A SPRING DINNER WITH FRIENDS
Planning and anticipating a dinner party is just as exciting as having one.
Spring is the season for fresh fava beans, California artichokes, salmon, lamb, morel mushrooms, and strawberries.
An array of amuse-bouches to invigorate the appetite: Bruchette with Fava Bean Puree' and Peccorino, a hearty appertizer from Martha Stewart's Hors d'oeuvres , Stewed Artichoke Hearts, the artichokes were make from scratch, it took 2 hours to prepare them and consumed in record time of five minutes, and Roasted Almonds.
Salmon en Papiotte on bed of spring onions and celery. This first course salmon is baked in the oven with a slice of fried pork belly in a paper pouch.
Fresh Strawberries Soup. Three simple ingredients made one of the most memorable desserts: strawberry, sugar, and orange juice. This recipe came from the French Master La cuisine de Joel Robuchon. The soup can be topped with candied lemon peels.
This light dessert was followed by Lemon Clove Cookies, a recipe from Alice Water's Chez Panisse Menu Cookbook. I used organic country butter, organic sugar, and whole wheat flour.
SPRING DINNERS
Mache/Parsley Salad with Peppered Goat Cheese. Eat more leafy plants.
This Coq au Vin** is vastly improved with the use of Poulet Rouge
Fermier du Piedmont, a selected free range breed grown on a farm in North Carolina...or a Whole Foods near you.
According to Larousse Gastronomique, the real coq au vin is first browned with butter, bacon and a bouquet garni, flambe' with cognac, then braised for 1 1/2 hours with red wine(a Chambertine or a Macon) and mushrooms. Afterward the cooking liquid is reduced and then monte' with kneaded butter. This rich version I have not tried. With mine, I skipped the bacon, cognac and butter at the end, but instead relied on the flavor the dry porcini/cepes.
Eggs Benedict with Kale*. This version substitutes Canadian Bacon with healthier organic kale. Michael Pollan, the guru of micronutrients and the author of many nutrition books, notably a recent New York Times article, Unhappy Meals, has come up with the new eating mantra: "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." The kale is great with this version of Eggs Benedict.
is an improvement from last time (see version in March). I did not add any egg or
flour to the concoction. The result is a more firm pate and more flavorful.