21 for 21 in 21 for my 21st

[Rebecca263]

Happy Birthday, and here are wishes for you to have at least 93 more!

[Pan]

Man, what a 21st birthday! You'll never forget that! Thanks for sharing some of the fun with us.

[Shalmanese]

So some commentary

Pancakes - Unfortunately, I just couldn't get my sourdough starter going in this weather so I had to drop back down to chemically leavened pancakes and yeasted doughs. Still, the results didn't suffer too much. The pancakes were light, fluffy and I finshed off the last of the Maple Syrup I got from Canada.

Pita Chips & Dips - These were perhaps a little TOO successful because everyone couldn't resist noshing on them. The Red Pepper one was a huge hit which surprised me given how simple it was. It was just rep pepper puree, cream cheese, garlic salt and pepper but it went the fastest. The pita chips were brushed with a mixture of cumin, garlic, salt and olive oil and then baked until crisp and they were great as well, very crunchy.

Bread - I was originally very apprehensive about the bread. It was made with a yeasted dough with no prefermenting, the first rising was overnight while I slept so I had no way of correcting for over or underproofing and the dough was quite slack when I got to it. However, it seems my preternatural good luck with baked goods has continued and the bread came out perfectly with a beautiful crumb and great flavour. The butter, from italy was also outstandingly good, it was like a different world from the butter I usually eat, closer in taste to a good cheese than butter. In fact, after seeing multiple people eat it straight, I had to tell newcomers that this was in fact butter and not cheese.

Wow... what can I say. This was an inspired piece of work. I had some just spun navel sorbet and my friend in the picture had just made up a batch of margaritas and so I decided to combine them together. The first sips start off as pure margarita and then you swirl the glass a bit and you get a hint of orange flavor. Sip, swirl and you can taste the cocktail changing in nature as you drink. Finally, with the last gulp, the sorbet slides down your throat like an icy oyster and you finish with an intense hit of orange. Mmm... I can still taste it.

Carrot Soup with Carrot Foam and Chives - I made this as a tribute. Thomas Keller's Carrot Soup with Ferran Adria's Carrot Foam, a homage to some chefs that I admire and it certainly didn't fail me this time. What I have always loved about this dish was the element of surprise. People would take a sip and then gawp at how intense a flavour could be produced from such a humble ingredient.

Oysters with Verjus Granite - I had this at a restaurant called Balzac which is a great local place and I love this way of serving oysters. I have to admit the oysters were not the best quality but the dish was still pretty good. Because of my car being stolen, all the shopping was pushed back and we only got to the seafood market at around 3:30 when everything was packing up. On the downside, the oysters left had been sitting out for an entire day and were looking rather sorry. On the upside, I got 2kg/4lb of assorted sashimi for like, $15. Score!

Duck Breast & Thai Salad - I was stressing about this all of the day before because I had almost no experience with proper thai cooking before and no salad dressing that I was making tasting of anything. Fortunately, my lovely cousin waltzed in at 8pm on friday night and pulled together what I believe Daniel would call a "totally money salad dressing". She was in charge of the entire salad and she did a superb job on it. I cooked the duck breasts my favourite way. Score the skin, S&P them and put then skin side down in a cold pan. Turn the heat to medium high and then spoon the rendered duck fat over the top of the breasts. It makes a luscious, juicy breast with a perfectly crisp skin.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Polenta & Gremolata - Mmm... I guess theres not much I can say about this dish apart from that it was a solid execution. There was nothing special about the preparation and the flavours were all familiar but it was just a great example of a familiar dish made really, really well. I threw in some chunks of frozen corn into the polenta which served as a nice sweet counterpoint.

Slow Roasted Wagyu Brisket with Coleslaw - Oh man... This was just absurdly, absurdly good. I used Col Klink's dry rub on the meat the night before... actually... I have a photo of that:

The meat was just ridiculously flavourful and the ribbon of fat on the outside just had that clean, suppleness. This was the clear highlight of the day so far. The coleslaw was a bit of a serendipity moment. At the place I had breakfast on my wednesday shopping trip, I was reading the cookbook of that restaurant and they had a recipe for coleslaw which involved basically pickling cabbage in a cider vinegar/sugar mixture overnight. A mayo based coleslaw would have been far too heavy for the brisket but this cut through the fattiness of the beef beautifully.

Wild Mushroom Risotto with Truffled Cheese

Mmm... 6 kinds of mushrooms and an entire chunk of truffled pecorino went into this dish. I don't think I really need to say any more.

Sunset

Sadly, I missed out on seeing this particular sunset but you can get a bit blase about things like this when you witness them almost every day .

Tuna, Salmon & Kingfish Ceviche with Ginger and Passionfruit - As I said, 2kg of sashimi, $15, where can you really go wrong? The passionfruit was a last minute addition but it was a damn inspired choice.

Kiwifruit-Tamarind Sorbet & Navel Orange Sorbet - I have to admit the tamarind flavour didn't really shine through in this but the Navel Sorbet was spectacular. I love pairing kiwifruit sorbets with something other sorbet for the texture contrast. I deliberately undersugared the navel sorbet and left it slightly flinty and the thick, almost jammy texture of the kiwifruit sorbet made this work really well.

Bread & Butter Pudding - One of the few relative duds of the night. I didn't make enough custard the night before since I didn't know the bread would absorb so much but the texture and flavour, while good, just didn't stand out in any way. This was the only dish I ended up not finishing.

Coca Cola Chicken - For some reason, this seems to be the dish you people are most interested in and I have to say, they came at a perfect time. At this stage in the evening, we were all playing cards or chess or just lounging around and we had moved onto the beers and so I served these without any utensils and we all just dug in.

Rack of Lamb with Spinach, Arugula & Walnut Salad and a Chimichurri Dressing - I was sad that I couldn't get a hold of Rutherglen lamb and I would have loved to try it. The lamb we did get was pretty good by Australian standards but I was really hoping for that one bite that would stay with you for years and I didn't get that. Still, the chimchurri paired really well with the lamb and the salad was great.

Champagne - I just realised I didn't get any pictures of the drinks. I was pretty disappointed with the wine pairings. The guy at the shop seemed to prefer very acidic wines and I thought they were off balance and didn't pair especially well with the courses I had. Still, the champagne was probably one of the better choices.

Fireworks - A friend from Canberra brought up some fireworks which are legal in his state but not in mine. Playing with fire while very inebriated was great fun.

Chocolate Cake - Chocolate Sponge Cake with Hazelnut Dacquoise, Marinated Strawberries and Whipped Caramel Ganache & Sour Cream filling, Caramel Ganache glaze. Thanks to Ling for all her advice on the cake. She truly is the goddess of the pastry world. 1kg/2lbs of Valrhona went into the making of this cake. The cake was made from the recipe in the Best Chocolate Cake thread. The dacquoise was made mixing some finely chopped hazelnuts with Meringue and baking until crisp and the Caramel Ganache was from Pierre Herme. The plan was to take some of the strawberry marinating liquid and some berry liquid from the pancakes and mix it with some more Meringue and pipe some words on the top and then garnish with some more strawberries but nobody was in a state to do fine pastry work so we just had it plain.

Granny Smith Creme Brulee - Annoyingly, my blowtorch was almost empty and so I couldn't get it to do more than a couple of brulees before it died on me so the rest of them were just Granny Smith Cremes. I got some of the smallest, tartest GS apples I could find and then juiced them and added them to the brulee mix. Even then, the mixture was very subtle in flavour so I cheated a bit and threw in some citric acid and the flavour just completely morphed. It tasted exactly like liquid apples but with the buttery, smooth texture of a custard.

Wagyu, Truffle, Bacon & Fried Egg Burgers - Still waiting on a friend to see if he has any pictures of these. Cooking while inebriated was... an interesting experience. I found that I still had much of the gross motor skills intact although some of my fine motor skills were a bit hampered. I did, however, lose any nervousness about handling such an expensive ingredient and I probably lost quite a few dollars worth of truffles to the pan. I have to say I wasn't very happy with the quality of the truffles. They were from Western Australia and, while cheap, just can't compare to a real french black truffle in terms of pungency. One person asked if there was any ketchup in the house... one person didn't get a burger.

Breakfast: Bacon, Eggs, Truffles - Well, I had to do something with the leftover truffles so why the hell not?

[Ling]

Chocolate Cake - Chocolate Sponge Cake with Hazelnut Dacquoise, Marinated Strawberries and Whipped Caramel Ganache & Sour Cream filling, Caramel Ganache glaze. Thanks to Ling for all her advice on the cake. She truly is the goddess of the pastry world.

←

Thanks!

Your party looks incredible...especially considering the quality of the dishes tthat were coming out of your kitchen (not that there was any doubt.) The duck, lamb, and risotto dishes look particularly delicious. You and your team deserve a huge round of applause!

[racheld]

Simply amazing. All that work and the finesse with which each dish is made and presented!!! Boggling, I tell you.

And so many hours with guests to hang with---was there ever a time you wished you had your kitchen all to yourself? And all those DISHES!!!! I see five courses presented in stemmed glasses---did you buy out the crystalshop or was there dishwashing? I love hearing the logistics of such an endeavour; could you elaborate more on when and how you put together the dishes? I know there must be pictures of more than just the finished products.

And I love the little vignettes with extraneous items in the background---a sweater casually draped on a chair, a leaf of butterpaper beside that glorious bread, the long vista of the table leading up to that perfect wagyu, with all the glasses in various stages of emptying and enjoyment. And the giveaways that the house is full of youthful adventure: sets of earphones, a laptop to check the progress of the courses---what a beautifully engineered, marvelously executed feat you have accomplished.

Your friends will be talking about this party for years to come. And you and your family will mark time by it: "I think that was a year or two after the party." "Did they move here right before the party, or after?"

Best wishes in your new home---you've certainly made your mark on the old one.

[tupac17616]

One person asked if there was any ketchup in the house... one person didn't get a burger.

Sounds like you had an awesome feast! Great job man.

[little ms foodie]

wow wow wow, looks like an amazing party!! good job and happy birthday! and bon voyage!

[Kouign Aman]

Stunning.

I'm glad you enjoyed your great endeavor. It looks lovely, and sounds thrilling and exhausting. Thanks for sharing! Many happy (belated) returns.

[BryanZ]

Awesome.

[Shalmanese]

And so many hours with guests to hang with---was there ever a time you wished you had your kitchen all to yourself?  And all those DISHES!!!! 

Let me just double check but... wow. Every single dish, I was only in the kitchen for the first 5 minutes to set everything up and the final plating. ALL the cooking was handled by other people on the day. I don't think my cumulative time in the kitchen exceeded 2 hours over the span of 21.

I see five courses presented in stemmed glasses---did you buy out the crystalshop or was there dishwashing?

For the plating, I rented all the plates. I'm slightly peeved because the plate place got my order wrong. I orignally asked for 25 small, square plates, 25 large, round plates and 25 large martini glasses as well as some wineglasses and highballs for drinks. I ended up just rounds and martinis. Amazingly, not a single piece of glassware or plate was broken. Props have to go out to my parents who were tireless behind the scenes waiters and dishwashers and did all the nasty scutwork that bedevils a real, commercial kitchen. They managed to keep the entire place neat and tidy and have clean dishes whenever I needed them and I couldn't of done the thing without them.

I love hearing the logistics of such an endeavour; could you elaborate more on when and how you put together the dishes?  I know there must be pictures of more than just the finished products.

Lets see... the Pancake batter was made on the day, that took 10 minutes. Then I got a friend to cook up the pancakes in 3 pans while I picked up some ice and another friend. The pita chips cooked while I was heating up the oven for the bread, and the dips were made while the bread was baking. As soon as the bread was done, I dropped the oven down and put the pre-rubbed brisket in and just let it slow cook all morning.

Carrot soup was made beforehand and chilled, foam a la minute. Plating that was trivial. Oyster plating was trivial. The thai salad for the duck was handled entirely by my cousin, the dressing was made the day before. Duck breasts were seared by two volunteers with me checking every 2 minutes about the doneness (btw: my volunteering process for the day consisted of my shouting out "Who likes X" and then grabbing the first person to raise their hand. It says something about the intellectual calibre of my friends that this kept on working ). I just sliced the duck and it was plated. Lamb was done the day before, put it in the oven with the brisket to reheat. Got a volunteer to stir the polenta, I made some quick gremolata and then that was plated.

Brisket came out of the oven Coleslaw was done the day before. I just sliced and plated it. Mushroom risotto got another volunteer to stir the risotto while I sauteed the mushrooms. Another one to make the cheese shavings and then just plated it. Ceviche, just tossed a whole bunch of stuff into the fridge, let it sit for 3 hours and scooped it out. Sorbet and Bread & Butter Pudding were made the day before. Just had to stick the pudding in the oven. Coca Cola chicken was handled entirely by my mother. Lamb, just seared it while making the herb crust. Stuck it in a hot oven and let it go until the thermometer said 55. Chimichurri sauce was made beforehand and stuck in squeeze tubes. Cake was made beforehand, creme brulee was made beforehand. Really, there was barely anything needed to be done in the kitchen.

And I love the little vignettes with extraneous items in the background---a sweater casually draped on a chair, a leaf of butterpaper beside that glorious bread, the long vista of the table leading up to that perfect wagyu, with all the glasses in various stages of emptying and enjoyment.  And the giveaways that the house is full of youthful adventure:  sets of earphones, a laptop to check the progress of the courses---what a beautifully engineered, marvelously executed feat you have accomplished. 

Your friends will be talking about this party for years to come.  And you and your family will mark time by it:  "I think that was a year or two after the party."  "Did they move here right before the party, or after?"

Best wishes in your new home---you've certainly made your mark on the old one.

←

Thank you rachel and all the others for the kind words.

[Shalmanese]

Got my friend to send over images of the burgers. Unfortunately, they're not very good and theres none of the completed thing. Putting them here just to complete the record.

Wagyu Truffle Burgers with Fontina, Bacon and Fried Egg

Edited August 2, 2006 by Shalmanese (log)

[Kouign Aman]

Who's brilliant idea was it to cover the backsplash with plastic wrap?

(she says, desperately not focussing on the food since nothing that good is in the cards for hours to come)

[Shaya]

Bravo Shalmanese, this is truly amazing. I hosted dinner parties for my friends from the age of 18 until I moved away from home at 23, and I still remember them so fondly - although the menus were never as ambitious as this. Friends and food and memories...that's what it all boils down to when you look back on your life, n'est ce pas?

Edited August 2, 2006 by Shaya (log)

[Shalmanese]

Who's brilliant idea was it to cover the backsplash with plastic wrap?

(she says, desperately not focussing on the food since nothing that good is in the cards for hours to come)

←

Heh, that would be my mothers idea.

[LoveToEatATL]

Simply amazing.  All that work and the finesse with which each dish is made and presented!!!    Boggling, I tell you.

And so many hours with guests to hang with---was there ever a time you wished you had your kitchen all to yourself?  And all those DISHES!!!!  I see five courses presented in stemmed glasses---did you buy out the crystalshop or was there dishwashing?  I love hearing the logistics of such an endeavour; could you elaborate more on when and how you put together the dishes?  I know there must be pictures of more than just the finished products.

And I love the little vignettes with extraneous items in the background---a sweater casually draped on a chair, a leaf of butterpaper beside that glorious bread, the long vista of the table leading up to that perfect wagyu, with all the glasses in various stages of emptying and enjoyment.  And the giveaways that the house is full of youthful adventure:  sets of earphones, a laptop to check the progress of the courses---what a beautifully engineered, marvelously executed feat you have accomplished. 

Your friends will be talking about this party for years to come.  And you and your family will mark time by it:  "I think that was a year or two after the party."  "Did they move here right before the party, or after?"

Best wishes in your new home---you've certainly made your mark on the old one.

←

I love this commentary, Racheld - so observing and so descriptive. Lovely.

As for the party - I am thrilled and in awe. Wow.

[Shalmanese]

The credit card bill just came back.

Final spending:

Food: $980

Drinks: $440

Plate Rental: $70

Misc: $100

Total: $1590

Food came in right on budget. Drinks were way over what I was expecting and, in the end, it turns out I bought far too much alcohol. We only drank about 9 of the 14 bottles of wine and about 1/2 the spirits and all the beers I think. I also bought way too much juice and not enough fizzy drinks (by choice).

Heres how the food costs break down:

Truffles 60gm - $130

Cheese - $110

Lamb 3 racks - $60

Chocolate 1kg - $50

Duck 6 breasts - $40

Wagyu Mince 1.5kg - $30

Oysters 24 - $30

Lamb Shanks 6 - $25

Wild Mushrooms - $20

Wagyu Brisket 2kg - $15

Ceviche 1.5kg - $15

For the yanks, 1 AUD ~= 0.75 USD so food came out at $750, drinks $330.

[Misplaced_Texan]

This thread was what made me join the forums. What an amazing array of dishes. Thank you for a wonderful images and congrats on the birthday!

[Shalmanese]

[gfron1]

OMG! Stop the Insanity!

Well (as I shake my head in pity), I'll look forward to the pictures. You are amazing.

[Lady T]

If only everyone could come into official adulthood with such a fabulous celebration! Many, many joyous returns of the day to you -- after a little rest and recuperation, at least!

[Shalmanese]

So a bit of backstory, I turned 22 last Tuesday, I just finished my first year of my PhD in Seattle, I'm heading on a plane at 6am today and I'm being kicked out of my house. That sounds like a reason to party for me so I cooked up EVERYTHING in my fridge and freezer. I think in the end I had enough food to feed about 60 people!

Home made Pita Chips 3 ways, Cumin, Paprika & Herb flavored

Corn Chips

Hummus

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

Creamed Spinach

Mmm... I loved the black bean salsa and the pita chips were pretty addictive.

Finangled Salumi from Salumi, courtesy of hhlohdesign.

Thanks to Henry for this, he managed to finangle some salumi from Salumi, yum!

Mizuna, Cherry & Hazelnut Salad with a Mustard Vinagrette

White Rice

Chicken & Shiitake Mushroom with Rice Noodles

This is an old family recipe, that was the first dish that Ling inaugurated as "her favorite dish so far"

Sweet & Sour Ribs

Wow, these were really good, thanks to Kent Wang for the recipe. Sooo simple.

The second "favourite dish so far by Ling

Mojo Pork

This is a bit of an odd dish. I don't even remember where I picked it up. Anyway, it's pork with lots of citrus, cilantro, spring onions, garlic and Jalepenos. Very tropical and refreshing. The third "favourite dish so far" by Ling

Chocolate Stout Beer Braised Beef

This is my "signature dish" if I have one. Soo simple to make but sooo delicious.

Potato Flavoured Butter

This was Ling being evil, I was originally planning to put in 2 sticks of butter to 8 potatoes but she convinced me to add 2 pounds of butter to this. Insanity!

Spice Rubbed Ribs

Corn & Egg Drop Soup

Lamb & Cauliflower Curry

This was a great curry

Grilled Mackerel with Lemon

This is the first time I cooked Mackerel. So simple, just salt and lemon.

Truffle Roasted Asparagus

Asparagus, olive oil, truffle salt. The token vegan said it was the best asparagus she's ever eaten.

Szechuan Long Beans with Ground Pork

Ling took over at these point so these two dishes are hers.

Yu Choi & Pork with Oyster Sauce

I didn't manage to take a photo of the split pea soup or the chilli but everything was COOKED this time. Phew, what a marathon cooking and eating session.

I'm at the airport right now, waiting for my 6am flight back to Australia. I haven't slept in almost 18 hours, I've been dancing all night, I'm drunk and I'm having a BLAST.

[dockhl]

I'm at the airport right now, waiting for my 6am flight back to Australia. I haven't slept in almost 18 hours, I've been dancing all night, I'm drunk and I'm having a BLAST.

Happy birthday, Shal. Sounds like a ball. When do you come back?

<aside>O to be 22....... !!! </aside>