This week, as we work towards our next project with Pax Christi (Mahler’s Symphony #2), and with all of life’s busyness, we still take time to break bread with friends. This week we have invited our dear friend Brian, to join our trio. And that means an eggless meal. We do love a challenge, so off we go.
The mighty Enzo greeted our guests, and Brian brought us a special gift, his last bottle of Trius 2012 red, with Cab Sauv, Cab franc and Merlot grapes. This special wine deserved a special meal. Shawn wanted do a lasagna, but our issue was to find eggless lasagna noodles. Some did not list eggs, in the ingredients, but none were labelled eggless, so when in doubt, make your own. Since we were working in our tiny kitchen, hand cranking was not an option (although hand cranking pasta is therapeutic for me). Luckily we have a powered version. Thanks to Mario Batali, for his eggless saffron pasta recipe.
With a pasta like that we needed something that would not only hold up, but be the star of the dish…. Home grown swiss chard is the prefect choice. Add some ricotta and mushrooms, and a puddle of homegrown tomato sauce and we had Swiss chard lasagna with ricotta and mushrooms.
We are never using store bought lasagna noodles again! The freshness of this dish was a revelation. Tender, creamy, with a flavor I can only describe as green, from the swiss chard. And it paired so well with the Trius.
For the main, Shawn was thinking of the wine pairing, so we combined a few of our favorites, with veal… and lit stuff on fire! Veal tenderloin with brandied peppercorn cream sauce, Jerusalem artichokes and sautéed spinach.
I have often said that Jerusalem artichokes were silly. They are an ugly vegetable, take time to peel and are pale and tragic. But a good puree, is really tasty and can stand against strong flavours. Not to brag, but Brian commented that the veal was cooked exactly the way he prefers it. To be honest we didn’t ask, we just cooked it the way we like. And yes, the wine was perfect with this dish.
I think the pace for tonight’s dinner was fairly relaxed, as most of the prep was done ahead. This gave us time to chat and discuss life, work, music and more, but with rehearsal time looming we did have to move on to dessert. Tonight we served a chocolate panna cotta with port and balsamic glazed cherries.
OK, if there are no eggs in this dessert…. Well it’s really tasty. The glazed cherry recipe called for ruby port, but you know…. it’s us, so we used 10 year old Taylor Fladgate tawny port instead. We also may have had a little tipple of the port along side our dessert. I also tried it with the last of my wine and I think it paired well too.
Too soon, we were off to work with our guest conductor on Mahler’s difficult symphony, and working toward our Christmas concert L’Enfance du Christ, by Berlioz. This may be the only thing that could drag us away from such a lovely evening, but go we did. The coming week and weekend are a whirlwind, and sometimes real life’s worries challenges us, but Mondaynightdining gave us a respite from everyday life, with friends, food and connection. And sometimes…. that is what we need. To some MondayNightDining may seem frivolous, but to me it is my connection…. to people, to food and to music.
The veal really was superbly done, with a decadent peppercorn sauce- a perfect pairing indeed with the Trius. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to use my last bottle of the 2012. And I’m a big convert to Jerusalem artichoke now -the puree was divine -a nice counterbalance to the peppercorns.
You inspire us, with your inspiration… Eggless it shall be…. And oh yeah… Jerusalem artichokes rule!
You guys are amazing! Truly inspiring.