Dinner Party Preparations

Preparations for the wine pairing multi-course dinner are well underway. If I neglect to blog in the next couple of weeks it's because I'm going to be a busy little bee planning the menu and experimenting with the dishes. I'm also forcing Big N to act as a guinea pig as I perfect them in advance of the dinner. I can't very well blog about the dishes I intend to serve as it would quite obviously ruin the surprise. The trial run helps me to leave as little as possible to chance. I also need to carefully plan the timing of each dish, especially because the menu now stands at 6 courses plus an amuse bouche and cheese course, all with intended wine pairings. Timing is everything (that and just not screwing it all up).

Friends Eagle Eye and El-El (aka Lickity List) are coming in from St. Louis specially for this dinner and I'm determined not to disappoint. Mousseux will also be in the house so the wine pairings better be spot on. The guestlist now stands at 14 but may reach 16 as we get closer to February 7. My goal is to keep it simple but delicious, and to make it as enjoyable for our guests as the last time we hosted one of these shindigs. Wish me luck.

Sunday Night Romertopf Roast

For Christmas Big N's sister Star gave me a Romertopf- an unglazed clay pot with a dome lid that seals in the juices and nutrients while it roasts. I decided to try it out with a simple preparation of cornish game hen and vegetables, au-so-French. As recommended in the Romertopf cookbook, I prepared the hen by seasoning it inside and out with salt, pepper, lemon juice, and parsley. Then I mixed sour cream, lemon juice, and water and poured it into the pot (which I already soaked in water for 20 minutes) to provide the moisture. The vegetables were simple carrots and parsnips, Big N's favorite.

As promised, the dish could not have been easier to prepare, and in 1 hour we had delicious roasted hen, moist and tender. I think I can get used to the Romertopf and will experiment with other recipes. One thing to note- I highly recommend not buying the cornish hen at Whole Foods. The organic mini-bird was about a third the size of a whole chicken roaster and 3 times the price ($15). Luckily, it fed both Big N and me, barely, but I'm not sure the organic tradeoff is worth $15 bucks for such a munchkin.

We paired our mini-hen with a lovely easy-drinking Burgundy, the Bouchard Aine & Fils La Maziere, from the Fixin AOC (a lesser-known AOC near Marsannay) on the north end of the Cotes de Nuits. Wines from Fixin are known to be good value Burgundies. It had a nice Abba Zabba candied nose with some vanilla notes from the oak, and smooth spices and easy tannins on the finish. Very drinkable. We gobbled it up.

What LCG's Lusting After Today

You've already heard me lusting after sous-vide meats. They are soft, tender, delectable. Veal, beef, and, I'm told, even eggs and fois gras come out delightfully delicious when they've been sous-vide. I simply must try this technique for myself.

Essentially it works like this: you place your seasoned meat or other food item in a vacuum-sealed bag, then in a water bath. The water is heated to a very precise but low temperature to cook the meat slowly, consistently, and tenderly. So if medium rare meat is delicious at 135 degrees, you'd cook your meat somewhere near that temperature for hours and hours. The fat stays in the meat and does not render off, giving the meat better texture. The danger of course, is bacteria, because low temperatures do not kill it off, so that's an issue, but well worth the gamble in my opinion.

I'm dying to try the technique myself and have been lusting after this immersion circulator, the tool required. It's not cheap, so it may have to wait until I decide once and for all that my destiny is to become a chef.

Providence Redux

Last night we joined our sommelier friend 'Mousseux' for another round at Providence. Mousseux had dined at the bar before, but wanted to do one of the tasting menus with her foodie friends. Since nobody in their right mind would turn down an offer to dine at Providence, we happily accepted.

Once again the meal was flawless. This time we ordered the *modest* five-course tasting menu with wine pairings.
We dined on amazing hamachi, scallop, cod, veal, cheese, and more. For the most part the wine pairings were lovely, including the always amazing Sean Thackrey Pleiades (we simply must have more!!!), though there were a couple of misses where the dishes had citrusy sauces (see meyer lemon foam --> ), which are understandably hard to pair.

Over dinner we chatted about Mousseux's new job selling boutique wines to the best restaurants all over the country, while I thought to myself that I really am in the wrong business.

Spicing Up Monday Night Fish

For our usual Monday night fish dinner, Big N and I decided to spice things up. We were inspired by the great find Big N picked up at Whole Foods: 2007 William Fevre Champs Royaux Chablis. This viscous citrusy gem, made from 100% Chardonnay, had notes of pear, green apple, and plenty of minerality, with pomelo, grass, asian pear, and meyer lemon on the palate. The wine was crying out for spicy food and I was happy to oblige.

Big N grilled up salmon filets brushed with dijon, lemon, and red pepper sauce, and added some spicy pasilla peppers stuffed with parmesan to the mix, while I cooked up some okra with indian spices on the stovetop. For the okra I started with maui sweet onions, a bit of garlic, and olive oil and cooked until the onions were soft. Then I added my spices, including mustard seeds (my new favorite after all), cumin, curry powder, fleur de sel, pepper, tandoori spice, and a bit of coriander, then added the okra for a few minutes and cooked until just browned. Next I added some water to create a thick sauce and to steam the okra until it softened. When the okra was nearly ready I added diced roma tomatoes and a bit more seasoning, including red pepper flakes to kick up the spiciness a bit.

To cut some of the spiciness we grilled up asian pears. I think we got a little carried away, because by the middle of the meal both Big N and I were sucking in air to cool our mouths off. Thankfully the wine stood up to the spiciness, so we just drank some more. Not a bad tradeoff. We're definitely heading back to our Whole Foods to buy a few more bottles of the Chablis. The acidity in the wine means we can lay it down and enjoy it over the next few years. Another great start to the week.

New Years at the Cabin

The Core spent 5 amazing days at the cabin in Arrowhead over the New Years holiday. This was our 4th New Years in a row and each year gets better and better. We all arrived at the same time, slipped and slided on the black ice to get to our parking deck, marveled at how much snow there was this year, threw our bags down, examined all the new changes to the cabin (our contractor has been working overtime), changed into comfy clothes, and then--- we settled in and let the pure sensation of ultimate relaxation wash over us.

For five days I think I left the cabin twice, once to go grocery shopping (2 carts filled to the brim, oh yeah), and once to cruise around Arrowhead village for a little bit. The rest of the time I spent reading, playing games, enjoying the snow, drinking, and, of course, cooking.


I made all the comfort tummy-warming foods I could think of, including braised short ribs, roast chicken, carnitas, apple pie, baklava, cinnamon rolls, etc. etc.

Sage made a legend-wait for it-dary 15 pound prime rib. He cooked it the way his father used to by toppling it with kosher salt so it would stay moist and tender in the oven. It fed the 8 of us, plus my parents and brother who were staying over for the night.
We had a wonderful time, and enjoyed having a few visitors come up, including my family, Kerouac, and Big N's friends Hagen (5 points for anybody that can guess why I'm calling E "Hagen"), Hagen's wife Cyprus, and their 3 year old twins Qing and MeiYu. Qing and MeiYu had their first experience sledding. They were adorable. I marveled at their adventurous spirits as they went down the slope again and again without fear.
Already we're looking forward to next year.