It was a while back now (last year!), but my friend Megan and I hosted a modern dinner — at least that’s what we called it. We tried to create a menu that incorporated some newer, more unusual cooking techniques while still including approachable, delicious food. We served:

• Oysters with wasabi sorbet
• Soft-boiled quail eggs with anchovy mayonnaise, cubed lardoons, olive tapenade and microgreens
• Sous vide cooked salmon with sake jelly and orange-soy jelly
• Cucumber-wrapped gin and tonic jelly shots
• Roasted beets with pistachio crumble and tarragon-orange goat cheese
• Sous vide lamb with red wine reduction, sauteed mushrooms and mushroom foam
• Anise-orange scented cheesecake with blueberry sauce

Along with plenty of wine, of course. I’d call it a success!

It was a great chance to give the new sous vide cooker a workout, and it performed admirably. The salmon was just perfect — cooked quite rare & delicately, all the flavor captured inside. The lamb was a little less spectacular, having given up most of its juices in the 24 hour cooking process (and we did little to add them back), but still quite tasty.