My parents and brother came to visit for Father's Day. On Saturday night, I was already hosting a birthday dinner party for our friend Carla so we expanded the dinner party. Our friend Kristi was in Michigan but her husband Gerrit was still in town and he also has a June birthday. So I created the Birthday for Carla and Gerrit/Father's Day for Joseph Free State Brewing Co. Beer Dinner.
I had leftover paper from the wedding so I drew up menus and place cards. Then I proceeded to cook a dinner party for 10 with my mom as sous chef...an excellent sous chef in fact! I didn't get as many pictures as I hoped but that's because everyone devoured whatever I set on the table before I could take a picture.
We started with Leek Toasts with Blue Cheese from Smitten Kitchen. If you look at her pics, you'll notice I went with spreading the extra creamy blue cheese on the bread underneath the leeks. But I LOVE how bright these leeks become and they do have a unique, delicious flavor. This was a big hit and I had never cooked leeks but I would highly recommend the recipe.
The next course was a salad with pistachio crusted goat cheese. I served it with Free State's KellerPils as pilsners are supposed to be a good pairing with goat cheese. It has a homemade dressing that is to die for. I have a handwritten copy of this recipe in my recipe notebook so I'm not sure where I got it. I'll try to post the recipe here sometime soon because it was soo good! I had trouble with making the "crusted" part of the goat cheese as the pan didn't seem warm enough to sear the nuts and I ended up with mushy cheese balls. However, no one complained and while not the prettiest, the taste was fantastic.
The main course was another shout-out to Real Simple. This time it was Five-spice Pork Chops with Grilled Plums served with Free State's Meuse River IPA. The subtle spice flavors from the beer paired perfectly with the five-spice blend on the pork. This tasted great and was very popular. However, I ran into a few problems (besides melting my meat thermometer and my silicone tong handle). The grill basket I used for the plums and scallions was too small for the quantity of scallions needed for 10 people. I had multiplied the recipe quantity by 2.5 to accomodate 10 people instead of 4. My wee grill basket could handle the plums. But when the scallions were added at the last couple minutes of grill time there were suddenly 30 scallions on top of quickly deteriorating plums. They were nowhere near the heat that was supposed to grill them in 2 minutes. Whoops! If you use a large flat grill pan then you'll be fine. If you have a smaller square one like I do with angled sides then I'd recommend removing the plums from the grill before you start the scallions.
For dessert, we had Real Simple's Blueberry-Gin Sundaes paired with Free State's Oatmeal Stout. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this course but we will definitely be making it again. If you plan to serve it to 10 people, keep in mind that a cup of gin takes a lot longer to cook down than 1/3 of a cup (the amount for only 4 people).
We wrapped things up with some limoncello and great conversation.
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| Pleepleus doing his part to help. |
Then Kristi returned from Michigan and we hosted Kristi and Gerrit's Birthday Dinner the following Saturday.
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| Clifton and Rachel joined us for a true Shaw-Davis-Scholten Clan evening. |
Rachel and Kristi pitched in this time as well. Rachel brought Chorizo and Pepper Skewers (another recipe from Real Simple) which we enjoyed with M. Lawrence Sandpiper Sparkling Wine from Michigan.. Kristi made a couscous salad with pineapple, cilantro, and red onion. To match the couscous salad that the Birthday Girl was craving, I made coconut lime grilled shrimp and grilled sirloin steaks seasoned only with salt and pepper.
After the appetizer/wine pairing, everyone enjoyed whatever beverage they wanted. But I wanted to do something special for Kristi since she only got to attend one birthday dinner and Gerrit was spoiled the weekend before. Kristi really likes Pisco Sours. If you are a fan of Zane Lamprey and the show Three Sheets then you might know what I'm talking about. If not, go rent the Peru episode and you'll be caught up. :-)
Last July, Clifton went to Peru and was kind enough to bring us back a bottle of Pisco. We shared some with our friends one night and discovered that Kristi was a big fan! Since we only had two bottles total between ours and Clifton's we decided to surprise her for her birthday. We enjoyed Pisco Sours using the official Zane Lamprey recipe and had a great night. I hope it was a memorable birthday party!
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