An Elegant Dinner With my Dentist
Last November, at the gala celebration to benefit the Martha Stewart Center for Living at Mount Sinai, my dentist, Dr. Marc Lowenberg, bid on and won a dinner for six at my home in Bedford. And, my good friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin, donated his time to prepare this meal. It took quite a while for all of us to coordinate an evening that worked for everyone. Last week, that time finally arrived. Pierre and I created a fabulous menu consisting of:
- Cantitoe Garden Vegetable Salad
- Roasted Duck Breast, Braised Leg
- Turnips and Baby Carrots
- Meringue
- Espresso Ice Cream
- Coffee and Tea
It was a wonderful evening and I wanted to share a little bit of it with you. Enjoy!
1 It was a small and intimate table setting.
2 This lovely stamp of my farm's symbol, the sycamore tree, adorns each dinner menu.
3 The place setting cards are also printed with a sycamore tree.
4 The tiger lilies were still blooming nicely, so I cut some to add color to the dining room.
5 I have two identical dining tables, which can be moved together for larger parties.
6 Pierre is always so happy when the garden has a bountiful harvest. Things really grew well this year.
7 We also have delicious hard-neck garlic from the garden.
8 The duck breasts were scored in preparation for roasting.
9 The duck legs were braised in red wine with aromatic vegetables and herbs.
10 Pierre started blanching, roasting, and sauteing the vegetables for the garden salad.
11 He picked an assortment of heirloom tomatoes and sliced them thinly. They're so beautiful.
12 He also prepared the turnips and baby carrots, which accompanied the roasted duck breast and the braised leg.
13 To drink with dinner, I chose a fine Chateau Ducru - Beaucalillou - Saint Julien 1996.
14 The hors d'Å“uvre was boiled fingerling potatoes and osetra caviar from Russ & Daughters. http://www.russanddaughters.com/
15 Pierre's amazing masterpiece of Cantitoe Garden Vegetable Salad - It was perfect!
16 My fig trees have so much fruit this year and Pierre wanted to serve them with the duck.
17 A really good combination
18 Glistening and succulent
19 The rest of the house was decorated very nicely with potted plants.
20 For dessert, Pierre made assorted shapes and sizes of meringue. Here they are baking at low heat in the convection oven.
21 Voila! Those meringues became quite a creation along with espresso ice cream.
22 Sharkey enjoyed the evening.
Your table settings are beautiful, as well as your home. And, I know the food was delicious...how could it not be with so many fresh veggies?
Gloria!!
Posted by: Gloria | August 16th, 2010 at 12:13 am
I love these tables.. what are the dimensions?
Thanks
Posted by: Meredith Fischer | August 16th, 2010 at 12:20 am
How beautiful that room looks. I cannot believe I never thought about getting two tables. I have one very large table which is too big for a small group. When I renovate the room, I'm def getting two!
The produce looks tasty too, I have also had success this year. Things growing well, although some of my plants from seed I thought would perish. Thanks for another great blog.
Posted by: Christian / @vfbr2001 | August 16th, 2010 at 1:49 am
Your figs look delectable. I have not had any luck so far getting a fig tree to take hold and live here in Virginia. I must figure out what I am doing wrong. As always, thank you for sharing a piece of your life Martha.
Posted by: Christopher Brochon | August 16th, 2010 at 6:51 am
Your table is beautiful, so elegant for a small group. Your dentist is a very lucky person to have won such a great prize.
Posted by: Ann | August 16th, 2010 at 7:00 am
Whatever he paid for that prize, it was well worth both the worthy charity and an incredible evening! ADORE and COVET the potted plants!
Posted by: Jayne | August 16th, 2010 at 7:28 am
Martha, thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | August 16th, 2010 at 9:14 am
Thanx for photos of this very inspiring event by Lowneberg. This week-end here was pig roast and many brought fresh vegetable dishes, wines, and desserts that kept us eating for hours, entertaining and being entertained at Karaoke, visiting old and new friends and enjoying the moon over the Missouri.
Posted by: ann | August 16th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Hi Martha,
Your dinner parties are always elegant right down to the menu or maybe I should say starting with the menu. I’ve made up menus for some of my pool party meals but never for a dinner party. Your tables are so nice; I never realized the one long table was actually two tables. It does make sense though to have that kind of arrangement for all the dinners you have. Picture #19 is nice too. I don’t recall ever seeing that view of your house looking into the green room. You have so many beautiful planters and stands.
~
I can’t say enough about Chef Pierre and yes he does do wonders with everything he touches. There are vegetable salads and then there is picture #15 – a Cantitoe Garden Vegetable Salad by Pierre. Ooh and aah! Also, when I saw the meringue baking, I thought, nah they’re not going to have just plain meringue and then next picture, another masterpiece. He’s just full of surprises isn’t he? Well, another great meal for another great cause and even though I wasn’t there, your pictures made me feel otherwise. Even Sharkey said hi! Thanks. Trish
Posted by: Trish | August 16th, 2010 at 10:13 am
A lovely dinner party! I particularly like the Cantitoe garden salad...how beautifully presented. Great food and decorating...that's the key to memorable dining.
Posted by: sherey | August 16th, 2010 at 10:51 am
Hi Martha, What a lovely blog about that special dinner for your dentist at your beautiful home in Bedford. How special that Chef Pierre donated his time for such a delicious looking (and obvioulsy tasting!) meal. These photos were stunning! Your farm vegetables look absolutely fantastic! I can almost taste all of them, as well as the great food! The dinner setting looked lovely and the beautiful flowers added a special touch. Love the last photo of Sharkey! Thanks for sharing, Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | August 16th, 2010 at 11:38 am
Thanks for sharing your event with us. Very beautiful - I wish I were there.
Two comments - was that a molcajete in the background of the garlic picture or just the container that you store your garlic in? Also, on the fingerling appetizer. Does each person have their own caviar container to dip the potatoes in? I've never seen potatoes served with caviar. So interesting!
Thanks again! Your daily life is so fun to read about and so inspiring. You sure are a busy person both at home and at work.
Posted by: Cheryl | August 16th, 2010 at 11:56 am
Now that is a dinner worth bidding on! BEAUTIFUL table.... I love the marble..
Posted by: Jen in SF | August 16th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
All the colors from the food look beautiful!
Posted by: Wendy | August 16th, 2010 at 1:39 pm
Thank you very much for sharing this. I have subscribed to your RSS feed. Please keep up the good work.
Posted by: the Success Ladder | August 16th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Very interesting and Sharkey was able to get into the festivities, bless her not shy heart. Duck would be a fun thing to serve I think because where I am from the duck is always wild therefore lean. I bet the figs were a perfect accent.
I hope the conversation was as light and lively as the dessert.
Posted by: Margie | August 16th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
Hi Martha,
I noticed that you featured a vegetable salad and carrots in your menu. Great touch! Several other students and I have been creating a community garden around our university to better the local environment and community. We have already begun planting vegetables-especially carrots! If you're interested in what we're doing, please email me back! Thanks!
Posted by: D | August 16th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I wish you'd start with your own dvd collection of everything you have on line....or, your own network. Here in DC we only see you for one hour at 10am on wjla. I'd love a program on your farm and home life also. You are inspirational!
You are so very talented and have developed such a wonderful organization.
Posted by: Janet | August 16th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
I wish you'd start with your own dvd collection of everything you have on line....or, your own network. Here in DC we only see you for one hour at 10am on wjla. I'd love a program on your farm and home life also. You are inspirational!
You are so very talented and have developed such a wonderful organization.
Posted by: Janet | August 16th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Beautiful, but we could not expect anything less.
Thank you for sharing.
Posted by: Jody | August 16th, 2010 at 4:28 pm
Just bought the September issue and it's fabulous and you and Kevin on the cover is great!!
The Mathas 50 top kitchen tips awesome!.
Posted by: Kim B. | August 16th, 2010 at 5:50 pm
Martha...Do you ever just kick back and eat a big juicy burger off the grill for dinner? Everything is always so exquisite in your house!
Posted by: Ryan | August 16th, 2010 at 6:34 pm
From Omaha Nebraska to NYC...Martha-I made your recipe for Tomato and Basil Pasta out of the August 2010 Living magazine. My husband loved it so much he texted it to our kids in NYC. They live there together and were pondering dinner for this evening. Went to the store and mde the dish. What a thrill that our entire family had the same meal miles apart. Though they have asked for me to make it for them when I am in the City next time. Thank-you much!!!
Posted by: Marilee | August 16th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Beautiful food and table settings. And Sharkey!
Sharkey was gorgeous!
Posted by: maggie | August 17th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Amazing!
Posted by: Erin | August 19th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Martha:
I've been mostly bed-ridden since October of 2009. Your show has keep me lively dreaing of the day that I will be able to entertain again. God bless you Martha and thank you so very much.
Kathy Sterner
Nazareth, PA 18064
Posted by: Kathleen Sterner | August 19th, 2010 at 3:51 pm
Nothing like great food to share with friends... the menu sounds delicious and he images look great especially because photographing food is very difficult!
Posted by: Punctuation Mark | August 21st, 2010 at 3:13 pm
Nice to know a wine to use for the duck. We are all so wanting to eat duck right now. I love it especially the crispy skin when done correctly. Thanks Martha. By the way...read on your blog last month that you were in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and you loved the poultine. I have a story on Old Quebec City and Montreal on my Word Press blog your readers may like to know about. The Cirque troupe is giving an extraordinary FREE show five nights per week until Sept. 5 in Old Quebec City. I saw it last year and was blown away. I've lots of info on my blog. Glad you enjoyed poultine.
Posted by: http://twitter.com/Geotravel | August 22nd, 2010 at 10:43 pm
my mom is an expert when it comes to choosing dining tables, she is always after durability and style -`~
Posted by: Door Curtains · | November 14th, 2010 at 3:34 pm