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May

Fête Champêtre

Salmon Tartare on Crackers

Radishes with Herb Butter

Carrot Ginger Soup

Field Greens with Pancetta and Violets

Champagne Vinaigrette

Sea Scallops in Saffron Cream

Chicken Tenderloins on Pate Croutons

with Wild Mushrooms and Madeira Sauce

Triple-Crème Tartines with Garlic and Almonds

Pavé de Amor

Coffee

Meringue Mushrooms

This series of small plate is designed to evoke a lovely, romantic spring evening in the French countryside. Although it seems complicated, much of the work can be done ahead of time, letting you relax and enjoy the evening with your guests. The only dish that needs to be cooked on the spot are the scallops, and they take a grand total of 6-7 minutes, start-to-finish. And there is no need to rush between courses. Let everyone enjoy their wine while you put the finishing touches on the next course.

The Salmon Tartare is fresh-tasting and light, as are the radishes. Champagne, of course, is the perfect accompaniment. Carrot Ginger Soup served in demitasse cups provides just the right amount to tease the palate, yet leave your guests wanting more. Pancetta adds a bit of saltiness to the salad and the flower blossoms provide a sweet, peppery note. The velvety Scallops in Saffron Cream are rich and glorious, but not too heavy. The Madeira sauce brings together the flavors of the pate, mushrooms and chicken, and you will find that even guests who aren’t crazy about pate will love this dish.

The Pavé de Amor is a dessert from Cocolat, by Alice Medrich, one of my favorite cookbooks ever. This multi-layered chocolate and vanilla torte swathed in coffee buttercream is just sensational. And the recipe actually makes two tortes, one to serve now and one to freeze for another occasion, making the extra work worth the effort. The Meringue Mushrooms will make your guests chuckle, because they look surprisingly real, and they reflect the woodsy, country feel of the evening.

I’ve set my table with a mint green tablecloth, Wild Strawberry china, silver flatware and large, white hotel napkins. My centerpiece is made of simple greenery surrounding a green and white candle. At each place, I filled tiny, inexpensive watering cans purchased at the craft store with wet oasis foam and pink roses from my garden for each guest to take home at the end of the evening. Music selections from the French composers of the Romantic Era would be a fitting accompaniment.

Each of these recipes provide six small portions, designed for a multi-course dinner. If you decide to make fewer courses, you will need to increase the recipes for larger portions.

Salmon Tartare

1 pound very fresh wild salmon

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons chopped chives

1 small shallot, finely chopped (about ¼ cup)

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup crème fraîche or sour cream

1” lengths of chive for garnish

Plain, homemade-style crackers or very thin toasted baguette slices

Chop salmon very finely with a sharp knife. (Do not use food processor or it will turn out to be mush.) Place in a bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil, chopped chives and finely chopped shallot. Stir together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Just before serving, place a spoonful of the salmon mixture on each cracker. Top each with a small dollop of crème fraîche or sour cream (a pastry bag works well for this, if you have one handy) and decorate with 2-3 chive sticks.

Make the salmon the morning of your party and assemble just before serving.

Radishes with Herb Butter

2 bunches of radishes

grey salt or other flavorful coarse salt

¼ cup very soft sweet butter

1 tablespoon very finely chopped herbs such as parsley, tarragon, chervil, or a mixture

Wash and trim radishes. Cut each radish in half, making sure that each half has a flat bottom. Mix butter with chopped herbs and place in a pastry bag or a small zip-lock bag with a small corner cut off. Keep butter at room temperature until ready to use. Just before serving, arrange radishes on a platter, cut side up. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pipe a small rosette of butter atop each one.

Prepare the radishes and the herb butter as early as the previous day. Take the butter out to bring to room temperature 2 hours before guests are due. Assemble just before they arrive.

Carrot Ginger Soup

6 bread croutons, about 1” square and ½” thick, cut from crustless slices of French bread

1 tablespoon melted butter

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

1 bunch carrots, chopped, or about 5 cups

2 cups chicken broth

½ cup heavy cream

salt to taste

Brush croutons with melted butter on both sides. Bake at 425º for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Sauté chopped onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Add chopped ginger and sauté 3-4 minutes more, being careful not to brown. Add carrots, chicken broth and a half-teaspoon or so of salt and simmer until carrots are very soft. Remove from heat and set aside until mixture cools a bit. Puree in batch in a blender until smooth. Stir in cream. Taste and adjust seasoning. Chill.

Make the soup and the croutons the day before the party. Just before serving, warm in a saucepan and serve in demitasse cups. Float a crouton and a sprinkling of chopped chives on top.

Field Greens with Pancetta and Violets

6-8 cups mixed spring salad greens

6 slices pancetta

Assortment of violets, rose petals, chive blossoms, or other edible flowers

Wash and dry salad greens. Slice pancetta into thick julienne and sauté until crisp but not crumbly. Set aside. Make vinaigrette (see recipe below). Just before serving, toss salad greens with vinaigrette. Divide among six salad plates. Sprinkle each salad with one-sixth of the pancetta and flower blossoms. (Note: I used deep purple rose petals along with chive blossoms in my flower mix when violets were unavailable, and the results were very dramatic-looking.)

Everything for the salad can be prepared the day before. Assemble just before serving.

Champagne Vinaigrette

½ shallot, chopped very fine

3 tablespoons Champagne vinegar

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

grey salt or kosher salt

freshly ground black pepper

Combine shallot, vinegar, olive oil and mustard in a jar. Shake to blend. Taste the mixture. If it seems too tart, add another tablespoon or two of olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Sea Scallops in Saffron Cream

18 large sea scallops

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

½ cup clam juice

2 large pinches saffron

1 cup heavy cream

Kosher salt

Chive blossoms for garnish

Heat clam juice in a small bowl. Add saffron and set aside for about an hour.

Pat scallops dry and season with salt. Heat olive oil and butter in a sauté pan. Sear scallops on one side until golden, about 1 minute. Turn over and sear the other side for another minute or so, until barely cooked through. Remove scallops from heat and place three in each serving dish. Strain clam juice and add to hot sauté pan. Simmer and reduce for a minute or two. Add cream. Simmer and reduce for another two minutes. Season sauce with salt and spoon over scallops. Garnish each serving with two chive blossoms.

This is the only dish that cannot be prepared in advance, but it takes only minutes to cook. Put the saffron into the hot clam juice just before guests arrive.

Chicken Tenderloins on Pate Croutons with Wild Mushrooms and Madeira Sauce

6 slices French bread, about ½” thick

3 tablespoons melted butter

about ½ cup chicken or duck liver pate (with truffles, if possible)

1 pound mixed mushrooms

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

pinch thyme

6 chicken tenderloins, or 3 half chicken breasts cut in half

1-2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 cups Madeira

2 cups chicken broth

2 tablespoons butter, cut into 4 or 5 pieces

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

6 small bunches of sunflower sprouts for garnish

Cut crusts from French bread slices and trim each slice into an attractive rectangle or oval. Brush both sides with melted butter. Bake at 425º for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. (Croutons can be prepared a day in advance if desired.)

Spread each crouton with about a tablespoon or more of the pate. Place croutons on foil on a baking sheet. Lay another sheet of foil on top, but do not seal edges.

Slice mushrooms. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons butter. Add mushrooms. Sprinkle with a pinch of thyme and a bit of salt and sauté until nicely brown and caramelized. Set aside.

Sprinkle chicken with salt. Sauté chicken pieces in olive oil until golden brown. Remove chicken pieces to a plate. Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of remaining fat. Add chopped shallot and sauté 1-2 minutes, until soft. Add 2 cups Madeira and simmer until reduced by half. Add chicken broth and chicken pieces, and simmer about 10 minutes, or until chicken pieces are cooked through. Remove chicken pieces to a plate. Simmer sauce until reduced by half. Whisk in the butter, one piece at a time. Return chicken pieces to the sauce.

While you are eating the scallops, put the pate croutons into a 350º oven for about 10 minutes to warm. Re-warm the chicken and mushrooms as necessary.

To serve: Place a warm crouton on a plate. Top each with couple of large scoops of the mushrooms. Place a chicken tenderloin on top of the stack and spoon a generous amount of sauce over the whole thing. Garnish the plate with a small handful of sunflower sprouts.

Make croutons the day before. Chop mushrooms and shallots in the morning. Just before guests arrive, sauté the mushrooms and prepare the chicken in the sauce. Assemble just before serving.

Triple-Crème Tartines with Garlic and Almonds

1 head garlic

about ½ cup olive oil

Kosher salt

1 baguette, sliced on a sharp diagonal into ¼” slices – you will need a total of 12 slices

3-4 tablespoons

extra-virgin olive oil

6 ounces triple-crème cheese, such as Saint-André, or your favorite Brie

3 tablespoons sliced almonds

lemon leaves for garnish

Earlier in the day, cut the pointed end off the head of garlic, exposing the ends of the cloves. Place the garlic clove on a double piece of foil and bring up the sides of the foil to form a well. Set this into a small baking dish. Fill the well with enough olive oil to cover the garlic and sprinkle with salt. Seal the foil and bake at 350º for 1 ½ hours. Let cool.

.Brush baguette slices very lightly on both sides with olive oil. Broil each side until golden brown. Store at room temperature.

Before serving, spread each tartine with some of the roasted garlic, which will be soft and spreadable; then spread with some of the cheese and place on a baking sheet. Warm very briefly in the oven (your objective is to warm the cheese just slightly without melting it). Place two tartines on each plate, leaning one against the other, and sprinkle the whole thing with sliced almonds and garnish with lemon leaves.

Make the tartines the day before. Roast the garlic in the morning. Assemble just before serving.

Pavé de Amor

For this fabulous dessert, you need to go straight to Alice Medrich’s cookbook, Cocolat. The recipe makes a multi-layered torte that goes perfectly with this menu. It seems complicated, and there are lots of steps, but don’t be intimidated. It is not difficult and the results are nothing short of spectacular. You will need at least two days to complete the torte, but you can do it over three or four days, if you wish.

Meringue Mushrooms

I have tried many ways to make meringue mushrooms over the years, and most recipes are fairly similar. This is the first time I have tried Alice Medrich’s recipe from the same cookbook above, Cocolat. I like hers the best, so her recipe is the one I must recommend. Half a recipe will make plenty to serve as petits fours for this dinner, with a few left over for samples for the cook.

If you can’t get a copy of her cookbook, do this: Beat 2 egg whites with ¼ teaspoon cream of tarter until soft peaks form. Gradually add ½ cup sugar and beat until mixture forms stiff peaks. Transfer to a pastry bag with a plain tip about ¼” across (I didn’t have the right size plain tip, so I used a star tip and it worked just fine. I think a zip-lock bag with a corner cut off would also work in a pinch.) Using about 1/3 of the meringue, pipe stems standing straight up, about 1 ½” high. With the rest of the mixture, pipe mounds that resemble mushroom caps. They don’t have to be perfect – real mushrooms never are. Dust with cocoa through a fine sieve. Bake at 200º until dry and crunchy, about 2 hours. Cool.

Melt one ounce of high-quality chocolate. Spread a small amount on the under side of each mushroom cap. Cut the tip off a stem and press into the chocolate. Balance upside down on a rack until the chocolate sets. That’s it!

Make the meringue components a day or two in advance. Assemble the day before or the morning of the party.