Day Four: Winner Dinner & Mango Crab Stack

Today was the Annual Winner Dinner...where the winner of a football bet (my husband's buddy) brings steaks, and the loser (my husband) provides some nice wines to match...and I make seven courses to go along with it all.  This year, the steaks were accompanied by a few bottles of Opus One.

Earlier in the week I joked that I was serving potato chips with the steaks and wine:  with two kiddos and a newborn, I just didn't have the time to make any more of an effort. The joke was sent via email and apparently the boys did not read the dripping sarcasm.  So expectations were low, to say the least.

In the end, I didn't need to manage expectations because everything came out amazing. :whew: Although I did end up feeding them potato chips (oops!) I made maple-glazed duck breast that were *supposed* to be served on sweet potato gaufrettes (glorified potato chips). While at the grocery, I was bamboozled by the array of root vegetables and accidentally picked up a large, imported potato instead of a sweet potato.

 Regular potatoes after I ran them through the mandoline.

"Gaufrettes" after being cooked.  

To add insult to injury, I also had to buy a fancy mandoline to make these chips since the mandoline I owned didn't have the proper blade.  The bonus was that my son had a ball helping me run the potatoes through it. 

So in the end, I served potato chips with filet mignon and Opus One.  Nice. 

My favorite was the Mango Crab Stack, which was a toasted brioche with a layer of mango and crab, garnished with diced mango.

 The crab mixed with cilantro, red bell pepper, and homemade mayonnaise.

 The brioche and mango had to be cut into uniform pieces...

Ta-Da!  The finished product:

The Mango Crab Stack recipe can be found in the (intimidating) Martha Stewart's Hors D'oeuvres Handbook p. 273.

These were a ridiculous amount of work, but I would do it again.  They were refreshing and delicious, not to mention they looked impressive. 

Thank you, Martha, for making me look good.