Cooking Adventure Previews

I’ve been meaning to write about my recent cooking adventures, but I continue to get sidetracked. Hopefully by next week I’ll return to a schedule that will let me finish writing about the last three dishes from my dinner party (way back in early September), and my Thanksgiving adventures of Opera Cake and abnormal ice creams.

This coming Saturday I’ll be hosting another dinner party. It won't be as elaborate as the last one, but I'm looking forward to it as I'll be making several out-of-the-ordinary dishes, and my guests will be friends who love gourmet food. The dinner came about when my friend said he wanted to eat lobster, and offered to pay for all the ingredients if I did the cooking. Not one to turn down the chance to cook on someone else’s expense, I quickly agreed.

My menu will consist of a few dishes that I’ve made recently, and a couple which I'm only vaguely familiar with. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the recipes will work, and that my preparation will save my from any last minute disasters.

Here’s my menu, with recipe references in parentheses:

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

* Green Tea and Lime Sour (Heston Blumenthal)

* Pine Nut Salad with Soy Vinaigrette

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

* Butter-Poached Lobster with Lobster Broth and Mascarpone-Enriched Orzo (Thomas Keller)

* Ginger and Scallion Lobster with Lobster Roe Fried Rice (Corinne Trang)

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

* Pineapple Sorbet

* Deconstructed Glass of White Wine (José Andrés)

* Apple Tart with Ginger Ice Cream (Dalloyau, Claudia Fleming)

* White Chocolate and Rice Milk Flan with Pistachio-White Chocolate Emulsion (Cindy and Dominique Duby)

* Valrhona Hot Chocolate (Pierre Hermé)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hmm… is my menu a bit unbalanced? It sure looks like I’m obsessed with making desserts. In any case, stay tuned for news and results.

Comments

[Jane]

Holy Shmoe! I LIKE your blog!!

[Karen]

How do you find time to do all this? ;) My husband and I make dinner for friends every weekend, and we'd make half of what your menu looks like and we end up dead tired. The budget also gets in the way of our dreams of making an 'haute cuisine' type dinner. It's always great to have someone else pay for the lobster!

[Nancy]

Thank you for having us over for dinner this past weekend.
Not only was the food amazing (the Butter-Poached Lobster with Lobster Broth and Mascarpone-Enriched Orzo, and Ginger and Scallion Lobster with Lobster Roe Fried Rice were outstanding), but the company and ambience made it one of the best dining experiences I've had.
Clement, you are a wonderful chef and a wonderful host. Thank you again - next time though, Ken and I will have you over as our dinner guest!

[Ken]

In a tour de force, Clement gives us a menu selection ranging from the traditional Asian Lobster Roe Fried Rice to the ultra-modern Deconstructed Glass of White Wine. A number of things are unforgettable – the high-tech foam cleanser, the butter-poached lobster that melted in my mouth, the potent sorbet, and the ginger ice cream that makes one crave apple tart (and the apple tart that, in vicious turn, makes one crave ginger ice cream). The menu was perfect in execution, sending us off light, with an airy flan, yet warm, with the company of both hot chocolate and good friends. Thank you!

[Clement]

Ken and Nancy - Thanks so much for your kind words. Ken, you sound like the guy from Iron Chef describing the dishes, but better; great review! I'm very glad you both enjoyed the dinner; it was the best dinner party I've had so far (good food, least stressful, and great company), so I'm glad I shared it with you. Thanks again for your tremendous contribution - it's not every day I get to cook lobsters and drink Icewine!

[Clement]

Hi Karen - Time is almost always a problem for me too. It helps that I'm self-employed, so my schedule is a bit more flexible, but time and money still limit me to a dinner party every two or three months. And of course, having someone else pay for the ingredients definitely helps!

Inevitably I always find myself rushing to have everything done on time. This past weekend, I cooked and cleaned non-stop from 7pm Friday to 7pm Saturday, minus a trip to buy lobsters; thankfully I finished a few minutes before my guests arrived. After all that work, I was exhausted, but very happy with the way things turned out.

The whole process - planning, cooking, hosting and eating, is something that I love doing. But right now I just need a few weeks to recuperate and experiment with new dishes!

Btw, I really enjoy reading your blog. Best of luck with opening your pâtisserie.. your work looks delicious and very elegant!

[Jennifer]

Wow. You sure are industrious when it comes to dinner parties. I'm impressed. And there is nothing wrong with an obsession with desserts -- don't forget SHF coming up in November!

I have a question for you, Clement: do you have any (simple) suggestions for appetizers? I need recipes...I'm desperate! HELP!

[Clement]

Hi Jennifer - I'm definitely looking forward to SHF2. There are so many ways to use apples; it’s hard to choose just one! Here are a few bite-size appetizers that I like to serve:

1. Lox salmon and crème fraîche on toasted focaccia or baguette. Can also be done with salmon tartare. Recipe

2. Lightly seared prosciutto and slices of bosc pear on toasted focaccia or baguette. Sear prosciutto for about 5 seconds, and use a vegetable peeler or mandoline to make paper-thin pear slices.

3. Gruyère Cheese Gougères - bite size choux pastry puffs mixed with savoury gruyère. Recipe

4. Peking Duck Rolls - I haven't tried this and just made it up, but I think it could be great, especially if you like Peking Duck.
On a crepe, spread some warm hoisin sauce, and line the crepe with a row of (store-bought) Chinese roast duck meat, and julienned scallions, carrots and cucumbers. Roll the crepe and cut into pieces, in the same way you make sushi. Hopefully the many layers of crepe will make the roll compact and prevent it from falling apart.

Hope this helps!