This year’s Mother’s Day dinner had a rough time getting started but sure turned out to be a wonderful evening. First off, we were out of town on Mother’s day so we had to move our annual dinner back. Then after we had set a new date and sent out the invitations, we had a conflict come up and had to change again. Then to top it all off, on the evening of the event as our guests started to arrive, our sink backed up and we started an hour behind (thanks to all of our guests for patiently waiting!). Once all of that was out of the way, everything else went swimmingly. We did twelve courses this year. As usual, most of the courses have a heavy French influence and this year many also had local foraged ingredients. I want to make a special call out to Brian, who took these wonderful pictures, Val, for lending us some great camera gear, Yossi, on sous chef, and all those who helped to pull it off. Now, on to the courses!

Wow, we had a big enough group this year that it took two tables!

1st Course

We started out with a cheese course. This included 5 different cheeses (ack! I don’t have all of the types of cheese written down so I’ll omit the types here, sniff). In the center was a pate au noix that a friend had brought be back from Normandy.  I also included fresh wild honey, candied pecans, and a selection of homemade sourdough breads.

2nd Course

The 2nd course was a pickled Kobe beef short rib served with a charred strawberry and a cinnamon vanilla ‘essence’. The essence came in a small dish with some dry ice.  The dish was covered by a small bowl. As each guest lifted their bowl, a waft of the cinnamon vanilla scent would rush out, adding to the experience of the dish. The dish was served warm.

3rd Course

The 3rd course consisted of a single ravioli or raviolo (see the recipe here in a previous post). It was filled with homemade ricotta, mustard greens, truffle oil, and a soft egg yolk that each guest would break as they cut into the raviolo. It was tossed in homemade truffle butter and sautéed sage.

4th Course

The 4th course was a shitake mushroom topped with grilled peppers and gorgonzola cheese.  It was a a simple vegetarian course but delicious in its simplicity.

5th Course

The 5th course was halibut poached in truffle butter and wrapped in a coconut crepe. It was served with a light curry sauce and seared locally foraged fiddleheads. (You can find the recipe here)

6th Course

The sixth course was risotto with locally foraged ramps, prosciutto, and fresh parmesan. It was rich and silky…a guest favorite.

7th Course

The 7th course was French onion soup with fresh thyme and gruyere cheese. The onions used were local sweet Vidalia and the broth was made with beef shanks.

8th Course

The 8th course was roast pork belly (a la David Chang) served with celeriac root puree, a peach raspberry chutney, and topped with a chicharron (he he, pork rind from the pork belly).

9th Course

The 9th course was a palate cleanser between the heavy 8th and 10th courses. It was a shot of pear ginger juice (with some citrus as well) and served with a bit of candied ginger. The shot was strong, peppery, sweet, and refreshing.

10th Course

The 10th course was a grilled rib eye steak, blackened with Godiva chocolate, toasted malt barley, and oregano. The steak was served with grilled mustard greens, locally foraged morel mushrooms, and cured Guanciale from Salumi. It was served with a crispy cheese cracker, oregano infused oil, and chocolate oil.

11 Course

The 11th course was dessert. It included a slice of ‘crack’ pie as made famous by the Momofuku Milk Bar. It was served with milk ice cream on a vanilla tuile, and a chocolate hazelnut joconde.

12th Course

The 12th and final course was a petite four. It was a French canele served with a toasted malt barley and hazelnut ‘latte’.

 

With that the meal was finished. It was a wonderful night with good friends. I recommend trying something similar if you are up to it. It takes time and work but the time spent with good friends eating good food is something to be cherished.

Here is another recipe that I’ll be serving in small plate form for our upcoming multi-course dinner.  I’ve been tinkering with this recipe for a while now and its gone through several different versions.  Here is the final version.  It involves several parts but each is very simple and delicate, with clean flavors.

Ingredients

16 oz. – fresh halibut fillet

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. – clarified butter, separated

2 oz. – white truffle oil or butter

2 – eggs

1 cup – coconut milk, separated

1 1/2 tsp. – fish sauce, separated

2 cloves – minced garlic, separated

4 Tbsp. – flour

1/4 tsp. – red curry paste

6 oz. – fresh fiddleheads

whole milk

salt/white pepper

Poached Halibut

Add 1 cup clarified butter plus truffle oil/butter to a small deep sauce pan.  Heat to 145 degrees and hold at that heat (very low heat).  Slice the halibut into 1 inch wide strips and lightly salt.  Place the halibut into the sauce pan and make sure that it is covered by the butter.  If its isn’t covered add more butter or a light oil like canola. Slowly poach the fish until it begins to flake but never let it go over 140-145 degrees.

Coconut Crepe

Add eggs, 2 Tbsp. clarified butter, 1/2 coconut milk, 1 tsp. fish sauce, 1 clove garlic, and flour into a blender.  Blend until well mixed.  The batter should be very thin.  If not then add whole milk and reblend until it is smooth and very thin.  Heat a griddle on low heat, spray with oil, and pour about a 1/4 cup batter at a time on the griddle, tilting the griddle to spread the batter evenly around into a thin crepe. Let the crepe lightly brown, then flip.  Once its lightly browned on both sides, place on a large plate and cover tightly.

Curry Sauce

Heat a small sauce pan on medium heat and add a little of the clarified butter from the poaching pan.  Add the curry paste and heat until it softens and starts to come apart.  Add the rest of the coconut milk and garlic and heat through.  It should be very thin, if it’s too thick then add a little water to thin it out.

Sautéed Fiddleheads

Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat and add several tablespoons of the poaching butter.  Sauté the fiddleheads with a little salt and white pepper until tender.

Plating

Place a little sauce onto each plate.  Plate strips of fish inside crepes and roll tightly.  Slice 1 inch pieces on a diagonal and place in the center of the sauce.  Place a few fiddleheads on top.  Dust the plate with more salt and white pepper.