eating as a fine art: February 2009

Sunday, February 15, 2009

valentine's dinner, with love.

we started off with my take on french 75's: 12 bridges gin & st. germain, topped with cava. our pretty salads are watercress and dill with beets (yes, the red beets are cut into heart shapes!) and horseradish cream.

next, we had seared tenderloin steaks with red wine demi-glace on a potato, celeriac and parsnip puree with green beans. alongside, we drank a 2005 coturri cabernet sauvignon that jenna and ben had bought from the winemaker in sonoma. the combination was extraordinary.

for dessert, we had chocolate fondue with strawberries and more chocolates and rose sparkling wine.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Valentine's menu, with Jenna and Ben

Here's what I'm thinking:

beets with watercress, dill and horseradish cream

french 75s

seared steaks with red wine demi-glace

parsnip, celeriac and potato puree

green beans with shallots

2005 coturri cab

chocolate fondue with strawberries

champagne

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

dinner at tom and doug's

we had dinner at tom and doug's house recently. we started in their gracious and stunning living room with martinis, some cheeses and nuts.
for dinner, we had doug's famous roast chicken and some utterly delicious sauteed root vegetables-- i have to remember to get that recipe from tom.

we brought a wine we'd been saving. i can't remember what it was. it was italian.

then we had some chocolate, nuts and dried fruit in their swanky basement pad, with i believe a tokay or maybe it was sherry.

Recipes

David’s mac & cheese, as re-interpreted over the years

Preheat oven to 350*

Boil in salted water (should be like sea water) until just before al dente: 1 lb pasta (like macaroni shaped or penne or whatever you like)

Grate 1 lb+. cheese of choice. I like to use some jack, as it melts well, and is a good medium for the other highly flavored cheeses you should consider using like: sharp cheddar, gruyere, pecorino, goat cheese etc.

Meanwhile, sauté a small diced onion in a few TBSP butter until soft over medium heat. Add a couple cloves of garlic, smashed, and sauté another minute. Add another TBSP butter and four TBSP flour, sauté to lightly toast the flour, about a minute (should be the consistency of wet sand). Add, oh, 1 cup milk slowly and whisk to break up clumps. Slowly add milk until you get a sauce with the consistency of heavy cream or campbell’s tomato soup, just out of the can (should be about 3 cups total). Add salt; I like to add some smoked paprika and woscheshire sauce. Taste for seasoning (should be highly seasoned). Add oh, ½ the cheese.

Now, layer in a buttered casserole (I actually make this recipe in 2 dishes and freeze one): pasta, roux (milk/cheese sauce) and cheese in about 2-3 layers.

In David’s version, you’d put some pats of butter over your pasta layers, then sprinkle on wheat germ. That’s good—the germ is kind of sweet, and yummy. What I do is sauté some breadcrumbs very lightly in butter and garlic and toss in some wheat germ at the end and sprinkle this (liberally) over the pasta.

Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly. If you’ve made two casseroles (you smart thing), take the one you’ll freeze out of the oven after about a half hour, let cool, wrap in foil then in plastic, label and freeze.

eating as a fine art