Dave and Gill's Wedding!

I didn't get to do much cooking this week.   I was off in Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C., where I was lucky enough to stand up in the wedding of two great friends from Denison.  Dave and Gillian tied the knot in a great ceremony, outside in perfect weather, and the week featured some really fantastic food.  I may not have made it myself, and I'm deeply sorry not to have the recipes for some of it, but it was delicious none the less.

Ohhh the rehearsal dinner.  I had the salad, the steak, and the profiteroles, and each were a slam dunk.  The salad was a classic Caesar with great, punchy flavor from the Parmesan and pepper.  

The steak was just stunning.  It was a long, thin cut, grilled quickly to medium and topped with an amazing, herbal compound butter.  Try though I might, I couldn't figure out what all herbs went into the butter - it amazingly complex, and I so wish I had a recipe.  Many undignified sounds were made around the table as we all had our first bites, and the plates were soon very, very clean.

A lot of folks came into the dinner asking "What's a Profiterole?" and left with a new favorite dessert.  Soft, lush ice-cream in nutty, flaky pastry topped with rich chocolate - what's not to like?  All in all, it was a fantastic, fantastic meal.

The dinner at the reception was no slouch, either.  As so often happens on the wedding day, we had little time to eat while preparing, so the groomsmen had subsisted largely on goldfish crackers and oreos up until dinner time.  The starting salad was tasty - totally different from the Caesar of the night before.  It was a great mix of greens with candied nuts, a delicate dressing, and a potent, cheesy crouton.  It didn't last long.

Once again, I went for steak for the main course, though this steak and the rehearsal steak were very different.  The steak at the reception was a whole lot of meat - a manly, thick cut over mashed potatoes and plenty of vegetables.  The peppercorn brandy jus was killer - again, something I'll attempt to recreate in the near future.

And then there was cake.  Dave looks to have gotten a little stabby with the server here as he and Gill made the first cut.

Gill got revenge on behalf of the cake.

There were a couple of cakes hidden in there - both a red velvet and a chocolate/raspberry.  I had a piece of the chocolate/raspberry, and it was everything one could hope for in a wedding cake.  Rich chocolate, tangy raspberry, and just the right amount of frosting.  I meant to go back for some red velvet later on, but was too busy dancing, drinking, and chatting to ever do so.

All in all, it was a great few days away with good friends and fantastic food.  I couldn't be happier for Dave and Gill, and now I'm all the more excited for my own wedding with Kristin next summer.  

I'll be back with a new recipe next week!