Getting VD

A load of groceries at Wegman's.

Over the years, I've cooked dinner for two hundred people, prepared food for multi-course gastro tasting dinners and a bunch of other intense dinners and food experiences. But nothing was more stressful than today's dinner.

Making food is fun. Cooking is fun. But cooking dinner for someone who knows food probably better than you is ill-inspiring. I nearly broke into a cold sweat running around like a headless chicken at Wegman's.

Breathe. Calm youself. You can do this. This is child's play, I told myself.


Some favorites.

And really, I had planned a simple meal. Simple classics. Nothing too intricate to execute. I would rely on easy stuff: stuff I had made before - with the exception of the Mushy Peas.

Mushy Peas? What in the Hell are Mushy Peas? I had never heard of it before. A Google search led me to a recipe. Seemed simple enough. Maybe I could make it in advance and hold it at temperature? Why not.

Here's the menu:

Moules Mouclade
- Line grown mussels in a curry cream wine sauce with baguette and Kerry Gold butter

Onglet a l'Echalote
- Seared sous vide Roseda hangar steak and shallot sauce with Mushy Peas, Salad and Fries

Blueberries in Lime Sugar
- Reid Orchard blueberries in lime sugar with Paco whipped Vanilla Cream


Wines:
2007 Black Ankle Vineyards Albarino
2007 Coudoulet de Beaucastel Cotes-du-Rhone
2006 Audelssa Tephra

And after lots of food, three bottles of some of my favorite wines and long conversations that lasted late into the night, I'd like to think it was a nice dinner - even though I had to substitute Russet potatoes instead of the GPOD70 potatoes I prefer for frites.


Le Moules Mouclade



Hangar Steak sous vide then seared in butter.