DINING SOMEWHERE IN TIME

Hosted by Teri and Jennifer
Feb. 27, 2009

The ladies joined us for an elegant evening of romantic dining "Somewhere in Time." The dinner was a 1900's, Victorian theme, based on the tragic romance "Somewhere in Time." We hope all had a lovely night and enjoyed the beautiful dishes we attempted to prepare.

Drink: Passionate Pink Lemonade

Course I: Luscious Lobster Bisque Soup

Course II: Romantic Roasted Vegetable Terrine

Course III: Poached Tri Color Poisson with Affectionate Beurre Blanc

Course IV: Glacie of Ruby Citrus and Basil Lime Sorbet

CourseV: Tender Classic Beef Wellington with Sauce Bordelaise

Course VI: Indulgent Napoleon Caesar

Course VII: Desirable Chocolate Mousse served in White Chocolate Tea Cup

Tea: Hot Almond Orange Tea

Our beautiful servers
Recipes

Lobster Bisque
4 (1 1/2-pound) lobsters
1 1/2 cups tomato paste
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped onion
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped celery, including leaves
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot
1 sprig thyme
3 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, plus extra, for garnish
1/2 teaspoon saffron
6 cups heavy cream
1 cup cream sherry
2 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup cornstarch
Fill large stockpot with water and bring to a boil. There should be enough water to cover lobsters completely when immersed. Place live lobsters in boiling water head first to minimize splashing. When water re-boils, turn down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes. Do not overcook lobsters. Remove lobsters from the pot using tongs; save all the water in stockpot as this is now a flavorful stock to be re-used.
Place 10 cups of stock in a clean stockpot and put on low heat. Clean claws and tails of lobsters and reserve meat, legs, and swimmerets. After lobsters are cleaned, place shells in stockpot with 10 cups of stock. Cut bodies in quarters and place in stockpot, making sure to include all roe and tomalley in pot. Add 1 cup tomato paste and simmer on low heat for 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Be careful not to have heat so high as to burn stock. Pour entire contents of pot through sieve into clean stockpot; this should now be 8 cups of glorious red stock.
Place onions, celery, carrots, thyme, parsley and saffron in a large saute pan, add 4 cups stock from original stock pot and put on high heat for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Add 1/2 cup tomato paste and black pepper. Turn down heat and simmer 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Press entire contents of saute pan through sieve into stockpot of 8 cups previously made stock.
To finish Bisque, put pot on medium heat. Add heavy cream slowly, using whisk to blend. Simmer on low heat for 20 minutes; bisque will thicken slightly. Mix cornstarch with 1/4 cup water and slowly add to bisque with whisk. Simmer on low heat for another 20 minutes.
Place pieces of previous cleaned lobster meat in bowl and add 1 cup of bisque.

Vegetable Terrine
Yield: 24 1/2" slices½ cup olive oil
1 Tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
1 medium eggplant, about 2 pounds
1 medium zucchini, about 1 pound
1 cup tomato juice
4 tsp. unflavored gelatin
1 head of roasted garlic
2 roasted red bell peppers sliced into 1" wide strips (see below)
12 fresh basil leaves
2 roasted yellow bell peppers sliced into 1" wide strips

Preheat the oven to 400. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Line a 12"x2-1/4"x1-3/4" metal terrine with a plastic wrap, leaving a 3" overhang of plastic on each side.
In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper, and set aside. Slice the eggplant and zucchini lengthwise, about 1/4" thick. Arrange the eggplant and zucchini slices on the baking sheets. Brush the oil mixture over both sides of the vegetables. Bake until they are cooked through, flexible and tender, 20-25 minutes. Transfer the sheets to racks to cool, about 10 minutes. Place 1/2 cup tomato juice in a small saucepan over medium heat. Place the remaining tomato juice in a small heatproof bowl, and sprinkle with gelatin. Let sit for 5 minutes to soften the gelatin. Hold the bowl over the warm saucepan and stir until the gelatin is dissolved, about 2 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture to the hot juice and remove from the heat. Transfer the juice to the bowl of the food processor. Squeeze the cloves of the roasted garlic into the bowl with the juice and process until well combined, about 15 seconds. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a medium bowl. Dip the eggplant slices in the tomato juice mixture. Set aside the 2 thinnest slices. Arrange the other slices crosswise, slightly overlapping, so that the ends of the eggplant drape over the sides of the terrine. Arrange the 2 reserved slices lengthwise at either end of the mold, leaving about 1/2" of eggplant hanging over either end. Layer the red pepper strips lengthwise on the top of the eggplant, dipping each slice into the juice mixture as you go. Repeat the process with the zucchini, basil leaves, and the yellow pepper strips. Pour the remaining juice mixture into the terrine mold. Fold the overhanging eggplant on top of the filling and press down gently to compress the terrine. Seal with the overhanging plastic wrap. Place on a baking sheet, top with a second baking sheet, and place a weight on top. Refrigerate overnight. The terrine may be made 2 days in advance, tightly wrapped and refrigerated until ready to serve. To unmold, unwrap the plastic from the top of the terrine. Place an inverted serving platter over the terrine and quickly turn the terrine over onto the platter. Gently remove the mold and the plastic wrap. Using a serrated knife, cut into slices and arrange.
Notes:If during the assembly, the gelatin mixture becomes too thick, heat on low flame to return it to its liquid state. Roasted garlic: Put one head of garlic in a heat-proof baking dish. Drizzle olive oil on top and bake on 400 until garlic is soft and golden brown, about 45-60 minutes. Remove and squeeze garlic from cloves into a bowl. To roast peppers: roast in 400 degree oven and remove immediately to closed pan. Leave until cool and remove skin.

Braided Fish w/ Beurre Blanc
2 White fish fillets 9" long by ½ thick
1 Salmon fillet 9" long by ½ thick
1 bunch of fresh large leaf spinach

Poaching Liquid
1 ½ cup water
3/4 cups chardonay white wine
1 shallot finely chopped
salt and pepper

Cut the fish into long ½ inch strips. Boil a pot of water. Put lots of ice in a large bowl and fill bowl with water. Clean spinach leaves and remove stems. Drop into boiling water, when the leaves turn bright green (10-15 sec.) remove and place in ice and water. When cold remove and dry. Wrap ½ of the white fish strips with spinach. Take the three different colors of fish strips and braid. Place in a 9x13 pan and pour in the poaching liquid, until about 1 inch in bottom of pan. Cover with wax paper and then foil. Cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until done. Lift onto plate with big spatula.

Beurre Blanc Sauce
1 to 2 shallots, chopped fine
4 ounces white wine
1 ½ ounces lemon juice
1/4 c heavy cream
6 T butter, cubed
salt and white pepper

Combine the shallots, white wine, and lemon juice in a saucepan over high heat and reduce. Add the cream to the reduction. Once the liquid bubbles, reduce the heat to low. Add the butter, one cube at a time, whisking first on the heat then off the heat. Continue whisking butter into reduction until it has reached a rich sauce consistency. Season with salt and white pepper. Serve immediately while hot.

Lime-Basil Sorbet
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup water
3/4 to 1 cup fresh lime juice
18 to 20 fresh basil leaves, finely chopped

In a medium saucepan over hemduim heat, combine sugar and water. Stir until mixture comes to a boil; boil 1 minute. Remove from heat. In a food processor or blender, puree lime juice, sugar syrup, and chopped basil leaves. Strain through strainer to remove bigger pieces of leaves and pulp. Freeze in icecream maker or put into freezer and stir every few hours.

Blood Orange Sorbet
2 c blood orange juice
1 tsp. Lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 oz blood orange syrup

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine sugar and water. Stir until mixture comes to a boil; boil 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Cool completely. Add juices and syrup. Freeze in ice cream maker or put into freezer and stir every few hours.

Beef Wellington
1 Tenderloin trimmed of silver skin and excess fat
2 packages of Sara Lee puff pastry
1 ½ lbs mushrooms
½ c red wine
2 T butter
1 Shallot finely chopped
salt and pepper
Garlic salt
1 egg

Puree the mushrooms until finely chopped. In saute pan, melt the butter and saute the shallots, mushrooms, wine, salt, and pepper. This must be flavorful. Cool.
Cut the loin into 1 ½ in pieces. Season the steaks with garlic salt and pepper. In a very hot saute pan with a little olive oil, sear the steaks on both sides for about 2 minutes per side. Let cool.
Let the pastry thaw completely. Cut the pastry into 4 large squares. Brush the edges with the whisked egg. Place a large spoonful of the mushroom on the middle of the pastry. Put the steak on top. Pull the pastry up to cover the steak, cutting off extra pastry. Turn over and place on a cookie sheet. Use extra dough for garnish. Coat the dough with egg. Bake in 425 oven for 20 minutes.

Parmesan Crisps
½ cup grated Parmesan
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pour a heaping tablespoon of Parmesan onto a silicone or parchment lined baking sheet and lightly pat down. Repeat with the remaining cheese, spacing the spoonfuls about a ½ inch apart. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden and crisp. Cool.

Chocolate Mousse
8 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate (or half milk chocolate half semisweet)
½ cup water, divided
2 T butter
3 egg yolks
2 T sugar
1 1/4 cup whipping cream, whipped

In a microwave or double boiler, heat chocolate, 1/4 cup water and butter until the chocolate and butter are melted. Cool for 10 minutes. In a small heavy saucepan, whisk egg yolks, sugar and remaining water. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches 160 degrees, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; whisk in chocolate mixture. Set saucepan in ice and stir until cooled, about 5 to 10 minutes. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into dessert dishes. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Hot Almond Punch
2 c. sugar
2 c. water
2 c. orange juice (not concentrate
3/4 c. lemon juice
2 qt. water
2 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. almond extract

In saucepan combine sugar and 2 cups water; heat till sugar is dissolved. Add orange juice, lemon juice, and 2 quarts water. Heat until hot. Remove from heat; add vanilla and almond extract. Serve warm.