Celebrating my wonderful Mother with an elegant springtime tea follows in the “Tea for Two” theme prevailing at ChezHelvetica. From a Kohler soaking tub to beautiful art created by Jennifer Roberts, this occasion surmounts them all. Inspired by the recipes from the May issue of Bon Appetit Magazine, our feast included Shaved-Radish Finger Sandwiches with Herb Butter on Baguette and Curried Egg Salad (sweetened with Granny Smith apple) on Pita. With Spring Onions and Asparagus purchased the day before from the sun-drenched Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, we delighted in A Savory Vegetable and Goat Cheese Tart. Rather than using the Scone recipe in that issue, I opted for a Lemon Walnut recipe from the archives. Delicious Glashoff Farm’s Lemon Curd frosted the warm, earthy Scones. Peet’s Yunan Fancy Tea accompanied our meal in this sitting, replaced later by a DeLoach Chardonnay as we grazed throughout the evening. The secret ingredient to this celebration was unequivocally my incredible Mother. It is her strength, creativity and love that made this all possible. Thank you Mom!
Tag: DeLoach
Nude Gnocchi
Chef Claudio‘s contagious passion and joy for Italian cuisine traveled from Tuscany to San Francisco, with “G’nudi” as Primi Piatti at ChezHelvetica this evening. Instead of spinach or kale, raw arugula laced the ricotta, egg yolks and flour in this gnocchi. No longer nude, a luscious butter and sage sauce dressed the delicate dumplings. A Gourmet magazine recipe for roasted chicken breasts stuffed with garlic, herbs and extra virgin oil sizzled as Secondi Piatti. Italian bread, olives and a DeLoach Zinfandel completed the main course, fueling the preparation for Dolci. Zabaione, a mixture of sweet marsala, egg yolks and sugar. La Dolce Vita!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIKhM6RctiI]
Fresh Mahi Mahi
The inspiration for this evening’s ChezHelvetica dinner was the wild fresh fish available at Safeway which was Mahi Mahi. I grilled the Mahi Mahi in a grill pan indoors and placed it on a bed of fresh greens with sliced mangoes. It was topped with a salsa verde (using mint from our garden as well as parsley, garlic, capers, lemon, oil and vinegar), a recipe from the current issue of Martha Stewart Living. The side dish was whole wheat couscous.
A journey through the wine section revealed the best deal on the shelf (of the wines we would consider), a bottle of 2005 DeLoach Chardonnay from Russian River Valley in Sonoma County. The wine had that double malolactic taste that was smooth, buttery and slightly oakey.
The dinner turned out to be excellent and was easy to prepare and not cost prohibitive.