Pre-Bastille day dinner.
Posted by razzbuffnik on July 12th, 2008
I had some friends over on Friday night for dinner. Since there were three French people in the group and it was close to Bastille day, I thought I’d serve French food.
The menu for the evening was:
Celeriac Bisque as entrée
Poulet Chasseur on a bed of English spinach with Gratin Dauphinoise as main
Galettes aux Pomme Flambé with Calvados Sorbet and crème Chantilly for dessert
Everbody brought along a different bottle of pinot noir so we were able to get a wide tasting range.
For dessert we set up an electric crepe maker at each end of the table so Mark and Sebastian could make the galettes (crepes made with wheat flour and buckwheat flour) whilst I flambéed the apples in calvados in the kitchen (I didn’t do it at the table as it was too crowded).
July 12th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Yea! It’s working. I went to see Bonnieluria’s inside refrigerator px while I was waiting for you to fix it. She has fruit in there from outer space. But, now…you know my first comment on your dinner??
You flambed in the kitchen to protect your guests!!!!! Tell us, how much did you really want to flambe in front of a crowd, Razzman? I laughed out loud. I would have made you flambe in front of us.
Now, is that whipped creme on galette? Must be. Or maybe that creme fraiche? See! I’m getting knowledgeable with you and epicurienne talking food back and forth.
How would you rate the meal compared to what you wanted to achieve and how it turned out? And who was taking the picture?
July 12th, 2008 at 8:14 am
Hooray! At last, the post we have all been waiting for! Honestly, Razz, with your photos and descriptions, sometimes I feel as if I were there with you and Engogirl et al, instead of 13477 kilometres away.
Tell me, details details
1. how was the celeriac bisque? what stock did you use?
2. which was the best pinot noir?
3. how did you make the calvados sorbet?
I am pleased to hear you used 500g of gruyere in the gratin. That’s seriously gratinated. No point in doing things by halves.
4. the paintings on the wall - are they by Mai Long? They’re brilliant. I love them, especially the fish and the blue waves. Once again they remind me of tankas. I must have tankas on the brain.
5. lastly, Pat’s right. Where was the fire extinguisher when you were playing with fire? So apt that you should flambe something after Pat’s photo of dinner at your house. I’m giggling away here.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:26 am
Pat.
Oh I wanted to all right! But my better half thought she’d enforce some sense and insisted I do it in the kitchen. My wife is my salvation and redemption (I haven’t seriously burnt myself since I’ve known her). If I’m ever in Boston I’ll be happy to flambé at your table. Yes it is whipped cream and it has sugar and cinnamon in it as well.
I made the mistake of looking at Auguste Escoffier’s recipe of Poulet Chasseur and I decided to fiddle with the recipe by using more stock reductions in it. The end result still pleased everyone but I think that I preferred the version I made on Monday.
I’ll make it again soon and I’m pretty sure I’ll have my version of Poulet Chasseur worked out. I’ll put the recipe up then.
July 12th, 2008 at 8:46 am
Epic
1. I’ve got celeriac bisque nailed and it was fantastic. I used chicken stock
2. To tell the none of them stood out. I bought a good one (Domain A Stony Vineyard in Southern Tasmania) but we didn’t get around to drinking it (I’ve had it before and I know it’s good) because I was curious about the others. My oenophile friend Peter(the fellow in the glasses)came around early with an excellent 8 year old shiraz viognier (Yering Station) that we knocked over before the other guests arrived.
3.Cook the apple with only some sugar until soft then puree. Chill it in the fridge and then add some lemon zest and juice (we grow our own lemons) pour in a 2/3 cup of calvados and then into the ice-cream maker. About half way through the churning top it up with chilled sparkling non-alcoholic cider. Freeze.
4.The paintings are by Mai Long. We have three works by her.
5.We not only have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen but we also have a fire blanket as well.
I’m so sick of burning myself!
July 12th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Ok. I’m reconsidering a Boston Flambe at my table. “A Fire Blanket”? “I’m so sick of burning myself?”
We are going to flambe in the middle of Boston Harbor where the tea was thrown lo those many years ago.
July 12th, 2008 at 11:18 am
How long could those eager diners hold a pose and a smile without being able to wait another second to dig in to those plates!
Great restraint and my gosh what a menu and table!
Kitchens are for me, science labs and I’m fearless in my Frankenstein like experiments. I deeply respect ” real ” cuisine that follows the formulas which is why I stay away from pastry baking.
July 13th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I can’t even say most of the things you prepared, much less imagine eating them.
I need to get out more . . .
July 13th, 2008 at 5:25 pm
Bonnie
Welcome and thanks for dropping by. Pastry baking is something I think twice about tackling as well.
Tysdaddy
Or maybe you could just look up the recipes on the internet and give them a try. Way cheaper than going out to a restaurant plus you could introduce your children to a wider range of foods.
July 17th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
I’m very disappointed: Claude forgot to wear his make-up.
My stupid architect put a smoke detector in my kitchen. Whenever I make crepes flambees (I use sugar, Grand Marnier and orange rinds), my guest must stay under the detector with a large towel, alert, in position, ready to vent the machine when it begins to ululate.