Le Prix Fixe Por La Table d'hote a Tonoli Farmhouse. Mangia!

I know. I killed the headline of this blog. Oh well.

Last blog I wrote about owning a farmhouse restaurant on a country hill where I cooked what I wanted, when I wanted. The menu would be announced ahead of time so you could decide if you wanted to join my dinner party or not.

Well, here’s a potential menu. See what you think of this:

Starters:

Slices of Portobello Mushrooms- Stuffed with fresh goat cheese and bread crumbs

Reblochon Tarts with Bacon and Fingerling Potatoes

Wine: An Oregon Pinot Grigio

Soup:

Grilled Vegetable Gazpacho (cold)

Wine: A Washington Gewurztraminer

Main Course:

Grilled Beef Tenderloin Steak with Bourbon and Green Peppercorn Sauce

Skillet-Charred Cherry Tomatoes with Basil

Long-Grain White and Wild Rice with Mushrooms

Crispy Oven-Broiled Slices of Black Olive Bread

Wine: California coastal Zinfandel

Desert

Croissant Cream Cheese Soufflé with Blueberry Topping
Cheeses and Fruit

Wine: Asti Summate
Coffee

NOTE: While you may not ask for substitutions, I reserve the right to substitute whatever I want.

OI course the ambience would be killer so you’d love this.

Most of the recipes suggestions included here (though not all) come out of the Food & Wine Annual cookbook of 2009 published by American Express Publishing Corporation. Because this material is copyrighted I cannot print the recipe ingredients or how you put these dishes together, but you can look them up for yourself if interested.

So, this has been a fun exercise. But putting this dream menu together makes me realize what a lot of work it is to feed people. Geez. I go crazy at home sometimes trying to decide what to fix for dinner. I don’t know how I would ever pull off this kind of restaurant deal. Still, it is fun to daydream. I really like dinner parties and fun friends gathered around a table eating good food and discussing their many and varied interests. Kathleen and Sam like that too. Of course Sam would want you to pet him.

I’m writing this blog on Sunday. It’s a lazy, partly sunny day - great for daydreaming. But Sam and Kathleen are waking up from their naps so I think it’s time to be a-stirring. Thanks for reading our blog. Let’s do dinner sometime. Poop on you if you’re a vegan or gluten intolerant or anything like that. Sorry, you wouldn't be any fun.

Mangia! Mangia!