This dinner was home-grown in Pittsburgh for Pittsburghers by a Pittsburgher. Diana Bowden of Point Breeze gave it as a fund-raising event for the Society for Contemporary Craft in the Strip District. At an auction last September, the dinner for six went for $1,200. Sitting in the audience, Diana put her hands to her head and, turning to her friend Nancy Hanst of Valencia, she asked, "What will we do to make the dinner worth it?"
"Do we have time to go to culinary school?" Nancy asked.
Diana had recruited Nancy to help. Others on the team were Diana's husband, the artist Robert Bowden, Florence Corbett of Shadyside, and Diana's longtime friend Susie Treon, chef at the Frick Cafe. Susie did the dessert: Warm chocolate custard inside a chocolate crust served with caramelized oranges and homemade caramel ice cream. Was it good? It was delicious.
Diana's team included two servers: Janet McCall, executive director of the Society for Contemporary Craft, and assistant director Kate Lydon.
The entire staff -- including me -- worked our tails off. We were on our feet and moving for six hours, serving eight courses plus appetizers at a party that went perfectly. At midnight, when the guests left, preparation of six courses was repeated, and the staff sat down at the kitchen table to party. At 2 a.m., Florence drove me home.
Course by course, here's how it went.
Appetizers: Olives, pickled Cipollini onions, porcini mushrooms in olive oil from Italy, almonds, peppered pecans and tiny crab cakes were passed in the living room.
Paul Drouet Brut Champagne, special reserve Alain Ducasse, was poured. (All the wines were contributed by Michael and Judy Cheteyan, who together with Marvin and Janice Gold and Anton Germishuizen and Jocelin Reed bid for the dinner.) Cheteyan made his wine selections using the menu and a set of recipes given him in advance. He provided not only for the party but also for the staff dinner.
Cheteyan instructed the service staff, Janet and Kate, to fill glasses only one-third full, allowing guests to swirl their still wines and sniff. Wines were served in such a way that guests could read the labels. Because so many wines were to be served, Cheteyan requested that water also be available. In the classic manner, plated food was served from the left and cleared from the right.
For appetizers, Nancy roasted the almonds in their skins, sauteed the blanched almonds in olive oil and tossed both, separately, with coarse gray salt from France. The peppered pecans were roasted with plenty of freshly ground black pepper in a mixture of honey from Sand Hill Berries in Mount Pleasant, salt, allspice and a bit of sugar. Freshly sauteed crab cakes, the size of quarters, were passed for guests to pick up with their fingers. The crab cake recipe came from Diana's daughter, Lisa, who serves them as an appetizer alongside a small heap of greens tossed with a lemon vinaigrette.
The first course, served in the dining room, was a cold carrot soup from the French chef Guy Savoy, flavored with star anise. The Bowdens chose the dinner service with care. Diana Bowden believes that tableware designed by artisans is more interesting than factory-made porcelain. Each course was served using different handmade plates and bowls from the family collection. The wood-fired soup bowls of Dale Huffman were chosen because of the carrot-colored streaks on their surface.
Floating on the soup was a pod of star anise and a dot of Fromage Blanc from Briar Run, Birch River, W.Va.
Wine: St. Supery, Sauvignon Blanc, 1998, Napa Valley.
Diana Bowden's skills with pasta were taught her by her Italian-born mother, Tosca Bernardini. Pasta appeared as the second course. The recipe used was from the magazine "Pasta: The Journal of Italian Culture and Cuisine" ($5.95 at Barnes & Noble).
For it, she used a thin, dried lasagna, Pasta di Semola, Riscossa, from Pennsylvania Macaroni. To save serving time, the lasagna was partially cooked ahead, cut into squares and covered with clean kitchen towels. Frizzled fresh sage from the Bowden's garden was used in the garlic-flavored pine-nut butter sauce. Paper-thin slices of Asiago cheese were laid over the top.
Wine: Moulin-a-vent, Domaine Diochon, 1995, Rhone Valley, France.
From the beginning, the staff watched each plate as it was returned to the kitchen. Did they like it? These guests liked everything. Service was leisurely. Wine, acting as a digestive, helped to keep the appetite stimulated. Wine helped the mood, too. In the kitchen we could hear the laughter coming from the dining room.
Diana would have preferred sea bass for the fish course, but because it is on the endangered species list, she settled for Chilean sea bass. She pan-seared all six pieces, three at a time, in two cast-iron skillets. Each was presented on a pool of fresh parsley sauce made from a recipe of Mark Bittman's.
Wine: Chassagne-Montrachet, Vincent Girardin 1996, Burgundy, France.
A brilliant bright-red iced-tomato sorbet, garnished with perfect sprigs of fresh green basil, served as a palate cleanser.
For the main course, Diana wanted something other than the more traditional lamb or veal. She chose boneless pork loin from James Kennedy's Four Seasons Farm in Valencia. The meat was marinated with juniper berries and fennel seed, grilled outdoors by Bob Bowden and served over a pool of shiny, mahogany-colored Sauce Robert. The meat was accompanied by fresh fava beans, braised fennel and an onion confit. The dishes for this service were black, cut in irregular shapes and made by Don Williams.
Wine: Gevry Chambertin, Philippe Rossignol, 1996, Burgundy, France.
A welcome salad followed. With the sage and pine nut pasta, it would make a delicious little supper in itself. Perfect leaves of arugula, (which must have been raised under cheesecloth tents), hand-delivered from City Fields' Stanton Heights farm by women regretting they wouldn't be at the farmer's market on that Thursday evening, were tossed in a blood-orange vinaigrette with wedges of fresh cooked beets and toasted walnuts. A slice of Westfield Farm chevre accompanied each serving.
Wine: Peter Zemmer Pinot Grigio, 1999, Alto Adige, Italy.
In anticipation of this fund-raising dinner, the Bowdens had prepared their garden to receive guests. It rained for most of the evening but stopped as the cheese course was about to be served. Guests were moved outdoors for Gorgonzola Dolce, Taleggio, Canadian Black Diamond, L'Edel De Cleron and Fromage DuPays. There were two wines for this course, a Chateau Suduiraut Sauternes, 1989, Bordeaux, France, and a Burmeister Port, Oporto, Vinho do Porto, Vintage 1985.
Dessert was served indoors with espresso.
It was an evening in which all did their part. I was standing against the wall, writing in my notebook (or on occasion drying dishes or garnishing a plate), and I saw it all. The kitchen help scurried, the wait staff entered the dining room calmly, and the guests laughed and were merry. That they should be pleased was essential.
From the $1,200 bid at the Society for Contemporary Craft to the last forkful of chocolate tart and sip of espresso, it was an event that none of those present will forget.
Purveyors: Benkovitz Seafoods, Pennsylvania Macaroni, Jimmy and Nino Sunseri, La Prima, Giant Eagle, Allegro Hearth Bread.
Farms: James Kennedy's Four Seasons Farm, Valencia (Farmers' Cooperative Market of East Liberty, 344 N. Sheridan Ave., 5 a.m. to noon Saturdays); 724-898-1670.
Harvest Valley Farm, Bakerstown, Art King and Larry King (East Liberty Penn Circle West Farmers' Market from 3:30 to 8 p.m. Mondays; the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot, 3:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays); 724-443-5869.
City Fields Produce, Stanton Heights, the last farm in the city of Pittsburgh (East Liberty Penn Circle Farmers' Market, 3:30 to 8 p.m. Mondays); 412-344-2668.
Blue Bird Farms, Ohio. "He loves everything he grows," Diana says. (East Liberty Penn Circle West Farmers' Market from 3:30 to 8 p.m. Mondays; and Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot, 3:30 to 8 p.m. Thursdays.)
Artists whose works appeared on the Bowden dinner table: Dale Huffman, (available Huffman Studio, Strip District; a show of his work opens Sept. 14 at The Clay Place, Shadyside); Linda Christiansen (Society for Contemporary Craft); Valda Cox (Penn Avenue Pottery, Strip District); Annie Glass of California; Paul Bowden, Pittsburgh; Barbara Eigen, New York; and, Don Williams, Beth Mueller, Jack Troy and Eva Kwon, The Clay Place.
Carrot and Star Anise Soup
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound medium carrots, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
1 cup heavy cream
Sea salt and freshly ground white pepper
4 whole star anise pods
Melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the carrots and cook over moderately low heat, stirring frequently, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Increase the heat to high, add the stock, cream and a pinch each of salt and white pepper, and bring to a boil. Cover and cook over low heat until the carrots are very tender, about 50 minutes.
Remove from the heat, and add the star anise, cover and let infuse for 20 minutes. Discard the star anise.
Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper. Soup may be served hot or cold. Makes 4 servings.
Lasagna with Butter, Sage and Pine Nuts
1/2 pound lasagna noodles
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) butter
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 cup fresh sage leaves, torn
1/4 cup pine nuts
Freshly shaved Asiago cheese
Freshly ground pepper
Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions. Remove, drain and cut into squares.
Place butter, garlic, sage and pine nuts into skillet and cook on medium heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Add lasagna noodles to skillet and toss gently to coat. Remove and serve with freshly shaved Asiago cheese and pepper. Makes 2 servings.
Grilled Pork Chops with Juniper and Fennel Marinade
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fennel seeds, ground
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
10 dried juniper berries, ground
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 pork chops (about 2 1/2 pounds total),
cut 1 inch thick
Stir together the olive oil, fennel seeds, garlic, juniper berries, and salt and pepper to taste in a 9-by-12-inch ceramic or glass baking pan.
Dip both sides of the pork chops in this mixture, and then leave to marinate in the refrigerator, covered, for 4 hours, turning several times. Remove the pork chops from the refrigerator 15 minutes before grilling.
Prepare a hot charcoal fire or preheat a gas grill for 15 minutes on high.
Remove the pork chops from the marinade and place with any marinade ingredients adhering to them on the grill.
Cook, turning only once, until golden with black grid marks, about 7 minutes each side. (Pork should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees.) Best results are attained when food is at room temperature before being grilled (but don't leave meat out of the refrigerator for longer than 15 minutes). Makes 6 servings.
"Grill Italian" by Clifford A. Wright
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