In the end, it was neither the duck, nor the beef nor the lamb that did me in - it was the bull.
Pete & Ellen hosted their biannual dinner party last night, and as always it was a sumptuous feast and a delightful get-together.
Having been told the theme beforehand, I wore my jean jacket, hat and sweatshirt adorned with the original "Bone Daddy" (Jack Skellington) while Audrey (not pictured) donned pyjama pants and explained she was "bone tired." Ellen's Dio de Los Muertos shirt and bone barrettes were an excellent thematic touch as well.
With Pete busy in the kitchen, I was only too happy to help out by preparing the bone-themed cocktails that he had printed out, but the first course arrived before we had gotten very far: lamb lollipops (chops with long, frenched bones to facilitate eating with one's hands).
Succulent and flavourful, these were particularly enjoyable as there is not much appetite for lamb in our house, but I am always happy to have it. Brilliantly seasoned and done to a turn on Pete's Big Green Egg, I believe.
The starting cocktail (for me, anyways) was a Rusty Nail variation using corn whiskey instead of scotch and replacing the Drambuie with amaro (an Italian digestif) and Benedictine. This made the drink a little less sweet than I am used to but more complex and a real delight - plus every drink tastes better in Waterford crystal, in my opinion!
The main course, served mid-afternoon, was braised lamb shanks. These had been cooked wetly for hours with vegetables that were removed and blended to create a tasty gravy, that was poured over the bony lamb cuts as they lay on rice.
Tough to say what I enjoyed more, as the tender lamb shanks themselves were delicious and fell off the bone with even the slightest of jostling, but the rich, savoury blended vegetables made the entire dish next level. The rice was completely necessary as a means of capturing all the sauce, but I would love to try it with mashed potatoes instead.
I didn't photograph every libation, but here is Margaret enjoying the most surprising of them: the Bone Cocktail.
We are kind of an old crew now, and normally approach drinks like Red Bull with same level of wariness one would apply to removing an antagonistic lynx from one's linen closet. But I was curious and Audrey agreed to split one with me, and it was surprisingly delightful!
The sweetness of the Malibu seemed to dull the bitter and medicinal edges of both the Jagermeister and the Red Bull, leaving a tart and refreshing drink that enabled us to stay up until midnight! (And maybe a bit beyond, as Jeff had two of them...)
Even in a meat- and bone-centric menu such as this, the tomahawk steak (my first!) was a visual standout.
Once cooked to medium-rare (mmmmaybe a little rarer than that in places), Pete deployed fried onions onto toasted baguette slices with arugula, added thin slices of the steak and then topped it off with homemade chimichurri sauce - delectable and delightfully presented to boot!
And fortunately Scott was on hand to help coax the rarer bits into line with Pete's kitchen torch...
I neglected to get a picture of the most interesting drink of the night: the Bone Crusher. A 2-person cocktail built around a generous pour of Mezcal, Margaret described it as "delicious but confusing", and I agreed wholeheartedly.
Combining sweet, tart, smoky and spicy elements, this one was a real hit for both taste and complexity. If I was to do it again, I would probably sub in chipotle for the salted and spicy rim.
And the Bone Chiller was a delightful (if strong!) quencher, as shown here by Totty.
Before the final course, Pete asked if anyone wanted to finish off the homemade Advocaat he'd made over the holidays (a Dutch liqueur made with eggs, brandy and vanilla), and Audrey and I were only too happy to assist.
The final meat course was duck confit, a drumstick slow cooked in fat wth salt and seasonings (originally a preservation method, I learned). Served with a delicious arugula salad garnished with a tart vinaigrette, perfectly complementing the mouthwatering, salty duck. I neglected to snap a pic of the plating, but never has a greasy fry pan looked so alluring to me!
Finally, for dessert, we had a dino dig cake. Unfortunately, using warm water to extract white candy from the silicon molds meant losing much of the definition that made them look like fossilized dinosaur skeletons, but a) we are all imaginative people and b) the chocolate frosting was one of the most cocoa-forward things I have ever tasted.
The entire affair took a little less than 12 hours (!), with Pete cooking and Ellen hosting and cleaning almost the entire time. It is a tremendous outlay of effort, especially when you factor in the prep times. Not every guest is able to stay for the whole event, but everyone leaves immensely impressed with the quality and variety of food and libations, the unequalled hospitality, and the sheer wonder and joy of being able to come together as a group again, as we have for so many years.
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