Made a blowout dinner last night, for Dianne and Sarah's birthdays. I meant to take a picture of each course as it was presented, but I got all wrapped up in the plating and serving and forgot the photos. You'll have to make do with one of the table setting, pre-party. Here's the menu:
Appetizers
Salmon Tartare with red onion crème fraiche on
cucumber rounds and rice crackers
Parmesan Crisps with chevre and sun-dried tomatoes
Prosciutto-wrapped melon
Perrier-Jouet Grand Brut Champagne
Gloria Ferrar Sonoma Brut Champagne
Soup
Cream of Asparagus with red pepper coulis
and savory walnut meringues
Ironstone “Obsession” 2005 Symphony
Salad
Sesame-crusted Seared Ahi on cabbage
with spicy asian dressing
Bonny Doon Pacific Rim Dry Riesling
Intermezzo
Raspberry sorbet with mint and limoncello
Villa Massa Limoncello
Entree
Filet Mignon with bearnaise sauce and mashed potato
Spicy maple roasted quail on polenta
Chipotle Lime Shrimp
Green beans with tomato confit and chive oil
Hahn Estates 2005 Meritage
Erath 2005 Oregon Pinot Noir
Ray's Station 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon
6th Sense Syrah
Cheese
Danish and French Blue Cheese with crystallized ginger
Iniskillin Ice Wine
Dessert
Flourless oatmeal-almond chocolate cake
with white chocolate ganache
Dalmore Single Highland Malt Scotch Whiskey, aged 12 years
3 comments:
Good God Turi! I don't think I've seen a more fancy menu in a restaurant! Your guests must have been blown away, just by the sheer amount of effort that must have gone into each dish, and I'm sure it was fantastic. I don't even recognize most of the wines? you served with each course. How many hours did it take you to prepare it? AND have it all ready at the same time? Sounds like an art form (or closer to magic) to me. By the way, how did that flourless chocolate almond cake turn out? I'm drooling thinking about it...
-A
A few things I did ahead of time during the week before (cake, parmesan crisps, walnut meringues), but most of it was done by Mich on Saturday. when she starts cooking I shift into sous chef/dishwasher mode, helping with what I can and keeping the kitchen clean; we work pretty well together that way. She gets pretty organized ahead of time with list of when each step needs to happen, too. The cake was basically sinful. Pound of butter, pound of chocolate, 12 eggs - that was just in the cake part, not to mention the chocolate oatmeal topping or the white chocolate layer.
12 eggs! Sounds like a French recipe- not a good thing to think about right before I go running...
-A
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