Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Fall Dinner, 11/16/08

On a mild Friday in November, Jane and I went on a foraging mission through Union Square Greenmarket.


The English carrot guy sells his peelers and entertains.











The kohlrabi looks beautiful. Mental note for a near-future dinner party.











I love mustard greens because of their sharp flavor.











Scone on the run. Jane needs her breakfast.




















Probably, the last of the season concord grapes. Glad to have found them!











Sunchokes. They cause flatulence in some people, but I say the flavor is worth it.

















Potato season is here!













Sprouts on the stalk are alien-like.





















Jane picks brussel sprouts.










Moo radishes!























Northery Spy Apples. I was told that they are great for baking.
















Delicata squash. They are sweet like butternut, but more delicate in flavor and texture. Bryan Hunt, made Jane and I an amazing green salad with Delicata when we visited him at Insieme last year.












Assorted winter squash. Might be nice to bake the little pumpkins and fill them with soup.











Back home, I got started, meezing dinner. First, I popped corn. On the stove, I sweated shallots and garlic. Once translucent, I added chicken stock.












Combine popped corn, shallots, garlic, and chicken stock in the vita. Puree, pass, and, viola, popcorn soup.















I blanched the quail eggs for 2 minutes and shocked them in ice water. Supposedly, heavily salting the blanching water helps with the peeling later. I gave it a try and it seemed to work because peeling the eggs wasn't too big of a headache. I panĂ© a l’ anglaised the eggs (flour, milk[beaten eggs traditionally], breadcrumbs).










Poached, breaded quail eggs, ready to fried on the pick.











The concord grapes had seeds. Also, the skin was tough. What to do? I cut petals around the the seeds. Then peeled the skin from the petals. But, the grape pulp has no color. All the purple pigment is in the skin. So, I pushed the grape trimmings, skin and the pulp surrounding the seeds, through a passet. That liquid, acidified with a touch with lemon juice, combined with the clean pulp petals made a delicious garnish for the cured hamachi.















Slicing cured hamachi with a buffalo-antler-handle nenox sujihiki.

















Sauteed Northern Spy apples for the turnover filling.
















Guests are here; it's go time. Pamela, Paul, Amber, and Michael joined Jane and I for a lovely dinner. Amuse bouche: Poached, fried quail egg with porchini and white truffle.















Workin'.






















Cured hamachi, concord grape, moo radish, radish tops.

































Popcorn soup, curly mustard salad with smoked salmon.















Big smile, happy diners: the Wambers!






















Big-time art power around the table, getting ready to tuck into the soup.

















Mid-service, stove-top still life.

















Sauteed cod, brussel sprouts, and sunchokes.














Apple turnovers and vanilla icecream. Hey, what can I say -- I like rustic desserts.














Jane and Pamela connect.















Luminous Jane.





















A toast! Forgot to record exact tasting notes but remember that we drank a Movia Ribolla, a delicious Sekt, and various French pinot noirs.



















Weber is a saint. He helps with the dishes and clean up.



















Aftermath, still life. Dinner finished, we piled into a car and made our way to Broadway East for dancing fun!

1 comment:

wagatron said...

you really must be more diligent with your wine notes. you should nt take it for granted, especially if you re drininkg movia ribolla; a very special wine.
at least put in the in the producer, vintage & appellation.
the food is too beautiful to serve just any old thing with it.

and by the way, there is a bottle of 1988 ornellaia with your name on it.

(who know ornellaia made a wine that that said "johnathan wu")