The Devil in the White City Dinner Party: Recipes!

The final menu:

Soup
Creme de Celeri

Hors D'oeuvres
Peach and Almond Salad; Olives

Refeve
Filet de Beouf aux Champignons
Haricots Verts
Pommes Parisiennes

Sorbet
Sorbet au Kirsch
Cigarettes

Roti
Roti de Carnard
Salade de Laitue

Dessert
Ginger Ice Cream
Bon-Bons; Assorted Fruit

Fromages

Roquefort et Camembert

Coffee, Cigars
Absinthe

All in all, the meal took three hours to devour.

Due to time and budget constraints, I wasn't able to pick out a wine for each course. I asked my guests to bring a boozey donation for the group. I did supply Kubler Absinthe for after dinner drinks, purchased at Lenell's in Redhook.

The cheeses came from Murray's; the Roquefort was a little too pungent for my taste, but the guests enjoyed it. The Camembert was buttery and delicious, and it was made in upstate New York.

The bon-bons were pralines from La Maison du Chocolate. There is actually a period appropriate chocolatier in New York, Debauve and Gallais. In fact, they were the first chocolatier ever, their first patron being Marie Antoinette. Their bon bons, however, were well out of my price range.

Coffee came from the always delicious Empire Coffee and Tea on 42nd and 9th.

The cigars and cigarettes came from J&R Cigar on 46th and 5th, a high quality shop with an inexpensive, hand-rolled, house brand; and good deals on name brand products. The Cigarettes were 100% tobacco Nat Sherman lights. The cigarette break in the middle of the meal was delightful; we all ajurned to my roof which has a view of Manhattan. Smoking cigars, sipping cocktails and talking post meal was also an exquisite experience.

A full list of the recipes I used are below. Many of them came from my own head, but I often consulted several different sources to create them. I have listed those resources in parenthesis.


Crème of Celery Soup
(The Epicurean: Part 1; foodnetwork.com)

20-25 ribs of celery
2 cups chicken stock or broth
1tablespoon sugar
1tsp fresh grated nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons butter

De-rib celery with a vegetable peeler. Dice and blanch until soft. Drain all but 1 ½ cups liquid; add sugar, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Puree in a blender or food processor.
Create a roux with butter and flour, whisk in chicken broth. Simmer until slightly thickened; whisk in celery puree. Season to taste.


Peach and Almond Salad
(Feeding America)

2 ½ cups sliced peaches
½ cup slivered Almonds
1 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
Juice of 2 lemons

Boil sugar with ½ cup water for five minutes. Whisk egg yolks until frothy, then slowly drizzle in sugar syrup, whisking constantly. Return to medium heat, stirring constantly until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Let cool.

Pour a little of this dressing into a bowl; cut up peaches and add to the bowl, adding enough dressing to cover the peach slices. The sugar will prevent the peaches from oxidizing. Add almonds and mix. Serve with dressing to taste.


The recipes for Filet de Beouf aux Champignons and Pommes Parisiennes came directly from Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The green beans were blanched until bright green, drained in a strainer rinsed in cold water to stop cooking. Then the were sauteed with butter and salt.


Kirsch Sorbet
(the chocolate traveler: http://www.chocolatetradingco.com/magazine.asp?section=28&id=42)

½ cup confectioners sugar
½ cup skim milk
½ cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup water
¼ cup + 1/8 cup kirschwasser

Bring the milk and sugar to a boil and simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Remove fromheat and stir in the water. Add the kirsch to taste. Pour into ice cream maker and make as usual. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until ready to eat. Garnish with cherry preserves.


Roti de Carnard
(Mastering the Art of French Cooking, page 272; Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine Herb Rubbed Turkey)

1 6lb Duckling
Celery
Onions
Parsley

Brine:
1 gallon water
1 cup sugar (I used maple syrup)
1 cup salt
2 bay leaves
5 peppercorns

Bring the brine to a boil in a large stockpot, then cool to room temperature. A few trays of ice cubes can be added. It is important the brine is cool so that the duck does not begin to stew in the hot liquid.

Remove the ducking from it's wrapping, and pull the neck and “gutbag” from the cavity. Set these aside in a saucepan. Soak the duck in the brine overnight in the refrigerator.

Add celery, an onions, bay leaves, peppercorns, and salt to the neck and guts in the saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil; turn down heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Strain and save liquid, save in refrigerator.

Before roasting, remove the ducking from the brine. Rinse thoroughly, including the inside cavity, and pat dry. Trim fat flaps from front and back of duck and stuff inside cavity. Fill cavity with parsley, a quartered onion, and celery. Sew or spear shut. Rub duckling with olive oil, salt, pepper, and Herbs de Provence.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Roast duck 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350. A 6 pound duck will need to cook about 2 hours, until the juices are rosy (medium) or clear (well done).
Remove duck from roasting pan and turn breast side down on a platter. Let rest for about 10 minutes. Ladled up juices from pan, avoiding the fat, and add to duck stuck made the night before. Add wine to taste and bring to a hard boil. Boil until sauce is slightly thickened.

Carve duck and serve with sauce.


Salade de laitue
(Feeding America)

1 head lettuce
2 tablespoons oil
4 tablespoons white wine (or rice wine) vinegar
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
Wash and dry lettuce. Rip into bite-size pieces.
Combine dressing ingredients in a container with a lid. Shake to combine. Pour over lettuce and toss.


Ginger ice cream
(foodnetwork.com)

3 cups heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1/4 cup grated fresh ginger
Pinch salt
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp Vanilla


In a large, heavy saucepan, combine the cream, milk, ginger, and salt over medium heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the egg yolks, sugar and vanilla. Whisk until pale yellow in color and frothy. Ladle 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs and whisk well to combine. Stir the egg mixture into the hot cream mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly to prevent sticking, until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Strain into a large clean bowl through a fine mesh strainer, pressing with the back of a large spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Cover tightly and place in the refrigerator until well chilled, at least 3 hours.
Pour the custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until ready to eat.