Cooking with Greer

Have I mentioned that my friend Greer is a Chef?

Well...she is an aspiring chef...and even though she has not been professionally trained, you would never know it.

She learned by watching her mom and helping her mom.  

She is amazing.

One night, last Fall, she had a few of us friends over for an elegant dinner.

She made the most delicious mussels in a wine sauce for an appetizer.

Then dinner were these delicate seafood crepes....they melted in your mouth...accompanied by a mixed green salad...she then gifted us with her homemade chocolate mousse.

It was just beautiful.

We had been talking about cooking together for quite some time and when Greer wants something done, she stays after it...until it is accomplished.

She made us set a date and we made it happen.

We had our planning meeting a couple of weeks ago.  We searched recipes and did some research and came up with our menu:

Seafood Cups

Filet of Beef with a Mushroom Cream Sauce

Roasted Asparagus

Garlic Mashed Potatoes and

The Disney Chocolate Souffles for dessert

This past Saturday night we cooked...and cooked...and cooked

I thought I could cook but this was serious work....Greer presented us with some very complicated recipes

and I LEARNED SO....MUCH...FROM....HER

Here we are...getting ready!

First we started with the seafood cups...I actually was able to handle most of this recipe on my own although Greer had to come and mix the filling a bit more ;)

Here they are

After the appetizers were out, we worked on the rest.  What I found to be challenging was trying to get everything ready at the same time.

Greer handled the beef.  She let it rest and then put it in a really hot oven (500 degrees) for about 20 minutes.  Then she took it out and let it rest some more.  She also made the mushroom cream sauce on her own...I was fascinated...watching her...as my mother watered!

Greer and the Beef :)

 

What took me the longest, because I didn't have a mixer was beating the egg whites and sugar for the souffle...until they created a peak....WELL...Greer had to help me...Rob even stirred for awhile...crazy work but the end product was so worth it!

Here is the beef...can you believe how delicious it looks?  It tasted even better than it looks- trust me!

You could have cut it with a spoon...no joke

and the Disney Chocolate Souffles with Vanilla Bean Sauce...out of this world!

For someone like me who has a passion for cooking and an overall passion for food, this was an incredible experience.  I learned some basics that I had never grasped even, like what it means to fold in ingredients and how to add corn starch to sauces to thicken them up.  I also learned how to slice a vanilla bean in order to pull out the seeds that add the vibrant vanilla flavor to desserts.  I also loved how Greer added vermouth to the mushroom sauce- it gave it just the right amount of tang.  The most impressive of all though, was how calm and in control she was in the kitchen.  I feel like a stressed out nut next to her.  It was eye opening.

Our hubbies enjoyed every last morsel....and we sipped the J Lohr Cab for hours after the five minutes it took us to wolf down our meal!

It was a great night cooking with a friend- thanks Greer