After the cold appetizers, the first hot course was Scallops wrapped in bacon. Very simple dish. Get some fresh scallops from the supermarket (I paid a little more and got the sashimi grade ones) and some streaky bacon (don't get the lean ones, they just don't taste very good). There is no need to season the scallops since the bacon will impart a wonderful flavour to them. Bung them in a toaster oven for 15mins at high. Turn once at about 10 mins to give both sides of the bacon a crispy finish. You can cook it longer if the bacon is not yet crisp. Don't worry about the scallops drying out, the bacon will hold the moisture in. You want the bacon to be beautifully crispy and the scallops to be soft on the inside.

Before

After

The second and last hot dish was garlic prawns. I did it Teppanyaki. First fry up the chopped garlic in a little olive oil and butter, when the garlic starts browning, throw in the prawns, salt and pepper to taste.