Dad's Dinner Comes Early...

So my father has one of those awkwardly placed birthdays in December where, if you celebrate ON the day, you just escape an overlap with Christmas shenanigans. Unfortunately, any later the celebrations look less like birthday fun and more like early Christmas festivities. My Dad has been super busy with work, and so we knew he wouldn't be able to celebrate the week before his birthday either, so we just had a REALLY EARLY birthday party. He can't complain...he can milk it for all it's worth!

I didn't want to do as extravagant of a menu for the birthday celebration as I like to save those for larger parties and family holidays (usually they are one and the same).

Its still ended up being five courses, but three of five required practically no culinary prep nor skill. I paired each course with a nice wine, with a largely American wine list since my Dad is a big lover of the California cabs and pinots. I also wanted to experiment with a surf and turf menu, as the birthday boy's favorite cut of meat is a filet mignon, and what goes better with filet than lobster?! So the menu looked as follows:

Proscuitto San Daniele & Pickled Banana Peppers

Bailly Lapierre Cremant Rose

Fennel & Lobster Stew

Jones Family Vineyards Vidal Blanc Blend

Truffled Goat Cheese & Beet Salad

Patricia Green Cellars 'Freedom Hill" Pinot Noir 2012

Filet of Bison in a Red Wine Mushroom Reduction

Michael David Winery 'Earthquake' Cabernet Sauvignon 2012

Birthday Cake Pop, Blood Orange "Adult" Slushie & Pistachio Macaroon

We had gone to buy our Christmas tree that day from the tree farm (Jones Family Farm, where I also acquired the vino), and used the extra clippings to decorate the table. Ended up smelling nicely of pine without being overpowering. Winter festive without too much "Christmas" kitch. 

I served the proscuitto and peppers with the Bailly Lapierre Cremant Rose (NV). It's just so yummy, with strong cherry and raspberry flavors, bone dry. It's super cheap for high quality cremant, and a great start for any celebration. My family and I are a big fan of the bubbly!

For the first course, I did a lobster stew which is one of my go to favorites. I actually have posted about it before, so I will include a link to that instead of beating the horse into glue all over again. Unfortunately I have been having some problems with the photos, so I've attached the picture of the course below. I served the stew in tea cups because (1) it is a perfect portion size and (2) they're just so damn pretty on the table!

Link to Lobster Stew Recipe HERE

For the second course, I boiled beets until just done, skinned and let cool. I sliced them into very thin wheels, drizzled them with olive oil and black truffle oil, and laid in a flower pattern on the base of a shallow plate. I then laid a thin slice of truffled goats cheese on top, and garnished with a generous spoon of aged balsamic vinegar. We decided that this was absolutely necessary if the dish was to be repeated, and in the future I might drizzle it over the whole dish rather than leaving it on the side of the plate.

As the third course I seared bison filets over the stove (in bacon fat), and finished them to medium rare in the oven. Bison is leaner than beef, so for a good medium-rare the cook time is faster. I removed the filets from the skillet and threw in finely diced shallots, a sprig of time, and a generous pour of red wine. I let this blend simmer for a few minutes and added the mushrooms. I continued to let the sauce reduce until I liked the consistency, and poured directly over the filets on a plate (filets were placed on a very small bed of sauteed spinach in olive oil, white wine and garlic). It ended up being super yummy...and the sauce was fab. All the bison juices and leftover bacon fat just made it perfect.

Finally, for dessert, what is a birthday without birthday cake?! I didn't want to make a whole cake that no one could finish and would probably bloat the whole table, so I figured cake pops were a great idea. I had this concept of "a kid in a candy store." On the plate, I included an "adult wine slushie," made from blood orange sorbet and topped off with dry white wine (I used leftover Gavi) and a pistachio macaroon on the plate for color and a little fun :) For the candle, you can often wax your dessert or ruin the look if you stick it directly into one of the sweets. Instead, I heated the bottom of the candle with the flame and set it directly on the plate. It looked great and didn't drip on any of the goodies!

Was a great dinner and no one felt overly full at the end, yay portioning! Was a lot of fun and a change up from my usual European based menus :)

Happy Birthday Papa!!!!