This menu came about because a) I wanted to attempt one or two dishes given by Millicent Fenwick as part of a traditional dinner of ceremony, b) there was a bottle of champagne in the house, c) I didn’t want to forget hollandaise sauce again, and d) it had been a long time since I’d had asparagus. The results were, um, mixed:
Mort dans l'après-midi cocktail
Consommé regrettable
Saumon poché Timbale de riz brun
Asperges
Sauce Hollandaise à mixeur inoublié
Salade vert
Sorbet au chocolat aux framboises
There’s nothing so easy as a Death in the Afternoon: pour champagne into glass, pour absinthe slowly into champagne, and hey presto, it’s a cocktail! I should have remembered to serve a small dish of olives with it.
Only when setting the table did I discover that Dear Grandmother’s silver included an army of butter knives, but no soup spoons! There was nothing else to do but shine up an everyday soup spoon.
The consommé, alas, disappointed. The recipe called for one egg white and crushed eggshell per quart of stock. Combine it all, stir gradually, and all that egg business is supposed to form a “thick scum” on top (to capture any impurities in the stock). Instead, the whole thing ended up looking like egg drop soup gone off. After straining it through a very clean dishcloth into an earthenware bowl and then reheating, and adding a bit more salt, it still tasted like dishwater that couldn’t get up on its hind legs. Had I remembered to serve a little glass of sherry with it, it might have been better. I kept going back to Emily Post’s story of Mrs. Newwed, “How a Dinner Can Be Bungled,” and how she described the shock of seeing a plate of muddy soup that was supposed to be clear. Oh well, thank goodness there was more dinner to follow!
I am at least able to poach a piece of salmon without mishap now thanks to the pandemic, and it came out very nicely. The next time I serve asparagus on these plates, I’ll remember to trim them to plate size before cooking. In a true formal dinner the asparagus would be its own course following the entrée. I’ve perfected the blender Hollandaise by using just a bit more cayenne and a bit less lemon than recommended. (And it will accompany meals here for the next week there’s so much of it.)
The real success of the evening was that brown rice timbale. Timbales are nice for a formal presentation because they look so contained. This turned out tasty, and I can use the leftovers for arancini.
I almost forgot the salad, but I kept it in its traditional position following the main course, and then just chocolate sorbet and berries to finish off the meal.
Dinner was barely over before I had to change into something less dressy for a Zoom party (it’s so nice to get invited to a party these days!), during which I could enjoy conversation with my final glass of champagne. All in all, an evening with more hits than misses. Moral: leave consommé to the experts, confirm asparagus length before boiling, and roll with the punches.