Part I - Food Prep
Ribeye, the king of steaks! I picked up this beautiful specimen at Harlem Shambles, my local butcher shop. It was cut to order (1 1/2" thick) and sourced from Autumn's Harvest Farms in Romulus NY. Here, you can see I opted to salt and "cure" the steak for a couple days before service.
Leah and I absolutely love bone marrow, though in this case I didn't want to serve it the traditional way. I opted to roast the bones and extract the marrow, then blended it with good butter, shallots, chives, and parsley to make marrow butter.
A "Thai"- style popcorn dish I thought of to pair with a cocktail at the beginning of the meal. The syrup consisted of brown sugar, butter, fish sauce, lime juice and zest, and sambal, which was then tossed with popcorn and peanuts, and baked under low heat.
Prep for lobster bisque, including Jacques vs a cooked lobster (the cooked lobster won).
Heirloom tomatoes and Parmigiano-Reggiano crisps for my tomato course.
Ingredients and final custard for banana soufflé.
After considering many options, I eventually settled on this package of farro as the base for a grain salad. I had never cooked farro before, but it's since become a staple of my pantry.
Ravioli prep - first a traditional ricotta filling, into which I added finely diced asparagus stalks, setting aside the heads for plating. Then I made homemade pasta and filled each with the ricotta mixture, as well as an egg yolk. These were a lot of work, but they came out great!
Final misc. prep - mashing together avocado and lobster tomalley to make "guacamole", and knife prep on cucumbers for cocktails, jalapeño and scallion for uni, chives for tomato salad, and potato slices for one of the lobster courses.
Part II - Dinner
Cocktail & Snacks
"Smoke On the Breeze" - Jalapeño-Infused Blanco Tequila, Mezcal, Cucumber, Lime, Simple Syrup, Orange Bitters
Thai-Style Popcorn - Butter, Fish Sauce, Brown Sugar, Lime, Sambal
Uni Tasting
Olive Oil, Sea Salt
Jalapeño, Pink Lemon, Buttered Marble Rye Toast
Soy, Tabasco, Green Onion
Served with deliciously cheap unfiltered Nigori sake.
Heirloom Tomato Salad
Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisp, Burrata, Minced Chives
Bread Service
Toasted Croissant, Marrow Butter, Maldon Salt
Leah and I love cider, and often bring home a few bottles from Critz Farm in central NY when we visit her parents. I served the tomato course here with Harvest Moon Blissful Moon, a tart, lightly carbonated cider with a light floral honey flavor.
Asparagus Raviolo
Ricotta, Goat Cheese, Egg Yolk, Brown Butter, Lemon, Asparagus
Served with a nice dry Chablis, though Leah didn't like it (this was before she started drinking wine in earnest).
Lobster Four Ways - Part I
"Lobster Roll" - Butter-Poached Knuckle, Griddled Brioche
Lobster Carpaccio - Thinly Sliced Tail, "Guacamole", Pickled Corn
My goal was to play around with reimagined takes on classic lobster preparations. These first two felt rather summer-y, so I paired them with a refreshing bottle of Chimay Cinq Cents.
Lobster Four Ways - Part II
"Surf & Turf" - Lobster Claw, Seared Foie Gras, Crispy Potatoes
Lobster Bisque - Leg Meat, Sour Cream, Osetra Caviar
These two were obviously a bit more decadent, though the beer still went reasonably well, as it cut through some of the richness. That bisque in particular came out pretty amazingly!
Steak
Autumn's Harvest Farms Ribeye, Red Wine Reduction, Grain Salad of Farro, Mustard Vinaigrette, Parsley, and Tarragon
I was thrilled with the result on this steak main course. The meat really paired well with the mustardy grain salad. I originally planned on a Barolo, but (for financial reasons) ended up going with a 2009 Savuto Odoardi, which was still good (and which Leah liked!). Note that this was also before I invested in real wine glasses...
Coconut Ice with Lime Zest
A simple palette cleanser. Before I upgraded to an ice cream machine, I loved making flavored ices like this.
Banana Soufflé
Diced Banana, Chili-Roasted Cashews, Salted Caramel Sauce
My first-ever soufflé! It was nice and airy, with no collapse at all. With this last course we drank more Harvest Moon cider, this time their sweet Maple Moon variety.
Chocolates by DuPont Confections
Peaches & Cream
Bourbon-Smoked Bacon Pecan Pie
Dark Chocolate w/ Cinnamon Chili Spice
I acquired a box of Megan's incredible homemade truffles for a final little bite, along with a glass of Angel's Envy Bourbon.
The Final Menu
