It was recently my parent's 30th anniversary and to celebrate I put together a little dinner...
We started off with a glass of Moet & Chandon White Star and Scallop Carpaccio with a squeeze of meyer lemon, a sprinkle of poppy seeds and thinly sliced scallion, and a drizzle of really good California olive oil. I spotted this beautiful dish in the the passionate cook's post of Scallop Carpaccio à la Robuchon. I substitued meyer lemon for lime and scallion for the spring onion, which was nowhere to be seen. The drizzle of olive oil could have been lighter but it was a great dish. Simple and beautiful.
Next we had Green Garlic Risotto with Chanterelle & Balsamic.
I used vialone nano rice, the highest grade of rice for risotto, I was told by the Surfas employee. I had read about this rice some time ago and was excited to see it displayed at my second home. I used dried chanterelle mushrooms and let them reconstitute within the risotto. And right before serving topped it with with a drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar for a touch of richness. I thought the risotto could have had more green garlic. Not garlicky enough for me.
For the main we had Veal Scaloppine with Currant Pinenut Relish and Flageolet Gratin. The relish and the gratin are both recipes from Chef Goin's Sunday Suppers at Lucques. I paired up the currant pinenut relish with veal, thwarted by Whole Foods which now was carrying only super skinny trimmed pork tenderloins. Not the plumper kind my original plans called for so I could served medallions of roasted pork tenderloin topped with the relish. But the veal was a great substitute.
crazy good browned up pieces of breadcrumbs on top
The Flageolet Gratin was so good! A layer of carmelized onion at the bottom of the dish, then topped by par-cooked flageolet beans, and then topped with fresh breadcrumbs and thyme. I messed up a little bit because the top layer of beans came out kind of hard but altogether the flavors really came together to make the meal a very comforting one.
It's a good thing I didn't make dessert at home because I was running late and my mind a bit hectic from not whipping myself into action according to my schedule. Instead I turned to one of Koreatown's newest bakeries, Wien, for a Pistachio Cream Mocha Cake. This cake was such a visual treat as well as a gustatory one. I served it with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and fresh raspberries.
So there you go, a Spring Anniversary Dinner!
6 comments:
Yoony, awesome job. How did you slice the scallops so thinly? Can I get the recipe for that = i'd like to try it?
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"I used vialone nano rice, the highest grade of rice for risotto, I was told by the Surfas employee."
Haha, how did I know you got that at Surfas? Funny. How soon before you quit AOC for Surfas? Great job on the dinner.
haha! seriously i should work there. i feel like i havent gone in such a long time. but i am on super tight budget so gotta limit my visits.
for the scallops just slice them really thin. passionate cook's post (the recipe is on that post) said 4mm. i actually had hard time trying to slice. i sliced horizontally keeping my fingers on the top holding it down lightly. then just drizzled lemon, olive oil, very thinly sliced scallion and a line of poppy seeds.
i have soo much poppy seeds leftover. a large surfas spice container of it.
I should never read your blog before lunch. I'm always left salivating and desperately hungry. Now my sandwich seems so unappetizing! Your dinner looks amazing!!!
hi yoonyang!
well i ate instant rice (korean kind!) and leftovers for lunch. bet your sandwich is better than that. :)
Scallop Carpaccio pic is cool. think you could send a full size pic of that? i'd like to get a close up look
"bet your sandwich is better than that."
Not if they happen to be KGB leftovers.
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