Fruit Compote

Today's post is courtesy of A Cake Stews in Brooklyn, for that's how this old-fashioned fruit dessert is prepared.

Fruit compote (beautifully plated above with a dollop of whipped cream by head chef and danseur  extraordinaire Antonio Carmena) was served at last night's installment of The Ballet Dinner Cook Book Series, in which a group of us are cooking (and laughing and crying) our way through 1966 The Ballet Cook Book, a compendium of recipes of the biggest names in ballet, collected and published by Tanaquil LeClercq, a New York City Ballet dancer and George Balanchine's fourth wife. (Can that last sentence be any longer?)

Last night's meal featured the recipes of Canadian-born Melissa Hayden, "one of American ballet's greatest ballerinas," according to the The New York Times.  Hayden, who danced for both the New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre, contributed recipes that reflected her Eastern European heritage.  (You can read about the entire menu once the Series originator, Ryan Wenzel, and Carmena publish their blog posts.)

The pressure was on last night, as Hayden's son, Stuart Coleman, was one of our guests and had enjoyed many of these dishes while growing up.  But we needn't have worried, for Stuart's portrait hangs in our Hall of Fame under the heading:  "Most gracious and nicest guest."  His partner, Renaissance woman Meryl Rosofsky's portrait is right there next to his. (I got the feeling that even if we had served them something inedible, they would have been equally gracious.)  But one thing that came through loud and clear was the extraordinary love Stuart has for his mother, who passed away six years ago, and the opportunity to connect with her through her recipes.)

Now, on to the dessert, chosen because it was the only dessert in Hayden's chapter.  Fruit compote was served at every family holiday meal during my childhood, but I'd never made it.  It's very simple -- buy high quality dried fruit, soak overnight and simmer it for about 15 minutes.  It's quite delicious, even if it's not beautiful.  It helps to have Antonio in the kitchen, below, and not only for his ability to plate.

Start with all the fruit -- except the pears -- in water to cover.  Soak overnight. Hayden's recipe is much more gourmet than my family's on account of the pears and the addition of lemon peel.  (The recipe is at the end of this post.)

The dinner group, taken at the end of the meal.  From left, going clockwise: Antonio; Jeff Gageby, who has become quite the sous chef and whose all-around help is invaluable; Ryan, Meryl, Paul Epstein, a longtime family friend of Hayden's and Stuart's; Michael Pereira, Antonio's lovely partner who keeps us all honest and entertained in the kitchen; Garry Parton, Paul's partner; Stuart, and me.
(Photo taken by the long-suffering DH.  Thanks, Paul!)

And below, is Antonio's fabulous video of the event.  Be sure to watch until the very end to see the amusing outtakes.

The Ballet Dinner, Fourth Edition

I'm late to this party -- the fourth installment of The Ballet Cook Book Dinner Series was held nearly two weeks ago.  The good news is, I can simply link to what everyone else posted about it.

So, if you like the French food, former New York City Ballet principal Violette Verdy, or ballet in general, or reading about a group of people recreating recipes from the 1966 Ballet Cook Book and then serving the results to unsuspecting guests, then by all means, please click through to the links.  You can find the recipe for this lovely quiche, pictured above, and for the cream puffs prepared with panache (and dance) by Antonio Carmena, head dinner chef and New York City Ballet soloist, below.

Read all about the dinner (and our very special guests) on Brooklyn Rail Dance Editor Ryan Wenzel's wonderful blog, BodiesNeverLie.com.  And see the dinner in action in Antonio's charming video, Dinner with Violette Verdy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O51xuCp2zdE

Above, Antonio piping out the pate a choux for the cream puffs; below, baked and cooling.

Banana Sweet: Dancing in the Kitchen

Last night, my house was the venue for the first in a series of dinners cooked from 1966 The Ballet Cook Book by Tanaquil  Le Clercq.  The four course meal -- all based on recipes contributed to the book by the legendary George Balanchine -- ended on a high note with a surprisingly wonderful dessert called Banana Sweet.  (More on that later.)

Ryan Wenzel, dance critic of The Brooklyn Rail, author of the blog Bodies Never Lie and, by day, online communications manager of Henry Street Settlement (he is busy!), scored a copy of the rare volume on eBay and conceived the idea of the dinner series.  I signed on immediately.  He enlisted the uber charming Antonio Carmena, soloist for the New York City Ballet and graduate of the French Culinary Institute (my alma mater) to chef this dinner (and hopefully all the others -- he is an amazing cook!)

Because Antonio had to perform in a matinee of Romeo and Juliet that afternoon, Ryan and his ever-helpful friend Jeff Gageby arrived early to help prep the menu (and to sample the evening's alcoholic beverages, which always makes kitchen work more pleasant), especially the tedious task of peeling potatoes, as Jeff (below) quickly discovered.  I doubt his stint in the kitchen will dissuade him from his chosen diet of take-out meals.

Prep we did, and then -- near disaster!  Upon careful reading of the blini recipe, we discovered the instruction: Let dough rise for five hours!  just an hour or so before we were set to serve. (This is why I always advise people to read a recipe through before starting, advice I obviously don't follow.)  Having little choice (and a lot of caviar for the blini on hand), we forged ahead.  And I'm happy to say the blini were, if not perfect, quite delicious and everyone's favorite.  Sadly, I neglected to photograph these beauties (let's just say we were all starving at that point and had eating, not photos, on our mind) but you can see some guests enjoying them, below.

I do have a picture of Antonio (who electrified the stage when I saw him perform on Wednesday night in Russian Seasons) preparing them.

And, below is a shot of Antonio and Ryan with the entree.

And a close up. Notice how Antonio sprinkled herbs, used citrus garnish and molded the kasha for an especially elegant presentation of this essentially "white plate" meal.  Antonio's partner, the very talented performer Michael Pereira, said the food was reminiscent of the boiled cuisine of northern Portugal, on which he was raised. But, being true to Balanchine, we followed the Russian-inspired recipe exactly.  (Blandness can transcend borders, I guess.)

And one more photo, and then -- dessert!
Pictured, left to right, are attendees of the first ever Ballet Cook Book dinner series: Jeff, Antonio, Ryan, Evan Namerow, a non-profit marketeer, a graduate student, former dancer and current author of the wonderful dance blog, DancingPerfectlyFree (she's as busy as Ryan!), me, and Michael, who also filmed part of the event. This was our dress rehearsal -- future dinners will feature a special guest of honor. And then, the pressure will be on!

Let's just say that we didn't have high hopes for Banana Sweet.  But it turned out to be the perfect ending to our meal.  It's quite simple to prepare and really delicious.

Banana Sweet
Bananas
Butter
Sugar
Lemon juice
White seedless grapes
Apricot jam
Sour cream
Slivered almonds

Peel and slice bananas.  Fry in butter, sprinkle with sugar and lemon juice.  Add grapes and heat through. Transfer to serving dish and spread with apricot jam.  Top with sour cream sprinkled with sugar and almonds.
Note: We roasted the almonds to bring out their flavor and decided to dispense with the sour cream (having had our fill of that ingredient with the blinis.)

Special thanks to the DH.  All the "good" pictures were taken by him, despite his being a bit under the weather.  Thanks, hon!