[Sca-cooks] Seder menu, semi-pedestrian but well-prepared

[Phil Troy/ G. Tacitus Adamantius]

1. Duck rillettes (salt-cured duck cooked in its own fat, pulled off
the bone, shredded, and potted with its own fat, served as a spread),
some kinda garlicky eggplant spread, essentially baba ganouzh
without tahini, served with matzoh.

2. Duck and vegetable soup (parsnips, carrot, leeks, celery root)
with kneodeln (a.k.a. matzoh balls, but lighter and fluffier than you
might expect) made with grebens (the remaining solids from chicken
fat rendered with chopped onion) mixed into the batter/dough.

3. Broiled salmon fillet, first roasted under a glaze of soy sauce
(previously fermented, but unable to ferment further, therefore, in
theory, acceptable) mixed with maple syrup and reduced until thick,
and then run under the broiler to brown and glaze. (I cooked this --
no rannygazoo with the fish being overcooked!) I forget what wine was
served with the fish.

4. Of course, matzoh, bitter herbs (arugula this time) and a very
basic apple-and-walnut charoseth.

5. Butterflied, boneless leg of lamb marinated in red wine, etc.,
broiled, served rare-ish, with roasted potatoes (very plain, olive
oil and coarse salt) and roasted asparagus. Also served with a carrot
kugel of some kind, which someone had brought. Australian Shiraz with
the lamb.

6. A small salad of arugula, frisee, and watercress (more bitter
herbs???), minimally dressed with salt, pepper, and EV olive oil. No
vinegar or citrus.

7. Some species of flourless/chocolate mousse cake. (The only
chocolate mousse cake I know how to make is a dark chocolate genoise
sponge split like a shortcake and filled with chocolate mousse; this
was something else.) Also a sponge cake about 14 inches high, made
with quite a few eggs and a few specks of sugar, lemon juice and
rind, and a molecule or two of matzoh cake meal. A mysterious
substance that I might have considered treif, had I known its
provenance, appeared on the table with the cakes. Luckily I did not
know its provenance, and had to give my hosts the benefit of the
doubt. It was very white, light and fluffy, slightly sweet and
vanilla flavored, and looked as if it might have once come from a
cow. I suspected a high fat content. Of course, that could not be so,
because my hosts would never do such a thing. Oh. Strawberries.

8. Coffee and German Eiswein (amazing, amazing stuff, sweet and
strangely redolent of something... pears? fresh dates? QUINCE!!!) I
was also given, by a fellow guest, what appears to be a rather nice
cigar, which I didn't smoke.

The suffering and deprivation was obviously felt by all...

Adamantius