Jacket and Tie Required

I came across  a great site for fantasy feasting yesterday.  It's the James Beard Foundation's website.  In addition to giving out awards, publishing books, and promoting themselves, they offer fancy meals prepared by award-winning chefs from around the country at their NYC headquarters, James Beard's former home-office.

Check out the calendar and browse some of the chef's bios and menus for the night.  It isn't cheap.  $170 per person!  Obviously the dinner is delicious and varied.  I was looking at Chef Jon Vaast's menu for a sit down this coming Monday at 7pm.  First off are four hors d'Oeuvres:

• Roasted Littleneck Clams with Bacon and Duck Fat Beurre Blanc
• Smoked Sunburst Trout Mousse with Trout Caviar on Toasted Brioche
• Caramelized Shallot Custard with Parsnip Foam  [pass]
• Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho Shooters with Micro-Opal Basil and Olive Oil

Next comes the four course dinner itself.

• Soup:  Corn chowder with skillet corn kernels and lovage.
• Salad:  Grilled eggplant with Jalapeño - Tomato fondue, Garlic chips, cheese and Olive oil caviar.
• Fish:  Seared Alaskan king salmon with sugar snap peas, wax beans, artichokes, peaches, garden herbs and a Riesling vinaigrette.
• Meat:  Heritage Pork Duo -- Seared leg meat with braised red cabbage and whole grain mustard-buerre fondue;  and Crispy Pork Belly with poached quail egg, cherry-port demi-glace and summer vegetable medley.

Finally, dessert.  Sweet potato cheesecake with summer berry compote.

The wordage in hilarious IMO.  Lovage is a plant that is used in salads (leaves and/or stems).  It tastes something like celery.  Olive oil caviar?  Do olives have roe?  Re: Seared Alaskan King Salmon: Skip all the veggies, fruit and vinaigrette.  Broil it on a cedar board with a bit of dill butter and S&P.  Alaska king salmon doesn't need all that stuff!  The pork duo sounds really tasty.  But only one quail egg per customer?  Feed me for $170.  And what the heck is a "summer vegetable medley"?  I'm thinking the chef is keeping his options open depending on what looks good at the market that morning.  Hopefully it doesn't translate to Birdseye frozen mixed  vegetables.

But what a well-balanced, promising menu.  And I left out the accompanying  five wines, all from the chef's Connecticut location.

Me? I'm having Hungarian goulash and broccoli tonight.  $3.80 per person.  And a bottle of Pacifico.    bon appetit. 

Broiler at the Inn

Had a half broiler this evening.  It was fantastic since I used  a good rub and paprika and I brined it for about an hour prior to broiling.  It brought back memories of the late '40s / early 50s.  Mom and Dad would occasionally take us to the Spencerport Inn for supper.  Fridays it was fish fry.  No exceptions!  But other nights I'd usually opt for their half broiler.  It was plain and simple; salt and pepper, paprika, and butter.

Good eatin'!   Pre - KFC

It was served with french fries in a red plastic "woven" basket with some wax paper and a couple dill pickle slices.  Why the pickles?  Because I loved em!  The best part was that the bird wasn't too hot and I was allowed to "rip 'n eat".  This was as close as a kid could get to playing with your food without getting yelled at.

I've got to admit it though.  Mine is a lot juicier than theirs.