Bistro Dinner Review - Sept. 7th

[cjs]

What a fun dinner and so tasty!!

Coffee Floats – these are great, especially with a shot of vanilla vodka added.

I used coffee ice cream and espresso coffee, so we had these in the afternoon, ‘cause old folks can’t drink that high octane stuff at night! Really good. Will make these again.

Bistro Sandwiches with Tomato Vinaigrette – does this telll the story?

I don’t give many 10s, but this one deserves a 12!! Starting at the bottom, the tomato vinaigrette is just wonderful, tomatoey, but a nice tart flavor tossed with the greens. 18 hour bread as the toast spread with Country Dijon mustard, to hold the ham and havarti cheese – and the poached egg on top with all that golden goodness running down the layers of sandwich. IF you can get all the layers in one bite, you know everything works perfectly!!


It’s definitely a repeat!

Now, on to Denise's Mystery Dinner!

[Gourmet_Mom]

I know it was cheating...I tried...I really did! But I had to look! I'll post mine tonight after dinner! All the stuff is waiting! Now I'm really excited!

[cjs]

Daphne, that dressing is just excellent!!

[Gourmet_Mom]

If I knew I could get the boys home from the farm...they spent the night last night...I'd make it for lunch! I actually thought about it when he called while ago!

BUT, then he told me they're gathering potatoes, peanuts, and sunflower seeds. Then they're boiling peanuts for the freezer...soooooo, I guess I'll have to wait. It won't be hard to make it an early dinner!

BTW, I've never poached an egg...any last minute advice? I'll spend the remainder of the day preparing my self mentally for the task of making them....and eating them...LOL!

[cjs]

Number 1 rule - spray the poaching 'bowls' - if you're using a poacher pan.

3 to 3 1/2 minutes is what you're looking for if you like a runny yolk and solid white.

Otherwise, you can cook them in boiling water with vinegar added - works well also.

You do want to do this one, Daphne, I think it'll be right up your alley.

[Gourmet_Mom]

Thanks, Jean. I just checked and realized the boys ate more of the ham on sandwich thins than I realized....we LOVE those things! Off to the store for more ham. Since we had ham sammies for lunch yesterday, I'm going to "go for it" on the egg! That and the vinaigrette should make this dinner different from just a ham sandwich!

[Gourmet_Mom]

Phase One: The sandwiches...if one could call these a sandwich! WOW! I'll have to thank Jean for encouraging me to prepare this with the egg. William was game...he used to eat soft fried eggs as a kid all the time. But after her encouragement, and the memory of the Cajun Shrimp Fettucine discussion (it calls for egg yolks off the heat after cooking), I decided I was going to "go for it"!
YS is here, but he refused to try the egg. When I decided I could not eat the rest of my second SMALL sandwich, he tasted it. "That doesn't taste ANYTHING like mine!" AHHHH, regret, but another convert!

I prepared this exactly as written with the exception of subbing green onion tops for chive...the store in town is now phasing out herbs...ARGGGG! I also went with Swiss cheese, since this is William's favorite.

William and I give this recipe a solid 9. OS gave "his version" an 8. I will be making this again. It was so simple and fast! And that's with poaching the eggs "free style" in water! And I didn't break a single one!!!!!! I would have no problem coming home and preparing this on a weeknight...even on a Wednesday. (I don't know why, but I seem to be the "worst for the ware" more so on Wednesdays than any other night.)

Thankfully, I read Jean's review ahead. I doubled the dressing. Now I have a goodly amount for salad this week. (Make that for lunch tomorrow. Somebody had more than their share!) It is AWESOME!

I'll try to review the floats later tonight or tomorrow. I'm digesting with a glass of wine right now. I couldn't enjoy the float yet...but all is ready!



Part Two!

The floats...we were not terribly impressed. Don't get me wrong, they were good, but they're so similar to other float/sundae treats we've had before. It just didn't WOW me. YS said, "Mom, it's just ice cream syrup and coffee." I did add a bit of vodka, but it was still just....eh. We gave this one a 6.5.

[Mare749]

Wow, both of your plates look incredibly yummy! Thank you for the reviews and the pictures. This will be a must do very soon.

[cjs]

I'm so glad you liked the sandwiches (and salad dressing) as much as we did. This sure is a repeat.

I think I forgot to mention - a few years ago because of his high blood pressure, Roy and I switched to decaf. I made these floats out of expresso powder and both of us were wide-eyed almost all night AND that's having them in the late afternoon!! I still like the Drunken floats better.

[DFen911]

Ok I have typed up my review for this 4 times now and each time I get closer we lose power and I lose everything I post. Now I'm so mad because the last surge seems to have damaged my camera card and I can't get the pictures off. I'll keep working on that.

As for the meal - WONDERFUL! and that vinaigrette is a keeper! We liked the flavor so much I made some extra.

The only changes I had to make was I didn't have regular ham, I had prosciutto and I didn't have french bread I had a loaf of roasted garlic bread with roasted garlic chunks in the bread. What a great flavor.

I have to say I was skeptical of the egg, but when that yolk breaks open and run down the side of the bread...holy cow it was just delish.

Coffee Floats - ok so I have a big issue with "floats". I hate them. I think rootbeer and icecream should never meet up let alone in ones stomach.

That being said these floats were fun. There's nothing added to them that's carbonated so they were very enjoyable. For our toppings I used the oreo straws I had some left over from my nephews being over. Jean I did put 1 tbl of the vanilla vodka in the coffee after it had chilled over night. It was perfect and made it a very grown up float. I only did 1 scoop of the icecream and then did some whipped cream too.

Very enjoyable meal and one that will be repeated. It's so easy!