TT Supper Club #4

This past Saturday night I hosted a fundraising dinner for SELMA. Their weekly Friday morning breakfasts raise money for a variety of local organizations. This fundraiser was for SELMA itself, to cover capital expenditures (like dishes) that make serving breakfast to 100 people every Friday morning possible. The hosts of SELMA - Lisa Gottlieb and Jeff McCabe - were my assistant cooks for this dinner, and it was really great to spend the afternoon and evening getting to know them while cooking and serving with them. Their help was indispensable - Jeff spent at least 90 minutes cutting vegetables and assembling the most complicated ratatouille known to man, and Lisa came up with the innovative idea of molding individual tart shells over the outside of a tipped over muffin pan. Brilliant!

This was my most ambitious menu so far, I think, but fortunately everything went off without a hitch! Pictures and menu below. And the guest list was great - as usual, I wished I'd had more time to spend getting to know my diners! For more pictures and commentary on the meal, check out this blog post from guest Brian Steinberg.

	Bounty from the Farmer's Market waiting to be turned into dinner.
	Yellow Oyster Mushroom Tart This was the first time I'd seen the Michigan Mushroom people at the farmer's market in quite some time, so I had to add a mushroom course. Lisa not only figured out how to make the tart shells, but contributed some of her homemade farmer's cheese to the cause too! The pea shoots were contributed by diner Brian Steinberg's new business - Inchworm Microgreens.
	Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Napoleon with basil oil
	Carrot Soup with toasted pistachios, hazelnut oil and chives
	Mixed Greens with Roasted Fennel and Roasted Beets
	Baked Lake Trout with Confit Byaldi "Confit Byaldi" is the fancy name for "most complicated ratatouille known to man." It involves layers and layers of thinly sliced veggies, laid out in a beautiful spiral. I forgot to take a picture of the pre-cooking version, but you can see someone else's here. This is the dish that Remy the rat makes at the end of the movie Ratatouille, and the recipe is from Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry).
	Lamb Rib Chop with Summer Bean Cassoulet
	Sheep's Milk Gouda, Leonore, Constant Bliss, Bayley Hazen Blue garnished with pickled raisins, creamed honey and grape mostardo
	Panna Cotta with Poached Peaches and 10-yr aged balsamic vinegar
	Mignardises Peach pate de fruit, milk chocolate almond rochers, and a dark chocolate yuzu truffle

TT Supper Club #3

I had a fabulous time last night, cooking dinner for eight great diners. Together, we raised $240 for Growing Hope. *And* I even remembered to take pictures! That was probably because of how easy my amazing assistant cook made things for me. Dee was one of the diners at my very first dinner, and when she volunteered to be my assistant this time I jumped at the opportunity. She's an accomplished cook and hostess herself, running a B&B and catering weddings and parties at The Rooms at Grayfield. She made my job very easy, and was excellent company too.

I've got two dinners coming up, one on August 29 for SELMA, and one on September 12 for Doulas Care. These dinners are a little different, as the benefit organization is taking on the responsibility of filling the guest list, so all I have to do is cook! However, if you'd like to attend either of these dinners, just let me know and I'll put you in contact with the person managing those guest lists. The Doulas Care dinner will be $75, with $50 going to support Doulas Care. I'm not entirely sure of the pricing for the SELMA dinner yet, but I should have details soon - contact me for more information.

Now for some pictures from dinner #3!

	Bounty from the Farmer's Market waiting to be turned into dinner.
	Cauliflower Panna Cotta with Salmon Roe
	Sauteed Squash with their Blossoms and a little goat cheese and black pepper
	Corn Soup with Bacon silky smooth corn soup with corn kernels, crispy bacon and chives
	Salad of Heirloom Tomatoes and Fresh Mozzarella with basil oil and 40-yr balsamic vinegar dots
	Salmon-Dill-Potato Cake with Horseradish Mustard Sauce on a mixed green salad with lemon vinaigrette
	Pork Tenderloin with Peach Tomato Compote and Collard Greens and a salad of cherry tomatoes and peaches
	4 Corners Creamery Aged Goat Cheese, Marieke's Gouda, Gorgonzola garnished with spicy orange marmalade, pickled raisins, creamed honey and blueberries
	Flourless Chocolate Cake with Beet Ice Cream and a crispy beet chip