I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas as we did!
As an appetizer, we made a cheese platter. J and I went back to
Union Market a few days before Christmas and bought three kinds of cheese at Righteous Cheese in the market.
- Brabander Goat Gouda, made in Beemster, Netherlands
- Abbaye de Belloc, made with French Pyrenees sheep milk, still in the traditional manner by Benedictine Monks at the abbey of Notre-Dame de Belloc
- Harbison, made with cow's milk, by Jasper Hill Farm in Vermont
The first two were on my wish-to-try list. I was so glad the cheese shop handled them. The last one was recommended by the cheese shop. J also picked NYC's famous pâté shop, Les Trois Petits Cochons'
Mousse de Canard au Foie Gras - duck mousse with duck
Foie Gras and grapes at the cheese stop. All three cheeses and the mousse were excellent! Everyone had a distinguished flavor and texture and matched each other.
Along with the cheese and pate, dried apricots, dried prunes, cornichons, green olives, fresh radishes, and two kinds of thinly sliced bread: baguette and ciabatta. J's parents kindly brought humus with fresh carrot and celery sticks and a bottle of Champagne. This was probably the best cheese platter ever! Right after the rich appetizer party, it was hard to think about dinner that I was cooking in the oven at that time. However, eventually I got ready for it - lamb shanks roasted "
a la Matignon", which is a technique that "involves sautéing finely diced vegetables and then cooking them together with the meat, which creates a sauce and imparts an aromatic quality to the dish." I found
the recipe on William Sonoma website, which was originally from Thomas Keller. There was a video of the recipe, performed by Thomas Keller himself. I watched the
43 minute video twice.
It was the first time for us to cook lamb shanks. Our shanks were smaller than 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 pound each that the recipe called for, so we bought and cooked six shanks. The recipe was easy but took about 6 hours total. The long cooking time must have contributed the amazingly melt-in-mouth tender meat with a deep flavor at the end, I suppose. Side dishes were pan-sautéed asparagus and creamy polenta that I also adapted a recipe from Thomas Keller's "ad hock at home" book for. The polenta was not just creamy but also garlicky and very good with the sauce for the lamb shank. Actually each lamb shank provided just enough volume for everyone. 1 1/2 pound per person must have been too much...
I also made roasted beet and orange salad with spinach, goat cheese, and toasted walnuts, dressed with a simple oil-free orange juice, lemon juice and balsamic vinaigrette. I love roasted beets and orange combination. I love cheese, fruits and nuts on salad. What a perfect salad it was! At least for me. Well, no complains I heard, so I guess the salad was acceptable for others including J. We opened another bottle of Champagne. We were happily full with the dinner, but everyone knew what would come next.
Yes, dessert! To be continued...
