Bel Canto: The Dinner

My South American themed table

 Last night was the Bel Canto dinner.  The theme of the night was cultural mash-ups.  The book centered around a bunch of people from all over the world living amongst each other as either hostages or terrorists.  I decided that I would make each course a fusion of flavors and techniques from different culinary backgrounds.  Ones that aren't too obvious but end up working well together.

The Place setting

St. Germain Cocktail

 I started the guests off with a St. Germain Cocktail, made with, yes, St. Germain (which is an elderflower liquor) soda water and freshly squeezed limes. 

The Bel Canto Roll

The First Course

The first course was the "Bel Canto Roll".  I've been making 'Italian Sushi' for a few years now, and it's just a fun appetizer.  It's easy to eat and kind of tasty, and also kind of different.  I use risotto as the rice and prosciutto as the seaweed.  In this version, I stuffed them with sauteed asparagus, and then drizzled hollandaise sauce over them.  Asparagus and Hollandaise was served in the book, so it was nice to be able to incorporate a little of the book into the meal.  So the countries represented in this dish are Japan, Italy and France.

Salmon Rillettes over a Potato Pancake topped with Wasabi Roe

The Second Course

 This was probably my favorite dish of the night, but also the one I was most looking forward to making.  I had the rillettes recipe for a while, it's Eric Ripert's recipe he uses at Le Bernardin.  The potato pancake seemed like a great way to serve the rillettes, and the wasabi-infused flying fish roe was a stroke of luck.  I came across it at Russ and Daughters last Saturday afternoon when I was buying the smoked salmon for this dish.  I had been wanting to top the dish with Caviar, but didn't really want to spend $250 on some.  I love the way the colors work on the plate, and I must say, biting into this was pure decadence.  It was great.  This dish whisks us off to Germany, France and Japan.

Shrimp Ceviche

The Third Course

 The third course was Shrimp Ceviche.  It had a nice little kick to it, because I used two types of chili peppers in it, and also avocado, orange bell pepper, cilantro and lots of lime.  It was a refreshing dish, and lightened things up since it was served between two fried dishes.  This dish ended up not being a culinary mash-up, it's basically just Peruvian.  It's never actually stated, but most people agree that the book is set in Peru.

Panko Crusted Weinerschnitzel over Warm Potato Salad topped with a Raw Beet Salad

The Fourth Course

The fourth course was not too shabby.  This dish took us to Germany, Japan and Russia.  The warm potato salad was tossed with olive oil, rice wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, scallions and my homemade seasoned salt.  The weinerschnitzel (I used a pounded pork tenderloin) was nice and crispy and very juicy and tender.  The raw beet salad was derived from a few Russian beet salad recipes.  The shaved beets were tossed with some mayo, dill, grated cucumber and garlic.  It had such a nice refreshing taste, and the color on it was just gorgeous.  I love how this plate looked, because the colors and textures were just so visually pleasing.  It was a great finish to dinner.

Panettone Bread Pudding with Cinnamon Syrup

The Fifth Course

On to dessert, a Panettone bread pudding.  I had never made bread pudding before, and it's quite easy, and uncomplicated which is what I look for in a dessert.  The cinnamon syrup really added a nice layer of sweet and warm flavors at the end.  I consider this dish Italian American.

So that was the Bel Canto dinner.  I think it was very successful, and I could NOT have done it without my sous chef, Liza, she's the best!  Also, thanks to my guests, they were very into the discussion last night, if you've read the book, you know there's lots to discuss.

I just need to figure out the next book to cook!