Epicurean Adventures

When time allows, I and friends try to explore our creativity with food. The purpose of these dinners is to revive those long-forgotten (for us) skills for creative and supreme cooking and dining—especially since everyone seems so busy these days. People are welcome to make something they’ve made before or branch out to explore new ideas. For the first dinner, Elaborate Food the requirement was to make something you don’t often have a chance or reason to bother with but is extraordinary in some way. Ultimately, the purpose of this dinner isn’t to impress others, but to impress yourself with your own creativity. My own parents used to belong to a Gourmet Club and I used to cook and serve for my mom on “in” dinners so this feels a bit like that coming full circle.

Jump to the dinners so far: Elaborate Food, Colorful Food, Concorde Dinner, Shabbat Cafe

More themes we want to explore:

• Dangerous Food
• Unified Ingredients
• Food from Literature
• Food from Art
• White Trash
• Picnic
• Breakfast for Dinner
• Endangered Food
• Politically Correct Food
• Politically Incorrect Food
• Kid’s Favorites Reimagined
• Transparent Food

Epicure 1: Elaborate Food Saturday 13 September 2003

Appetizer: 
Laurie & Nathalie:
1) Maine Lobster Custard with Lobster Roe and Lobster Claw, Seared Scallop over Corn Relish and Red Pepper Roulis with Fried Basil Leaf
2) Truffle Mashed Potatoes and Seared Filet Minon in Red Winw Balsamic Reduction with Mushroom Duxelle and Onion Rings
Laurent Perrier Cuvé Rose Brut

Salad:
Cate & Josh: Red Beet Salad in Endive with Fois Gras on Crostini
Red Zinfandel

Epicure 2: Colorful Food Saturday 22 November 2003

Choose a color and a course. Saturation and value play is encouraged. No full-chroma or triadics but complimentaries and split-complimentaries are welcome.

Appetizer (Gold):
Jeanne: Truffle Custard with sauteed mushroom and onion and chive potato chip
Bonterra Chardonnay

Appetizer (Blue):
Cate & Josh: Blue Cornmeal Crepe with mushroom, egg, and three cheese filling and savory blueberry sauce
2001 Kendall Jackson Pinot Noir

Soup (Red):
Jeanne: Spicy Tomato soup with chive oil, balsamic reduction, and Parmesan

Shabbat Cafe: Friday 2 November 2007

As a benefit for the SF chapter of Reboot, Laurie and I (with a lot of help from Jed, Eric, Scott, etc.) cooked-up this pretty cool meal of reimagined traditional Jewish dishes. We did a lot of research into traditional Jewish dishes and ingredients, including those native to the Middle East, and found some surprises (like grits). We also cooked for an entire day two weeks before the event to test our ideas and recipes (which was critical). In the end, we didn’t use all of our ideas, partly because what works for home doesn’t necessarily work for a 4o person dinner.

The dinner was held in the Mariposa Hunters Point Yacht Club which had a decent kitchen and a lot of logistical issues. Our wait staff, however, was fantastic. The biggest challenge was to set-up 40 plates at a time and get them out to the tables in one flow. Laurie’s done this before as had Eric, who was helping, but this was my first time serving so many people.

The Menu

Amuse Bouche:
Matzoh Ball Shooter

I don’t really have a very good photo of this, unfortunatey, but it was a perfect way to start the evening: a simple chicken stock soup with mini matzoh balls. This photo is actually of the version with vegetable broth, an option we had to be prepared for with most of our courses.

Appetizer
Terrine of Chicken Livers with Corn Rye Toasts

This was Laurie’s dish and it was incredible (if you like chicken liver). Instead of the typical chopped chicken liver, she prepared it like foie gras, making terrines layered with schmaltz (which she rendered herself), carmelized onions, seared whole livers, hard boiled eggs (in the Center), and then poured over with a liver mousse. We actually thought it wasn’t going to work when we made them the night before and we didn’t have a back-up but we put them back in the oven the next day and they came out wonderful. Laurie made-up this recipe on the spot and it was one of the most popular dishes of the evening.

Entrée
Choice of: Short Ribs with Grits and Brussel Sprouts or Middle Eastern Halibut with Couscous & Haricot Verts

Sadly, we have no photos of the entrées. The short ribs are a similar to cut to flanken (if any of your grandmothers ever cooked it). Instead of a brisket, we went with this cut and we cooked them in Korean spices. OK, not so Jewish, but we wanted an entree with a lot of flavor. The Brussel Sprouts were cooked and served as a schifinade with shallots and the grits were saturated in crème fraiche-and delicious. The halibut was cooked with onions, olives, and tomatoes and is one of those simple dishes to make that looks and tastes much more complicated–perfect for serving 40 people.

Wines
2004 Bogle Petit Syrah
2007 Sauvignon Blanc

Dessert
Scharffen Berger Chocolate Bread Pudding with Homemade Butterscotch Sauce