Personal Cheffing.....

[shroomgirl]

I took on an interesting gig. Dinner for 4. 4 nights with 2 meals cooked and left......I negioated an hourly rate of $50 which includesRIVE TIME, shopping, prepping, cooking, clean-up. Food is on top of that....Pretty upscale food, 4 btls of wine a night.....

baby greens with Taleggio, champagne viniagrette and a drizzle of truffle honey
morel risotto
Veal with demi and more morels
haricot vertes

rhubarb strawberry crisp with vanilla bean ice cream


night 2
Baby greens with blue cheese, oranges and cider horseradish viniagrette

Roasted pork loin with apple chutney
Mashed sweet potatoes
Swiss chard or green beans

Apple tart with puff pastry (vanilla ice cream)

The rest to be decided.....

It should be a blast. I'll let you know as it progresses.

[travisbickle]

Hey Shroomgirl, sounds like fun, but also a bit busy for the tongue. I'm thinking, stripred shirt with polka dot tie. How did you come up with this menu...just curious. I'm not very experienced with constructing a menu with a litaney of so many flavors. I'm just wondering how you came up with so many different flavors? I'm from San Fransisco and we see some unusual combos here. I love fruit with meats and many cheeses as accents, but admittedly, we are inundated with tons of crazy stuff.

[shroomgirl]

interesting, I see it as pretty straight forward and balanced in flavors/textures.....
Most people think I cook with a California bent.....loads of fruits/veg as many seasonal as possible.

Guess I could elaborate....
tallegio and truffle honey are a natural combo, both are earthy fungal serving them on top of a salad with champagne viniagrette (actually a friend gave me Dom viniager he made a couple of years ago) cuts the rich cheesiness/honey.

Veal with morel risotto.....morels are still rifting on the fungal theme with a mild shroom, the risotto is rich the veal is not a palate blasting dish....Veg to cut the richness probably green beans with lemon/herb.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp with Vanilla.....fruity, slighty rich, sweet....there's the tang from the rhubarb and orange then the ice cream to smooth it out.... It's spring and what a fun combo.

Baby greens with blue cheese, oranges and cider horseradish viniagrette....it's all about the varieties and proportions. I really like this salad and will throw roasted pecans on top for crunch. The dressing gives a little zip to open your taste buds.

Pork with sweet potatoes and a green veg with a chutney....pretty standard stuff. The sweet richness of the pork is offset with the viniager, mustard, fruit of the chutney, sweet potatoes add creamy sweetness and greens add a bitter palate cleansing.

Apple tart with puff and vanilla ice cream.....well again it's fruity standard fare with crunch, cream and some acid from the apples.

Does it have bold flavors, sure are they overwhelming....well I chose to think not but then it's the way I cook and eat so it's just my spin on dinner.

[shroomgirl]

What a blast! I enjoyed the past 4 days emensely.....what fun to get 2" pork chops and lamb chops from local farmers, shop at Whole Foods and Trader Joe's daily with the directives to buy "prime meat" and good food/wine.

The numbers increased to 6....4 adults, one 9 year old, one 14 year old girl and the little 2 year girls just winged it.

Night one: goat cheese, olives, great crackers, tomatoes in olive oil/garlic


Pork chops with peach chutney (last year's frozen peaches...was great.)
haricot verte with dillweed lemon butter
cream rich mashed sweet potatoes with a hit of bourbon

Tuscan bread/butter

salad with apple cider viniager/jelly, horseradish, oil

apple tart in puff with vanilla ice cream


Night two. spinach/artichoke goo with pinenuts, crostini to dip

veal scallopine with morel cream sauce
rich risotto
broccoli
salad

ciabatta

chocolate chocolate cupcakes with vanilla ice cream....they like ice cream


Night three. spanakopita, dolmas, cuke sauce, olives

grilled lamb chops in rosemary, lemon, garlic
roasted russian banana fingerlings
greek salad

Naan....grilled with butter/olive oil...

lemon curd with graham crust monster blackberries from my freezer in chambord, vanilla bean sauce....vanilla whipped cream on top

*Limb Syrah from Australia is phenominal....
*Zen of Zin is great too....

Night 4. cheeses....St. Andre, Red Dragon, dubliner cheddar, cambozola with assorted crackers and fig jam

halibot, with lemon caper herb butter
basmati pilaf
carrot, sugar snaps, broccolini, haricot verte

Salad

warm chocolate pudding with vanilla whipped cream and chocolate chip cookies


I'm working on wedding shtuff today so I cooked lasagna and beef stew (talk about moxy....who in their right mind would make beef stew for Irish girls that grew up on it?! Probably the same nut that taught Mississippi Women farm owners how to make biscuits....)
salads, breads....left them lemon curd, raspberries, ice cream, cookies.....
They were a delightful family and it was a wonderful time.