Create a Winning Menu..to Win a fabulous Caribbean Cruise with Thomson!

Thomson Cruises currently are running a fun promotion to win a Caribbean Cruise with them, all you have to do is design a three course menu to feature on board using their interactive website! I had good fun working through the many options and below is a run through of my (winning!) menu! You can enter using this link.

Making a Start with your delicious Starter:

There are a delicious array of starter options to choose from, such as Smoked salmon, Parma ham or Crab. Once you have selected your main ingredient, then choose from the vegetable options such as Asparagus, Wild mushrooms or olives and then finish the dish with a choice of breads including Baguette, rye and foccacia

I chose – Smoked Salmon, courgette and foccacia bread. Once that’s decided you have to describe your dish in detail, so that if your idea is successful the chef can prepare it!

My recipe idea was: Creamy Smoked Salmon and Courgette Rotoli

Recipe - A regular Courgette, sliced thinly length ways and gently griddled until lightly golden, then a spread with a layer of lemon and dill infused ricotta, followed by a layer of smoked salmon, rolled up tightly and served filling side up and drizzled with an lemon infused olive oil and served with small chunks of warm foccacia on the side. Three rotoli to be served per portion.

Once you have finally decided on the starter then its on to the Main Course!

Like before you have plates to click on but there are now six parts to it – Main ingredient, vegetables 1,2 and 3, bread, and rice and pasta

Main ingredients included Beef, Venison, Vegetarian (some main vegetables I.e. aubergine), Scallops and even Lobster!

.....Of course I had to choose Lobster – a very rare treat item but a cruise is no ordinary holiday and when else can you treat yourself than when on holiday I think? 

By choosing Lobster, you then get to choose a cooking style – I decided as we had started along the Italian route, I would keep to the theme and chose sweet potato, spinach, tomato, risotto and ciabatta to accompany... Some of my favourite ingredients! I have only cooked lobster once and fortunate enough to eat a small handful of times out but I really enjoyed it, it would be really lovely to have it again too!

 Parmesan Crusted Lobster with Baby Spinach and Sweet potato risotto

Recipe - Lobster – simply cooked in salted boiling water for about 15 minutes – depending on its size. Then halved through the body length ways. Meanwhile sweet potato chunks and Baby plum tomatoes roasted for 20 minutes, and then gently stirred into a simple risotto made with white vermouth, garlic and onion along with a handful of baby spinach leaves. A butter made with parmesan and basil leaves placed over the lobster and gently grilled until lightly golden and served atop the risotto. Slivers of toasted ciabatta served on the side.

Last but not least – Dessert!

For the final countdown you are then provided with several options including Brownies, torte, gateau and Ice-cream. Now I pride myself on my brownies but they don’t seem luxurious enough so I opted for a cheesecake – my second love! One of my favourite recipes is my Honey and Almond Cheesecake (which is elsewhere on the blog) so of course had to go with that option! Its surprisingly light as I sneak in low fat ricotta with the luxurious mascarpone so gentle on not only the hips but tummy too! Essential to look good in your bikini on board!

And now its just a case of nervously pressing the submit option!

Once submitted – after approval your menu will feature on their site for the world to see – its worth checking out first for some inspiration! This is of course providing you see it prior to making your menu..

The wordy bits:

The competition closes at 23:59 on the 12th of January 2014, 3 finalists will then be selected and will be given the opportunity to try their dishes onboard a cruise to the Canary Islands in March 2014. The winner will be chosen by an expert panel and will be sent on the Pride of Panama cruise around the Caribbean in January 2015.

Disclaimer: This is a PR collaboration by Anne's Kitchen In association with Thomson Cruises

All images and content remain the property of Anne's Kitchen