Jennie Liwander's father's 60th birthday party

I wanted to write about a very nice menu I did for Jennie Liwander's father's 60th birthday party, he loves gourmet food so they hired me for the evening.  I started the menu with a seared scallop, on a bed of lemon braised greens with créme fraiche, then gratineed with a wine wine cream sauce & parmesan over it. It's a wonderful starter and sets the tone for the evening. Second course was Lobster Bisque, I made a fond from the shells and used real Canadian lobsters. The father said it was the best bisque he had ever had.Next was one of my favorites, Monk-fish...  I do this monk-fish in a way that is first poached in fish bouillon with herbs, then taken out and sauteed in brown butter with shallots & herbs and sliced so it's brown and green on the outside and white & moist in the center, served on lightly sauteed root veggies and served with a tangy white butter sauce on a bed of sweet polenta....many people have told me it's the best fish dish they've ever had. After they cleansed the palate with a raspberry sorbet, the main  course was fresh Irish Lamb Chops, seared then roasted and rested ½ hour so they are completely pink and very moist. They were served with eggplant caviar, thats eggplant roasted with garlic and thyme, pureed and filled in the roasted eggplant and baked with parmesan, also a cranberry chutney, Pomme Dauphinois Gratin potatoes and a black truffle sauce. For dessert they had the Gateau Basque, a vanilla bean cookie dough filled with  a rich dark cherry-rum filling, served with a red fruits sauce and I make some decorative caramel. It was excellent, and I'll quote Jennie Liwander who said:

Hej Jeff!

Vill bara tacka för en underbar middag! Vi njuter fortfarande av minnet av den utsökta maten och de goda vinerna. Småbråkar om vilken rätt som egentligen var godast....:-)!

Stort tack! 

Jennie 

which translated from Swedish means:

Hi Jeff!

Just want to thank you for a wonderful dinner! We still enjoy the memory of the delicious food and good wines. Small arguing about which course was actually taste the best ....:-)!

Many thanks!

Jennie