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Dinner Plans? (3 Viewers)

^^^^^ Nice menu, but I'm getting so I won't order risotto anywhere but in Italy or the North End of Boston. Even supposedly great restaurants are short-cutting it these days. I hate paying big bucks for something that I routinely do much better at home... :(
 
pltrgyst said:
^^^^^ Nice menu, but I'm getting so I won't order risotto anywhere but in Italy or the North End of Boston. Even supposedly great restaurants are short-cutting it these days. I hate paying big bucks for something that I routinely do much better at home... :(
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...also the reason that we rarely eat at restaurants anymore - and when we do, I often will recreate the dish after I get home.

Also, no shortcuts on the risotto here. We keep frozen bones (and shrimp shells) in the freezer for making the stock for the appropriate risottos.
 
made Chicken Pot Pie yesterday. Family loved it. Asked to keep it in the rotation.
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Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers:
  • Sweet Peppers halved
  • Crumbled Goat Cheese
  • (maybe some feta + herbs)
  • Kalamata Olives halved
  • Chopped Garlic
  • Fresh Basil
  • salt and pepper
GBOMBS Salad:
  • Greens (whatevs: spinach, green leaf, kale, romaine)
  • Garbanzo Beans
  • Avocado
  • Thinly sliced red Onions
  • Sauteed Mushrooms of choice
  • Berries (black, ras, who cares?!)
  • Pomegranate Seeds
  • Crushed Pistachio nuts
  • Balsamic vinegar drizzle
  • Squeeze of lemon

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GBOMBS salad is the main dish (not a side dish)! Got this from Vulpeck on YouTube, hilarious:

 
That looked healthy.

We are going in a slightly different direction for Mrs Zombie's birthday dinner, which is today.

The desert course (Tiramisu) is done and now chillin.
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The polar bear paws are a shout out to her X-Box football team, the Anchorage Polars. We have adapted the logo to "Elizabeth's" the once a year restaurant.
 
First Course, amuse bouche: Siberian sturgeon caviar, with creme fresh. Served with a chilled Jean Marc XO lemon vodka.

We are not wealthy by any standards. Those that have been to my house during the first SSSS meet-up know we live in a very modest home. What we get from our modest living is the ability to eat like royalty once or twice a year, and Mrs Zombie's birthday is one of those days. So I splurged on fish eggs that cost more per ounce than most of my dinners.
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I've had caviar at restaurants before, and thought meh. Apparently, the secret to caviar is get the stuff that you think is too stupid expensive to buy. This was so outstanding, I kinda wanted to end the dinner right here, so I could relish the flavor all night.

Second course, appetizer: Steak Tartare: Steak tenderloin from a "locally" raised, grass-fed cow. Local in quotes, because the cow came from Kentucky, which is an adjoining state, but it's just an hour away. In the tartrate is a prepared horseradish that I made from scratch. On the side are blanched organic White Beech Mushrooms, and it is topped with a quail egg and white truffle oil. Served with baguettes with a garlic infused grass-fed-cow clarified butter. The garlic infusion process took about 7 hours. The bread was carmelized with a blowtorch - because fire is fun.
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Again, I've had tartare a couple of times in restaurants, but their garnishes competed with the beef, or the egg was simply too large. I personally believe this would have easily defeated any of those previous tartares in a competition. It was crazy good, and I would have been content to finish the meal here.

Third Course, salad: Roasted pear salad on arugula. Homemade balsamic dressing, white beech mushrooms (because they come in a big clump), locally sourced fresh mozzarella, and toasted almonds.
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Ok, it was good, but it was a salad. It really doesn't photograph very well. Unfortunately, we ran out of small plates, so it was served in a bowl, which made it a poor presentation anyway. Curse the local restaurant supply store for going out of buisness, making it unlikely to find exact replacement plates for the ones that gravity has claimed.

By now I was pretty full, and ending the dinner would have been fine, but there was still more to come...

Fourth Course, main course: Lobster carbonara. Steamed lobster tail and thick-cut prosciutto. with peas, fresh pasta, parmesan, butter and heavy cream. Served in the tail shells, with toasted baguettes.
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Win. Win, win, win, win, win.

By this point, dinner had gone beyond the 2 hour mark, and the carbonara was just so good, there was no need to continue. Besides, the bottle of wine was empty.

5th course, dessert. The previously shown tiramisu. Twenty shots of espresso (yes, 20) mixed with rum and limoncello, lady fingers, and eggs from open pasture chickens. I miss the city sometimes, but getting super fresh ingredients does make up for that on nights like this.
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Again, tiramisu is something I've had multiple times, but it would always be bitter or overly sweet. Once I had it and somehow they made it bitter and overly sweet at the same time. This one, was just perfect. Boom, drop the mic... er, fork. This was the foodie equivalent to a golfer hitting a hole-in-one.

I wish I could have invited each and every one of you over last night for this meal. Not only because it was so good, but because we could have used some help with the kitchen afterwards...
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I guess I should have stopped after the caviar. :oops:
 
I had considered making my own ladyfingers, but figured their consistent shape would require the use of a special "lady finger" pan. Like Alton Brown, I really hate unitaskers, and my kitchen just does not have the spare space to store a "one-and-done" type item.

I have made from scratch pasta, bread, and cheese, so yeah, ladyfingers isn't a stretch.
 
This is a little off topic and possibly a buzzkill to this thread especially after the several recent posts, but stumbled upon what i consider to be fantastic down and dirty quick on the go lunch.

Prepacked tuna (I know, but I'm in the middle of BFE KS) and wasabi almonds mixed together.
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This recipe calls for searing the duck twice to get ultra crispy skin. Once quickly for three minutes just to get the fat started rendering. Then seal it, and Sous vide at 135. Then a second searing to get nice and crispy. Bag sealed with aromatics.

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One change I would have made is it came out closer to medium. I think I should have done the Sous vide at like 125 because the pan searing raises the temperature a little. But the texture of the skin was perfect so the double sautéing worked well.
 
Have you tried searing with a blowtorch? It does a great job creating the Maillard reaction, but does it much quicker than a pan sear, thus transferring less heat internally.
 
Poker Zombie said:
Have you tried searing with a blowtorch? It does a great job creating the Maillard reaction, but does it much quicker than a pan sear, thus transferring less heat internally.
Click to expand...
No, I’ve seen several other recipes using Sous vide that suggest blow torchingthough. For some reason I’m a little intimidated by it.
 
Poker Zombie said:
First Course....
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Fantabulous meal! My only question would be, have you considered serving the salad course after the main, in the French style, before any cheese or dessert? IMO, that allows people to better appreciate the main courses.

Poker Zombie said:
.Besides, the bottle of wine was empty.
Click to expand...

Whatdaya mean, "the" bottle? "The" implies that there was just one. Surely, even without needing a red for any of these courses, you couldn't get by with just one bottle??? :eek:

Poker Zombie said:
....I wish I could have invited each and every one of you over last night for this meal. Not only because it was so good, but because we could have used some help with the kitchen afterwards....
Click to expand...

I'm all too familiar with a kitchen that looks like that! But in this case, the labor would be worth it.

Next time post the menu early enough to allow for our travel time... :cool:
 
Nice job!

Mr Tree said:
One change I would have made is it came out closer to medium. I think I should have done the Sous vide at like 125 because the pan searing raises the temperature a little. But the texture of the skin was perfect so the double sautéing worked well.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most of my sources recommend 134 for medium-rare, but we find that's a bit too much. 128-130 works well. I think the quick one-minute second sear might not have affected the meat itself had you used really hot cast iron.
 
pltrgyst said:
Nice job!



Yeah, most of my sources recommend 134 for medium-rare, but we find that's a bit too much. 128-130 works well. I think the quick one-minute second sear might not have affected the meat itself had you used really hot cast iron.
Click to expand...
You could be on to something there. Usually I prefer to use a skillet that has been in an oven cranked as high as I can get it to have it red hot. The recipe called for non stick though so I followed directions. Either way I think I will dial down the Sous vide temperature next time.
 
pltrgyst said:
Fantabulous meal! My only question would be, have you considered serving the salad course after the main, in the French style, before any cheese or dessert? IMO, that allows people to better appreciate the main courses.



Whatdaya mean, "the" bottle? "The" implies that there was just one. Surely, even without needing a red for any of these courses, you couldn't get by with just one bottle??? :eek:



I'm all too familiar with a kitchen that looks like that! But in this case, the labor would be worth it.

Next time post the menu early enough to allow for our travel time... :cool:
Click to expand...

I am not strictly opposed to salad after dinner, but when the amuse is fatty (creme fresh) and the dinner is fatty (Carbonara) it makes more sence to have a brighter course in between. Timing is also an issue with a multi course meal, and the salad (or soup course if that's what she selected) is the easiest to prep so the main can start cooking (or par cooking) at the same time.
 
All the great looking meals on here aren’t helping me right now when I’m currently eating stuff like this for breakfast.
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