Treat your guests to a fine feast of decadent ingredients prepared with care.
Chilly evenings make for a perfectly indulgent evening surrounded by good friends, wine, music and, most importantly, a carefully selected menu. But instead of sticking to tried and true favourites, how about putting in the effort to create a special menu to make your guests feel important.
The recipes today are not difficult but they do take time and attention. Not all the ingredients are available from supermarkets, so plan your shopping in advance to be well organised. Scallops, venison and the best quality chocolate you can find create the foundations of the menu - expensive ingredients are worth considerate preparation.
Use New Zealand scallops because they have a sweet flavour and are not too big. Fresh is preferable although frozen can be substituted if necessary. It is a nice idea to serve this entree in scallop shells if possible - ask the fishmonger if shells can be ordered. If not, take care to present the food elegantly.
Speciality food stores sell punnets of micro greens, which are essentially varieties of salad greens grown to look pretty while easy to style and also taste good.
