Holiday Dinner Party

Last night Sarah and I hosted a dinner party for two couples (Steve & Tammy and Matt & Meredith). We've never really done a small dinner party before and I was very pleased with the outcome. It gave us an excuse to use our china and for me to try out some new recipes. Over the course of about 4 hours there was much eating and conversation. You can read Steve's post for a review of the evening.

The Menu:

Crostini with olive tapanade

Spinach salad with Maytag blue cheese

Braised pork loin with honey lemon glazed carrots and garlic mashed potatoes

Cheese course

Lemon Crème Brûlée

All of the bread throughout the meal was pretty much my standard bread recipe (see other posts on this site) with a mixture of bread, unbleached white, and semolina flours. I also used about a tablespoon of barley malt as a sweetener with more depth than sugar.

Crostini

Manzanilla Olives

Kalamata Olives

Sun-dried tomatoes

Garlic

Capers

Anchovy oil (from a jar of anchovies)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Let rest for a few hours then spread on lightly toasted bread.

Spinach salad with Maytag blue cheese

This is a basic salad of fresh spinach leaves, Maytag blue cheese, candied pecans, bacon, homemade croutons and a lemon vinaigrette.

Braised pork loin with honey lemon glazed carrots and garlic mashed potatoes

4 oz pork medallions cut from a pork tenderloin

1tbsp oil

1 onion

2 cloves garlic

14 oz can diced tomato

whole green olives

thyme

bay leaf

1 1/2 cups red wine (I used a shiraz)

Set the oven to 250° F. Add the oil to a heavy dutch oven (with a tight fitting lid) and brown the pork medallions on all sides. Remove the pork and sweat the onion and garlic. After 3-5 minutes add the tomatoes being sure to scrape up all of the fond that developed during the pork/onion cooking. Add the thyme, bay leaf, and wine then bring to a simmer. Return the pork to the pan, cover, and place in the oven for 90 minutes.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Potatoes peeled, chopped roughly

4 cloves garlic

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup olive oil

Simmer garlic in olive oil for 5 minutes, discard garlic. Boil potatoes and mash with cream and oil.

Honey Lemon Glazed Carrots

1lb ready to eat carrots in half diagonally

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp butter

1/4 cup water

1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in water

Boil carrots for 15 minutes. Combine honey, sugar, butter, water in saucepan and bring to a boil. Stir carrots into glaze and simmer for 3 minutes. Add cornstarch slurry to thicken. Place in a covered baking dish and bake at 200° F for 45 minutes.

Cheese Course

Maytag blue, 12 month aged Manchego, a triple creme brie. I forgot to write down the name of the brie -- although I think Steve did, can you help me out Steve?

Lemon Crème Brûlée

3 cups cream

zest from 2 lemons

7 egg yolks

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp lemon juice

sugar for crusting

Combine cream and lemon zest and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar. Slowly add the cream to the egg mixture whisking constantly. Strain the custard through cheese cloth to remove the lemon zest and stir in the vanilla and lemon juice. Pour into 6 custard cups and bake in a water bath (roasting pan filled with hot water half way up the sides of the ramekins) at 300° for 30-40 minutes until the custard is the consistency of soft set eggs. Chill uncovered for 4 hours. Sprinkle with additional sugar and melt using a blow torch (you could also use the broiler, but the torch is more fun).

Comments

[Steve Kirks]

Matt:

Le Deluce was the name of the cheese...

mmmm...

Steve

[Tammy Kirks]

Delicious dinner and delightful company! It was a wonderfully relaxing evening and the food was terrific! I especially enjoyed ending the evening by laughing at the antics of Lucy, the wonder dog.

[Tammy Kirks]

I made the glazed carrots last night and they were a hit. Thanks for sharing your recipes.