OUR CULINARY AUDITION
We thought we were invited to first prepare dinner and then enjoy dining with Jimmy Buffet and friends because we were cool and fun…wrong. It was many years later that I realized this particular dinner was to see if we knew our culinary shit. Being in the dark worked out, we would have been too overly excited if we knew we were being judged. It definitely would have been more than we could handle, especially considering the guest list. Jimmy’s entourage of the night included Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. He was a local cult hero. Hunter ran for local sheriff and only lost by 500 votes according to the New York Times. Hunter’s campaign poster was a large sheriff star with a closed power fist in the center of the star and in the center of the fist was a peyote button. At the onset of his campaign, Hunter had long hair but before the first debate with the incumbent sheriff he shaved his head bald and kept that look for the rest of his life. Hunter wrote for Rolling Stone magazine as a political reporter and he also wrote several books. The book that got the most attention was “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”. Hunter created gonzo journalism. His entire political platform was based on drugs and/or the legalization. Johnny Depp, upon Hunter’s death, shot Hunter’s ashes into space – a perfect tribute as he was not of this world. I could go on and on with stories about Hunter but I have to stop somewhere, after all this story is not about him it’s about JB. Jimmy’s entourage included two others besides Hunter, Ronnie Mann and a man I only knew as Simms. Ronnie Mann was a friend of ours and our contact with Jimmy. Simms was Hunter’s handler as he was the drug holder and over all keeper of Hunter. When Hunter was on a deadline with Rolling Stone Magazine, Simms would remove all the alcohol and drugs from Hunter’s house and nail 4 X 6 sheets of plywood over Hunter’s windows. Locking Hunter up was the best way to get him to focus on matters at hand and write. Simms would then pitch his tent in Hunter’s front yard until it was time to FedEx the column to Rolling Stone Magazine. A fellow Austinite, Donna Johnson lived down the road from Hunter in Woody Creek. Simms once called and asked if she had a calico cat. When Donna said yes, he informed her she’d better come over and retrieve her cat because Hunter was chasing her cat with a cattle prod. This was an average day in Hunter’s life. There I go, back on the Hunter shenanigans. He was just constantly delving into the absurd. Enough talk of the guests and onto the dinner. Dinner was at our house where Debby and I lived in a nice duplex on Ridge Run close to Snowmass. Gert was preparing the food while Debby and I took care of the service. I also doubled as Gert’s assistant. As dinner began, I opened a good red burgundy to breath and a nice fruity Chardonnay and poured our guests a glass of the chardonnay in anticipation of our first course. Simms fired up one of his joints and it was so strong I only remember parts of the evening and those are a bit hazy. Only once before have I smoked pot that strong. I was skiing solo and I found myself on the chair lift with a mystery local. He immediately sparked up one of his joints. He did a big toke and offered me the joint. It was my usual m.o. to ski high, so l took a toke. It seemed like strong pot, it had a skunky smell which was new to me. It was 1977 and high-grade pot was not normal. We were on the lift to the “Big Burn” run. (Google “Snow Mass Big Burn” for that story because this story will never end if I retell every story I know as it surfaces.) As we reached the top (over 12,000 feet altitude) I realized I was very high and when I stood up I caught both edges of my skis and belly flopped spread eagle on the chair lift exit ramp. My friend in the lift cabin got on the loudspeaker and said “real nice Jeff”. Embarrassed, I dusted off, stepped into my skis and I slowly skied down the mountain. Back to dinner with Mr. B…Here is the menu…. best I can remember.
The appetizer was Shrimp Scampi, a very large shrimp in lemon garlic sauce.
The salad course was Boston lettuce tossed with veggies and tomatoes in a light vinaigrette.
The entrée was Beef Wellington with a rich Demi glaze
It was angus prime tenderloin rubbed with duxelle (mushroom based thick sauce) and topped with a very good goose liver pate. Then covered and decorated in a puff pastry. The beef tenderloin needs to salted liberally with a good quality sea salt first.
The dessert was Banana Flambé…this was done in the living room. Smoked out thanks to Simms, filled up thanks to Gert and myself everyone was super relaxed. Being the ultimate host, I always try to add lots of special touches to every event I cater. So, I had lined up a gram of coke for an after-dinner treat in lieu of espresso. It was on a tray in readiness on my bed adjacent to the bathroom and it was visible from the bathroom. Hunter and Gert were the only ones to use the facility. When I went to fetch the after-dinner treat, the tray was wiped clean. Hunter must have helped himself. With no pick me up after dinner, everyone left shortly thereafter leaving lots of compliments about the meal. It was a few weeks later when we learned we were cooking the rehearsal dinner and the unique seafood buffet for the bachelor party.
Below you will find my fun recipe for banana flambé. The father of modern cuisine was Escoffier. He first did cherries jubilee and my recipe for bananas flambé is just a variation of Escoffier’s cherries. It is a simple yet showy and glamorous way to conclude dinner. I always say that if you change or add 3 ingredients then the recipe is yours.
Ingredients
2 bananas sliced into wheels or discs
¼ lbs. of unsalted organic butter
½ cup of granulated sugar
½ cup of packed dark brown sugar
1 vanilla bean split and scraped to release the seeds
1 tablespoon of ground cinnamon
¼ bean of fresh ground nutmeg (use a micro plane)
1 orange zested and juiced …. use an old fashion zester – long strips of zest will add a candied orange texture.
4 ounces of dark rum
4 scoops of vanilla ice cream…if you pre-scoop and put it in the freezer the ice cream will be frozen hard.
Method
Over medium heat, melt the butter, both sugars, orange zest, orange juice, nutmeg, cinnamon, scraped vanilla bean. Stir constantly. After they are melted turn the heat up to high or to a rolling boil. Take the pan off the flame before you add the rum but add the rum immediately. Remember the flambé will only flame if the rum is very hot. Tilting the flambé over the flame will ignite or use a match. Add the bananas last. The bananas will stay firm. Serve over very cold ice cream.
The combination of heat, sweet and cold is magic!!