Monday, February 14, 2011
Winter Dinner
Sometimes, when winter gets so boring you think your head might explode, you just need to have a party.
Sadly, taking a picture of the table was as far as I got with the photography thing
It was a lovely evening. Delicious food, delicious wine, amazing friends. We had green salad with spiced candied walnuts, pears and chevre (alas, my plan to do Salade Lyonnaise, the very French frissee salad with lardon and poached egg, was foiled due to not being able to find any frissee this time of year), local duck two ways, a cheese course of Stilton (paired with a delicious port, of course) and molten chocolate cakes for dessert. Comfort food at it's rich, wintery best.
Cook on, friends, cook on.
I'm off to order my garden seeds and dream about Spring while I listen to the snow melt.
Happy Valentines Day!
Sadly, taking a picture of the table was as far as I got with the photography thing
It was a lovely evening. Delicious food, delicious wine, amazing friends. We had green salad with spiced candied walnuts, pears and chevre (alas, my plan to do Salade Lyonnaise, the very French frissee salad with lardon and poached egg, was foiled due to not being able to find any frissee this time of year), local duck two ways, a cheese course of Stilton (paired with a delicious port, of course) and molten chocolate cakes for dessert. Comfort food at it's rich, wintery best.
Cook on, friends, cook on.
I'm off to order my garden seeds and dream about Spring while I listen to the snow melt.
Happy Valentines Day!
Comments:
<< Home
Looks so lovely and like the perfect antidote to winter!
Quick question -- with a formal dinner like that, do you serve from the kitchen for each course, or do you make sure everything's ready at the same time and put it on the table at once? I'm always trying to figure out the right balance between hot food and time/attention for guests. Thanks!
Quick question -- with a formal dinner like that, do you serve from the kitchen for each course, or do you make sure everything's ready at the same time and put it on the table at once? I'm always trying to figure out the right balance between hot food and time/attention for guests. Thanks!
Hi Kersten
I plate in the kitchen almost always, but remember my kitchen is right there so I can still cook and manage the food and be a part of the conversation at the table. And I have enough counter space to set up plating which isn't the case in all kitchens.
This was one of the trickier meals I've done because I needed to cook the duck breasts ala minute and then plate the entire (six component) entree after the salad course. It was probably 15 minutes between salad and entree, but no one seemed to mind.
Heated plates! And in this case, a helper for plating to preslice the breasts= win.
This was for six. I always, always consider the logistics of the cooking and service when choosing my menu, and I would not have done anything as timing dependent as seared medium rare breasts for a much larger group than this.
Post a Comment
I plate in the kitchen almost always, but remember my kitchen is right there so I can still cook and manage the food and be a part of the conversation at the table. And I have enough counter space to set up plating which isn't the case in all kitchens.
This was one of the trickier meals I've done because I needed to cook the duck breasts ala minute and then plate the entire (six component) entree after the salad course. It was probably 15 minutes between salad and entree, but no one seemed to mind.
Heated plates! And in this case, a helper for plating to preslice the breasts= win.
This was for six. I always, always consider the logistics of the cooking and service when choosing my menu, and I would not have done anything as timing dependent as seared medium rare breasts for a much larger group than this.
<< Home
