I'm gonna start off with what I usually wind up with because it needs to be stated in advance: Thank you Bayons!! The idea for the night was to bring our usual sit-down formal dinners down a notch and keep it casual with appetizers, wine and roving conversations.
Everyone did at least one, if not two, appetizers or small plates of a dish. Some were put out immediately while others rolled out as the evening went on, making for something new and delicious to try all night long. Chris & Chris put out a gorgeous, gooey cheese platter with a truffle triple cream and a plain triple cream both oozing out of their rinds, a true German Munster (quite stinky but very yummy) and a blue cheese & mascarpone terrine. An antipasto platter complimented all the cheeses beautifully, and their Spanish white wine was paired very well! They would have a whole other dish to serve, but for now all we could do was revel in the smokey flavors wafting in from the grill.
Karen & David put some very tasty combinations together for us as well. Both platters had a Mediterranean flare, the first with kalamata and green olives, salami, marinated bocconcini and marinated tortellini - all skewered together; the second was roast beef crostini w/ a horseradish cream sauce and arugula. The latter I was still thinking about the next day, wishing I'd had just one or two more - delish!
Josh and I had originally planned on a meatball of some sort, but on a recent trip to the Peach Tree Tea House in Fredericksburg, Texas we quickly changed our minds. There we had a delicious chilled avocado soup that just blew me away... and I said, "We have to share this with the gang!" The soup has a little bite from pickled jalapenos so we served it with a drizzle of sour cream sauce in its little shot glass. The other dish we brought is one of my favorite appetizers: chicken liver pate. It did not look appetizing, I'll admit, but I was quite proud of my first attempt at this recipe (also my first Julia Child recipe, Mu-haaa!) - perfectly cooked, good texture and great flavor.
G-BALLS!! Now, I think this was the quietest moment of the evening, when everyone was tucked into a little bowl containing three unassuming looking meatballs from Gerald & Jillian. These tasty little orbs, later dubbed G-Balls by a certain Texan lady, were wolves in sheep's clothing, for inside each lamb & kobe beef ball was a creamy potato-cheese center. To top it all off was a homemade pesto coating each one. Everyone was too busy Oooooh'ing and Aaaaah'ing to chat much just then. But wait, there's more! Later these two rolled out fresh pasta raviolis in a simple tomato-oregano sauce. Again, rather unassuming in appearance but heaven to the taste buds!
Okay... second course from the Bayon grill is ready: ribs. Ooooooh yeah. Smoked 9 hours and sauced to perfection. Now, the best part about the ribs was Jen. She'd never eaten ribs before. How that could be I don't know, but the issue was remedied this night, and with ribs that raised the bar pretty high!
It was Jen and Andrew who capped off our epicurean adventure with beautifully packaged individual panna cottas topped with a strawberry-rhubarb compote and pistachio shortbread. The cream set very well, great texture and so creamy and sweet. Just what our palates needed!
Once again, everyone brought amazing, wonderful food & wine, and lots of smiles and laughter to share. Thank you to the Bayons again for an marvelous night!
