Company Dinner

So conventional wisdom says that you shouldn't try out new dishes when you are having company...but I'm not very good at following a conventional track. I figure that if it goes horribly awry, we can always order pizza. Consequently, by signing up to come to our house for dinner, it is very likely that you will end up eating something I have never attempted making before. Such was the case this evening.

Fortunately, our dinner guests are not usually picky - nor is my husband. As we have recently come into possession of an enormous quantity of Utah raised pheasant (thanks to husband and Father-in-Law, who shot over THIRTY a few weekends ago) I decided we needed to start putting a dent in our supply. I don't know many people who have cooked with pheasant, and my usual source of inspiration - the internet - took me to mostly untested sites put up by avid hunters, who seem to be less than avid cooks. But then I randomly happened to be flipping through one of my most beautiful, yet least used, cookbooks - Boulevard. After dining there a few years ago, the book was given to me as a gift. I promptly made the recipe for Corn Ice Cream (delicious!) and never found another use for its delicious yet complicated recipes.

But this time, I thought I could do it. I could take a few shortcuts and spread out the work and give it a shot. To start with, I decided we should have the trusty No-Knead Bread. I have made this bread many times and it never fails to impress. That way, if the rest of the meal was horrible - we could have extra-tasty grilled cheese sandwiches. To make it a little tastier, I added some fresh rosemary and roasted garlic. The house smelled amazing.

With the bread finished, I focuses on the main event. The dish I would be tackling (with some shortcuts and exchanges) was Pan-Seared Pheasant Breast with Cognac soaked Prunes, Braised Bacon, and Pearl Onions in a Pheasant Stock. I would serve this over Roasted Asparagus and Potato Pancakes. Now if anyone HAS pheasant and really wants this recipe, I would be happy to give it you - but it was a LOT of work. It involved soaking the pheasant breasts overnight in cream, salt and pepper and thyme. Then searing the pheasant legs in oil and adding some onion and other vegetables and simmering a stock for an hour. Then there was braising the bacon and soaking the prunes...not to mention the potato pancakes (which I love in any form and with almost anything). BUT it turned out really tasty, if just a bit salty. The prunes sort of negated the salt though, so all was well!

And dessert was fantastic! Let's face it, the MAIN reason I invite people over for dinner is to try out new desserts. I had recently received a copy of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and not only were there a lot of great flavors, there were a lot of great sundae ideas as well. So I went with a sort of Mexican themed concoction called the Chocomole Sundae. The main component was "Queen City Chocolate," a spiced chocolate ice cream with cinnamon and cayenne. Delicious on its own, it was even better with the accompanying Praline Sauce (although I like my butterscotch sauce better) salt-roasted almonds, fresh whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a weird but tasty garnish of "Frito Crunch." Basically you melt some chocolate and stir in crushed fritos. Made it taste sort of like Fried Ice Cream - in a good way.

So, it was a lot of work, but I do like being in the kitchen, so I thought it was worth while. And the boys cleaned their plates, so that must have been good. Let me know if you want any of the recipes - I may just post them separately. Now that I am back to this blogging thing, I have to take it slowly, you know...