We were delighted to donate a dinner for ten to Girls Inc. of Santa Barbara. The dinner included a bevy of superb wines donated by an affiliate of the Girls Inc. The setting was a beach home at the Miramar beach in Santa Barbara, CA. I designed a menu that was very wine centric and based on solid French underpinnings. While the dinner as a whole was delicious, my favored course was the breast of duckling and fresh cherries. This particular brand of duckling, Maple Leaf, is very tender and bursts with flavor. For the Porcini Tagliatelle, I used powdered porcini for part of the flour and an assortment of cultivated mushrooms. Braised short ribs are always a hit. I use a wine rich demi-glace sauce to braise the short ribs and they emerge tender and infused with the sauce. Chocolate is always a strong finish for red wines and the host brought out a vintage Chateau Haut-Brion to pair with the warm Chocolate Velvet Cake, recipe follows.
About Girls Inc.:
The mission today of Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara is to Inspire all Girls to be Strong, Smart, and Bold. We offer programs at our Santa Barbara Center campus and Goleta Valley Center. Programs today include: Operation SMART, Media Literacy, Economic Literacy, Preventing Adolescent Pregnancy, Sporting Chance, Friendly PEERsuasion, Project Bold and many more. The Gymnastics program is available to both Girls Inc. members and the general public.