Family Dinner

Before I get down to foodie business, I wanted to mention that I am kicking off a raffle for my ALLY Foundation fundraising, which is in much need of attention! The prize is a $100 Williams Sonoma gift card. Each “ticket” is $10 and can be “bought” by making an online donation here: http://firstgiving.com/meghanmalloyteamally . Just put raffle in the comments. And don’t worry, if you have already donated, you will be entered to win! Thank you in advance for your support, and please spread the word to help me support this important cause!

At least once during every visit to Ireland, I like to make my husband’s family dinner to thank them for their warm and wonderful hospitality from the second we step off the plane. They truly go out of their way so that we can have a nice holiday, and the least I can do is give them a night off. Plus its a lot of fun for everyone to get around the table with something yummy.

On the menu for the family dinner were Irish salmon steaks with my favorite whiskey brown sugar sauce, Brussels sprouts with chili pepper, onions, carrots, red wine, and honey (similar to this recipe) a spinach and beetroot salad, wholemeal bread with Kerrygold, of course, red and white wine, champagne from the Czech Republic, Dunnes store bought but delicious strawberry cheesecake and After Eight ice cream cones, and homemade custard that my mother in law whipped up.

As always, being in the kitchen felt relaxing and homey. I got into the cooking groove and didn’t take many photos. I did, however, discover a way to make my brown sugar and Irish whiskey salmon even better with an extra hit of sauce.

After drizzling the 3/4 cooked steaks with the sauce and returning them to the grill, I took the remaining sauce and caramelized it in a saucepan. . . then added a liberal amount of Kerrygold. Sweet, buttery, and a bit spicy because of the chili flakes I added, we ended up mopping up every last drop with bread.

I actually entered the whiskey salmon recipe for the Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook. You can vote for it here: http://www.foodista.com/recipe/26F72CGD/irish-whiskey-brown-sugar-salmon

Pretty please! I also submitted a creamy chestnut apple soup and a coconut butternut curry soup.

Do you have a favorite meal to make for your family/friends? If you would like to share as a guest post, I would love to hear it!