Your birthday dinner...

Chips & queso. Something richly chocolate for dessert. Doesn't matter what.

I could come up with a different answer every day, but this is what I had for my 40th

Pan seared, lavender encrusted magret duck breast

Sweet potato and leek au gratin

Bulgar-mint stuffing (a grape leaf stuffing, without the grape leaves... kinda like a couscous kinda side dish)

Dessert was real, fresh vanilla ice cream with sliced strawberries drizzled with a 40 yr old balsamic vinegar.

For a beverage, I'd do a simple mint tea.... just mint stalks, about three, broken and sliced to release the oils, steeped in a pitcher of hot water (or simmer in a pan to speed things up), sweetened with honey or agave and then chilled in the fridge.

Birthday means you have to deal with it tomorrow.  

"You're on Death Row, what's your final meal, now that's how you find out what someone wants!"

FTR- I had Surf and turf on the Marine Corps Birthday (Tradition) and a burger on my birthday.

Pizza and beer! (Seriously pizza, not pizza...although both wouldn't be bad.) Something chocolate-y for dessert... I'm kinda a simple girl...

Pizza would be loaded with veggies (the ones I like ), canadian bacon and (american?!?!) bacon. If only my tummy could still do dairy...it'd be loaded with dairy cheese and maybe some roasted garlic...but since no dairy cheese, goat cheese is fine by me!!

Beer...I like the lighter kinds. (Known as water to some.) Something from a local brewery would be good - mac & jacks maybe?

Man, do I miss beer!! I may just have to have an o'douls on my bday!! (Doc says O'douls has SOME alcohol so no, no...but I'm sure ONE wouldn't harm anything, during the entire 9 months!! I mean some docs say a glass of wine a day is ok during pregnancy!)

geauxtri - 2013-05-06 6:00 PM BOILED CRAWFISH!!!  And a Frozen Daquiri!!

Yeah, my family back home in La has been killing me w/ pic's of crawfish boils

(and they've been really good! I've had my fair share already ) 

Can't answer till my birthday.

Sometimes all you can eat sushi sounds amazing, other times a giant bbq chicken pizza, other times a gourmet burger...  OR, hit up the steakhouse for a filet mignon or T-bone with all the sides...

Ooooooooohkay.  I'm gonna need to know more about this.

The duck--how was it encrusted w/ lavender--lavender flowers? What bound it?  Was there a sauce, reduction, something?

Sweet potato and leek au gratin? Hells yes.

The bulgar-mint stuffing--was it really a "stuffing" for the duck?  What kinda moistener/binder did it have? XVOO and lemon?  Any garlic? I really want to know more about this.

And the 40yo balsamic on the real, fresh vanilla ice cream?  Perfection.

Who made this fabulous-sounding meal?

ETA: the au gratin--what kind(s) of cheese?

geauxtri - 2013-05-06 5:20 PM

Comet - 2013-05-06 4:08 PM

geauxtri - 2013-05-06 6:00 PM BOILED CRAWFISH!!!  And a Frozen Daquiri!!

Yeah, my family back home in La has been killing me w/ pic's of crawfish boils

(and they've been really good! I've had my fair share already ) 

CURSE YOU!!!!

Their airfare ain't cheap, but I'll have my live crawbabies in the pot this Saturday!  Mwa-hahahaha!!!

Boiled a sack last Saturday, mamabear made stew with the leftovers on Sunday. Price has come down a bit since Easter.

My birthday's not until November. 

I like how you roll.  Litmus test: what kind of dressing on your wedge?

Curse all of you!  There's no good way for an Iowa girl to get this without significant travel:/  I have experienced the greatness, and it sounds so freakin' good right now.

A friend and I made it for my 40th. She & I are both a wee bit of foodies, so we just had fun with it.

The duck breasts were boneless, unstuffed. I don't fully remember exactly what all we put on it, but checking Google really quick, it was really close to this recipe here.   The one difference is that we browned it skin side down in a heavy cast iron skillet instead of a baking dish, then finished it in the oven at 400 for about 5-7 minutes. I got the fleur de sel off of Amazon for cheap.  No sauce for it, but you could easily take the juices and maybe add some cherries and bourbon and make a nice sauce. 

The stuffing is a Michael Symon recipe, and it was just a side dish. It was an ad hoc addition to the meal as I had it leftover from a failed attempt at stuffed grape leaves for that easter. It was really kinda awesome stuff.

The Au Gratin.... I wish I could give more info, but she made this one off the top of her head. She's kinda amazing like that, but it struck me as pretty typical cheeses, though I did have some Truffle Tremor with me (which, if you have not ever had that, stop everything and order some now!).  The sweet potato and leeks were just sliced on a mandolin and layered in a pan, then her cheese mix poured over top and then the whole thing baked.

(on second look, that actually may be the duck recipe above as the picture on that page looks really familiar... but, it's been a couple of years)

For years when I was a kid I had my mom make chop suey for my birthday...I don't know why it appealed to me so much.

Just seems weird now when I think about it.

My husband is from Iran and this is now one of my favorite Persian dishes. It's called Ghormeh Sabzi. Basically it's beef and red kidney beans with a dry vegetable mixture, stewed with dry limes. It's served with saffron rice.  It basically looks like a swamp but tastes fantastic. (this is a random pic. of it from the internet, but looks pretty close to what we eat).

I'm not much of a beverage connoisseur.