Co-Host party with Huyen and Phuc -1/22/11

The amuse bouche:

White truffle oil infused custard with ragout and crispy bacon

Ready to serve the first amuse bouche!  This is a recipe from the French Laundry but I alter it a bit by serving it with crispy bacon on top instead of potato chip.

Click on Link to see preparation

Salmon tartar with sweet red onion, crème fraîche on a tuile

The second amuse bouche is also from the French Laundry.  Very time consuming to make the tuile but so delicious!

Click on Link to see preparation

Close look at the dish

First course:

Billi Bi Cressonière (Mussels soup with watercress)

Billi-bi is a mussels soup perfumed with watercress. The origin of this soup is not really known but people claims that it was first made by the chef of Maxim's in Paris and it was served for the first time at a farewell party for an American tycoon named William B. (Billy B.) and the name of the dish derives from "Billy, Bye-Bye" 

Here I am plating the soup for 25 people.  

Billy Bi extracts the essence of the mussels best flavor for the broth, which is based on aromatic vegetable, crème fraîche, and white wine.

The soup is garnish with mussels and a cloud of whipped cream.  The cream adds just the right amount of richness!  

Click on Link to see preparation

Second course:

Risotto with sautéed soft shell crab in garlic, butter and parsley

Click on Link to see preparation - On the preparation page you will frog legs instead of soft shelled crabs.

third course:

Crispy pork Belly served with bordelaise sauce X with ratatouille 

I love this dish! The pork is so delicious, crispy and so satisfying.  I served the pork with a bordelaise sauce and paired it with ratatouille. 

This dish is a hit each time I served it! 

Click on Link to see preparation

fourth course:

Langoustine Thermidor by Phuc

Lobster Thermidor is a French dish consisting of a creamy  mixture of cooked lobster meat, egg yolks, and cognac or brandy, stuffed into a lobster shell, and optionally served with an oven-browned cheese crust, typically Gruyère.  Instead of using Lobster Phuc is using shrimps because it is a lot easier to cook and the result is as good as lobster and instead of presenting the dish on shell it is served is really cute individual casseroles.

It took Phuc and Huyen a whole evening to prepare this dish!  It is a very rich and satisfying dish.  Too bad we were a bit full by the time we got to this dish but I took the leftover home and it tasted so good the next day!

Close look at the dish.  The gooey layer of cheese on top looks so good that I want to dig in a spoon right away!

Desserts:

Crêpe Soufflé and molten chocolate cake

There is no way you can go wrong with serving these two desserts!  Lets start with the Crêpe Soufflé.   Crêpe Soufflé are elegant and simple to serve at the end of a meal.  They are light and so delicious!

After our dinner we had to wait a while before attacking our desserts because we were so full!  When I was passing out the crepes and after taking a bite of it, everyone wanted to have more of them. 

 delicious! 

It is really difficult to resist this cake especially when it is just coming out of the oven!

Click on link to see preparation

We had such a great party tonight!  This is also the first time I have 25 people for a seat down dinner and each course was individually served!  It was a lot of work but  and I am glad it went really smoothly, everyone seems to enjoy the food and it also help that he wine was flowing freely...

Until the next party...

Filed under: Dinner parties