Monday, December 03, 2007

Dinner for Eight Chez Moi


The first Saturday night in December, while fresh snow coated the tree branches and dusted Toledo's roads I put the finishing touches on a cozy French inspired dinner for eight at home.

During cocktail hour, I served a cheese platter of St. Andre triple cream, Gouda, and an extra sharp cheddar with sliced, peppered dry sausage and a small bowl of cornichons. It was a pleasant blend of flavors to accompany beer, wine and champagne served by a roaring fire in our den.

For dinner, I whipped up a batch of Coq Au Vin and served it with basmati rice and tender crisp green beans. The salad contained mixed greens, fresh pomegranate seeds, toasted pine nuts and was lightly coated in a basil and shallot vinaigrette.

One of our guests is an avid baker and brought a gorgeous loaf of homemade bread. Somehow we managed to drink five bottles of Cote du Rhone and a half a bottle of Malbec...not bad for a table of eight!

A dinner party is only as much fun as the friends who join you at your table. I was blessed to be surrounded by both new and old friends who all seemed to be connected. It was an easy meal to prepare which left me with plenty of time to be part of the conversations during cocktails and dessert.

For desssert, I served coffee and a Calvados apple galette with rum raisin ice cream.

I liked this menu because I could prep all of the ingredients ahead of time and only needed to spend about 20 minutes in the kitchen just before dinner was served.


“Glass City Gourmet” is a chronicle of one woman's attempt to cook, eat, diet and entertain with both flair and whimsy while based in Toledo, Ohio. I encourage you to read on as the "Glass City Gourmet" attempts grand recipes, samples locally owned restaurants, visits indigenous markets and humbly pursues her quest to be formally recognized as the official "Glass City Gourmet".

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