Kevin Is In The Kitchen

Kevin's In The Kitchen

My Sister and her husband recently built a new kitchen in their home. They designed it themselves with the help of Lowe's, where they bought their materials.

They took a few pictures and soon found out they had won a national contest for kitchen design. Their kitchen was featured in the local newspaper and Lowe's employee magazine!

I immediately said “I wish I had a kitchen like that to cook in”. Their response was “Why don't you fix us one of your fancy meals”? So the gauntlet was set! They invited a couple and we did the same, and it was dinner for eight.

I went for a five course feast with items from five different nationalities.

As our guests gathered, we had a buffet of double crème Brie, salami, and an Italian cheese and meat roll served with pretzel bread. The center piece was a pretzel bread with miniature flags from the five nations. I also printed a menu for the evening complete with the flags of the various nations. Each course was preceded with traditional folk music from the various countries and I include food quotes from famous people throughout the evening.

The first course was a Svekla Po Gruzinski, a Russian beet spread with walnuts, garlic and mayonnaise

served with pumpernickel black bread and a shot of chilled vodka.

The second course was an American butternut squash soup seasoned with curry, chives and cream sherry. This was served with a chilled Rose' wine.

Up next our culinary tour of the world took us to Italy with a recipe of my own. I did an form of lasagna with a base of fresh spinach and shredded Asiago cheese, Heirloom tomatoes from our garden with a bit of pizza seasoning, a slab of Norwegian salmon, and finally, a layer of shredded Parmesan cheese. Each serving was sprinkled with fresh dill, capers and a lemon slice. I served this with a sauvignon blanc wine.

Our next destination was France with a Salad Nicoise. Gordon Ramsey described this salad as “:possibly the best summer salad”.

For me, when I lived in Paris, a long night on the town was not complete without a salad Nicoise and a bowl of French onion soup at the Peid du Cochon resturant in the Les Halles market at 2 or 3 in the morning. Along side French Society in the tuxedos, and Butchers in their bloody aprons,, it was the perfect way to end the evening!

The salad Nicoise is a perfect example of French cuisine. Home grown, red leaf lettuce, with a vinaigrette dressing laced with fresh tarragon and parsley, accompanied by boiled fingerling potatoes, green beans, shallots, tuna, hard boiled eggs and anchovies. In larger portions, this could be a meal in itself. This was served with fresh baked baguettes, sweet cream butter and a classic Cote Du Rhone red wine.

At this point it was time to clear the pallet with an intermezzo of a small serving of raspberry sorbet.

Our next culinary destination was Germany. A standard fare in a local Gasthof, or restaurant, is Schwein Medallions mit Phefferligne (wild mushrooms) in a cognac cream sauce, buttered spaetzle noodles with fresh cut chives and green beans with specke, also known as bacon. This was served with a choice of Hefe Weitzen beer and/or a Pinot Noir wine.

Finally, I relinquished the kitchen to my wife Sue. I had worked in an Army kitchen, for a month or so, baking 500 pies, 300 sheet cakes. And a 1000 cookies per night! I don't care to bake anymore!

Sue did her famous Margarita Cheese Cake complete with tequila, triple sec, fresh sliced limes and whipped cream! Trust me, this is true perfection! This was served with Kahlua and coffee.

Everyone seemed to enjoy the evening and I had the experience of cooking in the kitchen of my dreams! I send a special thank you to all who joined us for my attempt at a special culinary experience.