Dinner Social III: Cozy Indeed
We were short a cook and nearly frozen, but a hearty meal was had by all in the third installment of Eric Ripert’s Dinner Social. (Read about the first two meals here and here.)
We braved the frigid temperatures to gather at April‘s place once again. Tiffany had tragically fallen ill (no surprise given the germs running rampant around here), but we pushed ahead with what Ripert deemed a “Cozy Winter Menu.”
Cozy it was. We started with baked oysters, which Colleen prepared with finesse. None of us had worked with oysters at home before, so we had fun finding the sweet spots to crack ‘em open.
We were 50-50 on the “twice-baked” potatoes, which were more accurately potato custards. Taste was great, but we agreed that we’d add some of the scooped-out potato into the custard mixture next time.
A bright, bitter, and crisp salad of baby romaine, roasted blood oranges, feta, and toasted hazelnuts followed. It served as a great contrast to the appetizers, which were on the rich side.
April’s coq au vin was, we agreed, deliciously boozy. Great recipe that definitely warms the insides. We had egg noodles and a fantastic Côtes du Rhône alongside.
For dessert (my favorite part, usually), Colleen wowed us with a lip-smacking lemon tart. Her crust was perfection, and some fresh whipped cream upped the textural ante. As with the salad, it went nicely against the hearty dish that preceded it.
After all was put away (the food AND the dishes), we went out into the cold night, bearing leftovers for our sick fourth and thinking ahead to our next culinary adventure.
Comments
By Alison L. McConnell
Alison L. McConnell is the HG’s editor and publisher. She also runs The Humble Gourmand’s catering and prepared food business, which serves as a conduit between Chesapeake Bay watershed farmers and butchers, artisan/small-batch producers up and down the East Coast, and hungry clients in the Washington area.
A native of New Jersey and upstate New York, Alison attended Bowdoin College in Maine and the London School of Economics before settling in Washington in 2004. She studied the culinary arts at L’Academie de Cuisine in Gaithersburg, MD. She abides by a long-standing family motto: McConnells always finish their desserts.
About The Humble Gourmand
The Humble Gourmand is published the first Friday of each month, edited by Alison L. McConnell, a Washington, D.C.-based journalist and writer. It is designed to offer straightforward lessons and advice to aspiring cooks, oenophiles, and all other eaters and drinkers.
The Humble Gourmand encourages users to comment on any and all of its features, but reserves the right to remove any material deemed inappropriate.
thefoodscribe
January 21 5:18 p.m. 1Cote de Rhone with the coq au vin, forgot to save the label. Sorry.. But it was delish! Thanks again!
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January 22 9:52 a.m. 2Right you are! Thanks, lady.
Caviar and Codfish
January 25 2:22 p.m. 3Sounds like a delicious night--that salad is so pretty.
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February 1 3:14 p.m. 4Oh my goodness, 'fun' is not the word I would use to describe shucking oysters. Perhaps you've got a better oyster knife than me, but all the same I'm very impressed. Everything looks amazing. And I love the silver/pewter dishes.
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