Hosting a Birthday Dinner at my Home

May 19, 2010

My very close friend, Michael Rips, was celebrating a birthday and I decided to host a dinner party in his honor. Michael is a lawyer, an op-ed page editor, and author of 'Pasquale’s Nose: Idle Days in an Italian Town’ and ‘The Face of a Naked Lady: An Omaha Family Mystery.’ I called another good friend, Chef Pierre Schaedelin, who said he would be available to prepare this meal. Pierre and I settled on a Moroccan theme and came up with a menu of bisteeya, Moroccan ‘pigeon’ pie - couscous served with lamb, Merguez saucisson, and garden vegetables – harissa, Moroccan hot sauce and preserved lemons – passion fruit sorbet served with almond tuile and salade d’oranges.

Morocco, located in North Africa, has been influenced by the trade routes that pass through it, creating the unique Moroccan culture. Moroccan food is very distinctive as it melds the flavors of savory and sweet, using rich and fragrant spices, dried fruits, and nuts. It also makes for great party fare, providing guests with something quite unexpected.

: The vegetables for the couscous.

: Celery, onion, rutabaga, white turnip, red and yellow roasted peppers, chick peas, zucchini, celery, carrots, eggplant, and peeled and seeded plum tomatoes.

: After cooking the vegetables, Pierre strained off the rich broth.

: Pierre blanched these plum tomatoes to remove their skins. They are neatly cut and seeds discarded.

: To form the bisteeya – Moroccan ‘pigeon’ pie – Pierre lined a baking dish with sheets of tissue-thin phyllo dough, brushing each sheet with melted butter, which makes it especially flaky.

: Instead of pigeon, Pierre used meat from whole poached chickens. The chicken was nicely seasoned with fresh cilantro and parsley.

: The bisteeya is filled with layers of the chicken and these curdled eggs, again, wonderfully seasoned. For a unique flavor, I asked Pierre to add a bit of preserved lemon to the eggs – very Moroccan!

: Once filled, the bisteeya was enclosed using more layers of buttered phyllo. It was then baked to a golden brown and dusted with confectioner’s sugar and cinnamon.

: The evening was lovely and guests enjoyed the beautiful spring weather outside on the terrace.

: On a serving platter, Pierre placed a bed of couscous and topped it with perfectly roasted tender lamb chops and Merguez saucisson, a red, spicy sausage from North Africa. The garnish is fresh oregano.

: The couscous was served with the fragrant vegetables seasoned with ground cumin and cinnamon.

: This colorful dish consists of a total of eleven different vegetables.

: I love this photo of Michael Rips – a great portrait.

: I brought out these beautifully starched napkins for the cocktails.

: The dinner menu – I love the sycamore trees growing on my property and decided to make the sycamore the logo of the farm. I had a beautiful engraving done and from that engraving, rubber ink stamps were made.