On Saturday night we went on site to do an in home dinner party.The menu was Zucchini Soup, Lobster Ravioli with Crab Cream Sauce, Osso Bucco on Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Green Beans and for dessert we made Lemon Cheesecake Cupcakes and Espresso Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes.  We started off the night with a little interactive cooking demonstration .First we made the filling for the ravioli. We heated up some olive oil and butter and sauteed a little garlic with some shallots.

To this mixture we added a can of lobster (finely chopped) and a little cognac.

We removed the mixture from the heat and added some ricotta cheese some finely chopped chives and seasoned the mixture with salt and pepper.

We are ready for the dough. Using the food processor 3 eggs, a little oil and 2 cups of flour, we had some ravioli dough ready for rolling. Here we are running the dough through the rollers.

We spooned out a dollop of filling onto the pasta.

Then folded the pasta over filling.

smoothed out the air and cut the ravioli.

We boiled the ravioli for just a minute and served them in a crab cream sauce.

Once we finished up with the interactive portion of the lesson, we served the soup.

Zucchini Soup (recipe follows)

Zucchini Soup

Ingredients

1    kg    Zucchini — grated
4    tbsp    Butter
1    tbsp    Oil
1        Onion — chopped
1    stalk    Celery — finely chopped
2        Bay Leaf
1    tsp    Marjoram — fresh
2    tbsp    Flour

1    cup    Milk
3    cup    Stock, Chicken
1    tsp    Salt
1/4    tsp    Pepper

Instructions

Grate zucchini.  Heat butter and oil, saute onion until soft, add celery, zucchini, bay leaves, marjoram and sweat. Cover pan and cook until completely softened.
Make a bechamel sauce with butter, flour and the milk. (heat butter, work in flour, slowly add milk, bring to boil). Stir in the broth to the bechamel.  Remove bay leaves. Add vegetable mixture and process using immersion blender.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

We garnished the soup with steamed grated zucchini and crispy croutons.

Here we are making the Osso Bucco.

First we seared the meat.

Then we sauteed some leeks, celery, onion and carrot.

We added some wine, herbs and tomatoes to the sauteed vegetables. We put the seared osso bucco ontop of the vegetables, covered the pan and let it simmer for about 90 minutes.

We served the Osso Bucco on mashed potatoes. Here is Cheryl running the cooked potatoes through a ricer before we add the cream, butter and salt and pepper.

Then we served dessert.

Espresso Chocolate Brownie Cupcakes with Bailey’s Irish Cream Buttercream

Lemon Cheesecake Cupcake with Lemon Curd, Whipped Cream and Candied Lemon

Our host sent her comments:
Thank you again for everything you did on Saturday night. Your seamless presence, your informative lesson, and most of all, your INCREDIBLE FOOD all helped to make our friend’s 40th birthday party a truly special, memorable occasion. We couldn’t say enough about how delicious everything was, and the fact that the kitchen was spotless afterward was a lovely bonus!

I, for one, will definitely be recommending you to friends, and hope to hire you again for future events.