Over Valentine's Day weekend, Jack and I had Ms. Emily Knell visit us in Galway. Emily is a great friend, and one of the best cooks I know, so it seemed only natural to host a fancy dinner party while she was there. Much like the spaghetti feed post, I cooked while Jack played guitar and sang, everyone drank and just enjoyed the night. Unlike the spaghetti feed, everyone dressed to the nines and I cooked three courses. I didn't really know what I was getting into, but I ended up in the kitchen cooking hard for 6 hours, starting with roasting and peeling chestnuts at 3 and plating and serving dessert at 9. I really enjoyed myself, and was really excited by the quality and amount of food that came out of our tiny little kitchen. I charged 9 euro a plate for this one, and people were happy to oblige. Given that some didn't ask for change for a ten, I made a small profit of four euro, which I turned into a pint for Jack, Em and myself that night.
Fancy Dinner Menu. Three courses for 15.
1st Course
Shrimp
-Brussels Sprouts
-Chestnuts
-Shallots
-Bacon
-White wine/apple juice/balsamic reduction
I reduced equal parts white wine (I think it was Pinot Grigio) and apple juice for the sauce and finished with balsamic vinegar, similar to a gastrique. The shrimp were quick sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper and coriander. I cooked the bacon until it was cooked but soft. The shallots were cooked in the bacon fat, and then I chopped the sprouts roughly and added to the pan. Seasoned with salt and pepper, and then poured some white wine on. I covered and let this cook until the sprouts were tender. The chestnuts were roasted, peeled and chopped. They then got added to the mix at the last minute and cooked long enough to warm through. Plating was a scoop of the sprout mixture, with three shrimp layed across the top, and a drizzle of the sauce. The quote of the night was "I hate brussels sprouts, but this is delicious."
This is the only picture of the first course that anyone has. It got devoured and I was too in the shit at this point to even consider taking a picture. The consensus was that it was delicious.Second Course
Stuffed Chicken Breast
-Mozzarella
-Prosciutto
-Peperonata
-"Russeled" Potatoes
The second course was simple, and probably a little less inspired. I took chicken breasts and salted and peppered them. stuffed with a slice of prosciutto and some mozzarella. Coated the stuffed breast in flour and seared it off in the pan. Then all 15 got tossed in a roasting pan, had some wine poured around them and finished in the oven. The peperonata is basically sauteed onions, peppers and tomatoes, cooked until super soft (almost melting). I seasoned mine pretty aggressively with chili flake, so it had a great heat to it. The "russeled potatoes" are a Rus Goya specialty. Coat chopped red potatoes in olive oil, thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper and chili flake. Roast until they stick hard to the bottom of the pan, and are delicious and crispy on top, tossing occasionally. The chicken was nice and moist, with great saltiness from the prosciutto. It paired real well with the heat from the peperonata. The potatoes were great, like they always are.
This is what 15 of them looked like! Plating was really nice on this one. Chicken on the peppers, with a scoop of potatoes on the side.
At this point we took a break, and Jack played a set on the quitar/harmonica. I worked on dessert.
3rd Course
Olive Oil Cake
-Orange Caramel
-Raspberry Coulis
-Fresh whipped cream
I am not a baker, so Em did the cake based on a recipe I found. We both agree that there should be a little less olive oil. It made a really great lemony moist cake though, if not a bit greasy on the finish. I'll toss the recipe at the end of the post. The sauces were great though. The caramel was just sugar and a few drops of lemon juice, caramelized on the stove. Once golden and delicious, I stirred in orange juice, and it made a lovely sauce. The coulis was just raspberries macerated in sugar, blended. Here is the plating (I am proud of this one):
The cake was painted in the caramel, and the caramel was also drizzled around it. The coulis was at 3 and 9 on the plate with whipped cream at 12 and 6. The slice of cake was oriented 12-6. Delicious.
While I cooked, Jack took Em on a tour of Galway. Since I never take pictures in town, I figured I could put those up as well. I also have all of her pictures from the dinner and rest of that evening, as well as the Gaelic football match we went to the next day, and our valentine's dinner out. The next picture is a link.
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| Fancy Dinner |
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