Food with Friends - 04/30

I am hosting a Food with Friends event:  celebrating 35 years of friendship between two of my friends with whom I've shared 28 of those years.  Our dinner party will total 10, which I find is just the right number of folks.

I had planned to make as a first course the famous Le Bec-Fin's crabcakes  by Georges Perrier.  Regrettable my internet research did not yield any who seemed to have successfully made it.  Further, there were many discrepancies among reported recipe, so much so that I ordered the book (which I found used at a fine price).  After some consideration, I decided that I was being too ambitious.

As I'm fixing a salt-crusted beef tenderloin  (a new method for me) over a warm potato salad with Gorgonzola, walnuts and spinach, I elected to forgo adding another foreign dish to my repertoire--particularly when it involves very expensive ingredients.  Rather, I elected to prepare Crab Cakes with Spicy Avocado Sauce, a long-time favorite recipe as a first course.

Beef Tenderloin over bed of Warm Potato Salad (Fine Cooking)

The main course, Beef Tenderloin in Salt Crust is from Fine Cooking.  Look how beautiful that is!  I thought it would be a fine way to have a hearty spring dinner.  I have been perfecting my sourdough French Bread, and feel comfortable making a serving that--particularly since I have the process down to a science which involves very little hands on time.

With my first course crabcake, we are having a surf and turf.  To finish, I will serve my guests the Cuban Opera Cake.

I need to finish out my appetizers, but I think that I'll do a clam dip, a parmesean/spinach hot dip with waterchestnuts and some serrano ham wrapped around spring greens with goat cheese, fig preserves and chopped walnuts.

The most difficult thing is EPA cleanup.  Donning hazmat suit.