As we began our annual Holiday Buffet, we
talked about the 9 years we’ve been cooking together and how amazing
it is that we are still doing it and how much we’ve learned! We started with a pot luck dinner on
March 10, 2006, brought a dish that we were most known for and proceeded to
cook our way through Cindy Pawlcyn, Ina Garten, Jose Andrés, Jacque Pepín, Julia
Child, Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Jean Georges Vongerichten, David Kinch, Judy Rodgers and
Joachim Ottolenghi, to name just a few that come to mind.
Our buffet changed course a little from past
traditions and this year we cooked from any of book we’ve used in the past 9
years. Several of us cooked from
the three books from 2014 but we had tastes of Pawlcyn, and Olney as well. As you can see from the menu, the
appetizer/dessert format works well for our Annual Buffet. We are all so versatile now that we
fill in dishes where needed and always have a balanced dinner . . . although it
would be fun to do an all dessert event!
Sharon’s Gougeres
were a far cry from the traditional cheese gougéres that we’ve had in the
past. Hers were packed with
crispy bacon, arugula and pickled onions.
It was a better alternative for a buffet. I always think of the cheese gougéres as more of an amuse
bouche. I’ve been thinking
about altering the recipe someday and use bulgogi style bacon with arugula and
kim chee.
The Hardboiled Eggs
with Olive Tapenade George prepared was
a lesson is simplicity…easy to make and easy to eat! I was expecting more of a deviled egg
kind of dish but this was simply a hardboiled egg, cut in half and topped with
an olive tapenade. This is a good recipe
to remember if you ever have to make something quickly from things you have in
your refrigerator or pantry that results in a neat bite!
David’s Onion Tart was one that I had marked in my Zuni cookbook to try
sometime and even thought about making for our buffet. The rough pastry crust was the
highlight of this dish . . . it was flakey, light and baked to perfection…no
soggy parts here! The cherry
tomatoes were a nice surprise from the usual onion tarts we’ve had in the
past. David made it even easier on
himself by using a rough pastry that he’d made in the past and had in his freezer. Another item to have in the freezer
when a quick appetizer is needed.
All of these dishes went well with the magnum of nv Piper-Heidsieck Champagne that Bill
brought to whet our taste buds as we waited for everyone to arrive, as well as
drink with our savory dishes. We
also started opening other bottles that David shared from his cellar: 2011
Domaine Saumaize Michele La Roche Macon-Vergisson white Burgundy and a 2012 Savigny-les-Beaune 1er Cru Les
Narbantons red Burgundy. Bill
opened another bottle in case anyone wanted a California red wine, 2008 The Sum (primarily cabernet
sauvignon), from Tuck Beckstoffer Wines
in Oakville. For our buffets we
don’t pair wines but bring an assortment that will go with a variety of
dishes. Between the cellars in our
group, we never go thirsty!
Michelle made a Roasted
Cauliflower and Hazelnut Salad after she noticed that no one was preparing
a vegetable dish. A great example
of how we create a balanced menu! It
was the perfect salad for the mock porchetta sandwiches. It was a hearty salad filled with
roasted cauliflower that had been chopped up into small bites with Italian parsley,
roasted hazelnuts, accented with pomegranate seeds and just a hint of sweetness
from the maple syrup that was added to the sherry vinegar. Good pick, Michelle!
The Mock Porchetta
was the highlight of the buffet.
These roasts were rolled with the herbs and seasonings of a real
porchetta. The reason it’s called a “mock” porchetta is because it is
not the whole pig but shoulder roasts that are rolled and tied into a roll with
the seasonings sprinkled inside. Annie
said she doubled the seasonings and it’s a good tip to remember if you make
this roast because the flavors were reminiscent of the porchetta sandwiches
Bill & I have had in Italy.
She often serves it with polenta instead of inside sandwiches. I’ve tried this recipe and it never
disappoints. Note: Annie said there are some
Roti Roli’s that prepare mock porchetta,(none
in South Bay area---go to SF Ferry Blg., Thurs. & Sat.).
The Latke’s I made were a disaster in my kitchen. I just could not get them to
stick together following the recipe so I finally added an egg yolk to the 5 egg
whites that the recipe called for and they finally clumped. I divided my shredded potatoes with
parsnips into two batches. The
first batch ended up in my kitchen scrap recycle bin…sad. But I nibbled on the pieces of the
savory latke’s before dumping them into the bin and, boy, were they yummy! These latkes had Yukon Gold potatoes, parsnips and 4 bunches of chopped chives and were so crispy, savory and divine, I was disappointed not to be able to share them. I’m thinking of a larger grate
next time and adding 1-2 whole eggs to 3-4 egg whites to see how they come
out. The second batch was sans chives
and salt and closer to a regular latke even though they did still have the
parsnips. Because I added the egg
yolk to this batch, a few made it to the table, served with salmon roe, sour
cream, apple sauce & casting sugar. David said that they are never served with salmon roe
on Jewish tables; smoked salmon but not salmon roe BUT, I liked the roe with
them!
We had our usual break between savory and sweet and opened
our white elephant gifts, which were hilariously similar this year. There were a few fights but everyone
ended up with pretty nice gifts. A
few of them were homemade goodies and others either followed the crowing coq
theme and two of them were splatter screens! There must have been a lot of frying going on this year.
We also selected our books for next year so mark your
calendars. On March 7, Bill & I will host the dinner and we’ll be cooking from any of
Charlie Trotters books (David & Michelle have 4 of them and have offered to
lend them out) and I am sure your local library has them as well. And, many of his recipes are online. On
June 6, we are cooking from David Lebovitz’ My Paris Kitchen, and doing a
bit of traveling to Brentwood, CA to dine at Sandi & Willie’s home. Please note: it will be a brunch so we won’t have to
drive home after dark. Details to
follow. The third dinner will be
on September 5 and will either be at
Janis’ or Sharon/Sukie’s home and they haven’t decided on a book yet. Tartine Bakery’s book has been
mentioned but they will let us know what they've decided at our June 6 brunch. Our annual buffet will be again on December 12, at Annie &
George’s.
After our business was concluded, we had two main dessert
dishes. Janis surprised us (because she usually makes a salad or vegetable dish) with a Walnut Gateau from Richard Olney that I
loved! I didn’t hear any
complaints from anyone else either.
It was iced with crème fraiche, dotted with whole walnuts. The recipe called for just a “dollop”
of crème fraiche but she decided to spread it over the top. The gateau was moist, not too sweet and filled with chopped
walnuts, my favorite nut! We were offered a choice of a
1983 Van Zellers Port for the Walnut Gateau or a 1999 Chateau Rieussec
Sauternes with Mixed Berry
Pavlova from the Barefoot Contessa.
The meringue suffered from the high humidity of the stormy weather we’ve
been having but the pavlova was heavenly!
What’s not to like about whipped cream, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and a
sweetened meringue? We continued
with our catch-up chats while savoring our dinner and sipping on the Sauternes.
I made some ChocolateSandwich Cookies with Peppermint Buttercream Cookies and although they weren’t from any cookbook we’ve had, I felt so bad about
my failed Latke’s I brought them to share. I love them and they are easy to make. If you click on the cookie name, it
will take you to the recipe that I used.
Before we left for home, Michelle offered everyone a handful
of Manresa’s Salted Caramels and
Sandi gave everyone a decorated frosted Chocolate
Star Cookie. As we drove home,
I am sure we all savored our meal and the friendships we’ve developed over the
last 9 years.
People who cook together, stay together!
Cook on!
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