——-11/08/2012——-
It has been a long anticipated dinner and I was excited to welcome my guests and see the menu as even I didn’t know what was being served that night.
Chefs Neil Abrahams and Paul Butler were fantastic, not only did they cater for a vegetarian and a diabetic but they brought everything with them from the table, linen, cutlery, crockery, wine and even a waitress (Rozie a lovely apprentice chef).
Random photos of what was going on in my kitchen.
The table is set and my dining room is transformed into a fine dining extravaganza with linen, multiple wine glasses and menus.
Canapes~
Pumpkin, leek and lemongrass demi tasse
Peking duck salad in crisp won ton
New England beef tartare
Tuna tartare
Avocado and crab roulade with kewpie mayonnaise
It’s not every day that you have a pretty little waitress serving canapes and champagne in your living room while you’re chatting away with your guests which might have added to the enjoyment of the canapes. Each tiny morsel had a different taste to the next, I enjoyed the won tons the most for it’s different textures and delicious duck.
Guests are seated and we are ready to begin!
Pumpkin and chive bread- This was really good and I do believe you can get this bread from the Erindale bakery. YUM!
Amuse~
Vietnamese beef salad – A mouthful of pure intense fresh Asian herbs, a perfect bite full which leaves you wanting more.
Caprese~
Compression of ripe tomatoes and bocconcini with baked basil custard, green olives and clear tomato consomme- I thought this looked magical! The whole dish is cold and had diverse textures and simple unique flavours.
Fruits de mer~
Sauteed prawn tail, Queensland scallop and coffin bag oyster on spinach puree with vodka and salt cured trout- My eyes lit up when they put this down in front of me. As you can tell from my blog, I’m a bit fan of seafood and this was a whole stack of it. Hmmm I asked the chefs if I should deconstruct it and they said I should cut straight down and get a bit of everything. This was fantastic, everything tasted so fresh and delicious, by far my course of the night.
Vegetarian option~
Sun dried tomato with pine nut rotolo with tomato chutney- for those who don’t enjoy seafood or vegetarian were given a different alternative. They really enjoyed it but I didn’t taste it because I was too busy enjoying my seafood dish.
Assiette de porc~
Ginger beer poached loin, caramel pork and pork, sage and chilli sausage with braised cabbage and crushed kipflers- Pork in three ways, hehehehe. My least favourite probably would have been the loin- when your tongue first touches the meat you can subtly taste the ginger beer and almost feel a slight tingle but after the feeling and taste subsides you’re left with a thick dry piece of meat with not much flavour. Lucky I dipped all sides in the caramel sauce from the pork belly. The caramel pork had a strong sticky flavour and I really wanted more of it.
Vegetarian option~
Morrocan spiced egg plant tarte tatin with hommus and roquette- the pastry smelt amazing and it was a great combination.
Fondue~
A pot of molten blue cheese and Rosemary honey with walnut crostini – I’m not usually a fan of blue cheese but this was really good, so much so I also ate Timmy’s portion. It was very rich though.
Pommes et rhubarbe~
Stewed apple and raisin crepe terrine with lemon butter, mint syrup and rhubarb yoghurt smoothie – Not your typical flavours that you would see collaborating together but it worked. The presentation was stunning and I took about a million and one shots from all these different angles.
Cafe~
I don’t drink coffee so I don’t own a coffee machine, but that wasn’t a problem as they brought that with them too. They had this funny looking glassware which allowed water to boil up to the coffee and drip back down through a filter. Everyone said it was a really nice coffee.
The dinner was amazing with lovely company and it was worth every dollar but Tim might hold my hand down next time I want to bid at an auction.
Thanks again Paul, Neil and Rozie!
TALES OF A CONFECTIONIST 