Supper Club

A Splendid Holiday Dinner

A holiday party is probably not the time to experiment with a new menu or a complicated dish you’ve never made before. Trust me: I learned that lesson the hard way on the night I attempted to make Coq au Vin for the first time. I didn’t have all the ingredients and I was behind schedule so I thought I would just wing it. Needless to say it was completely inedible. When my guests arrived, we ordered pizzas, opened some nice wine, and ended up laughing the whole night. 


I saved you the trouble of figuring out what recipes work together, everything from seasonality, flavor profiles to cooking times. This menu is designed for maximum enjoyment, what’s the point of having friends over if you can’t hang out with them.

-Menu-

INGREDIENTS

all units: U.S. Imperial

  • 1.5 oz London Dry Gin 
  • .75 oz Cocchi Americano
  • .5 oz Blanc Vermouth 
  • Lemon or Grapefruit peel for garnish

Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail mixing glass and stir over ice, allow to dilute for 60 seconds.

Serve in a rocks glass, over a large single ice cube, with a citrus peel garnish.

INGREDIENTS

all units: U.S. Imperial

  • 4-6 lbs Beef Tenderloin - center cut, tied off
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary
  • ½ tsp ground cumin
  • ¼ c extra virgin olive oil for marinade
  • Sea salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste


Horseradish Crème Fraîche


  • 8 oz crème fraîche
  • ¼ c prepared horseradish 
  • 1 lemon zest
  • Sea salt & freshly cracked pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 275º

Tie the tenderloin off with kitchen twine (the butcher will do this for you by request)

Make a paste from the garlic in a mortar & pestle or with a knife and place in a small bowl. Finely chop the rosemary leaves into the garlic paste, add the cumin, sea salt & freshly cracked pepper and combine. Then mix in the olive oil. Slather the beef tenderloin with the garlic & herb paste, allow beef to rest at room temperature for at least 20 min. You can marinade the beef for up to 8 hrs earlier. 

Sear all sides of the beef in a pan (I like to use cast-iron skillet) on the stove top to seal in flavor & juices. Once browned on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer the tenderloin to the oven and roast for 25-40 minutes. Pull the beef out when the meat thermometer reads 120º (I check at 25 mins). 

While the beef is cooking, make the horseradish crème fraîche. Place the crème fraîche in a small bowl, whisk in the lemon zest and season with salt & freshly cracked pepper. Store in the fridge until ready to serve. This can be made up to 8 hrs in advance.

Allow the beef to rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing, and serve with horseradish crème fraîche.

PRO TIPS: beef tenderloin is also delicious at room temperature, you can make up to one day ahead and serve at room temperature. If making a day ahead, wait to slice until serving.

serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

all units: U.S. Imperial

Cake

  • ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1” pieces, at room temperature, plus more for baking pan
  • ¾ cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar, divided, plus more for pan
  • 10 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate (61%–72% cacao), coarsely chopped
  • 2 tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 6 large eggs
  • 2 tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp ground espresso beans
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • ¾ tsp kosher salt

Topping

  • 1 cup chilled heavy cream
  • 8oz creme fraîche
  • Pinch of flaky sea salt
  • Candied Ginger (optional)

*a 9-inch spring-form pan and electric mixer or whisk

Preheat oven to 350º. 

Using some extra butter, coat the pan with butter and dust the interior with 2 tbsp of granulated sugar. In a double boiler (place a heat safe bowl in a pot with 1-2inches of water and bring to boil) melt the chocolate and butter, remove the bowl from the pot and set aside. 

Separate 4 of the eggs into two medium mixing bowls. Using the remaining 2 whole eggs and crack them into a medium bowl with the egg yolks, then add the cocoa powder, espresso, vanilla extract, and granulated sugar, whisk until smooth. Slowly stir the melted chocolate into the egg yolk mixture. 

Whip the egg whites until the mixture begins to foam and become white, with the mixer continually running, gradually add the sugar until fully incorporated and a stiff meringue begins to form. In two batches, fold the egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Make sure that no white ribbons of egg whites can be seen. 

Pour the chocolate batter into the prepared cake pan. Bake at 350º for 35-40 mins. Cake should puff-up and rise, and the edges will pull away from the pan. Remove from the oven and allow to completely cool before serving, can be made 1-2 days in advance.

To make the topping: using a whisk or electric mixer, whip the chilled heavy cream and creme fraîche together with a pinch of salt. Serve with the whipped cream mounded on the center of the cake with julienned candied ginger (optional)

Serves 8-10