The Great Gatsby Brunch, May 20th 2012

It all feels kind of like a dream and a blur to piece my Gatsby weekend together.  It started on Saturday morning with a trip into the city for some of my key ingredients.  It was a perfect spring day, and the tourists were definitely in bloom.  First stop was a mobbed Russ and Daughters, the famous lox emporium on the Lower East Side.  I bought a pound of the Norwegian smoked salmon for the salmon and cucumber sandwiches, and I bought myself an everything bagel with their gaspe lox.  I walked up to Union Square, and sat and enjoyed my bagel.  I made some produce purchases at the Farmer's market, and bought a few items at the Whole Foods.  I was very happy to find and purchase these California artichokes for my "East Egg" dish.

When I returned to Astoria, I stopped by the fish store under the train @ the Ditmars stop (Greek writing on the awning, no idea what it's called) and bought the Lump crab meat for my crab remoulade.  Then I head over to my brother's apartment and he kindly drove me around to some of my favorite local places to shop.  Hands down the best wine shop in Astoria, Off The Vine is my favorite place to shop for wine, where the owner is always happy to point you in the right direction.  I picked up 7 bottles of prosecco, and then walked across the street to Sorriso's to pick up some prosciutto for my "West Egg" and Pork Wellington.  Last stop was Berry Fresh Farms, my local grocery store that has recently expanded, plus they have the lowest prices in town.  We grabbed some kebabs at Balkh Shish Kebab, which I've been wanting to try (it's very good), I sat on my couch for a bit, and then began my cooking at 8:00.  I broke down a chicken and boiled it as if I were making chicken soup, for the Waldorf chicken salad.  I made my red onion "mustard" and marinated and grilled the ham for the spiced ham and pineapple sandwiches.  I carved the artichoke hearts and boiled them with some flour, water, lemon, salt and olive oil.  I set the table.  Every time I thought I was done, I thought of other things I can do to be as prepared as possible on Sunday morning. My dreams of sitting down with a glass of wine and watching Mick host SNL were "Shattered", when I decided to hard boil some eggs, make the jello and the jalapeno and chive cream cheese.  I got to bed a little after one, and in the morning I bought more lemons and oranges, a large cup of coffee and got back into the kitchen (where I belong)...
I spent the beginning of the morning chopping away.  I did the fruit cocktail, chicken salad, crab remoulade and stuffing for the "West Egg".  I wrapped the pork tenderloin, cleaned, and prepped.  At 1:45, my helper/server/brother showed up and I got him to work on juicing and muddling the citrus and mint for the prosecco cocktails while I put together the 3 tea sandwiches and made sure everything was presentable(sort of).

The Table is set for the guests, the tea sandwiches were laid out, and the table was decorated with oranges and lemons

The Menu

"Every Friday five crates of oranges and lemons arrived from a fruiterer in New York — every Monday these same oranges and lemons left his back door in a pyramid of pulpless halves." -The Great Gatsby

The salmon and cucumber sandwich was a layer of the jalapeno and chive cream cheese, the salmon and then cucumber, all on top of rye points.

For the crab remoulade I made circles out of some potato bread and griddled both sides in a little bit of butter before topping it with the crab meat that I tossed in my own version of remoulade sauce.

 I layered my red onion mustard, pineapple and the grilled spiced ham on pumpernickel points

While the brunch goers feasted in the sammies, I got to work on the second course, the dreaded East Egg Vs. West egg.  My reasons for dreading this was that in order to get it on the table, I had to poach six eggs perfectly and make the hollandaise sauce all at the same time.  I knew that if I could do this, the rest of the brunch would be pretty simple.  Luckily, everything came together fine.  I was very pleased.

East Egg Vs. West Egg.  The East egg represents tradition and old money, this is where Tom and Daisy live.  The West Egg represents the changing times and new money, this is where Gatsby lives.

East Egg: artichoke heart, poached egg and Sauce Hollandaise

West Egg: dill, scallion, avocado, feta and caper stuffed egg

While this course was served, I threw the Pork Wellington into the oven and prepared the Waldorf Chicken salad.  Basically, it is my chicken salad recipe served over mixed greens, radishes and apples, then topped with grapes and toasted walnuts.

Waldorf Chicken Salad

Prosecco with muddled citrus and mint

The Pork Wellington came out of the oven, and after sitting for a while, I sliced and served it.  I stuffed the pork tenderloin with dried apricots and fresh herbs from my windowsill. I wrapped it in prosciutto, and then brushed it with grain mustard and wrapped that in pie crust.

Pork Wellington

On to dessert!  I made gin-soaked jello and fruit cocktail.  These desserts were inspired by the fact that jello and canned fruit cocktail first came to be and were very popular in the 1920s.  The gin-soaked factor of course comes from prohibition.  I infused my own gin with cucumber and ginger for about two weeks, and followed the jello recipe, but used gin in lieu of water.  The fruit cocktail was a combination of strawberries, pineapple, grapes and cherries.  I tossed them with lime, confectioner's sugar and a drop of vanilla.  At the last minute I decided to literally whip up some whipped cream, I think much to everyone's delight.  I mean, dessert needs to be a little fattening!

Dessert

The Whipped Cream

Gin-Soaked Jello (strawberry or lime!)

The Fruit Cocktail

 The second meeting of the Astoria Book and Supper Club was a lot different from the first, and I think they probably all will be.  As long as I'm satisfied with what I've cooked, and my guests are full and happy, I think this supper club will be a success.  Poor Gatsby....:(