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.

jorg koopmann dinner, 4/1/08

I met Jorg Koopmann in Venice. He is a photographer based in Munich, Germany and has a unique and cool sense of style. Jorg, unexpectedly, visited NYC, and we had him over for dinner. This was a self service menu: bagna cauda, followed by hot pot.


























Bagna cauda
























Seafood hot pot.

dinner with viv and mike, 7/1/08

This was a special day because Jane and I bought a new air conditioner. Without the AC, entertaining was becoming unbearable because of the oppressive heat in our apartment. To usher in the new age of climate control, we had Viv and Mike over for dinner. It was a low key affair and a great deal of fun.




Cold, soft tofu with wolfberries, orange segments, pine nuts, arugula, soy, and sesame oil













Loup de mer with Moroccan stew, asparagus, and cous cous.



















Tucking in!














































Dessert was a chocolate mousse.










































Mmmm.

the cub comes to town, 7/14/07

My buddie Shane Baird is an extremely talented cook. We worked together in Brest, France at Restaurant La Fleur de Sel in 2003. Being American stages in a foreign kitchen bonded us and we have remained friends ever since. I have had great respect for Shane from day one at LFDS when he was working two stations with extreme skill and precision. I thought he was one of the French guys. He was 19 years old then and has always been the young blood in the kitchen. Thus, his nickmame: the Cub. He came to town and we collaborated on a nice little dinner.




Mackerel tartare with snowpea and radish salad with a Korean chili vinaigrette
















Cooking shrimp with the shell on results in a flavorful, moist product. The problem is that leaving the shell on makes it difficult for the diner to eat. To get around the problem, Shane used combination of techniques. He cut the shell along the shrimp's back, but left the shell attached on the belly side. He then removed the vein, seasoned with salt and pepper, and inserted a basil leaf.


















Making a pineapple gastrique and picking up dishes in a cramped Chinatown kitchen

































Basil shrimp with grilled pineapple and gastrique













The usual suspects.




























Diver scallop, corn puree, and nori

















Happy guests.

































Branzino with red amaranth, quinoa, and dashi









The "Shane" salad, where he treats avocado like dairy, using it to make a creamy dressing that coated the greens











This was a rather civilized dinner party.

barter dinner I, 6/10/07

Through my cousin, Tara, I heard of Eric Forman's IT prowess. I was having problems with my itunes and have no computer skills. As a result, I proposed a barter with Eric: I would cook dinner for him and he would fix my itunes. A deal was made and this is the resultant dinner:



Jane is an ace plater.
















Gazpacho consomme with watermelon, cucumber, tomatoes, and marjoram.
















Pour the soup table side.
















Softshell crab salad.















Eric is introduced to mache.