In the interest of posting more menus, here's one that went over really well last night...

J

joe

Well-known member
Lots of veggies and colors for the season, and lots of garlic in the main course. Sorry, I don't have a photo like Richard (and I wouldn't know how to post it if I did, lol.) I've posted most of these recipes before, and I could find them if anyone is interested:

Hors d'oeuvres:

Crudites with rouille (red garlic sauce with basil)

Thin Asparagus tips wrapped in prosciutto, with mustard dipping sauce

Black Olive Tapenade and Green Olive Tapenade, with baguette toasts.

Starter:

Smoked Salmon and Sorrel Cream Tart, served with a dab of Celery Root Salad on the side. (The hosts served Acacia Chardoney; I snuck a taste and it went really well with the tart)

Main:

Hazelnut-crusted Rack of Lamb with Tomato-Olive Ragout. (The lamb is marinated overnight in olive oil, garlic and rosemary, browned in a skillet, covered with Dijon mustard, then a hazelnut-breadcrumb-parsley-shallot mixture, and roasted. The ragout is chopped fennel, pearl onions, tomatoes, Kalamata olives and basil.)

with:

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Sauteed haricots verts (Trader Joes had nice ones in micrwavable bags.)

Glazed Carrots

French Bread

Cheeses:

Brie, Comte, Chevre, and Saint-Marcellin, served with fig-rye and whole wheat-walnut breads. (I bought gorgonzola too but I have no idea what happened to it.)

Salad:

Mixed baby greens with Julia's Sweet and Sour Vinaigrette

Dessert:

Strawberries in Puff Pasty (Julia again.) Puff pastry rectangles split and filled with sliced berries, sprinkled with powdered sugar, and topped with sweetened vanilla-rum whipped cream.

 
Really nice menu. Question on the starter...

You packed a lot of flavors in that menu but it looks like non of them "stepped" on another's toes- nice dancin'- LOL.

Question about the Celery Root Salad- was it just a light shredded salad with a "clear" sprinkle of dressing or was it a creamy side?

also, when did you serve the cheeses?

Nice job, Joe.

 
Cathy, It was the creamy stuff. I just put a dab of it on the plate with parsley

so the little wedge of tart doesn't look skimpy. People who've never had it are usually pleasantly surprised.

I passed the cheese platter and the salad bowl together, after the main course, and after the guests took a little break with a few going out to smoke a cigar.

BTW, here's my recipe for celeri remoulade: Grate one large peeled root and toss it with lemon juice and salt right away to keep it from discoloring. The dressing is 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup creme fraiche (or 1/4 cup each sour cream and heavy cream), 3 Tbs. Dijon mustard, S&P. Fold in just enough to coat. It's best made a few hours ahead.

 
I have two recipes by Patricia Wells, identical except one calls for mayo and one for creme fraiche

I figure if she can't decide, I'll just split the difference.

 
You're all very kind. None of these items are difficult.....

except, perhaps, the puff pastry, which I could have bought ready-made if I weren't an all-butter snob. But it was a lot of slicing and dicing in advance.

I agree with Richard and others that we should post more menus here. I've made each of these items many times but this particular combination came off really well. Context is everything.

This was a dinner party for 10 that I was hired to cook for as a personal chef. I really like cooking for smaller parties like this where you can give each plate your attention. I also like the freedom of not being the host, so I can just concentrate on the food.

If I were doing this menu at my own house I would stick to 4-6 people and serve it family style. I'm learning the hard way to relax and enjoy my own parties. Boy is it hard!

 
Joe, I enjoyed reading your menu. I agree about learning to enjoy your own parties.

These days I try to find dishes that can be made ahead with just the details to attend to before serving. For most dinner parties I like to serve the main part of the meal family style so people can have exactly as much food as they want. A course or two might include composed platings.

 
Wonderful menu.

Thanks for sharing! I spend so much time studying and planning menus and I'm sure that everyone else here gives it the same effort, it's a shame to not share that work. After a while, we know what soup pairs really well with which entree, etc. etc. I record the menus of most of my company dinners for future reference and it so nice having that archive to look back on. Also helps to keep me from appearing like a one-trick pony by not serving infrequent guests the same thing each time.

Also, I'm in total agreement about enjoying your own party. LIke Sylvia and yourself, I've finally learned to stop doing the menus that require intensive service (except for special occasions of course). It just makes everything so much better. I've spent days working on a dinner party, only to be so exhausted and stressed by pulling it off that when it comes time to eat I'm not hungry (thank goodness for leftovers). And that's certainly no fun.

But we have to teach ourselves these lessons.

Thanks again for sharing, a wonderful composition.

 
Joe, have you looked hard for all-butter puff pastry? I found one in the US, in freezer section,

that is just fine and as you say, it saves so much time.

I'm sorry I've used the last box so I now don't know the name, but it's from NY, bought it in Minn. In a foil tray with red & white lid.

We can get one now YAY made by a local supermarket chain. I use it so often. This one copies a French version, that I used to bring back. It's rolled out on parchment in a square but the French version is cut into a round...much better. The US version was just a block.

 
I think it was Charlie at the old Gail's who told me about a brand, I think it was called DuFour,

but I haven't found it here. I'm getting the hang of making my own. It's a fit of a production but I make a lot at once and freeze it.

 
Yes. That's the one. I don't mind making it but when I do, I want that process

reserved for croissants or Danish pastry. Then I can really appreciate the work I've put into it.

 
Julia has a shortened method which uses cubed butter instead of one big hunk. A 1/4-inch think

piece puffs up almost 2 inches high, just like the age-old method. Very impressive, and if you make it months ahead and freeze it, it doesn't seem like such hard work in retrospect!

I'll keep an eye out for the DuFour brand, though.

 
Yes, and I remember that series, with Nancy Silverton making

sour dough starter from grapes, and Emeril looking so young and (almost) humble. Julia, or her staff, sure had a feel for who the next influential chefs would be.

 
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