September Dinner Party aka "The Night of Meat" was a big format departure from previous dinners. I made the meats and dessert and asked guests to bring a side. We also invited more folks than fit around the dinner table so it was decidedly less formal. And also one of the most enjoyable dinners I've hosted.
Everyone brought amazing sides and we drank wine until well past midnight. With 10 people, it was a lot of wine!
MENU
Meats
- Pork & Chive Dumplings & Lantern Sauce from Epicurious
- Beer-braised pork belly from Cook, a oui chef journal
- Coffee-braised short ribs from Paula Dean son's recipe
Sides
- Gazpacho (Lulu)
- Gratin Dauphinois (Caryl)
- Roasted
ArtichokesBrussel Sprouts (Monica) - Asparagus, Onion, Red Pepper Salad (Kara)
Dessert
- Chocolate Cake with Ganache Icing from Dave's Dinners
Wines (and a beer)
- 2002 Trentadue Port (with dessert)
- 2006 Unti Benchland Syrah
- 2008 Sempre Vive Malbec
- 2008 Clos Du Bois Cabernet Sauvignon
- 2010 Toulouse Anderson Valley Pinot Gris
- 2010 luli Pinot Noir
- Pliny the Elder beer
THE PREP
This was the easiest meal I've made yet. All that food that appeared with guests was obviously a huge help.
The weekend before the dinner party, I spent an afternoon in the kitchen making a metric ton of dumplings and then froze them. Yes, I actually made something 7 days in advance and did a trial tasting(I regularly break the "don't make something for the first time for a dinner party" rule).
I started the pork belly dry brining Thursday morning before going to work (who am I?!?!).
Saturday morning, I picked up the last ingredients, made cake and dumpling sauce and started my braises in the afternoon - not quite as early as I should have, as it turns out.
THE VERDICT
The dumplings were the hands down winners of the meat dishes. I can't believe it's even possible for dumplings to be that good (apparently the fatty ground pork is the secret). After starting the braises a bit too late (note to self: earlier is always better!), the short ribs turned out quite tender. I will definitely make them again though I think I will experiment with different braising sauces. The sauce for this one didn't blow me away.
The pork belly was my least favorite of the meat dishes. It was properly tender (omg, was it so tender), but the flavor didn't have quite the gravitas I was hoping for - the sauce never thickened so that is where I suspect I lost it.
The chocolate cake was obscenely decadent. Not sure I would do it again, unless for a die-hard chocolate lover. Sure did pair well with the lovely port Caryl brought though.
THE EYE CANDY
THE RECIPE
from Epicurious
I 4x'ed the recipe and used 2 pounds of pork.
- 1/2 pound fatty ground pork
- 1/2 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 1/4 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Vietnamese chile-garlic sauce (preferably Huy Fong brand)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar (not seasoned)
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- Pinch of white pepper
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro stems
- 3 tablespoons finely chopped flowering chives, flat Chinese chives (garlic chives), or scallions
- 24 to 30 round dumpling wrappers (preferably with egg)
Combine all ingredients (except cilantro stems, chives, and wrappers) in a large bowl, then stir in cilantro stems and chives. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice to keep chilled while forming dumplings.
Place a slightly rounded teaspoon of filling in center of a wrapper and moisten area around filling with water. Fold in half to form a crescent and press to seal. Moisten one corner and bring corners together, pressing them, to form a tortellini-shaped dumpling. Repeat with remaining filling and wrappers.
Cook dumplings in a large pot of gently simmering water until pork is just cooked, about 3 minutes. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a platter.
Cooks’ note: Dumplings can be formed (but not cooked) 2 hours ahead and chilled; or 1 month ahead and frozen on a tray, then transferred to a freezer bag. Cook frozen dumplings in 3 or 4 batches, 7 to 8 minutes per batch.
