A Dinner with Friends at My Farm
I love entertaining at the farm, especially when I can add a special theme to the evening’s menu.
Late last week, I hosted a very special Moroccan-style dinner gathering for a small group of friends. Chef Pierre Schaedelin, from PS Tailored Events, and I, planned a delicious menu for my guests. The first course was Bisteeya, a traditional Moroccan dish, followed by Couscous Royale, made with chicken, lamb, sausage and variety of fresh vegetables from my garden. Our dessert was fresh citrus fruit, and homemade buttermilk sorbet topped with sprigs of bright green mint. It was a wonderful meal.
Enjoy these photos.
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- My large Brown Room is a great space for entertaining. The long table is set for 17-guests. The white domed dishes are Moroccan tagines. Each one has a low-sided bottom and a conical cover.
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- Inside the Flower Room kitchen, just a few steps from my Winter House, Chef Pierre Schaedelin, from PS Tailored Events, is busy preparing our delicious meal. http://pstailoredevents.com
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- One of the first tasks Chef Pierre does when he arrives is prepare all the ingredients, such as cutting up all the vegetables picked from my garden the day before – he says, “mise en place” or “putting in place” and setting up, is extremely important when cooking any special meal.
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- The eggs we used are all from my wonderful and very productive chickens.
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- The first course is bisteeya, a traditional Moroccan dish that’s most like an elaborate meat pie combining sweet and savory flavors, and using a phyllo dough encasement. The chicken is simmered in broth with onions, garlic, lemon juice, herbs, cumin, and saffron until it is falling off the bone.
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- Chef Pierre removes the chicken and places it on a cookie sheet along with the other ingredients. Next, the chicken will be taken off the bone and placed into a large bowl and mixed with herbs.
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- We used about 30-eggs for our bisteeya. The eggs are scrambled in butter with lemon juice, salt, and pepper until fairly stiff.
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- Whenever adding multiple eggs to a dish, it never hurts to run them through a strainer to be sure pieces of shell do not go unnoticed. It may take a little longer, but it is definitely worth the effort.
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- Then the eggs are cooked and then placed in cheesecloth over a bowl to remove the excess liquid.
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- Ryan picked fresh zucchini from the garden just moments before they were cooked – they look so beautiful and fresh.
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- Pierre cuts them up and adds them to our mixture of vegetables.
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- Look at the vibrant colors of all the fresh vegetables. They will be served with the Couscous Royale.
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- Here are the vegetables as they simmered in broth.
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- After cooking the vegetables, Pierre strained off the rich broth.
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- And, here are the meats that were also prepared for the couscous dish – lamb, chicken and Merguez saucisson, a red, spicy sausage from North Africa.
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- Ground lamb burgers are seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, spices and mint. All the meats are placed into the refrigerator until it is time to sear them and finish them off in the Winter House oven.
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- To construct the bisteeya, Chef Pierre carefully places the first buttered sheet in a buttered round pan, draping the excess over the edges.
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- He layers another buttered sheet of phyllo to completely cover the bottom of the pan.
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- He adds a generous layer of the chicken mixture.
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- Next, a layer of the scrambled egg mixture. Bisteeya also calls for almonds tossed with confectioner’s sugar and a bit of ground cinnamon.
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- Chef Pierre tops it with more chicken and phyllo dough, and another layer of the almond mixture. Here is my bisteeya recipe from season-4 of my show, “Martha Bakes”. http://www.marthastewart.com/1103743/bisteeya
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- Brushing each sheet of phyllo with butter is important so that it bakes golden, crisp, and flaky.
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- Then, Chef Pierre folds the excess phyllo up and over the filling before completely covering the bisteeya with more phyllo dough.
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- Chef Pierre cuts off any excess phyllo dough from the sides of the pans.
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- And then carefully tucks the overhanging layers down the inside edges of the pan, sealing the bisteeya. A final brush with clarified butter is added to the top so it shines. Here is one of two bisteeyas ready for the oven.
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- Oranges are also peeled for the special citrus dessert.
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- On another counter, the sorbet is checked for consistency.
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- Here are the tomatoes for our confit fresh out of the oven. All these tomatoes were just harvested from my garden – we had so many beautiful cherry tomatoes this season.
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- Meanwhile, inside my home, finishing touches are done on my Brown Room dining table.
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- A copy of the evening’s menu is set-down at every place setting.
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- Here are the tagines, ready to be filled in my kitchen. The base is wide and shallow, and the tall lid fits snuggly inside. As the food cooks, steam rises into the cone, condenses, and then trickles down the sides back into the dish.
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- The bisteeyas are baked at 425-degrees Fahrenheit until the tops become golden brown.
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- The finished bisteeya. Here, the tops are sprinkled with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon – it was everyone’s favorite dish.
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- Here is Pierre cutting the bisteeya.
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- Chef Aron carefully dresses each plate with the tomato confit and greens.
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- To make the dinner even more special, we also served gougerers – A gougère, in French cuisine, is a baked savory choux pastry made of choux dough mixed with cheese.
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- Each piece of bisteeya is served with a side mix greens and tomato confit.
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- The Couscous Royale is plated with vegetables, and a piece each of lamb, chicken and then sausage, and placed into the base section of the tagines.
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- Our dessert is fresh orange section with homemade buttermilk sorbet and sprigs of mint from my garden. A Mailanderli cookie adds a perfect touch on each plate.
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- We also had a wonderful box of sweet treats for dessert.
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- Everyone enjoyed the dinner and conversation.
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- Here, I am joined by all the chefs that were at the dinner – Chef Pierre and his sous chef, Aron, who prepared our feast, Chef Geoffrey Zakaraian and Chef Daniel Boulud.
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