Wednesday, February 17, 2010

be my valentine

staplehouse hosted it first private party this past sunday. we pre-sold this valentine's dinner for some friends and here are some photos from the night.

thank you to lesley from homemadegrits for the use of some of her photos! to view homemadegrits entire collection visit here.



potato puree and caviar started the night. it's one of those flavor combinations that tastes like love!


with all of this cold weather, ryan felt the need for hot soup. this time around we had a butternut squash puree with mascarpone cheese and toasted pumpkin seed oil.

golden beet salad with arugula, red onion, belle chevre and pickled mustard seed vinaigrette.

"pork and beans". braised pork belly with stewed white beans and pickled celery salad. right before the guests arrived ryan and i were commenting on the fact that this dinner wasn't very romantic... raw onions, pork and beans?! but hey, you cannot argue with delicious.

heart warming braised lamb sugo with homemade tagliatelle.

pre-desert. one single bite of chocolate terrine with caramel, raspberry and sea salt.

ben assembling the "hazel-nutters". in it's second appearance at prelude staplehouse dinners, they have found their way onto ryan's favorite list. a take on his favorite cookie, homemade hazelnut shortbread filled with sweet creamy peanut filling and server with custard and jam.

ok! so maybe ryan had a little too much to drink but hey, it was valentine's day! thanks to (from right to left, top row) richard, rachel, lesley, sam, stephanie, amy, marisa and (bottom row) kristin, kevin and shannon.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

dinner 14

here we go again...
ryan's new favorite salad. one of the few dishes that have been repeated at staplehouse. salty, spicy and vinegary....yum!
great soup is one of those things that can warm the soul and make you smile. soups have become a staplehouse "staple" for our guests. it's funny how the simple things are often the best. soup is one of those dishes that lets the ingredient shine and reminds you of home. whether it's a bowl of campbells tomato or a homemade bowl of fennel puree with granny smith apples and goat cheese, as pictured here.ben is making mascarpone footballs for ryan's ravioli dish.



a more classic flavor pairing, ryan still loves tradition. here we have sweet potato raviolis with house cured bacon, mascarpone cheese and sage oil. definitely cold weather food.
intermission time.
more bold flavors. yellow corn crusted maine scallops with jalapeno creamed spinach and spicy pickled carrot salad.
a small but powerful dessert. chocolate terrine with raspberries, caramel sauce and sea salt.
the crew! thank you bob, nathan, molly, lindsey, marissa, lisa, karen, michael, ann and dane! 5 out of 10 of our guests celebrated a january birthday tonight. we were honored to have them here with us doing so!