An Early Summer Luncheon
Business gatherings are always so much more enjoyable when accompanied by a delicious homemade meal.
Yesterday, I hosted a small luncheon at my home for a group of partners. I, along with food editor and chef Sarah Carey, planned a wonderful early summer menu for nine guests that started with chilled corn soup - so refreshing and delicious. It was followed by an endive and radicchio salad, roasted carrots just picked from my garden, pasta salad with peas and fava beans also from my garden, and tomato tart. For dessert, everyone enjoyed homemade Meyer lemon cookies, brown butter shortbread cookies, and grapefruit granitas with berries and crème fraîche. It was an excellent lunch and a most productive and interesting meeting.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- My housekeepers and I always work on the table settings together. We try to make each one different and beautiful.
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- And if we can, we always try to incorporate some freshly cut flowers from my gardens.
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- All the flowers coordinate nicely with the table settings. And small glasses of cut flowers are quick and easy to prepare and add just the perfect touch.
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- Look who it is – do you recognize him? This is my driver, Andres. He often helps with my lunches and dinners – serving and tending bar.
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- My kitchen counter is also decorated with flowers. These are some of the season’s first tiger lilies that are blooming under my long pergola.
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- Sarah plated the chilled corn soup and added just a touch of crème fraîche.
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- Every bowl was so beautifully prepared.
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- Guests loved this first course – every one wanted more.
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- The rest of the dishes were served buffet style in my kitchen. This platter is filled with a variety of different carrots roasted to perfection and then dressed with herbs, capers, and slices of blood orange.
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- This is such a great and easy-to-make side dish for any meal.
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- I also served a healthy, fresh salad with radicchio and endives, avocado, homemade croutons and a light vinaigrette dressing.
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- And, look at the wonderful green colors of this pasta salad – filled with peas and fava beans from my garden – just picked hours before. The pasta salad is mixed with a light dressing of buttermilk, herbs, lemon, a bit of mayonnaise and crème fraîche, salt, and pepper.
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- This salad was also such a big hit. I am always so happy to serve dishes made with the fresh vegetables I grow in the gardens. If you’re unfamiliar with them, fava beans, also called broad beans, are legumes with a buttery and nutty tase. I grow them every year.
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- This vegetarian entrée is a rich and savory tomato tart.
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- Sarah made two – both using juicy slices of tomato layered with grated cheese in a pâte brisée pastry crust. Tomato tart is easier to make than quiche, and some say, even more delicious.
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- Each guest filled their plates – this one is mine. Many went back for seconds!
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- Dessert included two different cookies – served on cake stands and brought to the table – free for the taking.
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- These are Meyer Lemon Meltaways – light and tender, sweet and citrusy.
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- And these are a big favorite – my Brown Butter Shortbread cookies. Brown butter enhances the texture and flavor of these cookies. Topping them with sanding sugar gives them a nice finish.
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- And just perfect for summer – grapefruit granita, made with just the fruit juice, and served with grapefruit segments, berries, and a dollop of crème fraîche. A wonderful lunch gathering and “meeting of the minds” – it’s a good thing.
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
