memoirs of a palate

THE MEATBALL DROPPED AT MIDNIGHT






Ok, so this is coming a little bit late ... but better late than never. Now, the reason this wonderful menu (sorry, D) didn't pop up immediately was due in large part to the fact my brain got saturated in booze and I didn't remember any of the proper ingredients from the menu. And I didn't want to mess it up ... so I didn't post. And I also didn't have any photos (sadly, because it was beautiful).

Anyway, just to give you a little background, we went to James and D's house in Brooklyn for a very wonderful, very low-key New Years Eve celebration and it was exactly what we wanted. Excellent food ... lots of wine ... wonderful friends. So that photo up there of Times Square ... that's just to show you that our evening was the exact opposite of that.

Anyway, D was polite enough to send the menu and here it is:

Starter #1:
- Phyllo cups with brie, raspberry and toasted almonds

- Phyllo cups with brie, apples, honey and toasted almonds

Starter #2:
- Orange/Lemon shrimp and scallops with (terrible - not crispy because I was drunk NOTE: D's words, not mine) pancetta, garlic spinach and rice pilaf

Salad
- Romaine with caramelized pears, chickpeas, toasted almonds and a pear honey vinaigrette

Main
- Orechiette with baby meatballs and chicken sausages

Dessert
- Chocolate Banana Bread Pudding with fresh whipped cream

So yeah. It was mad serious. We ate and ate and ate and ate. And it was so, so, so good. D was unhappy with the pancetta, but I was pretty pleased with all of it. Meena and I have honestly been salivating over that bread pudding for about ... every single second since we ate it. I'm for sure going to make an attempt at replicating it soon. Believe. Anyway, D is an amazing cook and even if you can see photos, I think you can pretty much tell from this insane homemade spread detailed above.

Oh, nearly forgot to mention ... before the festivities, there was a little Indianapolis Colts game. And when the Colts are playing, we always feel like nachos are necessary. So we kept it mostly traditional, but threw in a little jalepeno and lime grilled chicken rather than the old-school ground beef. Anyway, I had a photo of it so I thought I'd throw it in.