Runner Ups to the Birthday Feast

Here are a couple other recipes I have considered before the big night last Sunday.

Onion Soup  à la Beurre Noisette

I have always loved onion soups, especially French onion soups.  It did not take much to convince me to try Lucy Waverman's onion soup.

Like Lucy said, it is the modern twist of the classic soup, inspired by the version from a bistro Parisien.  I loved the idea of the toasted chorizo but i did miss the onion bits after it was pureed.  The flavour was definitely right on but was a bit heavy for the Birthday feast I was planning.

I cannot wait to try a version without the puree and see how that turns out.  

Clams with Linguini in A White Wine Sauce

Here is another version of clams and linguini.  Again from the same cookbook, I have to say this may be a better recipe than the one from Martha Stewart. (See Mollusks from May 2012) One thing for sure I was able to see if the clams are cooked, one at a time in an open pot.  There were about 4 that refused to open at the bitter end.  I also added some canned clam meat to the mix to top up the protein quotient.

http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?language=EN&recipeType=1&action=recipe&recipeID=4041

The link is a very similar recipe by Waverman that replaced cherry tomatoes with onions.  This dish did not make the cut because I thought it was not special enough.

For improvements, more garlic and chili next time, with both tomatoes and onions.

Soup 7.5/10
Clams 8.5/10

A Birthday Feast

Even though it seems I have not posted much lately, I had actually been very busy testing new recipes for a very special dinner last Sunday.

My father, my sister and myself were all born in September, it has been a tradition that we celebrate together with a big fancy dinner.  Instead of eating out, I was nominated to host everyone for a change this year.  I was thrilled to try more new recipes and I gladly obliged.

The evening began with a charcuterie plate from Pasquale bros. with prosciutto, spicy sausages, gruyere, brie and fig cream.  I cannot take credit for it since I did not make any of those but they were all undoubtedly very appertizing.

Scallops and Spinach with Tarragon and Orange Sauce

I tested this recipe on a weeknight and thought it was very straightforward, like other recipes I have tried from Lucy Waverman's A Year in Lucy's Kitchen. The taste was simple and fresh, albeit not too exciting.  I thought it was a good dish to start the night with.

My second evaluation of the same dish would be slightly blend.  Ideas for next time include adding shitake mushroom slices, or shrimp slices, or caviar etc.

Sweet Corn Soup with Crab Meat

After 2 different soup recipe trials, this is the soup that was finally served.

Although the South African Mealie soup was a great tasting soup, it was too heavy for tonight's menu.  The more brothy Chinese version with home made chicken stock was definitely a good decision.  It was the most successful course for that night, even though it lacks the look of the restaurant version. Mine was more cloudy and not thick enough since I only added half the cornstarch.  There was, however, definitely no MSG!

http://joelens.blogspot.ca/2009/09/mealie-soup-with-crab.html

http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesesouprecipes/r/sweet-corn-soup.htm

Red Snapper with Mango Chili Shrimp Salsa

I chose to serve this as a third course because I could make the salsa ahead of time and red snapper takes minutes to cook.  Also, I had the most amazing red snapper for our final dinner in Lisbon this summer and I was hoping to recreate the experience.

For the trial, I cooked the red snapper on an cast iron skillet and it took over 10 minutes, not 4 as indicated on the recipe.  This past Sunday I chose to cook all 8 fillets on a griddle since we have a modular cooktop but it was still taking a long time.  My dad suggested to flip the fillet and cook on the flesh side as well and that sped things up, well probably too much.  A few of them were overcooked slightly.
Looks like I would need to buy a few more red snapper to perfect the cooking time.

http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/617605

Pork Belly Ssäm with Mustard Seed Sauce

Unless you have been in a cave, you will know that Momofuku is hot.  After making a mark in New York City, it has arrived in Toronto with 3 restaurants at the brand new Shangri-La Hotel.  I happened to have a copy of Chef David Chang's cookbook, and apparently I am not alone.  There are many postings online where us home cooks attempt to reproduce his masterpiece.

If I had read them I may have chosen to alter the cooking temperature to a lower one.  I followed the recipe and the pork belly was burnt on the outside.  I was quite stunned since I have had another experience with pork belly and it turned out perfect. At that point it was too late to restart since the marinating took an overnight.  I removed the burnt parts and soldiered on.

The sauce was a saving grace and do I love sauces especially that day. This one was extra special for the effort in pickling the cucumber and the mustard seed.  A mixture of Dijon mustard and an XXX hot mustard from the best mustard company in the world, Anton Kozlik's Canadian Mustard, was used.  Grilled pork belly with the mustard seed sauce wrapped with fresh Boston lettuce (Ssäm means 'wrap' in Korean) is pure genius.  What a way to end the meal.  Only if they saw the burnt piece of meat that afternoon!  My poor father was so full by that point he had to force himself to have one serving. Well, he does not like pork that much either generally.

http://www.mustardmaker.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Momofuku-David-Chang/dp/030745195X

And that was my first venture into serving a 4-course meal. I would say my choices were good and the timing was acceptable, with the meal served in about 90 minutes. Until next time, and more new recipes!

Scallops 7/10
Soup 8/10
Fish 7/10
Pork 8/10