BF made Beef Bourgignon a couple of months ago and we both thought it was “good enough to have for Christmas”. So we went the non-traditional route and he made it today. I contributed the mashed potatoes and Green Beans Almondine.
And a toasted baguette with ricotta three ways (top to bottom): honey and almonds, extra virgin olive oil and freshly ground pepper, hot honey and crushed red pepper.
Drinks were varied. I was gifted a bottle of Bombay Sapphire (and a couple others) so I made a couple of martinis with that. BF had egg nog and beer. Mom had wine and was coaxed into a Rob Roy.
was a success! I ordered a wedge salad to start (no photo since I forgot), a lobster mac 'n cheese as the main, and a trio of sorbets to finish (lemon, strawberry and mango.
Farfalle with roasted cauliflower (at high heat in the oven to get a nice golden/brown surface), walnuts, parmesan and a garlic sauce (made by roasting two garlic heads at high heat in the oven and mixing it afterwards with olive oil and lemon juice)
Another fabulous, hugely celebratory xmas meal: the last of the crab ravioli from Adli with a sauce I threw together - sautéed half an onion, splash of vinho, RPF, BTB lobster base, 1.5 cups of water (that would be .5 cup too much), crème fraîche that immediately started to curdle when i put it in, then had to fish out again, heavy cream instead, tarrgon, a tiny shake of leftover parm.
Soupy. Salty. Creamy. Crabby. It was fine
We’re still recovering, so we really didn’t give much of AF.
The Bayley Hazen Blue (not the Stichelton I thought we got) and the Whitney Dolcetto made for a nice cheese course, however, along with fig preserves and a muscadine chutney I was gifted by my Secret Santa
I had Covid last Christmas and lost my sense of smell and taste for awhile. We dug into our freezer and baked a turkey potpie. I still remember my first bite, the sensation of chewing cardboard - I spit it out. I’m grateful that I recovered both of those senses. Glad you are feeling better and enjoying food.
We had covid in January - thankfully a fairly mild case with a day of fever & 2 weeks of fatigue and mild congestion. No loss of smell or taste, at least not more so than any other random cold.
I have more gigs on Thursday and Saturday & sincerely hope to be ready for that.
(Yes, I know it mellows in the oven…)
