the menu tasting.

My most anticipated moment of wedding planning is almost upon us – the menu tasting.

I am ridiculously excited!

The Groom and I both love good food and wine, so this was the most important thing to us when choosing a venue (and it has taken up a large chunk of The Budget). We viewed several venues in the Hunter Valley, but we chose Muse Restaurant at Hungerford Hill.

It ticked all the boxes – beautiful food and wine, nice dining chairs (no chair covers), rectangular tables (not round), ceremony on-site. We loved the look of the entire place (inside and out), we loved their service and approach to a wedding reception, and it’s a fine dining restaurant so, most importantly, the food will be beautiful (and, incidentally, it’s also the name of my favourite band ).

The Groom and I have our menu tasting on September 4th (for his birthday weekend), and we’ve made the shortlist of options… We have to cut it down to 4 canapes and 2 entrees, mains and desserts:

Canapes:
- Polenta and vintage cheddar toast, roast capsicum and black olive
- Smoked salmon, lime, avocado, baby caper, Spanish onion crepe
- Chargrilled chorizo, zucchini, tomato and chili chutney
- Crispy king prawn and ginger wonton, lemon and lime aioli
- Duck, spinach, and beetroot tartlette, sweet balsamic reduction (bottom of the list!)

Entrees:
- Pan fried sea scallops, sweet corn puree, crisp pancetta, salsa verde
- Ballotine of Quail, peppered parsnip puree, baby English spinach, truffle honey dressing

Mains:
- Slow roasted lamb rack, roast garlic and potato puree, green beans, truss baby tomatoes, almond and balsamic reduction
- Grimaud duck breast served pink, lentils, smoked speck, red wine, pear and ginger scented jus
- Prosciutto wrapped pork fillet, braised Chinese cabbage, sweet red wine and blackberry dressing (bottom of the list!)

Desserts:
- Warm chocolate fondant, vanilla bean ice cream, honeycomb
- Citrus curd tart, Italian meringue, blueberry sauce, coconut sorbet

Heaven!

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