New Years Eve dinner

We decided to not do anything special this New years eve. We just made a three course dinner together and enjoyed each others company. I was a little bit too enthusiastic trying to make bearnaise sauce which took quite some time and turned out to be a complete fail, but at least I tried.

The place settings

Starter - Spicy Scallop Salad
1 tsp cayenne pepper

Frying of the scallops

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp sea salt
200 g scallops
1½ tbsp lemon juice
½ tbsp mayonnaise
pinch of cayenne pepper
½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 clove of garlic
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 big handful of lettuce
½ red capsicum
½ avocado
salt and pepper

Chop the capsicum into strips and the avocado in cubes. Combine the lettuce, capsicum and avocado in a bowl. Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together lemon juice, garlic, mayonnaise, mustard, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. Once combined, mix in the olive oil.
Mix the cayenne, salt and pepper in a bowl. Rinse the scallop and pat dry with kitchen towel. Add the scallops to the mixture of spices and ensure they are evenly coated. Fry the scallops in 1½ tbsp olive oil over medium heat for about two minutes on each side. Add the scallops to the bowl with the veggies and add the dressing. Serve the salad while the scallops are still warm.

Main course - Entrecote with with garlic and parsley butter
No recipe.

Dessert - Pavlova
4 egg whites
250 g sugar
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tbsp corn flour
300 ml whipped cream
Seasonal fresh fruit of your choice

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
Beat the egg whites and sugar in a bowl with an electric whisk until stiff peaks form.
Mix together vinegar, vanilla and corn flour in a separate bowl until smooth. Pour the cornflour mixture into the egg whites and beat until thick and glossy, this takes about 4 minutes.
Line a tray with baking  paper and draw a 20 cm circle in the centre. Spoon the mixture inside the circle, to within a little less than 2,5 cm from the edge.
Place in the preheated oven, reduce the temperature to 110 degrees and bake for 1 hour. After 1 hour, turn the oven off and leave the pavlova to cool inside the oven.
To serve, decorate cooled pavlova with the whipped cream and the fresh fruit.