A Tail of A Graduation Dinner

We had a cause for celebration this weekend - that's always a reason to plan a dinner gathering in my world - and though it isn't my story to tell, it involves a well-earned graduation. When I asked KW what he wanted for his graduation dinner, he replied "Oxtail - it's what you have always wanted to try anyway..." AWWW, thanks bae.

Yes, oxtail has always been a childhood favourite of mine. Of course back in the 90s, growing up in a Chinese family, western stews meant one pot wonders with frozen vegetables. Today, the grown-up version of oxtail involves browning, freshly diced vegetables and plenty of red wine.

Alongside those tasty oxtail hunks (recipe HERE), we had stacked potatoes (recipe HERE), arugula salad and cauliflower puree (recipe HERE). A special call-out to cauliflower puree - that chef-y accompaniment is really easy to make! You will be seeing more purees in the future, I'm quite sure of that.

 

I also wanted to try something different - a plated version, as opposed to family style. And it was fun challenging myself and doing 2 versions. 

Desserts-wise, we polished off a few devilishly yummy sticky date pudding (I used this recipe from RecipeTinEats). I love love love sticky date puddings and it is definitely one of my top 3 desserts alongside tiramisu and lemon meringue tart. The fact that I can make it at home now just makes me even more confident of my life choices.