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Sunday, May 30, 2010

a fabulous french night





I greeted the guests with an apertif called a Kir Royal (champagne with a splash of Creme de Cassis). There were eight table guests and of course me as the cook...host, etc.  It was bit experimental doing it this way, but thought it worked well as I could focus more on the food and just allow the guests to chat amongst themselves.
The started was served in the lounge room, which I thought a comfortable place for people to begin chatting and enjoying the fun of fondue (Fondue de Fromage), which I served with bread, roasted potatoes and lightly steamed broccoli. It was a recipe out of a french cookbook, which I even attemped to make the night before as a practice round.  Round two was not much better as I was not really that happy with the consistancy ,but the taste was still good and the guests seemed to dig in.  I will definitely try a different recipe next time!


As for the main, 'Pot au feu' this was my big challenge... cooking beef for pretty much the first time (I don't actually eat beef myself). The idea of the recipe was to slowly cook the short ribs in red wine, beef broth and herbs for a few hours, then add the root vegetables to cook the last hour. It is pretty much like a stew, the dish is then served with cornichons(baby gherkins), mustard and course salt.   I think maybe it would have been good to somehow make the sauce a bit thicker, but from what I could tell the guests seem to enjoy this rustic and hearty dish.  ( I even sampled it myself and found the beef very soft and easy to chew.)


As per usual the dessert was my favorite, I did another dessert trio which included:

Crème Brûlée
Gâteaux Meringués
Tarte aux Pommes Feuilletée

The creme brulee was definitely the best I have ever made...the recipe was perfect (I will put it up later)!  The Gâteaux Meringués were basically little meringue cakes filled with a whipped chocolate ganache and then a layer of smooth ganach on top. I must say my husband was extremely thrilled with this dessert, I was encouraged.  It was definitely the more time consuming dessert, but seemed to be worth it.  The third dessert was a simple apple pastry served with a dollop of chantilly cream (whipped cream with vanilla and sugar).
What a fabulous night indeed, I was delighted and very pleased! The conversations were fun and interesting with a variety of people at the dinner table .  The clanking of dishes, the constant chatter and smell of good food warmed my soul, I just hope everyone else felt the same way.  My brain is already spinning with ideas for the next   Tablenosh...so stay tuned and book your seat fast!

3 comments:

John said...

Are there any leftovers?

Thora said...

that desert trio looks wonderful! good job lovely....

Pete said...

Can you let me know when the next one is on, so Auds and I can come?

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