The dinner party I posted about previously went off last night without
a hitch. It was a *huge* success, I'm happy to say. The menu:

marinated shrimp
flatbread and spread

barbecued salmon/halibut
asparagus with lemon-herb butter
wild rice with wild mushrooms
white rolls

bittersweet chocolate marquise with raspberry sauce

Everyone present pleaded for the marinated shrimp and marquise
recipes.

The only thing I wasn't wild about was a new recipe (the lemon-herb
butter). After making this moderately-tedious-to-prep sauce, I was
disappointed enough in it to throw it out. I had scored some
absolutely beautiful asparagus - tiny, tiny tender little things - and
felt the sauce was so "noisy" that you wouldn't be able to taste the
asparagus. As a last ditch too-late-to-do-anything-different, I just
chilled the cooked asparagus and drizzled some homemade Italian
dressing I had on hand over it. Turned out to be a perfect solution
considering how hot it's been in southern California and, although our
hilltop perch looking over the ocean was getting a nice breeze, we
don't have a/c and it was still fairly humid. Hors d'ouevres and
drinks were served on the deck.

I also tweaked the wild rice recipe a bit, as I've done wild rice
before and it takes some doing to make this essentially tasteless
grass taste good (okay, I just like the idea of wild rice from time to
time 'cause it looks cool). James Beard had a method in his _American
Cookery_ cookbook (a cooking bible in my house) wherein you put the
cleaned wild rice in a pot, then pour boiling water over it, allowing
it to steep 20 mins., then drain You repeat this twice more. This
definitely makes the wild rice tender, yet with some snap left to it.
I used (and re-used) chicken broth in place of the water and increased
the butter in the wild mushroom sauce from 3 tablespoons butter to an
entire stick. The wild mushrooms really gave the wild rice some depth
and the chicken broth and butter rounded out the flavor. Added bonus:
it just *looks* elegant.

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Wild Rice With Wild Mushrooms

vegetables

1 1/2 cups canned chicken broth
3/4 ounce dried porcini mushrooms, rinsed und; er cold water
1 1/4 cups wild rice, rinsed under cold water
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
9 medium crimini or button mushrooms, sliced

Bring broth to boil in small saucepan. Remove from heat; add porcini
mushrooms and let stand until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain, reserving
soaking liquid. Finely chop porcini.

Bring medium saucepan of water to boil. Add rice, salt and bay leaves.
Reduce heat to medium and simmer until rice is almost tender, about 45
minutes. Drain; discard bay leaves. (Porcini and rice can be prepared
1 day ahead. Cover porcini, soaking liquid and rice separately and
refrigerate.)

Melt butter in large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion,
carrot, garlic, marjoram, thyme and porcini and sauté 5 minutes. Add
crimini mushrooms; sauté until tender, about 7 minutes. Add rice and
reserved porcini soaking liquid, discarding sediment in bottom. Simmer
until almost all liquid absorbed but mixture is still moist, about 10
minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Contributor: Bon Appétit November 1995

Yield: serves 6.

A good time was had by all, although I always wake up the day after a
dinner party with the Day After Groans as I survey the wreckage of my
kitchen and dining room! A 42 year old bottle of single malt whiskey
also took a beating!

Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA

"Most vigitaryans I iver see looked enough like their food to be
classed as cannybals."

Finley Peter Dunne (1900)

To reply, replace "spaminator" with "cox"

Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:
> The dinner party I posted about previously went off last night without
> a hitch. It was a *huge* success, I'm happy to say.

Congra-rats!

And, thanks for the rice recipe -- it sounds delicious. How about that
chocolate-raspberry one all the guests asked for?

Alexis.

In article >,
Terry Pulliam Burd > wrote:

> time 'cause it looks cool). James Beard had a method in his _American
> Cookery_ cookbook (a cooking bible in my house) wherein you put the
> cleaned wild rice in a pot, then pour boiling water over it, allowing
> it to steep 20 mins., then drain You repeat this twice more. This

> Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
> AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA


Hey, that was my dead sister Mary's way to cook wild rice 50 years ago.
I wonder if JB . . .
--
-Barb
<http://jamlady.eboard.com> Updated 7-27-06, For The King and His
Princess
"If it's not worth doing to excess, it's not worth doing at all."

On 30 Jul 2006 21:54:51 -0700, "Alexis" >
rummaged among random neurons and opined:

>
>Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:
>> The dinner party I posted about previously went off last night without
>> a hitch. It was a *huge* success, I'm happy to say.
>
>Congra-rats!
>
>And, thanks for the rice recipe -- it sounds delicious. How about that
>chocolate-raspberry one all the guests asked for?

You got it (this is a very rich dessert):

@@@@@ Now You're Cooking! Export Format

Bittersweet Chocolate Marquise With Raspberry Sauce

desserts

10 ounces chocolate; bittersweet, not semiswee
3/4 cup unsalted butter; room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened dutch-process cocoa pow; sifted
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup chilled whipping cream
cherry sauce
2 cups fresh cherries; pitted, halved
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons kirsch (clear cherry brandy)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon peel

For marquise:

Butter 8 1/2x5 1/2x3-inch glass loaf dish. Line dish smoothly with
foil. Stir chocolate in top of double boiler over barely simmering
water until smooth. Turn off heat. Using electric mixer, beat 1/2 cup
butter in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in 1/4 cup sugar, then cocoa
powder.

Whisk yolks, 1/4 cup water, 1/4 cup butter, and 1/4 cup sugar in metal
bowl. Set over saucepan of simmering water (do not let bowl touch
water). Whisk constantly until candy thermometer registers 160°F,
about 6 minutes. Remove from over water. Using electric mixer, beat
yolk mixture until thick and cool, about 5 minutes. Beat into cocoa
mixture. Fold in warm chocolate and vanilla. Beat cream in another
bowl until soft peaks form. Fold into chocolate mixture; spread in
prepared dish. Cover and chill until firm, at least 4 hours. (Can be
made 4 days ahead. Keep chilled.)

Raspberry Sauce

2 cups raspberries; fresh or frozen
1/4 cup Sugar
2 tablespoons Grand Marnier or other orange lique

Puree raspberries in food processor or blender. Strain into medium
bowl to remove seeds. Stir in sugar and Grand Marnier until well
chilled, about 1 hour.

NOTE: Fold the foil against itself 3 times and lay it lengthwise in
the loaf dish, letting long ends hang out. Let the Marquise sit out
for a half hour or more, then use the long foil ends as lifters.

Contributor: Bon Appétit

Yield: 10 to 12 servings


Terry "Squeaks" Pulliam Burd
AAC(F)BV66.0748.CA

"Most vigitaryans I iver see looked enough like their food to be
classed as cannybals."

Finley Peter Dunne (1900)

To reply, replace "spaminator" with "cox"

Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:
> On 30 Jul 2006 21:54:51 -0700, "Alexis" >
> rummaged among random neurons and opined:
>
> >
> >Terry Pulliam Burd wrote:
> >> The dinner party I posted about previously went off last night without
> >> a hitch. It was a *huge* success, I'm happy to say.
> >
> >Congra-rats!
> >
> >And, thanks for the rice recipe -- it sounds delicious. How about that
> >chocolate-raspberry one all the guests asked for?
>
> You got it (this is a very rich dessert):

<snip>

Looks delicious -- thanks!

Alexis.