dinner party 6/6/07

Posted on | June 5, 2007 | No Comments

we have friends coming for dinner tonight.
we are doing some initial planning for our march 08 trip to india and getting riotous with the widow clicquot.

three guys and me, so the menu is big and simple.

we’re having veuve clicquot NV, rockford’s alicante bouchet, and st hallet’s faith shiraz.
i got these truly amazing sirloin steaks at the butcher in atherton and they are getting char grilled.
i’m chargrilling whole flat mushrooms and then cutting them in slices and mixing them with fresh parsley, garlic and olive oil.
they get piled on the steaks and drizzled with balsamic reduction.
i wanted asparagus, but none was to be had, so we are having courgettes fried up with roma tomatoes, lotsa garlic, fresh herbs and a touch of red wine.
and the last thing is whole baked potatoes with sour cream and parsley.
we’ve got a FOREST of lovely green parsley happening right now….maurice has been watering it diligently and it has just taken off and it’s ready to eat.

for dessert, i’m doing my favourite poached pears in red wine sauce.

1 bottle good red wine
750 mls water
2 cups of white sugar
1 fat vanilla bean
2 cinnamon sticks
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp cardamom seeds
1cm ginger root, sliced

put the above on to simmer for five minutes, then add 6 peeled pears, stems intact.
bring to boil, then turn back to a simmer or the fruit will disintegrate.
cook for fifteen/twenty minutes….until pears are tender.
they will be a lovely ruby colour.
remove from red wine mixture with slotted spoon and set aside.
when wine mix is cool, you can add pears back again and keep overnight.
the colour will intensify.

if you want to serve that day, then keep pears aside and bring wine to simmer again.
reduce by half.
strain spices out if desired.
i prefer to keep them in and serve chunks of cinnamon stick etc for garnish.
now, whisk 2 TBLSP butter into the reduced red wine mixture.
spoon this over pears and throw a big dollop of cream on each plate.
eat and enjoy.

postscript:
while reducing the red wine mix, i was blogging, and guess what?
i’ve burnt the entire potful and the house is full of fragrant smoke!
i’ve got worried cat faces lurking about.
i have to start from scratch for the sauce….what a horrible waste of wine!

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