Saint Patrick’s Day it is!
After a successful first event, we decided to continue on with an annual version of the Wine Pairing Party fundraiser. I wanted to really elevate the dishes and create a more profound pairing experience.
We didn’t purposefully plan on having the next party on St. Patrick’s Day. But after reviewing all the of personal schedules, trips and other events the hosts were involved in, March 17th was the only day that seemed to fit. Once that date was set, the I was told I simply had to do a corned beef dish. Oh, and something with Guinness. But we weren’t actually server beer. Alas, no black and tans.
Corned Beef Conundrum
With dash of Irish heritage (just a wee bit), my family diligently celebrates St. Patrick’s Day each year with an old-school boiled Corn Beef & Cabbage dinner. It’s a soggy, mushy, drab mess on a plate.
I was not going to serve mushy meat and vegetables for a wine pairing course. I had to break from my past and pursue making a tastier corn beef that could pair with wine. Plus, since it was the “main” dish, I wanted it to look amazing plated.
The solution ended up being a two-punch approach – braise & glaze. I now have a terrific recipe for corned beef . I also swapped out all the soggy vegetables for a more elevated versions. Boiled potatoes were replaced with garlic mashed (yes, I know, it’s still technically boiled). Boiled carrots became the beautifully caramelized roasted baby carrots. Finally, instead of a mess of wet cabbage, I did roasted brussels sprouts.
It was, and still is, the best tasting and looking corned beef dish I have had. I will never go back. I make this Guinness braised and mustard-whiskey glazed version for St Patrick’s day each year.
Prettier Plating Please
I promised myself I would upgrade my plating game for this round. That is, to at least have one. I became rather obsessed looking at Pinterest boards and YouTube videos. From how-to tutorials to just examples of beautiful plating from Michelin-starred restaurant experiences.
However my plating ambitions ran smack into a hurdle. My mother had already purchased clear, plastic plates for the party. Plastic and liquid are not terribly compatible. Liquid sauces tend to bead up and roll all around. Also, clear is not a great plating backdrop.
To manage, I focused on building layers for the dishes and using nice garnishes. Honestly, it was for the better because doing fancy plating by yourself for over 20 dishes at once across 6 courses just isn’t feasible. Even though I didn’t do a lot of fancy sauce plate work, I splurged on getting some really cool precision sauce spoons that were fun to try out.
Double Food, Double Pressure
For some insane reason, I wanted to do a 2-taste approach to the courses. Everyone has different tastes and flavors experiences. What I think goes best with a wine, may not be someone else’s ideal flavor. Therefore, wouldn’t it be more interesting to have two dishes per course, allowing guests to explore which flavors pair best for them?
It was a noble idea, but so much more work. Looking back, I should have trimmed some courses down. But for my folly, you get double the recipes to peruse.
Taste Testing Time
Happily, this time, I tasted the wines as I was creating and experimenting with the dishes. I even used a family birthday party to trial run some dishes. It really helped hone the pairings and it was nice to have other opinions. For example, my starting dish was a lemon granita and I was trying out various herbs to infuse. Ginger was a favorite flavor without considering the wine. But it was basil that had an amazing transformational experience with the prosecco we were serving.
Testing also saved me from a failed pairing of certain chardonnay and a mango salsa I was envisioning for a fish taco. I had to go back to the drawing board on the whole dish. I highly recommend using your family and friends as test subjects – if it doesn’t work out they should think no less of you.
Free the Glutens
Yet another consideration this round, gluten-free mindfulness. During the last party, I learned that one of the hosts had a gluten intolerance. And really, so many people avoid glutens these days.
Most of the courses I made this time were gluten-free. Not forgetting vegetarians, most of courses had a veggy component, or I just didn’t use meat for the person who requested meatless. Mashed potatoes with whiskey glaze sauce is still pretty awesome.
A year older, a little wiser
Having one party under my belt, I was far more prepared for all planning and prepping this round. But not that I did myself any favors, as I set myself up for a lot more work. I do that a lot, it’s hard to back off when you start getting inspired.
When managing a multi-course menu with a lot of people, look at your menu and plating plan and give it one solid edit to streamline. What can you do to make it quicker, easier, or simpler? Good food does not have to be super complex to be impressive. (I say this now, but I got way more complex on the next gig…will I ever learn?)
Even if I thought myself “wiser”, there were a couple missteps that night (see my notes below about sushi rice disaster *sigh*). But overall, I was very pleased with how this menu came together, the improved plating techniques and the stronger pairings.
The Wine Pairing Menu
Below is the full six course menu for the entire Wine Pairing Party. Dishes titles will link to their corresponding recipe page (this is currently in progress). Wines will link to a 3rd party’s wine shop’s page on this wine or a comparable one (if the original vintage isn’t available or no longer recommended).
MENU
First Course - Prosecco
Montelliano Prosecco
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Lemon Basil Granita
Lemon ice infused with basil provides a sweet, tangy and remarkably refreshing pairing to a sparkling wine.
Fish on Chip
Smoked salmon mousse atop a crunchy, salty potato chip gives the depth of a savory pairing.
Second Course- Chardonnay
Raeburn Chardonnay
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Pineapple Shrimp Skewer over Yellow Curry
Lime and coconut marinated shrimp grilled with pineapple atop Thai yellow curry sauce. A sweet and slightly spicy combination that is well offset by a light and crisp Chardonnay.
Stuffed Fig with goat cheese
Black mission figs filled with creamy goat cheese and topped with toasted walnuts and drizzle of honey. Served atop an peppery arugula salad with a light vinaigrette dressing and caramelized onions. Smooth and creamy goat cheese with sweet and savory aspects area classic pairing with Chardonnay.
Third Course – Pinot Noir
Duck Pond Pinot Noir
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Stuffed Strawberry Salad with balsamic glaze
A classic strawberry salad condensed into a lush bite. Large balsamic-marinated strawberry filled with a blue cheese blend, crisp spinach and topped with toasted walnuts. Balsamic enhances the berry while blue cheese adds depth to create a balanced bite with a Pinot Noir.
Polenta Pizza with Prosciutto
Sliced of firm polenta baked with marinara sauce, fresh mozzarella, basic and prosciutto. Topped with a thick balsamic glaze to marry all the fresh flavors of a classic pizza that marry to a Pinot Noir.
Fourth Course – Malbec
Domaine Bosquet Malbec
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BBQ Chicken in Endive
Tangy shredded BBQ chicken cradled in an endive leaf with cheese and green onion finish. Tanginess of BBQ and onion offset the velvety depth of the Malbec.
Garlic Eggplant over Sushi Rice
Japanese eggplant sautéed in a dark garlic sauce serve over a sushi rice patty. Deep umami flavor brings out the richness of the Malbec.
Fifth Course – Cabernet
Michael David Freakshow Cabernet
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Braised Corn Beef with a Whiskey Glaze
Slow-braised in Guinness port and spiced to give a deep caramel flavor to the corned beef. Finished with a whiskey mustard glaze with strong notes of clove and cinnamon to perfectly pair with this Cabernet. Served over garlic mashed potatoes with roasted carrots and brussels.
Six Course – Port
Whidbey Island Ruby Port
Kopke Tawny 10 Year Port
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Mocha dip cookie
A soft butter cookie infused with coffee flavors then dipped in dark chocolate to create a mocha experience.
Mexican Chocolate Mousse
Orange and cinnamon spiced chocolate whipped into a creamy mousse. Topped with whip cream and orange zest.
Toffee Truffle
A decant dark chocolate ganache truffle rolled in crunchy toffee bits.
PARTY PLANNING NOTES
Where: This wine pairing party was again hosted at a lovely home with a waterfront view. Very open floor plan and guests could see in to the kitchen. Luckily most were looking at the view or each other, not staring at me.
When: St Patrick’s Day, the evening of March 17th. We had an earlier spring that year, but still very cool at night at the early transition from Winter to Spring. Some ingredients were hard to find “fresh” so made due with a couple tricks (you can rehydrate dried figs.)
Early Prep
While I was more mentally prepared this round, I had much more work. Double the dishes and plating each course meant a lot of planning.
- Sketches – I incorporated more design into the plating itself and making sure that both dishes for the course was served on the same plate. Details had to include the actual dish shape used (there were several different ones). These drawings were my guide as we assembled.
- Prep Timing – I created a break down what elements I could make several days in advance versus what needs to be prepped day of. I really pushed to do as much in advance as I could, knowing how time just flies by when you are trying to get course plated and served.
- Ingredient Lists – Go through each recipe and list out the ingredients, even the items you think you already have. Really add them up and check. Then split the list for what you need early on to do advanced prep. Buy the fresh ingredients (veggies and such) the day before so the ingredients are really fresh. Yes, this requires a couple rounds of shopping. Tip: as you do your first rounds of shopping, look around the produce to see if the stores are even stocking what you need, and it looks good. You may want to try a couple different stores.
- Supply List — Even if you “think” you have it, list every item you will need for the dishes (with the amounts): skewers, special dishes, cups, etc. In my case, the dishes were already purchased, but there were limited quantities. We had to plan around it (and reuse a set).
- Special Equipment List – I had most of what I needed for putting these dishes together. As I noted, I purchased some special sauce spoons and some plating tweezers, but that was more because I really wanted those items. I should have purchased an iso whipper (you’ll see why below).
- Kitchen Equipment List – When you are using someone else’s kitchen, it is surprising what you have versus what they have. List things out and do a check on what the place can provide (and consider if you want to use theirs). This year my cushioned kitchen mats were a must. And my own knives that I sharped ahead of time.
- Time Table – I consider time tables to be rather optimistic, because courses like this is a lot of work and stuff happens. But it provides an outline and when things have to go in and out of the oven, it keeps you on task. Don’t let it stress you out, just use it as a check off list and an order of operation for what you need to do next. Try to map in some breathing time. And again, do as much ahead of time as possible. If the time tables get to tight, that is when you have to really look at trimming something back or simplifying the dish.
- Master Notebook – My bible for the night that is kept right by my side. Everything goes in here: menu details, recipes, sketches, time table. Any variations for the dishes based on dietary need.
Wine Party Timing
This was about a 4 hour event for guests, which started at 5pm and ended around 9pm. It took the full hour for most the guests to appear – but we cannot wait that long to get the party going.
My first course had a granita (a type of Italian ice). I would scoop a bit out at a time as I saw guests arrive and pop it back in the freezer. This meant I had to stop and serve the stragglers while I was prepping other rounds. It would have been nice to have another person in the kitchen to do that.
- 5pm – 1st course available and meet/greet
- 5:45 – 2nd course served
- 6:10 – 3rd course served
- 6:30 – 4th course served
- 7:15 – 5th course served
- 8:00 – 6th course served
- 9pm – guest depart
It was a very tight race from some of the dishes that were not “ahead of time” set up. This happened to be the situation for the second course, where I needed to sear shrimp and roast figs. I seem to always have timing issues for that course, I wonder if I will ever figure out a better solution.
It is not just a very long day of the event, but the days leading up as well. I am prepping at home well into the night before, up early to finish off and pack up, and arrive at the house around 11am. Working with very small breaks, then clean up and repacking my supplies gets us to about 11pm. At least this time with my cushy mats and better shoes, I wasn’t in as much pain.
Volunteer Turnout
Similar set up as the last event, we had a very lean team. Two hosts (my mom and her friend), a wine “sommelier” (my brother), and one cook (myself). An extra hand in the kitchen would have been great. My brother had to really help me out at plating time. Most of my family knows that if you are in the kitchen when I am cooking, you will be put to work.
We had limited plates (don’t ask) and had a set of reusable acrylic plates with an Asian design. We used them for the 4th course and the 6th course. So, we had to collect them and wash them during the 5th course (which was a longer course, but still). That put my mother on wash duty.
Service Set Up
Plated Courses – Each course was served on a single plate, which had a least 2 different items. We put the plates on the large counter the split off the kitchen from the dining room. The host would ring her large brass bell to signal guests to gather and hear about the next course. My brother would describe the wine and I would explain the food. Then they would pick up their plates as they got a pour of the next wine.
Set Up – Napkins, utensils were placed next to the food. The standard dump bucket and water was placed out. We stopped having any other food out and about as six courses is really a good amount of food for the evening. Last time a lot of cheese, fruits and veg were barely touched.
Bottle counting – There was 5 courses of wine, with 4 bottles for each. With basic math, that is 20 bottle of wine, which was plenty for the amount of guests (about 24??). The last course was not wine, but two ports: a ruby and a tawny. We had two bottles of the ruby port, which was good as it was a favorite. We also had a very lovely 10 year old tawny, and as it was a lot more than the ruby, only one bottle of that. While I really liked it, it was not a favorite of the crowd. Fine, extra for the cook!
Tasting Pour – We start with tasting pours in standard wine glasses. It’s about ¼ of the glass. And then guests can have another pour for as long as we have the wine. For the port, we had shot glasses, but not filled all the way to the top.
Little Party Details
The hosts came up with trivia game to keep guests entertained during the wine pairing party. I can’t remember much of it as I didn’t have bandwidth to pay attention.
It was also St. Patricks day, so the décor reflected that with shamrock napkins and such. But that was about it as I recall. I believe there were flowers out and about. It’s such a lovely home with nice furnishings and a great view, not much extra is needed.
The menu was printed and left out for guests to review. For the menu, I describe key ingredients, if nuts are used, and if I have a vegetarian option.
Ongoing Learning
The Rice Fiasco: Sometimes, its the unexpected little things that can create drama. My garlic eggplant dish was served over sushi rice. I bought a little round mold to help me form patties. It worked well, but I underestimated the amount of rice needed for the size of the circle mold done 25 times. I scraped just enough rice to plate each guest (but not myself or the hosts, which was fine). I thought, “well that was close, but dish accomplished.” How wrong I was.
Right after I served everyone, a couple people came up asking for just plain rice. Unfortunately, I was out of rice and it takes over 20 minutes to cook a new batch. They were annoyed with my “sorry, I don’t have any more” response.
Pizza mess: People often ask if I would do those cooking contest…no. I like to meticulously plan and not have my food disasters televised. This example reinfoces my stances.
Silly me, I was expecting everything on top of the polenta pizzas to just stay there. Get melty, yes, but stay on stop of the polenta slices. Alas, that is not what happened. All the toppings started sliding every which way, off the polenta and into the pan. The sauce and the balsamic glaze combined into a dark red molten mess that I had to drain off without severely burning myself.
I fixed it as best I could. Future forward: less sauce, less cheese, and don’t add the prosciutto or balsamic glaze until after they come out of the oven.
I’m melting: Because it was still March and cool in the evening, folks kept closing the only door to the outside that was airing me out. I had dual ovens blazing all night and stove top searing going on. There was one vent over a stove, but it’s clanky, sputtering fan could not take on the amount of heat I was producing.
By dessert time, it was sauna-rific in the kitchen! I had made pretty little chocolate ladders with edible gold stars that were to stick straight up from the chocolate mousse. That’s what is was supposed to do. But fate would not be so kind.
I used a stupid short cut of regular whip cream out of a can ( for shame!). When I was plating the deserts and shoving in the ladders in the whip cream, at first it was lovely. But before I was halfway done, the whip cream was melting into white puddles, the ladders were going sideways and becoming a little melty themselves. Nooooo!
A quick last minute fix ensued. First, I opened wide the balcony doors for a blessed breeze. Next, I shoved the ladders deep into the mousse so they looked more like a chocolate step stool. Finally, I quickly reapplied whip cream right as people were gathering. Nothing like a boiling, stress-y, panicky serving of the final dish.
Three words I will never ignore again: stabilized whip cream.
Opinions are like…: The critics weren’t too much really. There is a difference between preferences and actual criticism that focuses on where the dish could improve. Other than the rice issue, I was probably more critical of the dishes than the guests.
This time my yellow curry that went with the shrimp was too spicy for some. But I didn’t make it, I bought it. Trader Joe’s Thai Curry Sauce, one of my favorites. It’s delicious and I wouldn’t change a thing, other than make spicier sauces more optional and not right on the food.
It’s surprising no one complained about the pizza (to my face, anyways). While I did recover them from the awful mess, but the dish was underwhelming at the time. I have since improved the technique.
No complaints on the corned beef. It was pretty much the star dish of the night. In fact, there were several requests for more and I did make plenty. Not everyone finished off the desserts – but I think that was more a reflection of “so full…too much food.”
Many people were complimentary of the plating and I got a lot of positive feedback on that front. The visual appeal of the food has a strong influence on the tasting experience. It was absolutely worth the effort.