Lamb chops with rosemary and port wine cherry sauce. I've been trying to make cherry crusted lamb chops for a while (I thought cherries and lamb would taste nice together with the sweetness of the cherries adding a level brightness to the lamb) and have never been successful. This time instead of trying to crust the lamb chop I decided I would make a sauce. It was basically port wine, cherries cinnamon and black peppercorns boiled until the port was reduced by a lot and the cherries were soft. I think adding cinnamon, cherries and black pepper, all scents and tastes and scents that are present in wine to a sweeter port would sort of make a super wine sauce that could stand up to but not overpower the meat. Not pictured here are the parsnip shavings I burnt and was unable to serve. I won't forget them in the oven next time. This dish in this form is a definite keeper for the next dinner. I also had a lot of fun splattering the plates.
Beef short ribs over a pea, potato and basil puree with roasted carrots and Japanese turnips. While short ribs always taste spectacular its really quite challenging for me to make them look good. I don't think I centered them well enough on the puree and the chopped chives don't do a great job of masking the brownness of the ribs. I think the way to go for next time might be to serve these in a bowl with the braising juices and whatever else I decide to pair them with. The potato basil pea puree was really nice and a little less of a hassle than making the faro rissoto I made last time.
This is a slice of apple crumb cake with Calvados ice cream and toasted almonds. I wanted to make a dessert that I could prepare ahead of time and assemble when needed so I thought of this. I was also looking for a reason to drink an apple ice wine I bought at the farmer's market. This recipe (minus the calvados ice cream)is actually one of my mom's that she used to make for me as I was growing up. I jazzed up the crumb cake a little by adding star anise and tossing the apples in calvados before baking. I think next time I make this I'll try to lattice the plate with star anise caramel. The cake was also a good excuse to try and make calvados ice cream, something, oddly enough, that I had been thinking of making for some time.
