"Wayne Boatwright" > wrote in message
...
> Friends of ours from Cleveland flew in this afternoon carrying with them a
> small cooler filled with fresh Lake Erie Perch and Walleye (Pickerel)
> on ice. We'll be having lightly breaded and pan-fried fish, grilled new
> potatoes with rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt, and a simple light
> coleslaw
> with a yoghurt and bacon dressing. I picked up a wonderful mandarin
> chocolate mousse cake for dessert, as it was much too hot for baking at
> home
> yesterday or today. Yesterday it was 116°F at our desert house; today
> it's
> 105°F.

Sounds good.. my dinner will be:

Spring Pea Soup with Minted Carrot and Chevre Flan (recipe follows)
Oven Roasted Chicken with Wine Sauce
Pan Roasted Fiddleheads and New Potatoes
might toss in some broccoli I need to use up
Dessert will be a variety of fresh fruit in some form

Spring Pea Soup
Chef David Coyne
6-8 servings

2 lbs peas with pods, rinsed and chopped, or 1 lb peas podded [I used sugar
snap peas]
2 shallots
2 slices of prosciutto or other bacon, diced (optional) [I didn't use any]
1 branch of thyme
2 T olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 liter of water, light chicken or vegetable stock [I used water to keep the
soup as pure as possible]
1 cup loosely packed spinach, rinsed [I used a bit more than this]
3/4 cup heavy cream (optional) [I used the cream]
Kosher or sea salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, sweat shallots (and bacon if using) and thyme branch in
olive oil until translucent. Add peas and cook for a further 2 or 3
minutes. Pour in the wine and cook until it has almost evaporated. Add the
liquid and bring to the boil. Season and then simmer for 15 minutes. Puree
solids with just enough liquid to facilitate blending along with the spinach
in a blender. I used the liquid to boil the peas in to blend. Don't precook
the spinach.. it gives the soup a wonderful colour. Pass through a fine
sieve, rubbing with the back of a ladle into another pot. If using cream
reduce it by half in a small pot. Adjust consistency with any remaining
liquid, add cream, bring back to simmer, season to taste and serve.

Minted Carrot Flan with Chevre

Chef David Coyne

1 cup carrot juice
1 cup whole or 2% milk
4 eggs, brought to room temperature
1 oz chevre
1 cup grated carrots
6 mint leaves
(optional - 1/4 clove garlic, 1 small piece of shallot -- best if serving
flan out of soup)

Combine milk, juice, grated carrot and mint leaves in a heavy bottomed
saucepot and bring to a low simmer. Continue to cook over a bare simmer, so
as to not split the milk, stirring occasionally for 15 minutes. Season with
salt and pepper and let steep for 10 - 20 minutes or overnight. Strain off
solids.
Whisk together eggs and chevre until eggs are a uniform colour. Whisk in
the carrot liquid. Strain through a fine strainer into a pouring vessel
with a spout.
Heat oven to 300F. Lightly butter 2-3oz Timbale molds or ramekins. Line a
shallow baking dish or cake pan with a wet paper or kitchen towek, and set
ramekins atop. Pour custard mix into ramekins. Be careful not to fill the
ramekins to the top, leaving 1/4 inch rim, as the custard will rise slightly
in baking. [Yes I know there are theories that say you don't put a towel in
the baking dish. Do what works for you]
Set pan upon middle rack in oven and pour boiling water, or very hot water
into the dish so that the water comes halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Bake for 20 minutes, remove from the oven and let rest on counter. If you
will be serving them shortly leave them in the water to keep them warm.
Otherwise remove them from the water and let them cool. Wrap them well with
cling film and refrigerate. To reheat, fill a fry pan or skillet with high
sides with water and bring to a simmer, add ramekins, cover and cook for
10-15 minutes until warmed through, remove, unwrap and un-mold.
Un-mold by running a sharp knife, with the blade tightly against the side of
the ramekin, around the circumference of the mold. Lift bowl over the top of
the mold and turn the bowl right side up.


To serve:
Un-mold flan as directed above into soup bowl. Spoon soup around sides of
flan. Garnish with mint leaf and or proscuitto chip if desired.

Debbie