Ballet Cook Book: Dinner with Melissa Hayden

We were so thrilled even before we started cooking the sixth installment of the Ballet Cook Book Dinner because had a very special guest, Stuart Coleman (Melissa Hayden's son).  He was coming to try our version of his mother and grandmother's recipes. His presence make this meal count even more than the others.  As excited as we were the pressure was on!  We started very relaxed as we thought the recipes were simple and should be easy to do.  It didn't take us to much time to realize that although they were easy, they were also time consuming. Everything seem to have multiple steps.  So to relax into our situation, we poured ourselves a glass of wine.  I am not sure what was different about Melissa Hayden's recipes but I have to say that this was the most fun we have had in the kitchen during all the Ballet Cook Book Dinners. We were especially naughty and comical.  It made me wonder if she had this much fun making them.  My guess would be yes!

What Ryan neglected to tell us was that he told everyone to come at 7:30 and not our customary 8 PM. So when our guests arrived we were still in the throws of cooking. Luckily, our guests were patient and had vodka to share.  They went to the lounge and awaited for dinner to be served. 

We open the dinner with her chicken wings.  When I think of chicken wings, I think of Buffalo wings...these weren't your typical wings.  These didn't have sauce nor were they spicy.  However, they tasted great and came out juicy and crunchy.  On a side note, we were lucky to have fresh herds from Susan's garden to use in the breading of the chicken.  This really enhanced their flavor.  

Our main course consisted of 3 recipes. We decided that Katie's Sweet and Sour Meat Balls would be the focus and the Stuffed Cabbage and Latkas would be side dishes. I have never made stuffed cabbage but Hayden's recipe was very easy to follow.  After prepping all the ingredients including boiling 2 heads of cabbage and combining onions, potato and ground beef, I put my sous chefs (Michael, Jeff and Ryan) to work stuffing the cabbage.  As we went through the steps of making the Sweet and Sour Meatballs, we were worried that we were not preparing them correctly.    However, after an hour and 1/2 of cooking the onions got caramelized and the sauce reduced.  All the favors combined wonderfully and Katie came through for us. The hit of the evening was the Potato Latkas.  I mean, who doesn't like fried, crunchy potatoes?  I liked them so much I could envision using them as a base for tapas in the future. Sadly, we only made enough Latkas for one serving.  On the other hand, Stuart's favorite was Katie's Sweet and Sour Meatballs and happily we had made plenty, even enough for him to take home.  He was in luck.

Our lovely Host and dessert master, Susan LaRosa got a head start on the Fruit Compote the night before and she did a wonderful job.  You can read more about the dish on Susan's blog.

The biggest compliment of the evening was Stuart's enjoyment of the food.   He mentioned how the flavors made his mother feel close to him again.  I was honored. 

CHECK OUT MY COOKING VIDEO FOR ALL THE FUN!

(p.s. - the last minute is my fav...so stay tuned until the end)

The Ballet Cook Book Dinner Fifth Installment

On Saturday, February 2nd, we held our fifth Ballet Cook Book dinner. The idea was created about a year ago by ballet blogger Ryan Wenzel. As always the host was food blogger Susan LaRosa. Usually we pick a date when I'm available all day, so Susan and I can prepare the menu. This time was different: I had a matinee show with New York City Ballet.  It meant that as soon as I finished, I would have to quickly take of my makeup, hop on the train for an hour and then have only two hours to prepare all the food.  To the further complicate things,  two days before I found out my rehearsal schedule for that Saturday and saw I had  rehearsal 6:30 to 7.  Well, I was not going to make it for the cooking of the food and I would just get there for eating part.  Luckily, my partner Michael stepped in and offer to help Susan to cook the dishes.

While the performance was happening, the ballet master that was supposed to coach my late rehearsal came to tell me we could do the rehearsal as soon as I was done with the show. So as soon as I finished that rehearsal,  I took off my makeup and  I was on my way to help with the cooking.  At other occasions the cooking has been very involved and time consuming. However, having read the recipes beforehand, I knew they were easier and less elaborate.

When I got to the house, I saw everyone sitting, relaxing, and drinking!  I was so puzzled.  I knew the recipes were  simple but I could not believe that they had done so much. This was the first dinner that we were not scrambling to finish all at the last minute.  They were so happy to see me because they decided that I should do the soufflé. Luckily, I have done many sweet soufflés and actually enjoy doing them.

Plus, I don't find them as complicated to make as people think they are.

While I was cooking, they gave me some of "Great-Great-Grandmother Blackwell's Eggnog" to try. Boy, that's a mighty strong and thick drink.  Grandma Blackwell was not playing!  Then the guest arrived and it was on with the show. We all had drinks/eggnog and guacamole for a bit until the soufflé was ready.  As I prefer stronger flavored guacamole, I found this one very bland.  I think the mayo weakened it.

Everyone was very impressed by the look of the soufflé but even more impressed by the taste of it. "Delicious." "Divine."  "It's so good!"  These were comments that you could hear at the table. I liked the soufflé but what I couldn't get out of my mind was that anything would taste good with the amount of bouillon I had put in it...a minor detail that we won't mention to anyone.

Then we served the swordfish tarragon and the "Just Yammy" Yams, and once again everyone was impressed and delighted. I was glad that we chose the swordfish because except for Balanchine's dinner, we have prepared chicken as a main course.

Susan, our cake master, did the tarte a l'orange, she was so unhappy with it because she didn't think it has come out perfect.  In my opinion, Susan did an amazing job with the tart, but the tart was way too sweet.  So much so that I could not taste any oranges only sugar.  I would have decided to only use half of the sugar from the recipe.  However, we do our very best to stay true to the original instructions.