Conference turris::cooks

    This menu is loaded with calories...with the exception of shrimp stuck
    in the pineaple. I would serve this only on very special ocassion with
    lots of time to kill during the meal.
    
    I would like to see well balanced meals that can be served on a daily
    basis that would include nice presentation, simple to make and
    nutritious but as low in calories as possible... (I avoid colesterol
    and calories as much as I can...)
     My version of everyday meal:
    
    Onion soup, grilled
    Chicken breasts, grilled, served with green beans, sauteed in
    garlic/butter and baby pototoes,
    Green salad with low calorie homemade vinagrette
    Fresh fruit meddley (with a bit of brandy over it)
    
    London broil, (marinated in garlic/rosemary/soy dressing)
    Baked potatoe,
    sauteed mushrooms
    Romaine lettuce salad
    Rice pudding or baked whole apple with mapple syrup
    
    Winter fare:
    Lentil soup with chourico (Portuguese sausage)
    Spinach/mushroom/onion salad with croutons
    Apple pie, (but I preffer fruit salad with yogurt dressing)
    
    A good bottle of Rioja wine, red
    Large Spanish paella (combination seafood and chicken)
    Good green salad,
    Flan, followed by expresso coffe and brandy
      (I've served this many times and get 100% customer satisfaction...)

    My favorite
    
    microwaved whole chicken, stuffed or unstuffed.  I remove all skin and
    visible fat before cooking, and cook in a covered dish that has a vent
    in the top.  Takes 20-30 minutes unstuffed, add about 10 minutes
    stuffed
    
    Tossed salad with lots of goodies (tomato, cuke, carrots, radishes,
    celery, a few olives, peppers of various hues, etc, in addition to
    the lettuce(s))
    
    Baked or mashed potato if the chicken is not stuffed
    
    Green beans with almond slivers
    
    Gravy, made from defatted chicken drippings and a tad of sherry
    and some lowfat milk
    
    Dessert?  You want more?  How about some icemilk or fruit or your
    favorite recipe.
    
    This meal is pretty balanced, very low in fat, and you can make it
    on a weekday if you defat the chicken the evening before - it only
    will take about 30-45 minutes to get on the table.
    
    --Louise

    this is simple compared to the rest of the replies but its fast and
    easy.  
    
    slit chestnuts before quests come and put in oven when they arrive.
    
    prepare the soup the day before for the best flavor.  that is
    great because you can just warm it up in a microwave when you put the
    cheese on to melt. 
    
    make the salad an hour before quests arrive so its ready early.
    
    bread your veal and keep in frig until ready to sautee.
    
    boil rav's while veal is baking in oven.
    
    
    sunday dinner for close friends:
    
    roasted chestnuts with beer and kalhua sombero's
    apple onion soup with melted cheese and italian bread
    green leaf salad w/cukes (peeled), tomatoes, red onion, olives, and
     grated mozzerella cheese.  served with a vinagrette.
    veal parmignana
    fresh cheese ravioli's with a bit of sauce and more grated parm cheese
    chocolate walnut brownies (if you must, we didn't have room)
    
    
    enjoy.  we made this sunday for dinner and plan to make it again soon
    for friends.
    
    cj

    I made this last year for a special dinner the week before Christmas.
    -------------
    Cheese and crackers
    
    Tossed salad with croutons and home made dressing
    
    Warm cider with cinamon
    ------------
    Roast Duck with orange glaze (1/2 duck per person)
    
    Bread stuffing
    
    Small whole Carrots (steamed)
    
    Broccoli (just the tops) (steamed)
    
    Rice Pilaf or Wild Rice (I forget which one I used)
    
    White Zinfindel
    ------------------
    
    Angel food cake (baked in a bundt pan - it gives it a nice shape)
    covered with freshly whipped cream.  Five or six whole strawberries -
    placed upside down on the top and five or six strawberries cut in half
    lined along the bottom of the cake and pushed lightly into the whipped 
    cream (just enough to keep them from falling away from the cake.)
    
    
    Coffee and Tea
    
    
    

    
      Here's the menu I cooked up for my birthday this past weekend,
    
    
    	1/2 dozen Escargot
     	1982 Alsacian Gewurztraminer
    
    	Bouillabaisse a la Mike
    	1987 Bandol Rose
    
    	Warm Chevre <goat's milk> Cheese with a Green
        Salad.
    	1973 Graves Rouge
    
    	Pear and Almond Tarte
    	86 Late harvest Riesling
    
    	Cafe or Tea and Digestifs
    
    
    	Hey it was my birthday!!! ;-)
    
    
    	-mike
    
    

    
    
     Rep .6 
    
      If you can't cook for yourself who can you cook for??? and besides
    I'm the best cook I know!!! ;-)
    
    
    .6> no seriously, why so many different types of wines?
    
	Because each course was different and required a different wine
       to be enjoyed to the fullest. The gewurztraminer in the first
       course played well off the garlic butter and richness of the
       escargot. The Bandol rose is from the area between Nice and
       Marseilles and I like to match local wines with local tastes.
       The cheese course needed a red wine to have the best food and
       wine match and neither the rose or white would have cut it.
       Finally the dessert course needed a sweet wine again to have
       the food and wine match. You match sweet with sweet and since 
       all of the preceding wines were dry I needed a sweet one.
       BTW there were eight people at the dinner so nobody really had
       more than one glass each so nobody gets the idea I drank all
       of the wines with just two people. Even though it might have been
       nice to try. ;-)
    
         I like trying different food and wine matches. I lived in France
       for three years and got use the idea that wine is a beverage and
       not that demon alcohol. I think I have ratholed this topic enough
       maybe we should start a food and wine matching note.
    
    
       -mike
    
        ps: right now I'm planning my christmas menu and it's probably
            going to be seven courses which means six or seven wine and
            food matches I'll fun figuring out.
    
    
    

    My family's traditional Jewish Holiday meal is my favorite.
    
    Most of the time we start with a cheap bottle of Manishevitz
    Concord grape and a very fresh Challah.
    
    Three appetizers:
                                                          
        Gfilta Fish served with carrots and Horseradish (the hotter the better)
    
        Chopped chicken livers on a bed of lettuce with tomatoe slices
    	    (this goes well with the Challah)
    
        Chicken Soup with either Kreplache or Matzah Knadle
    
    Main Meal:
    
        Stuffed veal pocket (my ablsoute favorite)
    
        Chicken from the soup cooked in a ketchup sauce with onion
    
    
    Side Dishes:
    
    	Tsimas with Flour Knadle
    
    	Peas
    
    	Mashed Potatoes
    
    Desert:
    
    	A selection of cakes:  Usually Sponge cake, Honey-spice cake, and jelly roll
    
Glossary:
    Gfilta fish - three kinds of white fish ground up and formed into balls
                  and cooked
    
    Kreplache   - Like a meat ravioli but made with flanken
    
    Knadle      - A dumpling.
    
    Tsimis      - Usually sweet, is made with carrots, sweet potatoes,
                  brown sugar.  It is baked (covered) for hours to get soft
                  and delicious.
                                          

    Beth... here is the LENTIL recipe... I fed it to my kids at least once a 
    week because of its richness in iron and other minerals besides
    carbohidrates...
    
    1 package lentils, rinsed
    1 large onion
    a few gloves garlic
    1/3 cup oil
    1 medium green pepper
    1 medium tomato
    3 bay leaves
    chourico sausage, cut in slices (about 1/2 lb is fine)
    
    Cook the onion and green pepper in oil till begins to brown, add
    garlic, minced, and when start to brown add tomato, all cut up.
    Add chourico and cook a few minutes, then, add about a quart of hot
    water, let it boil and add lentils, add bay leaves, cover pot and let
    cook for about 45 minutes or till tender.  Stir from time to time to
    make sure it won't stick to the bottom, check and add salt and pepper
    to taste.  It should have a fairly thick consistency, between soup and
    stew.  (add more hot water if needed)
    
    This is an extremely healthy food, I gave it to my babies omiting
    sausage and passig the stew through a blender... all mi kids ate normal
    adult food since they were a few months old and none of them ever ate baby
    food unless we travelled and no other type was available...
    
    

    
      Rep .13
    
      <sorry I'm already married ;-) >
    
      The way I prepare the chevre is quite simple, first you need some
     ovenproof dishes. I have some nice ones I picked up in France with
     little handles but you could custard cups. Then slice the chevre
     into serving size pieces <if you are using the log shaped chevre
     use two 1/4 inch slices, if you are using the round shape slice in
     quarters then sliced in half.>
    
      Place the pieces in the dishes and drizzle about 1/2 tsp of good
     olive oil over the top of the cheese. Then sprinkle some herbs de
     provence <or mixed Italian herbs> over the chevre. Then bake in a
     375f oven for about 10 minutes or until the cheese just starts to
     melt down. I served the chevre with a green salad on the side and
     sliced crusty bread. 
    
      I found the chevre from Westfield Farms in Hubburtson <sp?>, Ma to
     be excellent. Most of the chevre you see around here in the Northeast
     from France is toooo salty and not very good. There is also some
     good ones from a place in Vermont but I can't remember the name.
     The chevre from Westfield Farms is sold under the name of Capri.
    
    
    -mike
    

    
    
      Rep .12
    
      The usual seven course meal has two appetizer course, then a fish
     course, after which the entree, then a cheese course, and then two
     finish two dessert courses. So for this type of meal/pigout you
     need to plan small serving sizes but interesting food. You also need
     courses that don't repeat major ingredients ie; you wouldn't want
     to have fish for the entree for instance. Then you need courses that
     compliment each other and don't clash ie; you don't want a course
     with a light cream sauce followed by one of megaton chilis. After
     which you have to make sure the wines/beverages you plan with each
     course compliment each also. This is no easy task but I enjoy it
     and it does take alot of planning. I usually do all of cooking and
     cleaning up <I detest a dirty kitchen/work area> so that has to
     figure into the mix also. Along with preparation time so I get to
     enjoy the meal and share time with my guests. Here's my current menu
     plan, <of course subject to change without notice!!!>
    
    
    	Kir Royale  as an aperitif
    
    	Oysters Kilpatrick <rose>
    
	Pate a la maison  <white wine>
    
        Steamed Sole with Leeks and white wine in 
    	a curried cream sauce  <another white wine>
    
    	Sorbert au Thyme  <to cleanse the palate>
    
    	Magret du Canard, Potatoes gratinee, and 
        steamed green veggie.  <red wine>
    
    	Plateau de Fromage   <another red wine>
    
    	Tarte Tatin <the classic French apple tart> <sweet white wine>
    
    	Another undecided dessert <probably the same sweet wine>
    
     
    
     hope this helps,
    
     -mike
     

Of course, to really be "classic", a salad would be served after the entree
and before the sorbet....8^}

seriously, marvel of a menu...and I have often toyed with a full 7 courses 
for a dinner party myself, but I whimp out and do a more "Americanized" 
version with:

	1 appetizer	- a refreshing wedge of tomato aspic served with
			  chilled, steamed baby shrimp, celery slices,
			  cucumber slices on a bed of tender bib lettuce.
			  A dressing/dip of either a light lemon-olive oil 
			  dressing or a creamy herbed yoghurt dressing is
			  available.  Lemon wedges for the
			  shrimp are highly recommended by the chef, but
			  the diner is always right and they always seem
			  to prefer the heavier dressings.  I do the lemon.
	1 entree	- so many to choose from...I think I prefer a stuffed
			  crown pork roast basted with port and served with a
			  side sweet dish of prunes in port; roasted baby new
			  potatos; steamed baby french carrots and baby whole
			  zuchini squash in herb butter.

	  salad		- assorted greens in a very light dijon vinegarette
	  sorbet	- a brisk lemon-tarragon or lime-parsley freshener
	  cheese	- an assortment of ripe dessert cheeses, pears,
			  apples and grapes (when available off the local
			  vines - organic)
	1 dessert	- generally a clafouti or tart, sometimes a chocolate
			  or white chocolate mousse, or fresh fruit in fruit
			  liqueur-flavored syrup over vanilla ice cream

of course, my wine offerings are severely limited because of my allergies...
I refuse to serve what I cannot taste and verify is acceptable ....so I
generally leave the wine list up to my friends after I have created the menu.
I figure if they like it, the wine is fine.  Now, when you start talking
about a Beef based menu....

    
    
     Rep .17
    
      I have about 450 bottles in my wine cellar right now but it has
     giant swings depending on my mood.  :-)
    
     Rep .19
    
      Magret du Canard, is duck breast. The only problem here in the US
     is you have to buy the entire duck. In France you can buy duck pieces
     the same way you buy chicken/turkey pieces here. I've had a few good
     chevres from the cheese shop in Concord but you really need to use
     a chevre frais <fresh> for the dish I described. While I LOVE aged
     chevre it doesn't cut it warmed. I just wish I could get a good
     crotin <aged chevre> in this country. What a completely uncivilized
     place no magret du canard or crotin. ;-)
    
    Rep .20
    
      Your menu sounds interesting. I love crown roast of pork and my 
     favorite stuffing is wild rice with pecan pieces and dried cherries.
     In France the sorbet is served between the fish course and entree.
     I have never seen it served between th entree and cheese courses. 
     The salad is assumed with the cheese course in my menu. 
    
    
     -mike                                
    

    o.k. this may be alittle off but does anyone have any suggestions for a
    complete christmas dinner serving prime rib as the main entree?  thank
    you in advance for any pointers or suggestions.
    
    cj
    

    This is kind of a side note.. but I had prime rib once for Thanksgiving
    at a restaurant that was out of this world!  There was a hole cut
    out in the middle and it had stuffing in it.  The stuffing was an
    oyster - bacon - smokey flavor.. and ooooohhhh was it good!

    
    
     Rep .22
    
    
    	First do you want a one course, two, three, .... meal???
    
      Since you mentioned Christmas I'll assume you want at least
     three since it is a holiday. Here's what I would suggest,
    
    
    	Champagne and Midiori apertif  
    
    	Steamed Sole with a Cream sauce  <a French Macon Villages or
        or if you like curry the recipe   Washington state sauvignon blanc>
        I mentioned in .16
    
    	Prime Rib with horseradish creme  <a French Bordeaux, Spanish
        Potatoes Dauphine                  Rioja, or Calif. Cabernet>
        Steamed Green Veggie
    
    	Tarte Tatin and Vanilla Ice Cream  <a late harvest Cailf. riesling
    					    or late harvest gewerztraminer
                                            there's lots of these sweet 
    					    wines around in half bottles.>
    
    	If you wanted you could add courses from there. A cheese course 
       would be nice or salad or another appetizer. There is enough ideas
       in this note to mix and match something you really like. 
    
    
       -mike
    

Last Christmas dinner was, in fact, a prime rib feast for the gang.  Our
group-created menu was purely American in delivery.  I prepared:

	APPETIZERS:

		oysters on the half-shell
		proscuitto with cantaloup

	SALAD:
		fresh greens salad with dijon vinegarette
		fresh buffalo mozzarella with tomato slices, fresh herbs,
			and olive oil with a dash of champagne wine vinegar

	MAIN COURSE:

		Pepper-crusted Prime Rib roast, cooked medium rare
		horseradish creme
		green peppercorn sauce (for those who don't want horseradish)
		
		herbed potato souffle

		green beans with almond slivers in browned butter

	DESSERTS:

		dark chocolate mousse/white chocolate mousse swirl

		steamed ginger pudding with stirred custard sauce and
			crystalized ginger slivers


	Our wines for the evening included Kornel Brut champagne,
	a well-aged Cabernet, and a sweet white wine for dessert,
	but I don't drink so I paid little attention to the wine and
	cannot help you with years/etc.  I know the champagne
	and Cabernet were from Napa valley and the dessert wine
	was German.


	Recipes for all are available upon request.

    
    
    The potato soufle receipe please....

>>>    The potato soufle receipe please....


I invented this myself to add pizzaz to fancy dinners.  This is delicious
by itself, or with a wash of green peppercorn sauce over each serving.

ingredients:

	approx. 3 medium sized idaho or other type potato, boiled,
		peeled, mashed well, and cooled to room temp.  You want
		2 cups mashed potato pulp

	6 Tablespoons melted butter (necessary for taste)

	3/4 cup sour cream (or light sour cream, or low-fat cottage cheese,
			    whirled in the blender to make it smooth)

	3 eggs, separated - egg whites at room temperature

	salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

	3 - 6 tablespoons dried parsley, rubbed well to bring out flavor

	1 teaspoon dried tarragon (sage or other herbs are fine), rubbed well

	approx. 1/4 cup fresh finely-grated parmesan cheese

procedures:

	Mix the butter, sour cream, seasonings, herbs, and the slightly 
	beaten egg yolks into the potato.  Stir to mix very well.
	beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form, but do not over beat
	or the eggs will deflate.  stir 1/3 of the eggs gently into the
	potatos to lighten the mixture.  Fold the rest of the egg whites
	into the potato mixture.  Turn into a well-buttered, 1 and 1/2
	quart souffle baking dish.  sprinkle the grated parmesan cheese
	liberally over the top of the souffle.  Bake at 350 degrees
	until well puffed and browned, approx. 45 minutes.  The souffle
	is done when it no longer jiggles when the dish is shaken gently.
	Serve immediately.

re:     green peppercorn sauce...make a thin gravy from the meat drippings
	of the roast (defatted) and stir in a generous amount of green
	peppercorns just before serving.  Or buy the sauce mix from Knorr
	as it works well.

    Here is something I have prepared many times:
    
    Appetizer:   Chicken livers wrapped in bacon (Devils on Horseback)
                 Stuffed Mushroom Caps
    
    
    1st Course:  Cream of Zucchini Soup served with a dollup of sour cream
                 Homeade Italian Bread - Garlic/Herb Butter
    
    Main Course: Shrimp and Mussels in Basil/Garlic Sauce with
                 Angel Hair Pasta
    
                 Three Leaf Lettuce Plate with Artichoke Hearts, Avacado
                 and Red Onion slices - with a Lime Viniagrette
    
    Dessert    : Lemon Mousse with Chocolate Morsals - Whipped Cream on top
                 a Shortbread cookie and...
    
                 Freshly ground coffee (Mocha Java/Coconut)
                 Tea
    
    
    Mints
    

 Appetizer: large shrimp (U15) poached in water, white wine, peppercorns and
            a bay leaf, served cold over fresh greens with cocktail sauce

 Followed by: raspberry sorbet, christened with a bit of Mo�t pink champagne

 Homemade bread: 1 loaf each of white and wheat at either end of the table

 Main course: A prime rib of beef, cooked rare-med rare (I like it red!)
              Delmonico potatoes
              Steamed broccoli with lemon-butter sauce

              wine: Beaulieu Vineyards Special Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon 1981
              or    Beringer Cabernet Sauvignon, don't remember which one

 Dessert: cream puff pastry filled with homemade vanilla ice cream topped
          with guest's choice of hot fudge or sliced strawberries in grand
          marnier

     Here's the menu from the formal dinner party we had this past
     Saturday.  We adapted the traditional 14 courses deescribed by
     Judith Martin (Miss Manners), ending up with the following 10:
     
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

  1  Sturgeon Caviar                    Champagne (Pol Roger NV Brut)
     Crudit�s
       
  2  Lobster Bisque                     Fum� Blanc (Mondavi)
  
  3  Risotto with fresh Shitake         Fum� Blanc (Mondavi)
     and Porcini mushrooms
       
  4  Artichokes with garlic butter      Beaujolais Villages (Georges de Boeuf 
                                                            1988)
     
  5  Beef Wellington Brioch�            Grand Coronas Black Label (Torres 1981)
     Sauce Chasseur                     
     Saute�d Aparagus tips

  6  Grapefruit Sorbet
  
  7  Warm salad of grilled duck with    Dry Bluberry/Pear Wine (Nashoba)
     assorted greens and cracklins    

  8  Pears poached in red wine with
     wine sabayon and candied violets
  
  9  Cheese plate with biscuits         Sauterne (Ch�teau Climens 1982)      
      - Stilton
      - Triple-cr�me Brie
      - Ementhaler
      - Vermont cheddar
  
 10  Belgian Chocolates                 Coffee/Port/Cognac
           
     . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

    
    Re: .30  
    
    You know it's funny, but I had exactly the same thing Saturday
    night.  Except, of course, for the candied violets.  8-).
    
    This sounds like a wonderful meal.  I'm curious as to how the
    wines were and whether you'd do the same wines if you had it to
    do over again.
    
    Thanks, Diane
    

RE: .30

Nit:

>  9  Cheese plate with biscuits         Sauterne (Ch�teau Climens 1982)      
					 ^^^^^^^^

That should be Sauternes (with a final "s").  "Sauternes" is the controlled
place name (appellation controlee) for sweet, late-harvest dessert wines based
on semillon, sauvignon, and muscadelle grapes grown in the commune of Sauternes
and four others in the south of Bordeaux in France (Chateau Climens comes
from the commune of Barsac, one of the five legally entitled to the place
name "Sauternes").  "Sauterne" (without the "s") is the name used in the U.S.
for cheap imitations of the real thing sold mainly to skid row winos.

--PSW

    
    RE: .32
    
    Thanks for the clarification.  I did not notice the typo until after I
    entered the note.  I did not, however, realize the magnitude of the
    error! 
    
    Note also that Grand Coronas should read Gran Coronas.  (Some day I'll
    learn to type!) 		    	     ^^^^	
    
    
    RE: .31
    
    The wines were all quite successful accompaniments to their
    corresponding courses.  The Pol Roger NV Brut was especially good. The
    same house's vintage '75 was a favorite at a recent champagne tasting I
    attended.  Having never tried many Spanish wines, I was pleasantly
    suprised by the Gran Coronas, athough there was general agreement that
    the '81 would benefit from a few more years in the bottle.  The Chateau
    Climens Sauternes was very tasty, but could not compete with the '76
    d'Yquem we drank at a previous dinner party.
    

RE: .33

>    The Chateau
>    Climens Sauternes was very tasty, but could not compete with the '76
>    d'Yquem we drank at a previous dinner party.

Very little *can* compete with 1976 Ch. d'Yquem!

Torres Gran Coronas Black Label is indeed a fine wine, although somewhat
atypical for Spanish wines.  Unfortunately, the quality is rumored to have
slipped in recent vintages, while at the same time the price has gone up
dramatically.  It's no longer the great bargain it once was. (I bought the
1978, a fantastic wine, several years ago for $10.50/bottle.  The more recent
vintages such as 1983 go for $25 and up.)

--PSW

    Saturday's dinner for 4, served by candlelight on the porch.
    
    Cheese Puffs 			Champagne - Roederer Crystal '79
    	w/Sun-dried Tomatoes			(magnum)
    
    Chevre & Leek Terrine 
        w/Truffle Viniagrette	
    
    Medallions of Pork			Chateau Latour '47
        w/Wild Mushroom Saute			(magnum)
        Green Beans
        Potato Gallette
    
    Apple Souffle
    
    

    I'd love to see the recipes for these!!

    
    Mee too, it sounds great.
    

    re: .35
    
     Impressive! :-) Especially the Latour. And the Cristal should also be
    something special.

    Damn.  You're good.