Heirloom Tomato Stack with Sautéed Birch and Japanese Maple Leaves Image: Karen Wollins
As hosts, Ilise and I had the task of selecting the theme for dinner, not as easy as it may sound. First of all, our foodie group has been at this a long time, many good themes have already been done. Once the type of theme is decided – a specific cuisine; cooking technique; featured ingredient; wordplay and other esoterica – then the particulars need to be nailed down. Based on the above, potential themes might be: Northern Italian; Sous vide; Chocolate; or Food made famous in a movie.
In my opinion, a good theme needs 3 things:
In my opinion, a good theme needs 3 things:
- Approachability
- But also the chance to stretch out and try new things in the kitchen
- And lots of room for creativity and playfulness. We’re a group that likes to play with our food!
We felt that Autumn Leaves would spark our co-chefs’ creativity, especially with a wide range of seasonal and local ingredients to work with. We were right – the bright colors and flavors of autumn were featured in everything served. The crew did an excellent job (as usual).
One last note on theme selection: I confess that we had an ulterior motive. Years ago we made a dish cooked with banana leaves that was OMG amazingly delicious and we’ve been looking for the perfect opportunity to do it again ever since. The time had finally arrived! More on that later.
One last note on theme selection: I confess that we had an ulterior motive. Years ago we made a dish cooked with banana leaves that was OMG amazingly delicious and we’ve been looking for the perfect opportunity to do it again ever since. The time had finally arrived! More on that later.
The Menu:
- Drinks – Ellyn: Autumn Leaves cocktail; Assorted wines
- Appetizer – Kathleen and Karen: Heirloom Tomato Stacks with Sautéed
Autumn Leaves
- Main course – Ilise and Ann: Roasted Lamb Shanks in Oaxacan Red Mole Sauce; Toasted Orzo with Roasted Peppers; Kabocha Squash and Kale Salad with Cranberries
- Dessert – Greg and Dan: Greg’s Apple Tart with Thyme Custard; Platter of leaf-garnished cheeses (Bellavitano Chai Tea; Bellavitano Herbes de Provence; Blue Valdeón)
Keep reading for more of the story, photos, recipes, and the exclusive Entertain the Possibilities Autumn Leaves playlist. We’re going to focus on the Drinks and Appetizer today. Look for the Part 2 post coming soon with all the deets on the Main Course and Dessert.
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Whenever we have the enjoyable task of hosting/selecting the theme, in addition to the considerations already mentioned I also have a secondary filter: Does the theme lend itself to an interesting playlist?
Obviously the food comes first, but I do believe that a good playlist adds a lot of life to a party. In this case the answer was a definite Yes! There are so many great tunes about autumn, leaves, trees, and only a million or so versions of Autumn Leaves, the pop/jazz standard adapted from a French folk song which first became popular in the 1940s. Let’s start off with a great rendition by Dee Dee Bridgewater and see where the wind blows our leaves from there. |
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Ellyn started us off with a strong cocktail called – wait for it – Autumn Leaves. All hail the return of seasonally appropriate brown liquor! (Although some would say that the darker spirits are always on order all year round.) This tasty tipple was described as a cross between a Manhattan and an Old-Fashioned. It has 4 kinds of liquor in it and no mixer, so as I said – strong and thoroughly satisfying. One was plenty for me. But can I please arrange to have one a day for the entire autumn season? Thanks.
Autumn Leaves Cocktail
Recipe source: Difford’s Guide for Discerning Drinkers
INGREDIENTS:
1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz Calvados
1 oz vermouth
¼ oz Strega liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
DIRECTIONS:
Stir all ingredients in a shaker or pitcher with ice, then strain into an old-fashioned glass with fresh ice.
Garnish with an orange peel.
Ellyn's Note: I subbed Genepes des Alpes – a liqueur made from the same alpine herb that flavors the heralded Chartreuse – for the Strega. I also used Orange Bitters instead of regular.
Recipe source: Difford’s Guide for Discerning Drinkers
INGREDIENTS:
1 oz rye whiskey
1 oz Calvados
1 oz vermouth
¼ oz Strega liqueur
2 dashes Angostura bitters
DIRECTIONS:
Stir all ingredients in a shaker or pitcher with ice, then strain into an old-fashioned glass with fresh ice.
Garnish with an orange peel.
Ellyn's Note: I subbed Genepes des Alpes – a liqueur made from the same alpine herb that flavors the heralded Chartreuse – for the Strega. I also used Orange Bitters instead of regular.
| Printable Recipe- Autumn Leaves Cocktail |
Have you ever been served a helicopter at the dinner table? No, not the rotorcraft, I mean the whirligigs from maple trees that get raked up by the thousands this time of year. Well, Karen and Kathleen introduced us all to a new taste treat – leaves sautéed in brown butter just as you would with sage leaves, entirely edible – used to complement the beautiful heirloom tomato stacks served on toast rounds with bacon crumbles, basil, and blue cheese. (Whirligigs were on the plate too, but just as garnish.)
As lovely as it was, the art had to be sacrificed for our hunger pangs and I’m happy to report that everything – leaves included! – was just as delicious as it looked.
Let’s hear from Karen and Kathleen directly, explaining their inspiration and planning process:
As lovely as it was, the art had to be sacrificed for our hunger pangs and I’m happy to report that everything – leaves included! – was just as delicious as it looked.
Let’s hear from Karen and Kathleen directly, explaining their inspiration and planning process:
We started by thinking about how leaves - literal tree leaves - could be prepared. First we read that Magnus Nilsson gathers last year's partially decayed leaves, and places them on top of cooked vegetables so that the diner digs in to the leaves to reveal the food. See the video. This intrigued us, but lacking a nearby birch and aspen forest and uncertain about how our friends would feel about the presence of potential germs, molds, etc., we gave up that idea.
Then we got excited when we saw that the Japanese make tempura Japanese Maple Leaves. Our experiments however, proved incredibly messy and not worth the effort to perfect (it took us 2 hours to clean our kitchen floor, stove, and counters). Still we were determined to do something with tree leaves, so we called the Chicago Botanic Garden (so that we wouldn’t poison our friends). Our contact there assured us that Birch, Hawthorne, and Linden leaves were edible.
We proceeded to prepare both the Japanese maple leaves from our garden and our neighbor’s birch leaves by sautéing them in a brown butter (just as we crisp sage leaves). This we thought proved satisfactory and tasty. A multicolored heirloom tomato stack seemed to fit the theme and go well with the crisped leaves. We put bacon bits, blue cheese, and basil between the slices, and set the stack on a toasted round of bread to sop up the tomato flavor. We added crisped leaves, currant tomatoes, bacon bits, blue cheese crumbles, and undeveloped seed pods from the Japanese maple as garni.
Click on the photos to enlarge them and read the captions.
What a terrific start to our Autumn Leaves dinner party! The Ks and Ellyn rose to the occasion quite well. Please come back soon for the Autumn Leaves - Part 2 post in which we’ll pull up to the table for the Main Course and Dessert.
In the meantime please share in the comments: What’s your favorite classic autumn food? Is it caramel apples and leftover Halloween candy? I get it, that’s the good stuff. Cheers!
In the meantime please share in the comments: What’s your favorite classic autumn food? Is it caramel apples and leftover Halloween candy? I get it, that’s the good stuff. Cheers!
Autumn Leaves Cocktail Image: Ilise Goldberg
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