Scott Cooks Us Dinner

Brett's son, Scott, called on Sunday and offered to come up Monday night and make us dinner.  Scott said he would bring up the food  - all I had to do was provide some staples and ingredients from the garden.  Scott is a professional chef, creative and talented.  I zipped home after work as quick as the freeways would let me. 


Ready?  Here we go....

First, Scott roasted a couple sweet potatoes in the oven which he used to make gnocchi dough.

I pulled a couple beets from the garden and he roasted them as well.

The sweet potato and thyme gnocchi dough was rolled into a log and cut  into pieces.

Then he tossed the gnocchi with flour  while the cooking water came to boiling.  

The chef at work.

(A professional chef cooking in MY kitchen.  Pinch me!)

Meanwhile, blueberry sauce started to simmer.

The gnocchi after boiling.

Scott trimmed the venison.

And coated it in his secret "mystical rub."  He left me the tub of rub when he left.  

He asked me to pick him a couple apples and he cut up bread into little square toasts.

He browned butter, spooned it on both sides of the bread and then put them in the oven to brown.

This was not a low-cal meal.

He tossed the apples in butter until they were nice and brown.

Next he added Calvados to the pan and ignited it.  Can you see the streaks of orange above the pan by the shelf of the stove?  That's flames.  The flames didn't photograph well at all but, trust me, it was impressive. 

The apples.

The blueberry sauce still bubbling away, getting thicker.

Scott seared the venison on the stove and then finished it in the oven while we ate our first course.

At times, the stove top was pretty crazy with everything cooking at once.

Scott seasoned the foie gras with grey salt and pepper, then seared it in oil.

Those chef people really know how to plate things!  Here is our first course:
apples in Calvados sauce, toast squares and foie gras.  

It tasted out of this world: silky, sweet, and smooth. 

After eating the first course, Scott sliced up the beets which were finished roasting and put the venison in the oven to finish cooking.  He tossed the beets with butter and thyme.

He plated the main course, starting with the blueberry sauce...

...added beets and gnocchi...

...and the venison -- with a sprig of thyme on top.














It was an amazing dinner.  By the time we finished eating it was 11:00 -- and it was midnight before we went to bed.  I'm dragging today (up at 5:00 am to do chores before work) but it was SO worth it!