New Year's Dinner

($15 per person)

• Green Salad

Ginger-Macadamia Vinaigrette

• Sliders

Cheddar, Roast Red Pepper & Caramelized Onion Bruschetta

• Parsnip Soup
• Beef Wellington

Potatoes, Puff Pastry, Mushrooms

• Poached Pears

Vanilla Mascarpone

Dinner - Monday, November 30th

So, winding down from the Big Night Italian dinner I'm going to do some more rustic Italian for the next casual dinner. Since my pig heads didn't come on time we will be having that as a carryover from the last meal.

($15 per person)

• Porchetta di Testa

Pig's head cheese cured with garlic, rosemary, thyme, & marjoram Served with capers and pecorino

• Pekin Duck Breast

Endive, Orange, Almond, and Sauce Aigre-doux

• Vanilla Bean-Poached Persimmons

Brioche, Crème Anglaise

Thanksgiving Feast, November 16th

Thanksgiving Formal

Tell your friends there will be lots of food to go around - I can probably serve 15-20 people pretty easily.

• Porchetta di Testa

Pig's head cheese cured with garlic, rosemary, thyme, & marjoram

Served with capers and pecorino

• Pancotto

Bread Soup

• Seafood Risotto

Risotto with Shrimp, scallops & Marinara

• Herb Baked Fish

Which-ever fish looks best at this time of year

Stuffed with parsley, thyme, marjoram, rosemary & garlic - drizzled in olive oil

• Timpano

Baked, stuffed pasta - filled with all the best that Italy has to offer

• Florentine Roast Pork

Pork tenderloin roasted with garlic and rosemary

• Cheese & Salami Board

Three cheeses that won't be found in the other courses

A variety of salamis

• Focaccia Dolce & Coffee
• Tirimisú

This is a tentative menu, I just want everyone to have the heads-up for what's going to be happening. I'm not sure of the price just yet, but with the change of pacing that I just enacted I would say for this sort of feast plan to spend about $40-$50 on food and wine, it's all going to be together and I will get a bit more wine than usual. Plan ahead, bring a friend, have fun - that sort of stuff. I need to know pretty accurately how many people I will be serving otherwise my fridge won't be able to fit all the left-overs.

For those of you who are afraid of the course listings let me demonstrate how they will work: The Porchetta di Testa (since I have to buy a whole head) will be thinly sliced (as in paper thin) and garnished with capers and very small pieces of shaved cheese - you will take what you want from the plate, and no more, the Fritatta will also be quite small - think of it as a Hors d'oeuvre, Seafood risotto will be on a plate and you will take what you need, the fish will come in a similar size to this last dinner, the Timpano is presented as a whole and sliced to desire as is the Florentine roast pork, the deserts will be very small. You will be able to take as small a portion as you want and return for more if you want - these are not formal courses and their overall richness (in other words the amount of fat involved in making them) is not even going to stand up to the past two dinners. Also, you will be able to put nearly all of the savory courses on your plate at one time, so you should be able to draw a good conclusion for how much you need before you start eating.

Dinner - Monday, November 2nd

Because of all the work that I put into the last two dinners (which were nothing less than ridiculous, on all counts) I have decided to take it easy for the next dinner. There will be a new system to the dinners, so once monthly will be a formal dinner - since everyone seems to like the idea of dressing their best, and on the off weeks will be simpler fare and attire.

I have to give a special thanks to The Cheese Cellar for their generous donation of sliced truffles for the Salmon course when they found out that place that I was planning to get whole truffles in fact did not have them; that was definitely a high point in the meal for me.

For this meal there is no vote, I have decided to be a little ridiculous and do:

($11 per person)
• Grilled Cheese & Ham on Brioche

With fresh butter-fried potato chips

• Mac & Cheese

Made with lobster stock and pieces

Garnished with chives and lobster roe

• That's it

Some Previous Courses

Dinner - Monday, October 19th

Option #2

In the spirit of me doing things that I want to do because I can, or at least think that I can - I have sort of bit off a really big chunk of things that I would like to see, and in fact there were so many things that I wanted to see that I wrote two menus both of which are ridiculously exciting sounding to me, involving all sorts of complex techniques and preparations that will take me the better part of a week to do, which might be fun... The menus are a little bit more expensive than usual and I probably over-estimated the costs involved (but don't count on it) - so if I did I will tell you total cost at the dinner, but prepare for the worst. Because of the nature of the preparation for option #2 I will need to know the vote within the next couple of days otherwise I won't be able to get the pigs head in time.

Option #1 ($23 per person)

• Escargot Sur un Champ Vert
• White Truffle Oil-Infused Custards with Black Truffle Ragout
• Carrot Soup
• Soft Polenta with Forest Mushrooms
• Pot-Au-Feu

Braised prime beef short ribs with root vegetables & sauteed marrow

• Indeterminate Cheese
• Nectarine Salad with Green Tomato Confiture & Hazelnut Sabayon

Option #2 ($21 per person)

• Kamumoto Oysters with Blood Orange Aspic
• Seafood Bisque
• Salmon "Chops" with Celery and Black Truffles
• Head to Toe

Head Cheese with sauce gribiche & sweetbread stuffed trotters on green lentils

• Pomegranate Juice with Cloves
• Ashed Chevreaux* with Slow-Roasted Yellow & Red Beets with Red Beet Vinaigrette

*Or suitable substitute

• Cream of Walnut Soup

Dinner - Monday, October 5th

So anyways, while at work one day a fellow of infinite jest came in speaking of how things like cooking where like romance (I don't know about his, but my idea of romance doesn't involve contemptuous hatred...); he also would say things like "I don't care what anyone thinks about -insert some issue-" and then conclude with an: "am I right?" - so after having to listen to him go on in this futile train of thought he asked to have a Burgundy cream sauce with veal and shrimp - to which I immediately thought "he means port - not burgundy" the chef seemed to agree with my and so we made him veal Marsala instead of what he actually asked for and he was none the wiser. The whole point is, though, at some point I thought making a burgundy sauce without cream would be nice." Of course, because the guy wanted prawns with it, I thought doing a little surf-and-turf could be nice, so to not have the burgundy clash with the seafood I switched it to a white wine in my mind instead (so the end result is absolutely in no way similar to what the guy wanted - which is awsome). So my inspiration comes from an ignorant clown (I can only hope that he ends up digging graves and making jests about it like all other good clowns). As we all know, "brevity is the soul of wit," so I will waste no time in getting down to business.

($18 per person)

• Pickled Oysters with Caviar & Cucumber Capellini

Louis Roederer Brut Premier Champagne

• Turnip Soup
• Beef Tenderloin with Prawns & White Bordelaise

Served with Fried Polenta and Oyster Mushrooms

Chateau Picque Caillou 2006, Pessac - Léognan

• Creamy Bleu with Blueberry Confiture

Slightly blue sheeps milk cheese from Leavenworth

Moscato D'Asti

• Pumpkin Ice Cream with Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Dinner - Monday, September 21

So I had even votes for both and it's going to be option #2 because that's how the coin toss landed...

Option #1 ($14)

• Lobster Consomme
• Vegetable & Garlic Soup
• Kamumoto Oyster with Blood Orange Aspic
• French Toast with Turnips & Prunes
• Braised Lamb Leg with Shallots & Garlic
• Roquefort Trifle
• Cranberry Ice Cream with Cinnamon and Pecans

Option #2 ($15)

• Butter Fried apples with Caramelized Onion
• Creamy Maine Lobster Chowder
• Mackeral and Prosciutto
• Almond Crusted Game Birds with Orange Aspic & Mashed Potatoes
• Roquefort Trifle
• Poached apple Pie with Golden Raisin Ice Cream

Dinner - Monday, September 7th

I'll probably get back to letting everyone vote by the next dinner

My Recent Lack of Appreciation for Chicken ($14 per person)

• Vegetable Terrine II

Revenge of Vegetable Terrine

• Grilled Glazed Pineapple Amuse with Sauteed Shallots & Paprika
• Chicken Demi-Glace with Creme Fraiche & Crisp Chicken Skin
• Scallops & Muscles A la Nage
• Linguine with Clams and Chanterelles

Linguine in a creamy clam sauce served in the half shell & garnished with chanterelle mushrooms

• Braised Chicken with Turnips, Yellow Beets, & Carrots
• Roquefort Trifle with Pear Relish
• Peach & Plum Crepes with Sabayon

Dinner - Monday, August 24th

($12 per person)

• Vegetable Terrine
• Roasted Garlic Soup
• Fried 1/2 Shrimp with Apricot & Chili Confiture
• Coq au Vin with Fingerling Potatoes
• "Strawberry Cheesecake"

Fresh, whipped sheep's milk cheese with fresh strawberries, strawberry sauce and biscuit

• Pistachio Pastry Cream with Chocolate Ice Cream

Dinner - Monday, August 10th

Well, I've been doing a fair amount of reading on cheeses (because as I mentioned previously I was annoyed with my inferior knowledge of cheese), and so I think that I am going to attempt a very simple, cheese based dinner. The reasons are twofold (and no, there will be no vote because I can't know what cheeses I will buy until I buy them): Firstly, it's hot out and I want to steer away from cooking (the only cooking will be the bread), and secondly I haven't an over-abundance of energy at the moment due to the heat and the amount that I'm working. So, this dinner will differ from the usual in that I will also be including paired wines within the price (remember serious cheese needs two things - good wine, and amazing bread) instead of in addition to. Cheese is best bought the day that it is used, so I will probably try to get about 8-10 cheeses (or whatever is within a reasonable price), and the price will probably end up being between $15 - $20 (plan on $20), so you won't be able to pay me in advance.

A Tasting of Cheese($15-$20)

• Green salad with fruit and nuts
• Kobiola - 3 milk; Piedmonte, Italy

Le Haut-Lieu Vourvray - France, 2006



• Langres, Campagn Region - France

Venica Romco del Cerò Collio Sauvignon - Italy, 2008



• Pave de Jadis - Goat; Loire Valley, France &
  Comté, AOC - Cow; France

Crémant D'Alsace Bott Geyl



• Abbey de Belloc - Sheep; France &
  Sottocenere with Truffles - Italy

L'Arco Rosso del Veronese



• Pecorino Grand Cru - Italy &
  4yr Parmesan - Italy

Monteraponi Chianti Classico, 2004



• Teleggio - Cow; Lombardy, Italy &
  St. Agur Blue - Cow; France

Cascina del Santuario Moscato D'asti, 2008



• Strawberry and Champagne Terrine

Dinner - Monday, July 27th

Option #2

Option #1 ($16 per person)

• Watermelon Amuse with Twelve Year Balsamic
• Carrot-Ginger Soup
• Avocado "Crespelle" with Crab & Pink Salmon Roe
• Linguine & Chorizo
• Moroccan Lamb with Tabbouleh & Fried Garlic Chips
• Cheese Board

Assortment of cheeses, either young to aged or soft to hard

• Strawberry Shortcake

Option #2 ($15 per person)

• Kiwi Amuse with Pickled Ginger & Black Sesame Seeds
• Cucumber Soup with Lemon Oil
• Terrine of Green Asparagus with Goat Cheese Purée
• Polenta Lasagna with Porcini-Tomato Sauce
• Double Rib Lamb Chop with Cassoulet of Summer Beans & Rosemary

Bielsa Garnacha, viñas viejas - 2008, España

• Cheese board

Saint Cosme, Cotes-du-Rhône - 2007, France

San Andreas Sheep's Milk - USA

Humboldt Fog Goat's Milk - USA

Cave Man Blue Cow's Milk - USA

• Crème de Farina with Poached Apples & Ice Cream

Dinner - Monday, July 13

Option #1 ($11)

• Avocado & Honeydew Soup
• Sweet Corn and Mushroom Agnolletti
• Pork Chops and Potatoes

Seared chops with baked scalloped potatoes and caramelized Onion Jus

Mas de Boislauzon Cotes-du-Rhône - 2006 France

Merryvale Merlot Napa Valley - 2005 USA

Whipped Brie de Meaux Feuilleté
• Oven-Roasted Pineapple with Fried Pastry Cream

Pietro Rinaldi D'Ampess Moscato D'Asti - 2006 Alba, Italy

Option #2 ($13)

• Cream of Watercress Soup
• Pearled Paella
• Lamb Chop with Curry Emulsion
• Chaorce with Plums and Clove Scented Oil
• Lemon Sabayon, Pine Nut Tart and Honeyed Mascarpone Cream

Salad Pictures

The lighting in my kitchen is no good - sorry.

Dinner - Monday, June 29th

As I have said before, when I move I will be requesting the money to be mailed to me postmarked five days in advance of the dinner - and as that is in effect now, the two-thirds mark-up for unexpected visitors will also be in effect. Please send some form of currency to:
Greg Boyer
5570 20th Ave S
Seattle, Wa 98108
Also, I will not have mail forwarded to that address until the 22nd of June so don't send it before then.

prices are based on ten people being present - I am willing to cook for up to twelve at this juncture so if you would like to invite someone and let me know ahead of time, feel free.

Option #1 ($14)

• Caesar Salad

Crostini with Parmesan spread and salad

• Fava Bean Soup
• Pollo al'Arancia

Chicken with an orange-cream (barely) sauce served with polenta

• Parmigiano Reggiano with Porcini Oil & Honey
• Fried Mango and Ice cream

Vanilla ice cream on fried mango with porcini-truffle oil and twelve year old balsamic

Option #2 ($15.50)

• Amuse Bouche

Mushroom Stuffed Breads

Olive Stuffed Breads

Court Bouillon Poached Shrimp with Avocado Salsa

Courgette Croquettes

• Gazpacho Shots
• Roasted Aubergine

Eggplant stuffed with sausage, sweet bell peppers & rice

• Creamed Chevre

Drizzled with honey and Balsamic Reduction

• "Banana Split"

Bananas with roasted figs and Mascarpone sorbet drizzled with apple-pomegranate reduction

Monday, June 15th

A Summer listing ($12)

• Purée of English Pea Soup with White Truffle Oil and Parmesan Crisps

Served cold

• Salad of: Tomatoes, Avocado, Asparagus, Scapes, Cilantro, Balsamic Reduction and Parsley Oil
• Rib-eye Steaks with Rice and Sautéed Spinach on Sauce Bordelaise
• Salad of Fresh and Candied fruits

Because of my annoyance with the presentation that I've not managed at any of the dinners yet, I feel the need to cut down on the volume of courses and focus a little on how they look. Also I'm feeling lazy - and can't come up with a second listing that isn't particularly contrived feeling to me. Also, additionally, I think that this listing smacks of early summer.

Golden Trout w/Green Lentils

Yes, it's tasty (A recipe from one of my new[!] cookbooks - I haven't tried the salmon because it's not economical for one person to buy). For the sake of the dinner the fish will be filleted because: firstly, the fish doesn't fit comfortably into my largest pan (which is why Charles is all curled up) and secondly because I need the bones and heads and fins to make the Bisque.

Monday, June 1st

Option #1 it is then

Option #1 ($12)

• Seafood Bisque
• Avocado, Shrimp and Arugula Poêlée

Pan fried avocados, shrimp and greens

• Truite au Jambon de Bayonne

Golden trout sautéed with cured ham and served with lentils

• Camembert with Apricots

served with bread

• Vanilla Bean-Roasted Figs with Honey-Vanilla Ice Cream

Option #2 ($18)

• Escargots Sur Un Champ Vert

Snails on a green field of parsley

• Saumon Lardé Au Raifort and La Truffade

Salmon with Bacon and Horseradish and potato cake with cheese and bacon

• Gougères

Cheese puffs

• Fruit Flambé

Option #3 Monday, May 18th

Because I'm feeling compulsive and motivated to get a slight head-start on the next menu, I have come up with the options (yes - now, and forever more there will be options. No, they will not reiterate). Starting now there will be options for a small range of prices (anywhere between $10-$25), you do not need to feel obligated to purchase the whole menu if you think it is out of your price range (if you didn't vote for the menu of choice and don't want to pay the whole price you could attempt to coerce me into preparing only a part of the meal for you at a reduced cost - If I'm feeling generous). So, here are the options:

Option #1 - Cucina Fresca al Italiano ($10)

• Fresh Focaccia and Olive Oil
• Melon con Prosciutto
• Caprese
• Pasta Fresco

Pasta with seasonal vegetables, fresh herbs and fish tossed in olive oil

• Formaggio e Salami
• Torta di Mele all'Olio

Apple cake with olive oil

Option #2 - Tasting of Vegetables ($14)

• Crespelle of Tomato Confit with Sauce of Tomato, Carrot and Ginger

Roasted tomatoes with thyme - coarsely chopped with mozzarella, Parmesan and bay-shrimp rolled in a light crespelle and drizzled with tomato sauce

• Hearts of Palm with Puree of Marrow Beans and Field Greens

This is subject to the availability of the hearts of palm - I do not want to used canned hearts of palm (so it might be something else)

• Roasted Rack of Lamb with Sweet Pepper Confit

Served with Wild Rice

• Corsu Vecchiu with Spiced Carrot Salad and Golden Raisin Puree

Raw sheep's milk cheese aged for 1-6 months

• Chilled, Glazed Fruit and Sabayon

Option #3 - Greg's Tasting Menu ($18)

• Rustic Bread
• Goat Cheese and Shrimp Omelet seasoned with Fines Herbs
• Potato Gnocchi with Sauce Barigoule and Tomato Confit

Potato dumplings with hearts of artichoke and roasted tomato

• Quarter Rabbit Braised in White Wine Marinade

Served with Grilled Belgian Endive and Wild Rice

• Parmigiano-Reggiano Custard with Salad of Celery leaves

Delicate Parmesan flavored custard on toasted crouton with celery leaves tossed in olive oil, garlic and pepper

• "Fruit Pie"

Rhubarb confiture, fresh strawberries and puff pastry "Pie"

So that's the line-up, I'm obviously not letting the price hinder my creativity, so as I said before - if you're not comfortable paying for the whole deal we can probably work something out. There will not always be three choices, but in this case I think that the first option would be an excellent hands-on opportunity for people who are interested in learning the basics of cooking (and I do advocate the quality of simple cooking, there is nothing like fish baked on a bed of herbs - it's that easy). The price still has everything to do with the ingredients - fresh cooking is always the cheapest; the price attached has nothing to do with the quality of the dinner. On the other hand, the more complex and rare the ingredients and procedures, the more intricate the flavor, intensity and end result. There is no 'right' choice as far as I am concerned; I am quite interested in the procedures that will be involved in any of these menus, and will continue to advocate each and every menu that I give you to choose from because I have put [or will when I go shopping (in the case of exclusively fresh cooking)] time, and (believe it or not) considerable effort into coming up with all of these menus. I remind you that while none of the menus will ever be repeated, there will be occurrences of similar items or iterations of items that will come into play in future menus, and I thoroughly hope that when choosing you are torn between all of them.

I am completely dissatisfied with my knowledge of cheeses so starting now I will be offering composed cheese courses as often as I think is reasonable - as I grow more comfortable I might decide that certain menus do not need a cheese course, but for now I feel the need to push what I can learn (remember - this is about me, not you).

In the case of Option #1, if it is chosen it will be cooked by everyone (or as close as we can get to that) as we eat it - it's a learning experience (we will still need to do prep beforehand).

In the case of Option #3 I am not sure what the price of rabbit is, thus the variable price - however I do know that I can get whole rabbits at the place that I buy my meats. Also if they have their heads on I might do a little charcuterie to start the meal.

Dinner - Monday, May 4th - A vote

Option #1 it is. The only question will be the availability of the duck (I know I can buy whole ducks, but that will cost too much).

• Asparagus Crespelle with Balsamella Sauce

A crespelle with chopped asparagus and mascarpone

• Sauteed Pork Tenderloin with Apple Confiture and Risotto alla Paesana e Dragoncello
• Ashed Chevre with Slow-Roasted Beets
• Cream of Blueberry Soup with Vanilla Gelato and Dacquoise

I'll come over at about two o'clock to start prep. We will need to make the Apple Confiture, roast beets, gelato, crepes, and dacquoise - I will make the blueberry soup the night before.

Dinner will start at approximately 7:30.

Some Stuff

Here are two not really random experiments that I was quite happy with. The First:"Polenta Pie" will not look familiar unless you look closely. Then you will note that it is the braised 'veal breast' (actually pork in this case) that we had for dinner on the 22nd. So if the ingredients are unseemly this is a very suitable and tasty way to contain all the broken bits of things and sauces, etc. Even after I let it rest for an hour it was a bit runny, so if you want the recipe and decide to take the easy way out, make sure and let it rest for at least an hour and a half.

The second (and in my opinion better) of the two experiments involved something based on something that I came across while downloading and reading through the daily French Laundry tasting menus. I came across a Bavarois (Bavarian Cream preperation) that took apple relish. I had two apples, so it was my desire to try to make an apple relish - which I thought might be a savory accompaniment for pork. I mistakenly remembered that I had a pint of duck stock in the freezer, however, and so I switched from a relish to a confiture of apple, pinenuts, lemon, lime and ginger - only to realize that I did not in fact have the aforementioned stock. With the vegetable stock that I did have, I made Risotto alla "Paesana," and it worked out pretty fantastically - so that is going to be the option instead of pork that we'll decide on for the Monday dinner.

Dinner - Wednesday, April 22

Because I am loosing a bunch of people to a Monday I think that I will put dinner off till Wednesday

I will switch to Mondays if they are in fact more convenient later (we can try a little preemptive planning...). As far as this goes I presumably get a better average on a Wednesday, so I'm going to have to go with the more favorable numbers. If everyone could get back to me as to the nature of this change relatively quickly, that would be great.

I'm going to be cooking primarily from the French Laundry - with the exception of the dessert; so dinner will be for $10, but there won't be as many courses as you are used to.

• Blini with Black Whitefish Caviar and Confit of Tomato

Yukon Gold Potato Pancakes with caviar and roasted tomato with thyme

• Gazpacho Soup

Cold Tomato Soup

• Braised Cutlets of Veal with Yellow Corn Polenta Cakes, Glazed Vegetables, and Sweet Garlic


• Lemon & Basil Sorbet

Dinner will start at approximately 7:30 - 8:00pm.

Sunday, April 12th

I was going to go to my Grandparent's house for Easter to show them what I've been up to but Grandma was sick- so I just went to my parent's house; that works out since I'm more comfortable cooking in their kitchen than my Grandparent's. Here's the line-up:

• Blini with Black Whitefish Caviar and Confit of Tomato

Potato pancakes with caviar and tomato confit

• Cucumber Soup

A cold cucumber and radish soup with black pepper, orange, and cilantro

• Striped Bass with Sweet Parsnips, Spinach, and Saffron-Vanilla Sauce

Pan seared Striped Bass with spinach balls and Sweet Parsnip Puree set on a saffron-vanilla sauce

• Roasted Rib Steak with Oyster Mushrooms, Pommes Anna, and Bordelaise Sauce

Oven Roasted Rib Steak with Yukon potatoes stuffed with prunes and shallots, topped with Bordelaise sauce and sauteed oyster mushrooms

• Apple Salad with Green Tomato Confiture and Hazelnut Sabayon

In Retrospect: Wednesday March the 25th, Dinner.

It didn't go quite as well as I hoped in spite of everyone saying everything was great, clearly proving that I am my own worst critic. Of course, my first problem is timeliness; I say I'll show up at one, but since I'm not going to work I have a tendency to sleep in too late and not care about being late- that probably won't change any time soon, but on the up side: I always give myself way more time than I need.

Everything went pretty well as far as the preparation was concerned; I had a good enough idea of what needed to be done in what order, so there was no real hold-ups or problems with organization. The big problems were: I didn't drain the fennel quite enough or chop it fine enough so the Sformatto was a bit crumbly and wet, I had the oven about fifty degrees too warm so the roast pork was dry - too dry for forgiveness, garbanzos for the soup weren't tender enough, and the ricotta mentuccia was too dry to absorb the spices - so it was kind of bland; apart from these nitpicks the only downside is that the meal was not in organized courses as much as it was just a smorgasbord with general direction doled out as people arrived, and unless everyone can be there at the start of the dinner that is probably the way that it will stay for a good long time.

I was going to throw the milk that I used to braise the fennel for the Sformatto away but Zhu Zhu is diabolically opposed to wasting anything- no matter the worthlessness of it, so we had even more bread than the double batch of fococcia that I had initially made - and actually the fennel flavor in the milk added quite a nice if not extremely subtle touch to the bread. There was lots of bread, and in spite of the fact that Miki brought one of her friends from work there was still enough to go around quite comfortably.The most unfortunate part of the whole eating experience was that there was just too much happening on the same plate - so it was difficult to focus on a specific 'course' before moving to the next one. Anyways, I remember the risotto and the soup getting the most positive comments. Unfortunately I didn't get photos of all of the finished dishes, and more unfortunatelier, I didn't write this post until nearly two weeks after the fact. All in all, though, it went over rather well in my opinion.

The night didn't actually end until about 3:30 am (which is as it should be as far as I'm concerned, but not quite so much so in everyone else' opinion), as we stuck around to play Puerto Rico and drink very strong coffee and eat cantucci. This coming dinner we'll try to get the dinner over a little earlier so that we don't have to stay up quite so late if the games take a long time.

Tentative Menu for Wednesday, April 8

I need a headcount before I can do anything: contact me.

Menu will be finalized on Monday, when I go shopping

Here's my ideas for course listings for pizzas:

1. Bagna Caôda:

Hot Garlic and Anchovy dip with fresh vegetables and breadsticks

2. Cheese and Mushroom:

Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella and Asiago with Portobello mushrooms, basil, and tomato/truffle/olive oil emulsion

3. Fig Pizza alla salsa di Noci and balsamic reduction:

Figs, Feta cheese, Balsamic vinegar, and walnut sauce

4. Mixed Fruit with Prosciutto:

Grapefruit, sauteed grapes with garlic, pinenuts, Mango con Prosciutto, topped with mint and parsley

5. Dessert Calzone:

Date, Sultana, Apple, Macadamia and spiced crust with apple sauce on the side

The price in the future will be relative to what I'm buying and I will generally bring paired wines which can be purchased by the glass; that taken into consideration - I will no longer ask for the money five days in advance - but I will still require a notice of attendance or the previously mentioned markup will still be in effect.

I'll come over at about one o'clock - like last time, so those able or desirous of helping can. Dinner will start at six o'clock.

Payment Scheme for the Dinner(s)

When the menu's are finalized (On the five days advanced notice) I will come by (to Cydonia at any rate) and pick up the money before I go shopping. Because the menu will be finalized the day of (or before) I pick up the money, and because I will probably go shopping shortly afterwords to give me as much time to prepare in advance as possible - the fee will be non-refundable - so you need to be sure that you can make it at that point. If people want to participate and don't give notice before the five day notice I think that I will enforce a 67% markup on the standard price for the trouble. Remember though, we've got about eight courses listed for $10 or $16.70 if your late - that's still a really good deal; and Chris says that if you don't want to pay that price for it you are tasteless [and vulgar (yes - I will intimidate you into coming)].

If you are out of town [Laura (yes I know who you are), and Chris] or are otherwise unavailable or inconvenient for me to drop by - confer with me via the posts about the dinner in question or my email (greboyer@gmail.com).

Menu for Wednesday, March 25

This post will be updated in the future so please be prepared to refer back to it

This will be the first 'formal' dinner for the Freeway Food Club. At the dinner - since everyone will be together for the first time I will probably make a point on discussing with those involved the regularity and the price of the meals. For now I believe that the following menu will be well within a $10 dollar price range for a party of six:

1. Focaccia
2. Frittata al Formaggio

Cheese Frittata

3. Pasta e ceci

Pasta & Chick Pea soup

4. Risotto alla Paesanna

Risotto with fresh vegetables

5. Arista alla Fiorentina

Florentine Roast Pork

6. Sformato di Finocchi

Fennel Mould

7. Ricotta alla Mentuccia

Ricotta with mint

8. Coffee & Cantucci di Prato

I have made this all happen for 64.98 - so I assumed things were a little cheaper than they were; the price will be brought into question concerning the future.

This is obviously a very Italian listing of courses (which is what I am most comfortable with right now) so they should fit pretty nicely together. Since this club isn't officially started I want to point out that it is an opportunity for people who are both interested in cooking and eating to further their horizons and learn new things - be they cooking procedures or tastes & flavors that you might ordinarily shun. Above all I hope that the experience will be enjoyable and encourage those involved to give input from this point onwards into the courses and cuisines in the future.

Additionally I will be bringing my camera and trying to keep up with what is going on - part of the reason that I want to do this is to allow people to see not only what I am learning but also how I am applying it. After each dinner it will be my intent to post exactly what happened with detailed pictures to fill in all those not involved and make them envious.

For this dinner I will do the prep the night before - there isn't actually that much - and come over early to start preparing it on Wednesday (1 o'clock), with those who are interested/available in helping. Those in attendance are:

• Myself
• Eric
• Laura
• Lowell
• Miki
• Zhu Zhu

Dinner will start at 8:30 pm.

For the sake of Convenience...

Because I am such a considerate and wonderful person - in the future - I will be giving a more detailed run down for how I go about making things, as (and I will make an assumption of a generically good nature here) you probably do not know as well as me what is going on. This will entail detailed how-to pictures or links to other detailed how-to sites as well as longer descriptions and explanations for the preparation of things. Things that I make based on recipes from my current job will not be posted in as great detail as the chef is particular about some of his recipes falling into the public's hands.

Mediteranean Style Ceviche and Creamed Paella

When Chris comes over I sometimes like to do something dramatic with presentation and photography combined. So the time before last that he came over I decided that it would be fun to try to recreate in a different setting the scallop ceviche from work and a creamed paella which ends up being a kind of French take on a Spanish dish (the saffron flavor comes primarily from the sauce which the rice is set on). The first problem was getting all the ingredients and things that I would need to cook this stuff with. The real hard part was me trying to find scallops in the shell - which I didn't. The original idea had been for me to set a slice of scallop in the shell with the appropriate accompaniments (red onion, cilantro, avocado, tomato, red pepper oil, ginger oil/juice, and a balsamic reduction) and to set the shell on a bed of rock salt mixed with aromatic spices and set the small plate that was in inside of a larger plate. Apart from my lack of ability to find shells it turned out pretty well.

I cut up a cedar place mat for the small plate to sit on so it wouldn't slide around and also to lend a little more texture to the picture. I had also cut up a black thatched place mat which Chris and I decided didn't look as nice - so we used it to border the cutting board and it worked exceptionally well for that. This particular ceviche is absolutely packed with flavor. For the shoot I had put two thin slices of scallop on the plates (we shot two different plates since there are two of us and chose the one we both liked the most for the final picture) and when we got to actually eat them the first bite just exploded with flavor, the second bite - not so much. Really if you want to enjoy something like this for all that it's worth you shouldn't prepare more than two small bites, otherwise you end up quite underwhelmed - plan to share.

Following the ceviche was the paella - which was prepared with duck breast, a Brazilian sausage from The Spanish Table, shallots, tomatoes, and copious amounts of parsley leaves and oil (as the border for the saffron sauce) This paella was good. It was really good - but because I tossed it in cream it lost the intensity of flavor that it should have had. The lesson that I learned here is to only apply cream to simple rice dishes - complex dishes like paella don't need the extra that cream can add. My hand slipped when I was getting the saffron out for the sauce, which accounts for its intense yellow color and an almost overpowering flavor - which was something that we had to be careful with when we were eating it, but with a little fresh parsley to garnish it was still one of the richest and most enjoyable meals that I have had in quite a while, and sopping up the extra sauce with some of my fresh made bread was easy to do - even though I knew that I shouldn't eat any more.

The absolutely amazing looking cutting board was crafted specifically for me by dad for Christmas.

Curry - Continued

The following evening I decided to put my curry powder to the real test. I picked up a little bit of lamb and a lot bit of pork (most of which I sliced, bagged and froze) and made a sauce. For the sauce I used:

• olive oil for browning
• Shallot
• butter
• flour
• chicken broth
• white wine vinegar
• lime juice
• leek
• oyster mushroom
• pork loin
• lamb
• salt to taste
• curry powder to taste

I started by browning half a shallot with just a little bit of olive oil; then I added the butter and flour as if to make a roux. With that started I added about a cup of chicken stock, the leeks (sliced thin), the mushrooms, lime, and vinegar. I don't really measure - I do it by feel - so if you've never made gravy or don't have any knowledge of sauces my encouragement is to start with a small quantity and see what you end up with (in most cases for a roux start with a tbls of both butter and flour, if the desired amount of sauce looks thin - add more flour, and don't be afraid to stick your finger in and taste for salt, spice, acidity/vinegar, etc). The amount of mushrooms, leeks, and meat can very based on what amount of bulk you want within the sauce and what you want to pay for in the case of the meat. Reduce the sauce almost to the desired consistency and add the meat - which should be in relatively small chunks - cover and let cook gently until the meat is done and the sauce is at the desired consistency. Serve with rice. The total amount of time I spent cooking this was encapsulated within the amount of time it took for the rice to cook. Here was what my result looked like -

And Now For Something Quite Different

I think that I have eaten curry three times. Once at a place called Cedars which was alright but nothing special - and apparently the servers don't get the tips the management does (just for that I would like to see them put out of business) and the other two times at the Bombay Grill which is good place to go eat food that you have absolutely no idea how to make - but it is definitely not the height of Indian cuisine. Anyways, for the longest time I have been telling myself (and possibly others) that I would one day begin collecting and mixing my own spices and grind my own curry powder. Well? "Can your hearts stand the shocking facts" about somebody who has barely eaten curry - grinding his own?

My foray started at Pike and Western, which is both a good and bad thing. Pike is a good market because I can get a ton of neat stuff that is quite difficult to find elsewhere; it is bad because I will invariably spend more money than I should. The first stop was to get fresh curry leaves which I found at a little store called The Souk which is located next to the first Starbucks Coffee house. After than I went down to the The Spanish Table and picked up some olive oil since I had run out. Next I went to World Spice Merchants where I obtained fenugreek seed & leaf, nigella seed, and green cardamom pods. Finally I went to Market Spice which has not quite as large a selection of spices as World Spice but does boast a dramatic selection of teas and coffees as well as convenient containers for storing things in at reasonable prices - which is what I got. After I was done with Pike I took a short walk down to City Kitchen and picked up a granite mortar and pestle with which to grind my spices. The shopping spree was finally concluded after a visit to The Greenwood Market where I could buy the actual ingredients to use the spices on. Then the fun began.

At home I read several combination's for curry mixes before deciding to just get some stuff out and see what happened. The smell of curry leaves is interesting; not something that I am entirely entranced by like everyone else, I guess. I selected a mixture of: fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, cloves, cinnamon, fennel seeds, coriander, green cardamom, curry leaves, red chili peppers, and cumin. First I toasted everything together in a dry skillet and then I transferred it into the mortar - as you can see. The only question left was how to make use of it. So, it being about 2 o'clock in the morning I just threw some rice into a pot with a liberal amount of the powder and proceeded to fill the entire house with the lingering smell of my curry. When the rice was finished I added in the fenugreek leaf, which is an aromatic that is best added at the end of the dish as a finish lest it lose its qualities in the cooking process. I was relatively impressed with how it turned out, even though I would by no means call it fantastic. The curry was merely a foray into spices that I don't understand yet - and even with my first use I can already generate and idea about the proportion of major and minor flavor factors in future mixes that I would never have thought reasonable previously.

On a brief aside, I made scrambled eggs with tomato, leek and the curry the next morning and it turned out quite well.

A very unhealthy Shepards Pie

For a quantity to serve 5-6 w/accompaniments:

For the Potato Crust:

• 5 potatoes
• Salt to taste
• Fresh white pepper to taste
• 6 Large cloves Garlic in 1/8 in cubes
• 3 tbls butter
• 2-3 tbls Heavy whipping cream
• 4 leaves Sage (minced finely)

This could be done the day before the pie will be served - or started with the stock for the filling and stored in the freezer in a sheet pan until the crust is ready to be shaped. Cold potatoes are easier to work with.

Boil the potatoes till they are just shy of what you think should be done. Pour them into a colander and run cold water over them until they are cooled down (stopping the cooking outright will yield better potatoes in the end so if you want to chill them in an ice bath feel free to do so before working with them) enough to work with. Start by mashing and slowly adding in salt until the potatoes are just under-salted. Saute the garlic in the butter until it is a crisp golden (not brown at all) and incorporate with the potatoes. Add the Pepper to taste, then the cream; the consistency should lean towards drier potatoes but still be rich - as soft mashed potatoes won't hold up in the form of a crust. Finely mix in the Sage and spread out in a sheet pan and reserve in the refrigerator or freezer.

For The Sauce:

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees

for the quick-stock

• 2 tbls Grapeseed Oil or butter
• 1 lb oxtails in 2in pieces

brown the oxtails in the oil in a cast iron pan at medium-high heat until evenly colored - transfer to oven for approximately 2hrs turning the oxtails every 30min to ensure even browning. (You can add beef broth and stew them in that for a while after the browning is complete so that you can drain the fat off - or just use the fat to sweat the mirepoix) Remove the oxtails from the pan and do with them as you wish.

for the mirpoix (3/16 in)

• 2 1/2 Shallots
• 1 celery stalk w/leaves
• 1 large carrot
• 2 apples
• 1 tbls fresh thyme
• 1/2 tbls fresh sage
• 500 ml white wine
• 3 tbls Heavy Whipping Cream
• 2 tbls Calvados
• salt to taste

Add the Shallots, Celery, Carrot, Apples, Thyme, Sage and white wine to the juices in the pan that was used for the oxtails. Cook on medium-high heat until the wine is nearly evaporated and the vegetables are soft - then transfer to a blender. Puree the mixture in the blender until smooth, adding the cream as necessary. When the mixture is blended force as much through a strainer (tamis or chinois) as possible and then mix in the calvados. Taste and then add salt as desired.

For the filling:

• Butter for browning
• 5-6 fresh apples cut into 1/2in wedges
• 1 lb pork tenderloin cut in 1/4in scallopini
• Salt to taste

heat a pan on the stove at medium-high heat and then add the butter. Salt the tenderloin scallops and then brown in the pan - they should not be fully cooked (medium-rare to medium), remove from pan and reserve. Lay the apples in the pan so that they sit and cook evenly (add more butter if necessary) and brown both sides of the slices. Remove them apples when they are evenly browned and reserve.

To complete.

preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heavily butter a 4 quart saucepan and line the side with the reserved mashed potatoes, making sure to leave enough for top layer of the crust. Add a layer of the sauce, then a layer of apples and followed by a layer of the tenderloin. Continue to layer until the pan is full, or you run out of ingredients. Spread the remaining potatoes over the top and back for about 1 1/4 hours until the top of the potatoes are crispy and golden (if they aren't the desired color you can switch the oven to broil and finish them that way).

Let cool for at least one hour. Seriously. Cut and serve with a dry crisp white wine.

"...you'll have to have them all put out after the savoy truffle."

- The Beatles

One of my December experiments was to create a dessert that I like; ie: one which is not to sweet. For this dessert I called upon my impressive repertoire of dessert items that I do like, such as: aged Balsamic vinegar, peppercorns, blackberries, raspberries, 70% cacao Spanish Velour chocolate (still a little too sweet for me), and a Sicilian chocolate of an unlisted cacao content with red chili peppers and sugar granules, I also included whipped cream with a bit of a fortified grenache that goes well with chocolate. The end result was a bit of a smorgasbord that allowed be to try different flavor combination's but was actually kind of annoying to eat. I made a sauce of raspberries, blackberries, wine and sugar and experimented by adding cream to some - which ruins the intensity of the color. I just set pieces of the 70% chocolate in and around this sauce and topped them with my whipped cream mixture. The best way to do this, in retrospect would be to make a layered mousse with the chocolate the cream and the berry sauce and serve it in a wine glass with fresh sugared berries and mint to garnish. Meanwhile on a different area of the plate I crumbled some of the Sicilian chocolate and poured a bit of the Balsamic on top of it and garnished with freshly ground pink pepper - this combination stands alone as truly unique (Thomas Keller uses tellicherry pepper in several of his desserts - which is where I got the idea of combining chocolate and pepper). So the flavors were good, but the application of them needs work.

The Impossibility of Fruit - with a Fruit Reduction...

Back in November the Chef that I work with at Pomodoro was approached about a ten course dinner for a party of fifty on New Year's 2009. He had for the longest time been lending me culinary books and magazines in hopes that I could give him ideas, and so with the advent of this party he turned to me to see what I could come up with. In the next month we probably came up with about twenty different things - several of which were iterations of my initial suggestions when the party was first mentioned - but one idea in particular that I thought was quite interesting he shot down pretty quickly. I had suggested that we do an organized fruit plate with a fruit reduction and a touch of either whipped cream or sorbet. His response was that a fruit reduction with fresh fruit would ruin the fruit because the reduction would be too sweet, moreover the logistics involved for cutting fruit for fifty people and arranging them on the plates and getting them to the people before the fruit oxidized would be a nightmare. I let the matter rest as far as the party was concerned - but when I went home I decided to see if I couldn't come up with a combination that would work, at least on a small scale setting.

For a good combination I needed to make sure that the fruits that I used were not too sweet and to focus on making the reduction as little sweet as possible. The year previous I had made a reduction of pure pomegranate juice with a little lemon (because I thought it would need to be more tart? I was a little naive at the time). It was incredibly tart - to the point that it was all your mind could process. So this time I decided to make a reduction of Pomegranate and Apple juice with a touch of allspice and clove. This made for a deliciously caramel flavored sauce with a touch of tart to balance the sweet. The fruit that I added were Bananas (something that I have never thought of as sweet), pears (apples could be substituted as they go well with caramel), and cranberries. The cranberries were mostly for color, but the sauce didn't clash with them at any rate; the pears went well with the sauce - though they were slightly under-ripe; the bananas were where the true beauty of the combination showed - they were quite possibly the best bananas that I have ever eaten. On top of it all I added a little whipped cream with vanilla to smooth it all out. My conclusion is that one can mix fruit with a fruit reduction if great care is taken into consideration when choosing which flavors to mix. With a little creativity just about anything can be made to work.