My dear friend Norman really knows how to throw a party. We truly had an amazing Thanksgiving. I didn't eat much the previous day, which was a good thing because I really needed all the stomach space I could get. Our evening began with a champagne toast to friendship. I was blessed by the presence of Tom, good friends Alex & Alan, Norman, his son Joe & their close friend Dave. The only person missing was Norman's wife Ina, who unfortunately had to work. So, I was the only girl in attendance & the boys took good care of me. But enough talk of that. Let's discuss the food....Glorious food!!

Our first course was pork spare ribs which were marinated for 24 hours. They were so sticky sweet & yummy. We also had a wok dish that consisted of diced shittake mushrooms, choi sum, smoked tofu, scallions. The secret sauce had just a hint of sweet & sour with a light, spicy, punch to it. It was served on a puffy moo shu bread.

We took a small break while Norman set up the next course. Dave taught me how to hand stuff & wrap dumplings. I found it to be a quite therapeutic, kind of like knitting. The dumplings were used for the second course which was Shabu Shabu. Norman really out did himself on this. He(along with lots of help from Dave) made 3 different broths; an extra spicy one, chicken stock & scallions, & a basic ginger. We had such an array for raw food just waiting to be dropped into the broth, that it was almost overwhelming, but in a good way. We feasted on Kobe beef, pork tenderloin, chicken, codfish, shrimp & fish balls, rice & cellophane noodles, bok choy & our just made dumplings. After 2 hours of dipping, scooping & chowing down we all had reached our breaking point. We were so content & ready to fall into a coma. Then Norman announced that the turkey is ready. TURKEY!! Who had room for that?! I must say that the bird did look beautiful. He brined the turkey & then hung it to dry - ala Peking duck style - before roasting it. I do wish that I had a picture of it, but, I honestly couldn't move from my chair at that point. The turkey was stuffed with an onion & garlic sticky rice. I'd never had it before & now I'm a big fan of it. I had some for breakfast this morning.

We did recover in time to have dessert. Tom & I brought 2 pies from one of the best bakeries in NYC, The Little Pie Company. We picked up a Mississippi mud & their signature - apple sour cream walnut. They both were heavenly. And just when it seemed like things could not get any better, a Baccarat crystal bottle was carefully brought down from a shelf in the dining room. Its contents are the finest cognac ever made in the history of the world - Louis XIII. I'm not a cognac drinker at all, but Louis is in a class by itself. It is very smooth & smells fragrant. Hmmmm. So that was our day. I'll always be so thankful for the memories that were created & the time, effort & love that was put into our succulent feast.

Dumpling Master


Louis XIII

Posted by Dawn Falcone @ 3:56 AM 9 comments

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