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Poubelle Winter Feed

Melissa and I called this last weekend our "Weekend of Gluttony." We had tons of good food made for us Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. But Saturday night was the one we had been anticipating for an entire year: Tom & Carol's winter party.

Here is something to contemplate. Imagine serving 14 dishes. For 50 people. Each. Now imagine that each of those dishes is a) made as much from scratch as possible, b) beautifully presented, and c) utterly delicious. Tom started cooking in earnest the night before, and he and his team of sous-chefs were working from early that morning until midway through the night. Planning and prep of certain things (like stock) had happened weeks in advance

Carol manages everything else: setup, table decorations, renting plates and tables and the like, and the guest list. Because of her, the patio (where we usually stake out our seats; it gives you a chance to see when new plates arrive from the kitchen) is charming and cozy.

The whole thing is awe-inspiring.

Here's the rundown on the menu, but you'll really want to look at this page for a better idea of the evening. If I don't say anything in particular about the dish, just trust me that it was delicious.

Openers

Charcuterie Platter - It is somewhat misleading to say that they served 14 dishes. The charcuterie platter had, if memory serves, three different pâtés and two different sausages. The pâté de campagne was my personal favorite, but all of them were great. In fact, I took a risk and went back for more. Pacing is very important at the party; you want to make sure you don't eat too much early on and risk being too full later. Melissa and I had fasted all day to ready ourselves.
Butternut Squash Soup
Terrine of Foie Gras - Charcuterie is a specialty of Tom's, and his foie gras may be its greatest expression. Served with pain de mie, toasted of course, and greens.

Entrées

Sea Bass, Celery Root, Red Wine Reduction - this was probably among Melissa's favorites, and it was easy to understand why. Perfectly cooked sea bass on a purée of celery root, and with a heavenly sauce. This was a heavenly experience
Shrimp, Winter Vegetable, Blood Orange Sauce
Ravioli de Saint Louis, Sauce Tomate - that was fried ravioli, by the way.
Zebra potatoes - a cute name. This was little wedges of potato alternating with spinach, cooked in a bit pastry dough. The effect was quite nice.

Main Course

Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Desert Style - did I mention there was lots of wine as well? This is about when I start losing track of what exactly was in a particular dish. I do remember this being just perfectly cooked and seasoned.
Osso Bucco, Saffron Rice - this, along with the next item, was probably my favorite dish. The meat was practically liquid, it was so tender, and the rice was cooked so that the individual grains had almost, but not quite, become one with the liquid.
Wild Mushroom Ragout - like I said, this was one of my personal favorites, though it's so hard to pick any one dish out of this menu and consider it better than any other. Given the fact that Tom is in the Bay Area, there are a fair number of vegetarians at the party, and he always makes sure they have plenty to eat as well, though it seems a travesty to not eat any of the dishes he presents
Warm Lentil Salad

Dessert

Mocha Puzzle Cake - how cool is it to have a cake made in your honor at Tom's party? Someone, whose initials I suspect are Melissa Weiner, slipped to Carol that Saturday was my birthday. So Tom decided to make this mind-boggling cake, knowing that next to food and wine, puzzles are a passion of mine. What's mind-boggling about it? How it gets made. When you cut into a slice, you see a nice mosaic of light and dark cakes, separated by buttercream. Evidently you cut out a cone of cake, flip the cake over, and push the cake down to form a crater, into which you put the cone. At least that's my memory of Tom's description of this. Did I mention there was a lot of wine?
Apricot Pithivier - this was a dessert I had never heard of, and I've clearly been missing out. Sheets of puff pastry with an apricot pastry cream in between, baked until it's beautifully risen and browned.
Lemon Tart

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