Dinner Out Last Night

We were dinner guests at a friends house last night. There were three
other couples. The dinner was spred over a 4 hr period. Here is the menu:

soup - curried squash served with a tear drop shaped dab of sour cream

appetizer - polenta topped with mushroom sauce served on a bed of mesclun

main course - beef wellington, asparagus spears, carrot slices, rosemary
perfectly round small white potatoes, garnished with zig zag cut tomato
slice and zig zag cut cucumber, a sprig of rosemary was centred upright
into the middle of the cucumber

desert - autumn apple pie

wine - two rich red wines were served, I should have paid attention as
to the names but I didn't. I didn't have any but a couple of the others
complimented the host on the wine.

Everything was wonderful. DH & I didn't care much for the curry or the
polenta. The beef wellington was devine so I will definitely make that
in the near future. I was intrigued with the potatoes as they were
about the size of a large melon ball and perfectly round. They were
lightly browned & buttered with a little rosemary. DH thinks they may
have been canned potatoes but I'm not sure. I want to learn how to do
that. I know how to do the fancy cuts for the garnishes. The carrots
had a slightly sweety flavour more than just carrots but not as strong
as brown sugar or honey. It was very faint.

~patches~ wrote:

I was intrigued with the potatoes as they were

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

about the size of a large melon ball and perfectly round. They were
lightly browned & buttered with a little rosemary. DH thinks they
may have been canned potatoes but I'm not sure. I want to learn how
to do that. I know how to do the fancy cuts for the garnishes. The
carrots
had a slightly sweety flavour more than just carrots but not as
strong
as brown sugar or honey. It was very faint.

You can buy potatoes already balled like that in the produce department.
They are called Parisien Potatoes.

Debbie

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and
stupidity." Harlan Ellison

~patches~ <[email hidden]> looking for trouble wrote in
news:[email hidden]:

Quoted message said:

appetizer - polenta topped with mushroom sauce served on a bed of
mesclun

Yummm....

Quoted message said:

The beef wellington was devine so I will definitely make
that in the near future.

For me it is much easier order Wellington out at a really good steak house.
I've made it twice. Both times it was perfect but oy... a lot of trouble.

Quoted message said:

I was intrigued with the potatoes as they
were about the size of a large melon ball and perfectly round.

You have probably just answered your own question. Either a melon baller
was used, the potatoes were canned new potatoes (you would have noticed the
taste probably), or, the host/hostess went to a great deal of trouble at
the supermarket picking out baby new potatoes in produce.

Sounds like a lovely dinner party.

Michael

--
Send email to dog30 at charter dot net

Melba's Jammin said:

In article <[email hidden]>,
~patches~ <[email hidden]> wrote:
(snip)
DH thinks they may

Quoted message said:

have been canned potatoes but I'm not sure. I want to learn how to do
that.

Melon baller.

I don't think so at least based on my experience with a melon baller.
Perhaps if the potatoes were partially cooked a melon baller would work.
I'll give it a try & see what happens. At any rate, I'm going to
ask her how she did the potatoes.

Debbie said:

~patches~ wrote:

I was intrigued with the potatoes as they were

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

about the size of a large melon ball and perfectly round. They were
lightly browned & buttered with a little rosemary. DH thinks they
may have been canned potatoes but I'm not sure. I want to learn how
to do that. I know how to do the fancy cuts for the garnishes. The
carrots
had a slightly sweety flavour more than just carrots but not as
strong
as brown sugar or honey. It was very faint.

You can buy potatoes already balled like that in the produce department.
They are called Parisien Potatoes.

Ok, thanks I will look for them the next time I get into the city. Our
local grocery stores sure don't have them 🙁

Quoted message said:

Debbie

"The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and
stupidity." Harlan Ellison

but not for "lean" wallets...they are expensive!!!

"Debbie" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:3e59f.122

You can buy potatoes already balled like that in the produce department.
They are called Parisien Potatoes.

Debbie

"~patches~" <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

in the near future. I was intrigued with the potatoes as they were about
the size of a large melon ball and perfectly round. They were lightly
browned & buttered with a little rosemary.

I've made those a number of times, I love them. I either use a
melon baller or the canned potatoes. I copied the 'recipe'
below from a post of mine from google - the subject was
canned potatoes. By all means, have at a large potato or 3
with a melon baller and make your own round potatoes.

Cut some of the larger canned potatoes in half so the pieces are
reasonably even in size. Put some olive oil and butter into a
skillet. When the butter foams, add the drained potatoes, some
chopped fresh or dried rosemary, a garlic clove and some salt and
pepper. Cook over medium heat, turning frequently. When potatoes
are golden, remove garlic. Serve immediately.

Taken from Biba Caggiano's Northern Italian Cooking, revised for
canned potatoes.