Secret Ingredient Birthday Dinner

A few weeks ago it was Brian's birthday - the big 27 for him!

As is usual for birthdays around here, we like to celebrate Iron Chef-style.  Do you remember my fabulous birthday dinner back in December?

Instead of going out to eat, we think it's more special to prepare a custom menu in honor of the birthday boy (or girl), based around a secret ingredient.  About a week or two before the birthday, the birthday celebrant chooses their secret ingredient for the meal.  Then, the other person comes up with a dinner menu and dessert and executes the whole thing on the birthday, keeping the exact particulars of the meal a secret until the big reveal.

Brian's secret ingredient he chose for dinner was red wine, no varietal in particular, just red wine.  For dessert he chose rum (again, no specific type).

I loved Brian's choices because they left things wide open for my creativity to run wild.  I decided to make a four course meal including an appetizer, salad and entree that featured the red wine, followed by dessert which would highlight the rum.

Here was the menu I came up with:

And some pictures of the dishes...

Make sure to check back for the recipes!