Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 14, 1993 TAG: 9307140406
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BECKY HEPLER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
So who can resist Maxwell's wine and gourmet dinner on Tuesday, knowing that it will benefit the Humane Society of Montgomery County?
This year's repast will feature the work of Jud Flynn, a recent graduate of the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, Vt.
While Flynn has worked all over the country, he has ties to the area. His mother, Carol Hoge, is past president and is on the board of the humane society.
Flynn said the culinary institute's two-year program is an intensive one that combines classical and contemporary styles of food preparation. Students learn everything from apertifs to zabaglione and anything in between about food and restaurants. "You either sink or fly, but if you graduate, you are basically able to walk into any kitchen and get the job done," he said.
You may remember exams as stress-filled times that generated lots of paper and chewed pencils.
Flynn's exams had the stress, but at least the efforts resulted in something tasty. In his second year, he competed and won the gold medal for a seven-course dinner, much of which he will recreate Tuesday night.
The meal begins with an assortment of canapes, including puffed pastry stuffed with shrimp, cherry tomato farcie with a poached quail egg and fresh dill, and brie cheese with pesto and grilled baguette. Domaine St. Michelle Brut champagne will accompany them.
The appetizer that follows is a smoked salmon and crepe roulade with caviar and mesclun greens. The wine is Georges Duboeuf Macon-Villages 1991. The soup is baby scallops and leeks with saffron, accompanied by Georges Duboeuf Fleur De Blanc 1991.
David Prichard, a representative from Georges Duboeuf Winery in Romaneche-Thorins, France, will be on hand at Tuesday's soiree to explain French winemaking methods.
The entree, venison and pheasant ballotine, is a roasted loin of deer stuffed with a pheasant and served with a juniper-berry and green-peppercorn sauce; it will be accompanied by a Georges Duboeuf Jean Descombes Morgan wine.
"The juniper berry has a piney flavor that brings out the savory taste of the venison, which is farm-raised and imported from Canada," Flynn said. The entree is preceded by Flynn's homemade raspberry sorbet.
Presentation is everything, so Flynn is fashioning an oak-leaf shaped pastry to cradle the summer vegetables. Diners also will sample a potato and leek Dauphinoise.
In the continental manner, next comes the salad, an assortment of gourmet lettuces dressed with a balsamic vinaigrette.
Dessert is a raspberry feuillete, a puff pastry filled with raspberry mousse over a fresh raspberry sauce with a garnish of whipped cream. The wine is a dessert kir royal, made with champagne and raspberry liqueur. The final act is a choice of Colombian coffee, cappuccino or espresso, served with a homemade chocolate truffle.
"These dinners are a chance for the public to see what we can do," said Lindsey Coleman, manager and owner of Maxwell's. The restaurant, which celebrates its 15th anniversary in August, has carved out the fine-dining niche in a town dominated by fast-food and restaurants that come and go quicker than homemade ice cream in the summer.
If your taste buds are saying, "yes, yes, yes!" you need to make reservations for the 7 p.m. dinner.
The cost is $42.40, which includes the wines but not the tax and tip.
Coleman says it's a bargain: "I've seen similar dinners in Annapolis advertised for $65 and $85 in Boston," he said. "Plus, part of that does go to the humane society."
Carol Hoge said the money generated will go into the spaying-neutering fund.
The society helps to defray the spaying and neutering costs of pets for families who wouldn't be able to afford the operations. "We do about 15 of those a month," Hoge said.
The society also uses the fund to spay or neuter animals in the shelter to help make them more adoptable.
The society is truly a humane one. "We're the only shelter in Virginia and one of only 15 in the United States that has a no-kill policy," Hoge said.
The shelter accomplishes this on a small budget. "We're always in a crisis situation, so we appreciate any help anyone can give us," she said. "Lindsey has been a friend to us before and we're happy to be part of this endeavor.
For reservations, which Maxwell's seeks as soon as possible, or for more information, call the restaurant at 552-3300.
Memo: ***CORRECTION***