French night

We really worked for this one, completing a record five recipes in the one night. Really getting through the cookbooks here. We've cooked from around 40 (maybe a third of the way there).

Unfortunately we couldn't make it to our friend Mark's birthday dinner at Eau de Vie.  So we invited him and a few others around for a dinner party on Friday night.  We have a few theme menus up our sleeves so we gave him the option of French or British.  Being a man of distinction, Mark of course chose French.

On the French menu was Croque Madame from Bill Granger Everyday, Lyonaisse Terrine from Professional Charcuterie, Canard de l'Orange from Classic French Cooking, Gratin Dauphinois from the Pleasure of the Table and Saint Honoré from The Art of French Baking.

Painstakingly placing what seemed like the smallest potatoes
in the worldin to a pretty arrangement (not just on the top layer either!)

A lack of foresight meant that Thursday night after work was spent making Veal stock (which would be the start of the sauce for the canard de l'orange), the Lyonnaise terrine and preparing the dauphinois potato.  This all meant that our Friday was slightly less frantic.

 

Always been a big fan of anything small (or big for that matter) so the Croque Madame's made with baguette and quails eggs were a hit in my eyes.

Canard de l'orange -A really tasty dish.  Full of butter -we all felt our arteries tighten a little that night. Probably has something to do with the book being published in the 1970's (a simpler time before calorie counting and low GI).  The food styling was our attempt at replicating the glamorous over the top vibe of the book.  It looks a little amateur, but I can assure you the taste far exceeded the look -and that's what really counts right?

The birthday boy with his Saint (dis)Honore cake.

   
Verdict:
1. Croque madame -We made as canapes with quails eggs and sliced baguette for our arriving guests.  They went down a treat.  Everyone likes mini stuff though!
2. Lyonnaise terrine -Pork, veal and chicken livers encased in crepinette.  Great textures and flavours.  We served it with toasted challah and some homemade chutney.
3. Gratin dauphinois -The decision to use kipfler potatoes was a bit of a time kill, but it looked great! Surprised by the lack of cream or any kind of liquid in this dish. 
4. Canard de l'orange -The hero of the night.  We made 2 for ten people.  It could have been significantly less, it was so rich that only a small amount was needed.  The flavour of the sauce amazing, but seeing a pound of butter being casually whisked in was not.
5. Saint Honore -A few melt downs over the choux pastry ring, the saint honore cream and the overall presentation but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  It was the perfect ending to a night of excess.
Would we make this again?:
Yes, maybe, yes, yes with half the butter and yes to get it right.

Getting serious - dog party.

Our latest dinner party was a for a group of friends and their dogs. 
 
Apertif: White Wine and Mint Granita from Easy Growing. There are also great recipes in here flowerpot cornbread which I would like to try, cooking something in a flowerpot - genius! The people drank these and struggled through severe brainfreeze while the dogs (Archie Oneman the Wonderman, Janet and Lowrider) played at sniffing each others crotches.

Entree: Broccoli and Egg from Your Place or Mine? by Gary and George.  I don't like to think too much about what the title of this book is insinuating.  But it's nice to see that the lovely couple are able to reep in more rewards post Masterchef.

Main: Lamb Farcie from Jacques Reymond Cuisine de Temps.  Troy's masterpiece.  Double lamb cutlets with a chicken and sweetbread farce (mousse) wrapped in creppinette. Lamb cutlets were baked on rock salt. Served on silverbeet, with a tamarind and ginger dressing.

Dessert: Ginger Brulée Tarts and Rhubarb and Almond Tarts from Bourke Street Bakery

Verdict: Apertif was good.  Someone (they shall remain nameless) didn't read the recipe properly and the mix turned out brown instead of a mint green.  Still delicious, but really it's just watered down sugary wine.
Entree - OK quite simple, but about as exciting as a night out (or in) with George and Gary.
Main - A show stopper.  Every mouthful was delicious.  Definitely worth all of Troy's hard work the night prior.  Big thanks for working tirelessly. Sorry you had to clock up an epic 20 hours on your feet that day!
Dessert - We were all very full by this stage but managed to push through. Ginger brulee tarts were the favourite.  The rhubarb and almond tarts were a little dry.  This will be because we opted not to make a pastry cream to fold into the frangipane.  The pastry used for these tarts was very good.  A light, flaky and sweet pastry which really worked with the brulee tarts. 

Would we make this again?: Would we - No, No, Yes (if Troy's happy to scarifice another a whole night of prep), Yes - these tarts are too good not too.

A dark day.  Our friend Tessa is leaving the country indefinitely.  Eating to numb the pain is not an unfamilar notion so to mourn her departure we decided that a feast was in order.  

Tonight's menu was a hat trick of an affair.

Entree: Smoky eggplant salad with walnuts and borlotti bean salad from Karen Martini - Where your heart is

Main: Salt crusted lamb rack, pea and spring onion sauté, pea tendril salad and minted pea emulsion from Coco: 10 World-Leading Masters Choose 100 Contemporary Chefs

Dessert: Dulce de leche banana cream pie from The Art and Soul of Baking by Sur la Table and Cindy Mushet

 

Entree had fresh borlotti beans, red onion, chargrilled eggplant, coriander, sherry vinegar. Served with some grilled pita bread. There is always something pleasing about using produce from the garden, home-grown long eggplants were used in this recipe.

 

Troy doing the finishing touches on plating up, adding the mint and pea foam.

Main consisted of lamb rack rubbed with herbs and salt, mint and pea foam (made by cooking mint and peas in milk then frothing with a wizz stick), fresh peas and broad beans sauteed with mint all served with a lovely red wine jus.

Butcher's rookie mistake, racks not perfectly frenched.

The main was a hit. "I always leave something on my plate, so it's a big compliment to your cooking that the plate is clean" said Alistair.

Flying saucer finish, Tessa's favourite for her departure

Dessert was a cookie crumb base (the recipe called for graham crackers.  I wasn't about to pop over to the states so I substitued them for digestive biscuits), dulce de leche creme patisserie with sliced bananas, cream and grated chocolate.

Verdict: Entree was good, would be great as a salad for lunch. The main was a hit.  It would also be really nice with a cauliflower puree.  Some great flavour combinations to use aspects of in future cooking. The dessert was delicious, quite light a lot to handle after 2 previous courses, and no-one was keen on finishing the open bottle of red wine on the table. Caroline manned up and stated "the red wine really cuts through the fat" so the rest of us got tucked in and finished it off.
Would we make it again?: For sure.