Dinner Is Served

Mouthwatering wedding menus inspired by the harvest season.

• By Rebecca Milzoff
• Published Winter 2009

(Photo: Hannah Whitaker)

PETER CALLAHAN
of Callahan Catering and PCK Catering

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Appetizer
A medley of morel, enoki, and shiitake mushrooms perched on crisp shiitakes, set on a toadstool

First Course
Fatty tuna and seared salmon tower with tomato, avocado, and bok choy flowers

Alternate First Course (vegetarian):
Butternut-squash gnocchi topped with shaved Piave vecchio

Second Course
Crispy plum-glazed breast of pheasant stuffed with chile blackberries; confit of pheasant on sweet potato; celery root and caramelized-fennel purée; Brussels sprout leaves, golden beets, and roasted brandy chestnuts

Dessert
Individual croquembouche

Specialty Drink
Nantucket Red, a freshly squeezed cranberry fig-tini

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1. “Most people have never tasted freshly squeezed cranberry juice. It’s delicious— not like anything you’ve had out of a jar.”
2. “The butternut squash has a great sweetness next to the sharp, salty cheese.”
3. “Having an individual dessert with a showstopper look is really fun.”
4.“The seared salmon is kept medium-rare and stacked with layers of tomato and avocado, then topped with the fatty tuna. The bok choy flowers are really pretty and have a great zip to them.”
5.“Pheasant has a special feel, and here it is offered two ways— the breast and the confit. The purée and the loose fall vegetables add some color, and roasted chestnuts bring texture.”
6.“The shiitake has been dried, so it’s a little crisp, and then on top are all these delicious sautéed wild mushrooms laced with fresh herbs. The woodsy flavor evokes fall and winter.”