Garlic Dinner
Several colleagues and I went to a conference this past February, and while all could not make it tonight, I hosted a dinner around the theme of garlic.
Having had such an excellent garlic soup at La Rêve in San Antonio, I tried my hand. I unfortunately needed more potato.
- 20-30 cloves roasted garlic
- one large sweet onion, carmelized with brandy
- vegetable stock
- heavy cream
- one baking potato, riced
After the onion and garlic are prepared, soak them in the broth until the soup comes up to a boil; mix in batches until smooth in the blender with heavy cream, to taste. Return to heat to thicken, adding riced potato.
I reserved garlic cloves for each bowl, and also prepared some spicy garlic croutons. Combine chopped garlic, red pepper flakes, and EVOO in a pan, and toast large bread cubes. Float 2-3 on each bowl of soup.
Next up was the “salad.”
Interleave two colors of tomatoes with sea salt, EVOO, basil, and garlic; between each slice add smoked mozzarella cheese. Drizzle with more EVOO.
Flash sauté the shrimp with EVOO and garlic, add seafood stock, and reduce stock by itself with garlic and balsamic vinegar.
I marinated the shrimp in garlic for 5 hours.
And then the “entrée,” my new take on “Sun Chicken.”
I used a quick-cook polenta, and augmented it with heavy cream and parmesan. It became the bed for each dish.
The chicken gets coated in flour and parmesan cheese, quickly sautéed, and left to warm in the oven. The sauce was composed of:
- oil cured olives
- oven-dried (5 hours) roma tomatoes with garlic
- 1/2 large sweet onion
- broad beans
- white wine
- lemon juice
- basil garnish
It got good reviews. In fact, each person liked one of the different courses best. I thought the chicken was the most successful.
For dessert, something I found in Gourmet magazine, a fruity yet light dessert.
Combine 1-2 mangoes with sugar and lime juice; blend until smooth with 1 cup of heavy cream in the blender. Mix in blueberries and lime zest; store to refrigerate for at least an hour. It’s thick and delicious; very refreshing.
3 Responses to “Garlic Dinner”
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Bookstore Piet
Said this on July 12th, 2008 at 7:58am:Yum. Where can I pick up any leftovers!
Actually, I make a similar soup except that instead of potato I add a couple of cups of mushrooms minced in a food processor and then use my blender stick to smooth it out after it’s simmered for about an hour (the moisture level of the ‘shrooms needs to be reduced). Sometimes add a bit of chopped bacon to add a little flavour.
Greg and Hongjun
Said this on July 13th, 2008 at 2:59pm:This dinner looks great. Having enjoyed John’s Sun Chicken in the past I highly recommend this recipe. Of the other courses, I’m pretty intrigued by the dessert. With the lime juice I wonder if this tastes is like drinking a blueberry lime pie. Mmm.
SueP
Said this on August 22nd, 2008 at 1:29pm:As one of the privileged guests for Garlic Night, I would like to personally say that it was amazing! Thank you for allowing me to be part of this!