A Harvest Dinner Party + Recipe for Fried Polenta Salad with Lemon Olive Salsa

A few weeks ago I hosted my first dinner party. A plated four-course Harvest Meal, built around my favorite fall ingredients and some of my favorite people around the table. Some knew each other, some were meeting each for the first time. But what we all had in common was a love for sharing a meal together, as women, as regular people. Brought together by food, one of the most powerful and common bridges.

Although I was the host, I felt like the lucky one.

I cook {a lot}, but I’d never planned something quite like this before, with tablescape, printed menus, and my own “heartbeet touch“. I wanted it to be special, yet relaxed. And I wanted to enjoy the experience along with those attending, which meant planning and prep would be important, something I’d learned along the way with cooking classes.

As I sketched out the menu on pen and paper (I work best that way), my thoughts buzzed around the local fruits and vegetables of fall, with no real need for meat or seafood. It would be a vegetarian menu, {and vegetarian wine pairings, courtesy of partner, LangeTwins wines} that would make even a carnivore happy and content.

I rented a beautiful rustic studio (because we don’t use a dining room table at home), with its bright whites and farmhouse style table, and relied on vibrant fall flowers from the farmers market to bring pops of color. Linens with neutral colors, a menu printed with handwritten lettering, short stem wine glasses…. and all of a sudden things started to take shape.

The Menu

course 1: Crispy Polenta Squares, Mixed Greens, and Lemon Olive Salsa paired with LangeTwins Gewurztraminer (recipe at the end of post)
Bright, zesty, salty salad. Paired to round, mellow, apricot.

I choose a salad over soup or other appetizer because I wanted to give the palette a clean, fresh start. The Lemon Olive Salsa was one of my favorite components of the whole meal, a recipe inspired by Suzanne Goin. The flesh and strips of lemon are tart and delicious, combined with a large amount of sweet and salty castelveltrano olives, and shallots that sit in red wine vinegar. And because I miss croutons, the fried polenta bites were a riff on the crunchy component of salads. Crispy and golden on the outside, but delicate inside.

course 2: Roasted Tomatoes and Butternut Squash with Cardamom Yogurt paired with LangeTwins Sauvignon Blanc
The sweetness of squash and tomatoes, warmly spiced cardamom. Paired to clean and crisp, with hints of green.

This was the first piece of the menu that I committed to. Having posted the recipe on the blog a few weeks ago, I was so struck by the marriage of these two vegetables that typically aren’t served together. And I really wanted to introduce others to it, especially the savory cardamom yogurt that truly ties the knot. I paired this with Sauvignon Blanc which may sound surprising, but what I love about LangeTwins wines is that they truly let the grape shine, instead of making to fit general characteristics, such as grapefruit zest, minerality, and tart. The key to this pairing is the crispness, not overwhelming acidic, and its clean finish that washes away the delicate sweetness from the vegetables, and the creaminess of the yogurt.

course 3: Seared Cauliflower Steaks, Minnesota Wild Rice with Leeks, and Rosemary Bechamel paired to LangeTwins Cabernet Sauvignon
Earthy, hearty, nutty. Paired to soft, round, red cherry and warm spices.

Plant steaks are better than meat steaks, in my humble opinion. My method for making it crispy, yet soft inside is to cook the steaks in simmering water for five minutes with a brine of peppercorns, salt, garlic powder, and olive oil. This helps cook the cauliflower through, with flavor, before going into the hot oven for it’s final roast that gives it those crispy edges we all love. The wild rice and leeks were the umami component, much like mushrooms in vegetarian cooking, but I find mushrooms to be a risk when throwing a dinner party because many aren’t fond of the texture. And I made my first bechamel! Adapting this recipe by using brown rice flour to make it gluten-free, and it wasn’t one bit grainy. Silky as could be.

course 4: Five Spice Caramel Apple Sundae paired to LangeTwins Family Moscato
A sweet/tart, buttery, vanilla laced sundae. Evenly matched sweetness, peachy, aromatic.

Harolson apples are a fantastic dessert apple because they’re more on the tart side and hold up well to being cooked. I sautéed them in butter and five spice powder to bring some dimension, and made a quick caramel of brown sugar, apple cider, butter, and cream. Spooned hot over vanilla ice cream with roasted pecans and crushed gluten-free graham crackers, it was the perfect ending, and the perfect match to Moscato. I know……..  the first thing that probably comes to your mind when you hear that varietal is syrupy sweet, but when paired to a dessert that matches its sweetness, it actually doesn’t taste sugary. My guests questioned my decision (and I was ready for it!), but they surprisingly fell in love with this pairing. I highly suggest giving this wine another shot.

It was a night we all left the busy aside, and let the nourishment of the meal, in both body and soul take priority. And I was able to share the story of LangeTwins family wine, who I had visited in California just a week before, during their grape harvest. A five generation family who grows grapes with sustainability at the forefront. The habitat they continue to revive, the care of the vineyards, the use of natural predators in place of pesticides, the family obligation to continue growing grapes since the early 1900’s…… That’s different than lots of other bottles on the shelf, and besides their wine being excellent to drink, their values fit my values. And knowing that what was in our glasses came from their passion, their dedication, added meaning to the harvest meal.

My cup overflowed with gratitude in many ways that evening, and I hope to do it again, soon.

A big thanks to LangeTwins Family Winery, who was my partner in hosting. You can find their wines distributed nationally, and locally in Minneapolis at France 44. Thank you to Ella Frances, who helped was my assistant, and snapped the pictures above of me. And especially my girlfriends who attended: Brenda, Aimee, Julia, Melissa, and Shania.