Sunday 30 October 2011

A Perfect Dinner


It was a perfect dinner in so many respects. At out local restaurant, so the reception was warm and there was the comfort of being a regular. It was with friends from New York and we all enjoyed one of my husband's and our friends' favourite odd bits --- sweetbreads. 
Now if you look carefully you'll see we indulged ourselves with a magnum of Lapierre Morgon 2009. Well, we were with friends, plus it's almost impossible to find this wine in a 750ml bottle.

The sweetbreads came with chanterelles, or girolles as the French call them, a linguistic quirk, and pureed potatoes. My husband however, is brave enough to ask William for frites instead, and he gets them. The sweetbread is the heart one sautéed whole, not sliced as is more often the case, and the result is moist, creamy, thymus heaven.

A good dinner is about so many things, the food, the wine, the company, the conversation and the sense of place. There is a ritual, a sense of fellowship and sharing, and when all of these merge you have a perfect evening, just like this one.


6 comments:

Amarantha said...

Looks lovely :) I've only had sweetbreads twice; should really try frying my own. Also, pureed potatoes for the win!

Jennifer said...

Yes Amarantha, while I love the frites I'd go for pureed potatoes too. You should try making sweetbreads, a bit of preparation, but simple to cook.

nouf alrooq said...

it looks so ymmy , I'd prefer eating this to eating a homemade. :)

Amarantha said...

No sweetbreads yet, but just had an unscheduled lunch of pig's brain. Went to buy half a pig's head, and could only get a whole one, so we halved it ourselves and yay for bonus brain! Poached in a stock of onion, bay leaves and the juice and zest of one lemon, then floured (with sesame seeds) and deep-fried.

Jennifer said...

Did the pig's head still have the tongue too? How do you plan to cook the head?

Amarantha said...

Pot-roasted half the head as per Fergus Henderson's recipe in "Beyond Nose to Tail". The other half is in the freezer while I decide what to do with it. The tongue is resting gently in a brine, and tomorrow I plan to boil it, slice it, and stir-fry the slices.

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