Boeuf bourguignon 5-course dinner party
Sometimes, I’m the one having the most fun at my dinner parties!
Boeuf Bourguignon was on the 5-course dinner party menu
served with potato parsnip purée
December 15th, 2019
Wow, what an evening! I had a blast in the kitchen with two of my favorite girlfriends who have so generously offered their time to help me pull off this Fine French dinner!
To Start
Thirteen guests arrived at 6:30 to have a glass of White Pinot Noir by Amity Vineyards, thanks to my friend Justin. This very elegant wine paired beautifully with Parmigiano-Reggiano Crisps with Goat Cheese Mousse, a recipe from Thomas Keller’s French Laundry cookbook.
The Dinner Menu
If it’s going to be a French dinner, it must have fennel :)
I chose a braised fennel salad to start. First, I browned the fennel, then braised it in white wine - very traditional french cuisine. They sat on top of a bed of radicchio tossed in an orange vinaigrette and finished with fennel fronds, orange zest and pomegranates. A very festive dish for December. This lovely salad paired beautifully with a 2017 Chardonnay by Alchemist, thanks to Justin, Ryan and Union Wine Company.
Next up… the main course…
This luscious dish got an applause!
This dinner was all about the main course, boeuf bourguignon with parsnip potato purée. With four days of preparation, the beef melted in your mouth with a silky rich sauce and a velvety purée of potatoes and parsnips. On the side, I added a few oyster mushrooms that were finished off with some of the beef wine sauce. It was simply luscious!
This course was paired with two wines, thanks to Justin, Ryan, and Union Wine company. The Christopher Michael Cabernet Sauvignon from Washington was big enough to go with the beef and the Alchamist Pinot Noir was elegant and pair perfectly with those puréed potatoes and parsnips. My guests were able to choose between the two, or have both!
There is nothing like girlfriends!!
Below, you can see, we had a blast in the kitchen. Thank you Laurie and Vonda!! I couldn’t have done it without you both!
Salad and cheese came next. I tossed the simple green salad in a light lemon vinaigrette and served with dolice de bourgogne…
…And then on to the dessert
The dessert was inspired by a gift from my friends, Sebastian and Erika, the owners of Stone Barn Brandyworks. Lucky for my other guests, both Sebastian and Erika were at the dinner, so they all got to meet one another :)
The combination of flavors started with their Nocino liqueur, which is a green walnut liqueur. Immediately, vanilla ice cream came to mind. It is very traditional in the south of france to have vanilla ice cream with a home made fruit liqueur drizzled on to. Then, my friend Santha made caramelized walnuts accentuating the spice in the liqueur to go on top of the ice cream, and she made a “dirty chai earthquake” cookie to be served on the side. Wow! what a nice way to end the evening. In all four of my dinners over the last two months, Santha has contributed some of her baking culinary skills to each dessert, which is deeply appreciated by me and my guests!
Thank you for visiting! I hope to host you at one of my next dinners! If you like my post, please forward it to your friends. If you are not on my mailing list, please sign up so you can be invited to one of my dinners. Thank you!
Warmly,
Karen Silve
