A special birthday party for a special person, George Hollendersky, a retired Secret Service agent turned 90 years old. He has protected every president since Eisenhower, headed security details assigned to watch over Pope John Paul II and Fidel Castro, and helped break up counterfeiting rings. He also spent three nights alone in a safe with the Mona Lisa. In honor of this special occasion his favorite dinner was served. An appetizer of sauté scallops was served over a bed of lettuce, watermelon and cantaloupe. The entree was fresh Norwegian wild salmon. Dessert was a Johnny Appleseed apple pie and a Charlotte Ruse. Both desserts were based on early 17 and 18 century recipes. The real name of Johnny Appleseed was John Chapman who is said to have walked across 100000 square miles and owned over 1000 acres where he planted orchards and nurseries. The pie is very different from my normal apple pie as the crust is made with only flour, butter, salt and water. Keeping in tradition of the era I hand mixed the dough. The apple filling was also quite simple consisting of apples sugar, cinnamon, salt, butter and flour. These ingredients were readily available back then. The Charlotte Ruse is credited to the 1700 French Chef, Marie-Antonie Careme. The dessert is named after the Russian czar, Alexander 1. The dessert is made with ladyfingers, Bavarian cream, blueberry preserve fresh whipped cream topped with blueberries.
The wild salmon was brushed with fresh herbs and sautéed, served over a bed of roasted potatoes and asparagus.
