late summer dinner, 8/12/08

On a recent trip upstate, Jane and I found ourselves in Grand Central Station with a few minutes to kill. We ambled into O & Co, an olive oil store, where we tasted several delicious infused oils. I particularly liked the bergamot oil, which inspired the following dinner party. For a while, I have wanted to combine bergamot with skate. They finally came together on a Monday night in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a great cast of characters: Stephanie Moo-Young, David Norris, Sandy Lee, Jane D'Arensbourg, Jonathan Wu, and the king of last minute, Eric Forman.











Butchering skate.




















































































































Fuzzy melon.








































Reducing pomegranate juice.















We started by opening a bottle of Joseph Landron Muscadet Sevre et Maine Amphibolite Nature, 2007. It was a great apertif and segued nicely to the first course.

Dinner begins: island creek oysters with pineapple vinegar and nori. David brought over a minerally Didier Dagueneau Blanc Fumé de Pouilly, which went nicely with the oysters. I forgot the vintage of the wine, but it had some age.














Scrambled eggs with smoked mackerel and garlic chives from Grandma's garden. This was served with buttered brioche. With this dish we drank a bottle of Boisson-Vadot Bourgone 2005. Eggs and chardonnay made a good match.













































Poaching skate wings.















Plating skate. Taking the temperature with the laser.













Poached skate with seabeans, kumquats, bacon lardon, fuzzy melon, bergamot oil, and pomegranate reduction. We drank a red sancerre with this dish: Francois Crochet, Sancerre, Millesime, 2005. This was a tough pairing because there were a lot of flavors going on. It worked, though!










Workin'
















Entree salad: Mixed lettuces, frisee, radicchio, lychee, soy sprouts, sauteed shrimp with avocado dressing. This was paired with Condrieu "Les Terrases du palat" 2005.













Jane's peach and champagne gelee. This was washed down with a bottle of Prosecco. I can't remember the maker, but it was surprisingly delicious.












































This was a fun crew. We ate and talked and drank. After dinner we made some white wine spritzes with aperol and lime. The bitter liquor Frenet Branca also made an appearance. This put me over the top. And from the looks of it, everyone else too.


































































Fun with the temp gun












94 degree vein.



























Eric demonstrates his gumby-yoga arm action. It became a theme for the night. The temp gun remained popular as well.













































































































































The night descended into oblivion, illuminated along the way with bike lights.