Solstice Feast

Tomatoes, about to be roasted. As was I. Yesterday was very warm and only enhanced by the Viking blasting BTUs for a couple hours. But it was so worth it. Here's what we ate and drank:

i
Green Olives with Orange Zest
Peach Bellinis

ii
Shrimp, Asparagus and Lemon Zest in Italian Dressing
2005 Hogue Chardonnay

(This was the amuse bouche course, jp, which translates as "amuse the mouth"...just a little taste of something, almost for the fun of it. These were arranged on scallop shells and looked very pretty. See?)

iii

Mesclun Salad with Caramelized Pears wrapped with Proscuitto, Toasted Hazelnuts and a Maple Syrup Vinaigrette

iv

Chicken Paillard with Chevre and Lavendar Honey on Spinach

Roasted Tomato & Ricotta Tart

Melange of Haricot Vert, Wax Beans & Baby Carrots with Butter & Dill

Bonny Doon Vin Gris de Cigare, 2003 & 2005 (we liked the '05 best)

As you can see, there was a great deal of documentation going on. ("Did you get a picture of that for your blog?" The Spouse kept saying). And yet, the entree came and went without anyone thinking of pulling out the camera. This is what ChouChou's plate looked like afterwards, though.

I guess it was good.

v

There is a story behind dessert. The Boys always bring the pudding and a fine job they do of it, too. I don't tell this story to cast aspersions and you must understand that because I love The Boys, they are lovely people and nothing negative is to be read into this: they made a cake and left it at home. They also made vanilla ice cream and that came with them. Fortunately, The Child had baked a hot milk sponge cake the day before. (She got the baking gene). So The Boys plated up slices of her cake with the ice cream and peach puree left over from our bellinis. It was delicious. They also served us a 2003 Canoe Ridge Late Harvest Gewurztraminer which was nigh unto ambrosia.

This was a happy enough ending but The Boys, as they were leaving, made noises about coming 'round with the double ginger cherry upside down cake that they had made and so we devised a plan and they are coming back to dinner tonight. Ha! We're going to marinate a little rack of lamb chops and grill those. We're going to have shrimp cocktail first and then the lamb with couscous & asparagus (and I'm thinking everything is going to be done on the grill because it's supposed to get into the 90s today) and a big salad and then the cake. So all's well that ends well.

Now, here is my recipe for the chicken, which I made up out of my own little head and which is really, really tasty and I'm not kidding. I'm giving you the recipe for 6 but you could easily increase or decrease the quantities to serve just your own self, a crowd of hundreds or anything inbetween:

Chicken Paillard with Chevre & Lavendar Honey

1 c. clover honey

6-8 sprigs of lavendar

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

6 oz. chevre, crumbled

Place honey and lavendar in a saucepan and heat over low flame for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and allow lavendar to steep in the honey. This can be done well ahead of dinner time.

Place the chicken between 2 layers of plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4 inch thickness.

Heat large pan over medium high heat, add a couple T. olive oil and saute chicken breasts about 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through. (If making several batches, remove cooked chicken to an ovenproof plate and set aside in a low oven to keep warm). Put one cooked paillard on each dinner plate and deglaze the saute pan with a little brandy (or dry sherry or white wine, whatever you have on hand) and spoon a little of the pan juices over each paillard. Then dress each paillard with 1-2 T of lavendar honey and an ounce or so of the crumbled chevre. Garnish with a sprig of lavendar and serve.