Some food to go with that champagne?
I got some new champagne flutes for my birthday, very nice ones at that.. with them, I got a very nice bottle of bubbly to break em in… Vevue Clicquot to be exact! One things for sure, good champagne needs good food. Well actually, good champagne doesn’t really need anything, but some good food never hurt anyone. We opted for a lighter menu, a little three course “tasting” if you will. The night was spread out over a few hours, I think I served the last course after midnight! But, we weren’t going anywhere, so it was fine.
We switched it up a bit, a small cheese plate was the first course. I drizzled EVOO over some sliced baquette, seasoned em up and grilled them until they were crunchy on the outside but still soft and warm inside. I picked out some of the best brie that I’ve ever had. It was unimaginably creamy! It’s one of my faaaavorites. Stephen picked out a smoked gouda. I served it up with some proscuitto and fig jam.
I couldnt stop eating these. MMM.
Ready for more? Remember those mussels I had at Devon a few weeks back!? Well they were thaaat good, that I now made my second dish at home based off of those. The second course was green curry mussels with cilantro, lime, and red onion.
I melted some butter, with about 1 T of curry powder, 1 T of green curry paste, 1-2 T minced red onion, just enough lime juice and about 1/4 C heavy cream, maybe 1/2 C. Add more as needed. To my dismay, my coconut milk went bad, so I just substituted the heavy cream. Some fresh grated ginger would have been lovely too. But I didn’t have any of that either. I brought that up to a slight boil, threw in the mussels and let em steam. Keep an eye on em! If they over cook, you’ll end up with rubber.. A little FGBP, cilantro, and zested garlic at the end. Divine. Absolutely divine!
For the third and final course (if you don’t count the several mojitos following dinner) we had BBQ turkey sliders. I marinaded them in zested garlic, salt, FGBP, a touch of minced red onion, and BBQ sauce. Right before I grilled them, I slathered them in BBQ sauce, a pinch of salt, and a few cracks of black pepper and threw em on the grill. (I shouldn’t have to tell you again, because I’m sure by now you know, but, that pan better be hotter than hot!) Typically I’d say, medium rare is a must for burgers, but seeing as it’s poultry, make sure they’re cooked, I don’t need you dying, who’s gunna read!? 160 in the center, they’ll carry over atleast another 5 degrees after you take em off. They’re also small, so it won’t take long, but you don’t want to dry them out either. I piled these high with thinly sliced Danish blue cheese, thinly sliced red onion, tomato, and avocado. I also wilted spinach that I sauteed in a little butter and zested garlic, (I have been zesting garlic at every chance I get, much more flavorful than minced. Especially when added at the end, so you still get that little bite of raw garlic withouth biting into chunks of raw garlic.) You know me, a few more cracks of some FGBP. For the rolls, I buttered em up and grilled them too. They were so so good, the blue cheese was subtle but present, the red onion and the grilled rolls added excellent texture, and the spinach added just the right bite, and if that’s not enough, the smell of the zested garlic cooking in the butter will do it for you.
I really enjoyed the lighter menu, it was a nice change from the usual 1, maybe 2 course meal that’s usually related in some way. This was kinda random, but all mouth-wateringly delicious.
