Sorry for the delay in the summary gang.
But suffice to say, it was another “hit” at the Chef’s Table as we were inspired by the 114 historic moments listed in the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel. The events from the 1940s to the late 80s that have shaped and changed the world, both positively and negatively. Political events, sports, celebrity sensations and just about everything else you could think of. We all chose numbers randomly and were assigned the corresponding event and then left to create our own inspired dishes.
Our evening began as John shared his Bay of Pigs Invasion Aperitif. Of course it all happened in Cuba, so a Mohito was the perfect way to begin. Tasty Bacardi rum (that actually began in Cuba) with fresh squeezed lime juice and crushed mint. Refreshing and delicious.
Michelle then presented her Amuse Bouche inspired by Adolf Eichmann Nazi War Criminal. Turns out he was an animal lover and a vegetarian. She also know she wanted to have a traditional Jewish component, so she started with a layer of spaetzel and then covered it with a chip of baked bake and parmesan cheese and then toped it with fresh made humus.
Then Aimee “knocked it out of the park” with her Brooklyn Dodgers Winning the World Series appetizer. After research, she came across a recipe for a “corn dodger” which was a smaller version of a corn cake. Topped with goat cheese, bread crumbs and herbs De province, it was the perfect combination.
It was then time for my Joseph Stalin soup. Turns out despite being a very bad man, he also loved food. In fact, one of his favorite dishes was a lamb dish called “Chanakhi” with eggplant, potatoes, onions, tomatoes and handfuls of cilantro, basil, parsley and a whole head of garlic. Slow baked into a stew it warmed whatever is Russian for “cockles”. (And might I add, it was even better the next day.)
The best follow up to a Russian soup is a Russian salad—specifically Suzy’s Communist Block 1953 dish. She decided to acknowledge the peasants that were affected by that part of world history so on her bed of arugula there were different types of warm beets (also rich in iron… get it? The Iron Curtain? Her joke, not mine.) with goat cheese, toasted walnuts and a balsamic vinegar.
Sadly it was finally time to leave Russia, but on the good side, we traveled over to England in time to coronate the new Queen, Elizabeth the 2nd. Kathleen did a double side dish. The first was quinoas cooked in earl grey tea with diced sweet potatoes, and also parmesan crusted tempura green beans served with a Dubonnet and gin BBQ sauce. Turns out her favorite drink was Dubonnet and gin (and since Kathleen had brought her bottle of Dubonnet, we just had to try the Queen’s nightcap.
But the evening wasn’t over. It was a “double header” for baseball tonight as Pam presented her “California Baseball” hot dog. The line refers to when two teams left the east coast to California, marking the first time baseball officially crossed the Mississippi. And this wasn’t just an ordinary OSCAR MEYER, but a freshly made POLISH hot dog. Topped with sliced avocado, sprouts and homemade mango chutney, you just can’t get more California than that.
Thank goodness we had room for dessert. Since Gail was assigned “[The Sicilian] Mafia”, it seemed like a no-brainer to make cannoli. And if she had done that, it would have been a delicious success. But no. She had to go and make mascarpone ice cream packed with pistachios and chocolate chips and served with fried cannoli dough. It was an offer we couldn’t refuse.
All that was left was Shawn’s Payola after dinner drink. This term referred to Illegal payments that were made for playing songs on the radio. He realized that it was all about money and since it’s all about the money, there’s no more appropriate cocktail then “the millionaire”. Bourbon, orange Curacao, grenadine and framboise in an elegant martini glass rimmed with pomegranate sugar. And to top it off, a bourbon soaked cherry and chocolate covered cherry garnish.
All in all, it was a wonderful success.
And while there were still 95 other parts to the song that we could have gone through (would have been really interesting to see what else would have been created) it was time to move to another theme.
-ben
