Winter dinner party

The braised African lamb shank just out of the oven. We added daikon to give it a wintery flavor.














Here's the entree with brown rice and swiss chard with garlic, cherry tomatoes and orange zest. The salad is mizuna with slivered daikon and celery dressed with sauteed bacon, oyster mushrooms olive oil, balsamic and rice vinegar.














For dessert, an original contribution from Michael. The cookies do not have a name, but they are wonton shaped pastry stuffed with spiced sweet potato custard and dried red cherry. After baking he fried them quickly. Served with vanilla gelato and some extra custard.














For fun we had a blind chocolate tasting of 6 brands. The hands-down favorite for everyone was the Endangered Species special dark (72% cacao).