Himself shooed me out the door to join our kids at Loverly's friend's home for the Wild Game Tasting Table. Lessee if I can remember all of the courses:
Appetizers were (hotHOT!) jalepeno poppers stuffed with rabbit and some sort of cheese, or bruscetta with grilled deer tenderloin with blue cheese and a honey drizzle.
2nd course was pheasant in a mango/coconut/tequila sauce over rice with some sort of side (so much to remember!)
3rd course was Alaskan Sockeye salmon over thin spaghetti with a basil/garlic sauce. The side with this course was an Asian coleslaw/salad (the broccoli/peanut/noodle variety)
Last (maybe? I kinda remember five courses but can't quite come up with a fifth protein) was grilled smoke moose sausage on a bed of shredded Brussels sprouts/garlic. Side was potato cubes cooked on the grill in a CI pan. So, "normal" food.
Everything was good. I had it all, except for the jalepenos. It seems like everyone who had tried them (before I had arrived) was still upset with the host for the heat level of that appetizer. That was enough warning for me.
My review? The bruscetta could have lost the blue cheese (NOT a fan) but was delicious otherwise. The pheasant tasted like mango and coconut, so I still don't know what pheasant tastes like - I'm guessing "chicken". The salmon was oilier than what I've bought in the store, but was so mild I could forgive it its greasy mouth-feel. And the moose sausage? Dee-lish-us!
Then again, most anything done on a grill is.
This was the most innovative, unusual Christmas dinner I have ever been at. I wish Himself had felt better and was able to go.
Knowing Himself, I be he was secretly glad he was sick and had an excuse to skip it.