Dinner for three with Morels, Venison, etc.

So we had Katherine (AKA KP) over last night. Started her off with a super strong Hendrick's Martini. Peta and I stuck with our respective G&T and Party Girl with a Yellow Hat (stupid name for my vodka, soda and lemon) while we made Mussel and Fennel Bisque. We used all of the same ingredients except subbed bourbon for brandy because we were out. The difference was in the cooking order. We did the recipe a couple of weeks prior and realized that we could just sauté the fennel and carrots, pull a few pieces of fennel out, add the shallots then add the clam juice and wine to steam the mussels. It's not as precise and you have to eyeball things, but so what if the bisque isn't as bisque-y and you only use one pot!

KP brought a Round Pond 2005 Cab over to eat with the main that we were serving which was pan-fried sirloin and tenderloin of venison, honey-ginger glazed carrots, simple mashed potatoes and morel sauce. I got the morels in a trade from a friend. We got the morels and would return the finished sauce. Now all they have to do is add the creme fraîche and they are good to go. The sauce recipe came from Sonja Lee's book Sauce, which Peta gave to me as a birthday present. Good stuff.