I don't often cook for friends. As I get older, I hope to do so more and more. Indeed, I've been thinking recently how nice it would be to get a low-key supper club together. There are problems with cooking for friends when one is used to cooking for oneself, or oneself and a girlfriend or fiancee. Of course, you need to be sensitive to likes and dislikes, though my friends have broad palates generally. But also, there's the simple matter of portion size. I'm afraid, especially because my second course went awry, that I left my guests hungry. Alas.
In any case, we started with small cannolis out of fried wonton wrappers and stuffed them with crab salad (crab, sour cream, lemon). The fried wonton wrappers were a triumph in terms of shape - I wrapped them around a wooden dowel and fried them on the dowel until done - otherwise they puff up and close the cavity. However, I filled them too early and they sogged on me. I also made baby roasted fingerling potatoes topped with sour cream and lox.
My second course was meant to be Blue Hill's soft boiled, deep fried, egg. This failed utterly, as I broke all the soft boiled eggs when I peeled them. So I got rid of the dish.
Dinner was pork short rib braciole, as per this recipe from Carmellini. It is a delicious and really perfect recipe even for a larger dinner party, as it can sit in the oven with literally no ill effects basically indefinitely. The pork shredded, the sauce reduced, the cheese, egg and parsley topping gave an interesting texture and flavor.
Dessert was my (i.e., Jacques Pepin's) apple galette, made with higher fat European butter. The tart has a propensity to leak, but it is always tasty. This is a reliable, workhorse dessert, equally good with pears or peaches.
Wine was this 2007 Oregon Willamette Valley Belle Vallee Pinot Noir. I think this was universally liked by all four of us. Fruity, yet with pinot noir ink.
12/04/2008
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3 comments:
The saving grace for a second course when your original offering was temperamental surely is an easy pasta -- not showy, of course, but protects against anyone's leaving the table hungry.
Incidentally, have you seen this? It was next to Will's WaPo column about the evils of labor protectionism.
You do realize you basically served your guests crab rangoon as an appetizer? Not that I don't enjoy it on occasion, but it's odd in the context of the rest of the menu.
Also, the Momofuku Milk Bar has been serving a couple of dishes with deep fried poached eggs, presumably for far less than Blue Hill. I keep meaning to try one of them.
Well, I guess, except that rangoon is fried with the crab inside already. This, if it had stayed crisp, would have been like a fairly standard cocktail party snack. In any case, I like crab rangoon.
I haven't been to Milk Bar yet, but mean to.
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