Menu for 10 to be served on Friday night.

I haven’t been posting lately because I've got so much going on...   but I am really happy with this menu that I came up with, and I wanted to share.  

The client didn’t make any requests besides “no pork” and “no veal”. She didn’t even specify a certain cuisine that she wanted to eat!  She just suggested that I propose my own ideas for a menu for her and her 9 guests.   

That’s pretty exciting, but I didn’t want to go TOO off the wall and go all El Bulli on her. Foams and airs and agar-poached things and freeze-dried things and other such culinary nonsense are NOT first time kitchen things. Not that I didn’t have a wonderful and memorable experience at Alinea but when you’re working in someone else’s kitchen for the first time, you get a little nervous about how things are going to turn out.   

Foreign kitchens can be tough, but I have made everything on this menu in the past. I've tweaked certain components a little to make it a bit more exciting, yet not so much that anyone’s going to look at it and say, “uh, what is that?”

What do you think?

Appetizer:
    Manchego & Pine Nut Empanadas with Mango-Yogurt Salsa
First Course:
    Sweet Corn & Roasted Red Bell Pepper Soup w/ Garlic Custard
Entrée:
    Pollo a la Chilindrón (Chicken in a rich tomato sauce w/ green & black olives)
    Sautéed Julienne of Farmer's Market Vegetables, Saffron Rice
Dessert:
    Olive Oil & Almond Pound Cake, served with Tangerine Sorbet

*MY* mouth is watering just reading it again.  I'll have to take pictures to post here.

cheers!