No mac 'n' cheese at my house. Instead, I made a gratin of leeks and potato. Very simple, from Melissa Clark of the NYT, it has earned great reviews. Simply put, it's extremely thinly sliced yukon gold potatoes (with a Japanese mandolin that will make 0.5mm slices) layered with richly caramelized leeks in butter. Cream is simmered with garlic, bay and thyme, then nutmeg is added and poured over the lot. Topped with gruyere and baked. Rich and amazingly sweet, it was a big hit next to Niman Ranch rack of lamb (flagrantly rare) and french beans sauteed with shallots.
We are generally burgundy and/or rhone lovers, but this time we had a velvety bordeaux.
Joey's son baked a round loaf of bread with spelt, rye and something else and it somehow overshadowed the whole menu!
Dessert included Joey's famous homemade fruitcake, also stollen, miniature pralines and 20 year tawny port.
Our dear friend Laurence did his traditional reading, this year Hans Christian Andersen's melancholic "The Fir Tree".
I was happy to have cleaned up and made it to bed early.