Amuse Bouche

Our good friend and co-coach Randy Emert is a chef who continually works to improve his skills and increase his knowledge. In fact, he is currently studying to be a sommelier, wine expert. His end goal is to be a Master Chef. Tonight Randy and his wife are hosting the semi-exclusive neighborhood Euchre party. As you might have guessed, when they are the hosts, everyone clears their schedules to be able to attend...and partake of the food offerings.




Amy and Randy graciously invited us to try some of the food before the party started. Admittedly I was hesitant to show up. Ken had to listen to me ask multiple times, "Are you sure they want us to come?" He said, "Randy told us he was setting up the food a 1/2 hour early for us to come try it. They will be sad if we don't come."

So, we snuck away for a bit and tried the amuse bouches that were laid out on the kitchen island. (And yes, Randy was right when he thought that I might not show up. He arranged for private tasting plates that Amy was about to deliver...but we arrived just as she was calling our house.)

The first thing that I tried was the Roast Beef Roulade.

It consists of Roast Beef...or Roast Beast if you are a Shrek fan...cream cheese, horseradish and chives...I think. It was pretty tasty. ( My amuse bouches were a few bits b/c I wanted to taste and savor it slowly and carefully.) Amy says it is another Euchre player's favorite offering when Randy is hosting.

Next I tried the Mozzarella/Basil/Tomato on a pick drizzled with reduced balsamic glaze.

I enjoy this combination of flavors and tried to tell Ken that there was only one on the plate! haha. But he ate the other bite.

The Cucumber Canape was probably my favorite.

Randy used sour dough bread for the crouton foundation, a dill layer then the cuke and some dill garnish. Yummy!

What I did not snap a pix of was the Pouched Jumbo Shrimp with a side of cocktail sauce that Randy whipped up. We took the extras home and C* actually ate a whole one! He decided that it tasted better without the sauce. I have said that M* and E* HAVE TO EAT ONE BITE...and as I write this, there has been wailing and tears. And they will eat one bite after I post!

Here is some sausage that Chef Emert made earlier this week:

It was served with a Cajun sauce...but not spicy at all. I'm not always a big fan of sausage or Cajun or smoked things. But this was mild enough for me. I'm sure Ken was probably hoping for the fire red stuff...haha. He likes to burn the taste buds off his tongue.

Lastly, we tasted a variety of cheeses with some crackers.

I don't remember the specific names of all the cheeses. But the blue cheese is the "best" brand for blue cheese. The Gouda was from Denmark. Living in Germany, I had Gouda cheese which was supposed to be far superior than US Gouda...a whole different flavor from what was told to me. The Parmesan cheese was also a high quality cheese. And cheddar.

Oh, and there was a fruit plate:

But we didn't try that one.

So Ken has said that his favorite was the "roll up thing and the cucumber on the crouton." haha. I think that the cucumber canape was my favorite...for it was crunchy and smooth, crispy and cool...all in one bite!

While we might not be in the Euchre crowd, I'm sure grateful for generous friends who share their talents with us. Thanks to Chef Emert for the array of Amuse Bouche...and I'm sorry for any and all misprints of your menu!