Halloween Paulée

What, you don't know what la Paulée is? Paulée is a Burgundian celebration (in this case, dinner) around grape harvest time to which guests contribute a memorable bottle of wine (Burgundy, bien sur).

And who else but Tim and Françoise would host such an evening? So it was the traditional BYO plus...Halloween. Don't you love the juxtaposition of kitsch and oenophelia?

Anyhoo, the place was decorated in the most tasteful necromancy....

People--only SOME people--showed up in costumes. Hi, the invitation read "Dress: Halloween!" I guess that meant something orange or brown, and not a costume per se.  Here are some good sports:

We dressed up (I as Little Edie Beale, which no one got;

and G as Don Draper, which was more recognizable). Perhaps next year I'll just do the popular "slutty and obvious" costume. No I won't.

  Françoise could have easily been Betty Draper

I digress. Though we were disappointed that no one really made themselves up (okay, we were more disappointed that *we* made ourselves up),  Tim channeled his inner sommelier with the neck cup thingy and a shiney vest, and made us feel thismuchbetter.

There were tons of great food:

Salmon mousse

Nice cheeses

Françoise's delicious gougères

...speaking of which, here she is working hard on the fantastic...

Beef Bourguignon!

All kinds of desserts showed up, too:

 

 

 

And of course there was the wine (sorry, I didn't get any of the vintages, save for the one Bourdeaux--little help, Tim?). And this was only SOME of what was there...

 

Clos de Vougeot

Nuit-Saint-Georges

 

Clos des Cortons Faivelly

Pommard Rugiene

 Echezeaux

 

Clos de la Roche

 

An old (as in 1990!) Château Climens Sauternes with dessert. Very nice.

We were one of the last ones to leave. Overall, a great time! Thanks once again, Tim and Françoise! Oh, yeah, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Bastille Day - How to Do It Right

Happy belated Bastille Day (it was on the 14th - "le quatorze juillet" in common parlance). I just wanted to pass along this little snippet.

Source

One of my all time favorite bloggers over at Tongue in Cheek wrote about her Bastille Day (she's an American living in France). It was celebrated in a simple, magnificent foodie way:

"Celebrating Bastille Day in the South of France -

The fire was set up with oak wood to grill the sardines. Our friends layered the grill with a bed of thyme, laurel, and rosemary. The dinner was set up outside under the cyprus trees. The table was a cornucopia of provencal goodness: Garden tomatoes, fresh green beans with garlic, and roasted potatoes in lemon and olive oil.

In the near distance, behind the stone wall, the town was celebrating as well, the eve of Bastille day. Later we walked over to the town square, laughter mingled with music filled the space between the square and the stars up above. Families gathered around listening to the band, sipping Pastis, celebrating in unison the eve of Bastille Day.

The baker in his blue checked pants stepped out of the bakery to take part of the merriment, he leaned on the fountain and sent a cloud of flour dust when he clapped his hands. The bartender called over to the waiter to send the baker a drink, the baker shook his head declining the offer, "Do you want burnt baguettes tomorrow?"

The bartender took the dishtowel from his pants and snapped it at him.Over the cobblestones, I jitterbugged in the arms of my husband. Children chased each other weaving amongst those of us dancing. As my dress swirled around my legs to the tune of a French song I do not know but have heard a hundred times before, I caught kaleidoscope glimpses of the crowd.


Simplicity.Celebration.Joy.The band was playing when the church bells struck twelve bringing in the new day like fireworks.

Happy Bastille Day."

Is that not the most beautiful snapshot of a life well-lived?

"Italian Summer"

We had some friends over for a little dinner party this Saturday. I themed it "Italian Summer" as a bit of a nod to our italian foodie honeymoon. This was the first party we hosted after coming back from our vacation, so it seemed appropriate.


The menu consisted of (ostensibly) easy and light dishes including a linguine with a tomato and watercress "raw sauce", a grilled flank steak with fresh basil and lemon pesto, and grilled garlic and parsley artichokes. Easy, in concept; a time consuming mess in reality. I'm speaking primarily of the artichokes (more on those in another post).



We started off with some Prosecco and noshes on the deck. We're not fans of Prosecco. The only thing we considered when we purchased it was that it had to be brut. In terms of wine, we prefer dry over sweet for everything, save for late harvest varieties served with dessert. (So sorry, I didn't really pay attention to the labels.)

Prosecco, prosciutto de Parma, melonPretty flowers that Abby broughtOne of three delicious Italian cheeses Michelle and Graham broughtObligatory crostini and a tapenade I made of pureed sundried tomatoes and olive oilSalty and delicious salumi and grapes

Then we moved it inside. As I tossed the linguini with the cold sauce, everyone watched snippets of the videos Graham took at our wedding.

The table set with flowers from Jonathan; linguini in cold sauceG had previously decanted this 2000 Bordeaux (Chateau Garraud), an inexpensive, but nice "go-to" red that we had several bottles of in the cellar. (Unfortunately, we don't have too many Italian wines.)


As we ate the pasta, G went out and grilled (perfectly, I might add) the flank steak (that I had previously marinated in olive oil, parsley, and garlic) and the time-consuming artichokes.Here's the simple dinner, grilled flank steak and artichoke with a bit of basil and lemon pesto. I used walnuts, rather than pine-nuts, and mixed in grated Parmagiano with a fork after pureeing the other ingredients for a thicker, more textured sauce

Then on to dessert. As many of you know, I do not bake (except macarons), especially in 80-90 degree summer heat. So we opted to serve Ciao Bella brand gelato and sorbetto: Dark chocolate and jalapeno (really delicious, love the complex flavor play); hazelnut (kind of boring, but good); blackberry cabernet (strong cab flavor); and bright lemon (actually had chunks of lemon zest).

We served it in these vintage, cut glass dessert dishes we got from one of my favorite flea market/shabby chic plunder parlors: "Rough and Ready" on 14th street.

We had a great time talking about everything from Michael Jackson, to vegetarianism and

the sustainability of meat consumption; to terroire and the food guides we used on our honeymoon (more on those later); to dating and relationships. Then Graham spilled wine all over the table cloth and broke a glass.

La dolce vita, baby.

The "Bring Whatever Pinot You Got in Your Cellar Party"...(you got a cellar?)

On Sunday, the 5th, we went Deb & Martin's house in Tenleytown. As one of our favorite gallerists, we were eager to see their art collection, which includes some Warhols (not posters, kids, originals)! But beyond being art aficionados, they also love food and wine, and have a cellar to boot. So at their last minute invitation, they convened several couples, all of whom store/cellar great wines and have a great love of food.

On their lovely back patio, we sipped these three Pinot's, all American (as a nod to Independence day), and all pretty good.




I contributed these crab and goat cheese stuffed mushrooms. I had never made them before, and thought, Why not experiment on some people I don't know very well?



Deb put out some lovely little bits, including these heirloom cherry tomatoes (they were so deeply purple in color, I thought they were mini plums)...

...some nice cheese and bread...And then came the main attraction, the swordfish. Tim (of Tim and Francoise fame), helped grill the steaks to absolute perfection. And by perfection, I mean the most tender, delicate, and buttery swordfish I'd ever tasted.

Deb had marinated them in a bit of olive oil and topped the final product with sauteed onions, sage, golden raisins and toasted pine nuts. Francoise remarked that the sage was unexpected with the fish. But its depth, along with the toasted pine nuts, helped to stand up to the strength of the Pinots, I thought!

It was crazy how buttery soft this fish was. Deb attributed it to having been freshly cut (and presumably, caught). Here's to amazing ingredients and fun flavor plays!

She accompanied the fish with this simple and tasty mash of potatoes and butternut squash.

Texture was provided by this lovely green salad topped with pea shoots and a light vinaigrette!

For dessert, we had this wine with some fresh berries and ice cream brought by Tony and Andrea.

Simple and magnificent!!!

Thanks, Deb and Martin!

p.s. You'll note that I got my camera back. (I've missed her so!) Canon has a great service program, by the way!