Weekend Culinary Extravaganza

This weekend I cooked, along with David and Sara; two friends from culinary school, for a total of 8 people. It was wonderfully intense and those served were as thankful to us as we were to them for facilitating a weekend culinary extravaganza. The setting was a small cabin in upstate new hampshire. The house was old and we were the first to arrive. Cell phones didn't work and the basement was very creepy and had a hidden boarded off room - altogether something out of a teen horror film. Fortunately the only horror was the storebought chicken broth that fouled (pardon the pun) our roasted garlic-potato soup up something awful - that and the lack of roasted garlic. Altogether a fantastic time. It was extremely nice to get off campus with some good people and drink my brains out.

The sheer epicurean delight is enough to make your head spin. Armed with all-clad, school issued knives, chicken and veal glace and all the ambition of eager young culinary students, we banged out the menu that follows:

Friday

Turkey at Midnight
Whole roasted turkey, green and wax beans, mashed potatoes, turkey demi-glace


Saturday
BREAKFAST

Eggs Mornay
Scrambled eggs, sauteed cremini mushrooms and yellow squash, white-cheddar mornay sauce


LUNCH

Turkey Sandwich
Toasted grain bread, roasted dark meat turkey, crispy bacon, arugula, turkey-mayonnaise


DINNER

Lobster Wonton Soup
Sesame-seared lobster dumplings, rich lobster broth

Greek Salad
Romaine mixed greens, feta cheese, kalamata olives, red wine vinaigrette, sliced purple onion

Cumin-spiced Leg of Lamb
Spicy lamb jus, tzatziki sauce, creamed spinach

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Vanilla ice cream, amaretto whipped cream


Sunday
BREAKFAST

Lamb and Eggs
Leg of lamb topped with poached egg, basil oil

Mimosas


LUNCH

Cream of Asparagus Soup
garnished with blanched asparagus tips


DINNER

Classic Caeser Salad
Spicy anchovy dressing, garlic croutons, pecorino romano cheese

Lasagna Bolognese
sliced mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce, ground lamb, pecorino romano, bechamel

Garlic Bread


Did I mention there was TONS of alcohol? There was no desert on sunday night and if there was, no one would've been able to eat it. We made off like bandits monday morning, leaving our hosts burried under a mountain of beer cans. Sara's salad dressings are amazing. The turkey demi was AWESOME, made with equal parts turkey jus reduction and veal glace. The demi was later added to a homemade mayonnaise to make the turkey mayo. It was quite an anarchistic recipe but David is a true anarchist, so it worked well. The lobster was a last minute addition to an already greek menu which is why it looks a little strange, but turned out to be my favorite. I'm very fortunate to have been able to cook so much great food. Thanks Sara and David!