dreaming@echonyc.com: i can't believe i ate the whole thing.

in case you weren't here to enjoy my birthday feast, please sample it vicariously:

snacks. betty, please note red plate. homemade canape bread with pesto cream cheese rosettes, pumpernickel with port salut and apple-smoked ham, and crispbreads (not shown) with boursin and truffled pat�.
lobster bisque. i used a recipe from bon app�tit with a few substitutions (thickened it with pur�ed lobster meat instead of corn starch, no sliced tomato because february in vermont isn't exactly the season, added a big dollop of cognac before serving). it was fantastic, delicious, insanely good. in hindsight, for maximum visual impact i should have added the lobster claw and chunks of tail meat after ladling the soup into the bowls, but it was fine.
beeves after baking. the puff pastry decorations were magnificient. the hearts all held their shape, and everything turned a lovely golden brown.
beef and asparagus. i served the wellingtons cut in half — i'd carefully placed the decorations so that none of them spanned the middle of the package — with a bundle of steamed asparagus rolled in lemon butter, crunchy salt, and black pepper.
individual molten chocolate cakes. (this picture is the pits, alas.) i used a recipe of nick malgieri's, courtesy of terry, and perched each cake in a puddle of cr�me anglaise with a zigzag of raspberry coulis. they were really, really good, crispy on the outside, molten on the inside — and yet it's really not my favorite dessert. next year we're having my old birthday standby. (i was going to make a pretty pattern in the puddle of sauces, but everyone was standing around watching so i felt too self-conscious to be quite that anal in front of people.)

it was all really delicious (if richer and heavier than what we normally eat) and, though i do say so myself, it came together exactly as i'd hoped — because i did the heavy lifting over a week, i wasn't scrambling at all, either yesterday or while the guests were here. i wish i'd paid more attention to garnishing, because, you know, fancy, but all in all i think it was a beautiful meal — everyone enjoyed it and it was well worth the effort.

today's menu: bread and water. and leftover lobster bisque.

Comments

I feel totally deprived for having missed it.

Posted by: terry | February 15, 2004 10:28 AM

It all looks so amazing! I love the fact that you made homemade bread for the toasts and the floaty little jewish stars (that's what I thought of at first, but I'm betting they're flower heads, right?) on the bisque...

Posted by: betsy | February 15, 2004 11:14 AM

WOW! Can't wait til you and your maw surprise me for my birthday with buckets and wrapped bundles of lucious food.

Posted by: auntb | February 15, 2004 01:14 PM

Do ya think we (ha) could make this in Alex. for your grandfadder? He loves a good lobster bisque.

Posted by: auntb | February 15, 2004 06:59 PM

Sounds fantastic. Happy birthday!

Posted by: Molly | February 15, 2004 10:09 PM

thanks! it was a splendid birthday.

Posted by: julie | February 16, 2004 02:24 PM