The Best Meal I've Ever Cooked: Part Two

This time, minus the bitterness at NBC. Because they were nice enough to start running new episodes of Scrubs again, thus making my Thursday nights a little bit more complete.

If you haven't yet, check out my account of the first part of the meal, and also Alyse's recap, which gives detail by delicious detail. (Also, shout out to Alyse, who is now PUBLISHED!)

So when I last left you, we had finished an amuse bouche and the first set of courses. Next up was the main course. The first was a white truffle shrimp fondue with an herb risotto. This one, I must admit, was not an original. It came straight from Rocco DiSpirito's Flavor, which has been my most reliable source for recipes that are so good they don't need to be altered at all. In fact, the recipe is right here, in its totality. Here's my presentation:



So I can only take credit for the execution, but not the concept of the combination of the truffle, risotto, fresh herbs, shrimp, and perfectly seasoned tomato fondue. But the second of the two main courses was a horseradish crusted rack of lamb that has shown some development in the very pages of this blog. The pairing of a horseradish crust with the robust flavor of a perfectly medium rare prime rib gave me the idea to try it with lamb. The cherry gastrique was on the money the first time, but I wanted to make sure to season the lamb a bit more this time around--thus, a dry rub of fresh cumin, coriander, kosher salt, paprika, cayenne, and black pepper. I also knew I wanted to lighten up the dish as a whole; a contrast of baby arugula tossed in lemon juice and black pepper would give the dish a fresh, bitter element. And finally, I added the sauteed langoustines to give a sweet, exotic flavor. A treat, if you will, for a bunch of people that had probably never had langoustines. That being said--not really an essential part of the dish. Also, what is it about hipsters and pictures of food? Scott managed to take a better picture of this dish than any I've taken of my food over the course of the last year. Clearly I need a new strategy. Observe.

Scott:


Me:


And finally, what would a good meal be without dessert? I decided to pair up some puff pastry (profiteroles, if you're french or pretentious) with coffee ice cream and a bailey's irish cream chocolate sauce. I love the idea of mixing traditional after dinner drinks (bailey's and coffee) with traditional after dinner desserts (ice cream, chocolate, and puff pastry). Warm and cold, rich and fresh, it couldn't have turned out better.


And remember that failed pineapple creme brulee from a few weeks back? I decided to ignore the cookbooks and cook it until I felt like it was done. The end result? Perfection. And brulee torches are still awesome.


Thanks to everyone for coming and making this a fantastic success! I may just try this idea again one day after all....