In our family, we like to group birthdays and other significant holidays together. Between February 6-14th, my poor father and brother-in-law have to deal with my birthday, my sister's birthday, my sister's wedding anniversary, my mother's birthday and Valentine's Day. So, it's no surprise that my dad's birthday and my parents' wedding anniversary is one day apart in March. Since we were little, we've always called it the "annibirthday," an annual event that gives us just another excuse to indulge in great food and wine.
This year, I hosted at my place and took on the always-fun role of chef. For starters, we uncorked a good Brunello and paired that with cheese and pate. I picked up a St. Agur Blue cheese, a Campo de Montalban cheese and a chicken pistachio pate from Whole Foods. All three were perfect for the bold, hearty wine.
I served the cheeses and pate with crostini, a few water crackers and some dried figs. I love starting a dinner party in the living room, with everyone lounging on the couches and helping themselves to whatever is on the coffee table. It helps to relax people, which is really the whole point of a dinner party anyway, right? There's nothing more off-putting than rushing your dinner guests to the dining table upon arrival.
For the main course, I chose Salmon Cannelloni with Lemon Cream Sauce from Gourmet magazine. The recipe looked fairly easy, and, most importantly, it was something I could make in advance. I hate spending an entire dinner party in the kitchen, so this assemble-ahead-of-time dish was the perfect solution.
I made the tarragon crepes earlier in the day and kept them resting between layers of kitchen towels. After they cooled, I put a dollop of a butter/shallot mixture on the salmon, then put the fish butter-side-down on the crepe before rolling it all up into a neat cannelloni shape.
I then placed the cannellonis in a single layer in a baking dish. The next step, which I failed to document, was to make an easy cream sauce from butter, flour, cream, lemon zest, clam juice and seasoning. After letting the sauce cool to room temperature, I covered the cannellonis with the sauce and placed it in the refrigerator. About 30 minutes before baking, I removed the dish from the fridge to bring it up to room temperature.
Because this dish is somewhat rich (as were our apps!), I served it with only a simple green bean/red bell pepper/onion saute with a dash of good balsamic.
The fish was tender, surprisingly light and delicious. I would highly recommend this for a dinner party; it's easy, but different enough to impress your guests. Don't be intimidated by the crepe-making; I've never made crepes before, and now I'm hooked. It was that easy.
For dessert, my mom made carrot cupcakes, since carrot cake is one of my dad's favorite desserts. These were super moist and light on the frosting, which I love. There was just a hint of orange zest in the frosting, which matched perfectly with the sweet cake. All in all, another fabulous dinner party. Here's to many more!
