ChristyMarie
01-04-2008, 08:29 AM
First, here was the final menu:
Anchovy Pizza Caprese
Fresh cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
with white anchovies
Duval-Leroy Rose de Saignee Brut Champagne
Carpaccio Cannoli
Savory cannoli with filet mignon, capers, lemon zest,
olive oil and sea salt
Yangarra McLaren Vale 2005 Shiraz
Puree of Celery Soup
Celery root, butternut squash and apple
Shinaz Estate The Innocent 2006 Viognier
Duck Confit Ravioli with Sauce Trio
Brown butter, tomato cream and duck reduction
served with duck sausage
D cubed Napa Vlley 2004 Zinfandel
Cranberry sorbet
Quail with Mushroom Ragu and Parsnip Puree
Dates stuffed with pistachio chevre and wrapped in boar prosciutto
with yellow carrots and brussel sprouts
Roessler La Brisa Sonoma Coast 2005 Pinot Noir
Assortment of Cheese
Blueberry preserves, candied ginger, dried mango,
fig cake and bourbon pralines
La Jota Napa Valley 2002 Cabernet Saubignon
Chocolate TrifleSpiced pears, whipped cream and chocolate curls
Alevear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 Sherry
Ice Cream
Pear riesling, Kentucky bourbon eggnog, Cayenne chocolate
Niepoort Porto 10 year tawny
Saturday DH shopped while I set up everything. Shopping was about 4.5hours and I set up all plates upstairs (with labels for what would be served) and did wine, silver and glassware downstairs near the table. Printed menus and set the table. We made some of the basics that night (stock, soup, started sauces) and got all ingredients organized.
Sunday was the major cooking day. Started around 9 and finished about 6.
Monday wasn't too bad. Finished things. Made second version of ravioli (first dough was rolled out too thin) which was annoying. Cannolis gave me some trouble as the original dough recipe was horrible - they kept falling apart in the oil. I ended up using the remaining pizza dough, brushing it with olive oil and salt and that worked surprisingly well.
People arrived at 7 and we did Rose champagne and pate in the kitchen. These people were serious about the drinking - we went through TWO bottles. I had expected to just pour everyone one small glass for this.
Sat down to dinner and it went really well. Courses were spread out so that DH had time to prep everything. One friend helped set up and serve as he always does. Oh, and we finally bought serving trays to carry things up and down and that really made a difference. I don't know why we never thought of that before. Food was amazing. I think the cannoli was my favorite. But the ravioli was really incredible too so it is hard to decide. We had purchased two bottles per course and oh my, were people finishing them. At various times we had people relaxing on couches, etc between courses. No clue where that came from as no one has ever done that before! But we all rallied and finished. I went to be about 1, before we had gotten to the ice cream so I still need to try that.
The clean up. Ugh. 10 glasses, 10 plates, 10 utenils per course to hand wash plus all the last minute prep dishes. I ran the dishwasher pretty much constantly all weekend to clean up but my son is back now (he was at Grandma's) so clean up is not going well. We'll tackle it this weekend when dad is home too.
All in all, very worth it, very enjoyable and just really yummy food.
Anchovy Pizza Caprese
Fresh cherry tomatoes, mozzarella and basil
with white anchovies
Duval-Leroy Rose de Saignee Brut Champagne
Carpaccio Cannoli
Savory cannoli with filet mignon, capers, lemon zest,
olive oil and sea salt
Yangarra McLaren Vale 2005 Shiraz
Puree of Celery Soup
Celery root, butternut squash and apple
Shinaz Estate The Innocent 2006 Viognier
Duck Confit Ravioli with Sauce Trio
Brown butter, tomato cream and duck reduction
served with duck sausage
D cubed Napa Vlley 2004 Zinfandel
Cranberry sorbet
Quail with Mushroom Ragu and Parsnip Puree
Dates stuffed with pistachio chevre and wrapped in boar prosciutto
with yellow carrots and brussel sprouts
Roessler La Brisa Sonoma Coast 2005 Pinot Noir
Assortment of Cheese
Blueberry preserves, candied ginger, dried mango,
fig cake and bourbon pralines
La Jota Napa Valley 2002 Cabernet Saubignon
Chocolate TrifleSpiced pears, whipped cream and chocolate curls
Alevear Pedro Ximenez Solera 1927 Sherry
Ice Cream
Pear riesling, Kentucky bourbon eggnog, Cayenne chocolate
Niepoort Porto 10 year tawny
Saturday DH shopped while I set up everything. Shopping was about 4.5hours and I set up all plates upstairs (with labels for what would be served) and did wine, silver and glassware downstairs near the table. Printed menus and set the table. We made some of the basics that night (stock, soup, started sauces) and got all ingredients organized.
Sunday was the major cooking day. Started around 9 and finished about 6.
Monday wasn't too bad. Finished things. Made second version of ravioli (first dough was rolled out too thin) which was annoying. Cannolis gave me some trouble as the original dough recipe was horrible - they kept falling apart in the oil. I ended up using the remaining pizza dough, brushing it with olive oil and salt and that worked surprisingly well.
People arrived at 7 and we did Rose champagne and pate in the kitchen. These people were serious about the drinking - we went through TWO bottles. I had expected to just pour everyone one small glass for this.
Sat down to dinner and it went really well. Courses were spread out so that DH had time to prep everything. One friend helped set up and serve as he always does. Oh, and we finally bought serving trays to carry things up and down and that really made a difference. I don't know why we never thought of that before. Food was amazing. I think the cannoli was my favorite. But the ravioli was really incredible too so it is hard to decide. We had purchased two bottles per course and oh my, were people finishing them. At various times we had people relaxing on couches, etc between courses. No clue where that came from as no one has ever done that before! But we all rallied and finished. I went to be about 1, before we had gotten to the ice cream so I still need to try that.
The clean up. Ugh. 10 glasses, 10 plates, 10 utenils per course to hand wash plus all the last minute prep dishes. I ran the dishwasher pretty much constantly all weekend to clean up but my son is back now (he was at Grandma's) so clean up is not going well. We'll tackle it this weekend when dad is home too.
All in all, very worth it, very enjoyable and just really yummy food.