No, Thomas Keller was not a guest or the chef cooking at our house if this is what you are thinking.
But it will be no surprise if I tell you that I love to host dinners, cook and try new recipes all the time. In case you had not yet noticed! What about I show you what it is like (you are curious, aren't you?) when I prepare a special diner with friends.
A week ago, P. gave me a new beautiful cookbook by Thomas Keller: its
French Laundry cookbook. I have never had a meal at French Laundry but when you read so much food-related material, it is impossible not to know or feel as if you had already eaten there. Now if there is one cookbook that impresses me, it has to be that one. I had only started to read a few pages and I could already feel the obvious love for food expressed by the chef, Thomas Keller. This book is simply a true celebration of beautiful food, featuring dishes that are not rushed, those that require time and ask for a strong respect for processes and quality ingredients. A pure beauty. A week prior to receiving my birthday gift, I had arranged a diner with friends.
Thought occurring in my head "
thinking thinking!" I decided I would select dishes for my menu from my new cookbook. No matter what.
Lucky that we were, amongst our lovely friends was R. who belongs to the
Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. And do you know what this means when it happens? The wine is going to be excellent, and from Bourgogne. It did not fail. We drank a
Rully "La Perche", Bourgogne 2004 from the Domaine de Belleville, which was a truly lovely white wine.
The challenge in dinner events like this one is for me to remember to take my camera out and pay attention to the pictures I take. Since I was cooking (and drinking wine), I had zillions of things to think about and only took a few shots when I remembered.
Hence, you will notice that the pictures are not the best shots you can hope for, and that
they will not win a prize (as P. would put it!) But they are real of what the evening was like. I hope you enjoy the ride! Thank you Mr Keller for the delicious food you designed. I surely did not equal your talent while making your recipes, but I loved the whole process and learned a ton! And they tasted fabulous.
So here is what our menu was like:
Appetizer:
Cucumber Jelly with Dill, topped with Crab in Mustard Chantilly and Mixed greens with Daikon in Olive Oil, recipe from
French Laundry cookbook.
Gelée de concombre et d'aneth, crabe à la chantilly aromatisée à la moutarde en grains et salade variée avec daïkon arrosé d'huile d'olive, recette tirée du livre from
French Laundry.
Main course:
Red Snapper in Vanilla Green Olive Sauce with Marinated Fennel Salad and Steamed Fingerling Potatoes, recipe adapted from
Starterscookbook (I will talk more about that other loved cookbook in another post).
Vivaneau et sauce à la vanille et aux olives vertes sur lit de salade de fenouil mariné, avec pommes de terre à la vapeur, recette adaptée du livre
Starters.
Dessert:
Shortbread with Fresh Strawberries and Raspberry Sorbet with Cream Vanilla Sauce, recipe from
French Laundry cookbook.
Sablé et fraises marinées, sorbet à la framboise et sauce crème fraîche vanillée, recette tirée du livre
French Laundry.
How comes it can take so long to prepare a meal and it disappears in no time?
31 Comments
N Natalie ·
A Audrey ·
F Framboise ·
A Anita ·
D David ·
A Audrey ·
K Krysten ·
C Choupette ·
A AnneE ·
D David ·
K kat ·
F Fabienne ·
L Lilo ·
A Alhya ·
F fanny ·
M mercotte ·
T The Queer Chef ·
I Ivonne ·
F fjl ·
R rowena ·
B Béa ·
Framboise, mais que oui, avec plaisir! :-) Alors, je passe commande chez toi aussi!
Anita, merci! I cannot wait to hear what you think of the restaurant!!!!
David, thanks a lot. Sure, my plates come from Ligne Roset, which, if you do not know them is a French design company, mostly furniture, but also house accessories. A few places in the US carry their products. You can check their website according to where you live.
Merci, thanks Audrey, Krysten et Choupette!
Anne, merci beaucoup de ton gentil mot!
David, it is a great book indeed. There are so many things I want to try even if some dishes are a bit intimidating. But it is like skiing, if you do not fall, you are no longer learning anything, so....
Thanks Kat and fabienne!
Lilo, tu es trop gentille. Je suis touchee! La reconnaissance que j'ai de mes amis, ma famille et de personnes comme toi par exemple, c'est deja beaucoup pour moi! Mais comme qui dirait, tout est possible, il faut continuer a garder des reves!! Et j'en vis un beau pour le moment!
Althya, ahahh, merci!
Fanny, funny indeed, you and I are close in the Bday dates. I have two other friends on May 2nd! ahah, let me know if you get the book, I think you will enjoy it a lot!
Mercotte, merci bien a toi!
The Queer Chef, thanks a lot. Sweet.
Ivonne, well, you are too nice, I think I have still TONS to learn, especially from chefs like Keller, but it surely is nice to try more elaborate dishes like his. Some are really time-consuming, but rewarding.
Thanks fjl. Not fat at all, no worries ;-) Pretty light actually!
Thanks Rowena. You are very nice!
I iamchanelle ·
D Dianka ·
R relly ·
M maura ·
M MM ·
B bonheursdesophie ·
C clare eats ·
M menus propos ·
M Michel ·
B bron ·