Video: Sen. Schumer, Obama Inaugural Chef

The Senior Senator from New York touts the bounty from his home state for President Obama's Inaugural Luncheon...
New York's senior Senator Chuck Schumer is the chair of the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, and the mastermind behind President Obama's Inaugural Luncheon, which will be on Monday after the swearing-in ceremony.  Schumer top-loaded the luncheon menu with agricultural goodies from his home state, and the Committee has released a new video showing him cooking with Executive Chef Shannon Shaffer of Design Cuisine, the fellow who will delight and amaze the President and 200 high-profile guests in National Statuary Hall. (Above, the Senator and the chef)

The menu for the luncheon stars lobster tail, bison tenderloin, and Hudson Valley Apple Pie; CLICK HERE for all the recipes.  In the video, Schumer and Shaffer plate the show-stopping dessert, which includes Sour Cream Ice Cream and Maple Caramel sauce accompanied by artisan cheese and honeycomb.  It is is laden with New York ingredients, according to the Senator, including Gala apples from Golden Harvest Farms of Valatie, Toma Celena and a Jersey Girl Colby from Cooperstown Cheese Company in Milford, honey and honey comb from Seaway Trail Honey in Rochester, and syrup from Crown Maple of Dover Plains.



President Obama and First Lady Obama will of course be seated at the head table for the luncheon with Sen. Schumer and his wife, as will Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and his wife, and Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), and his wife.  The luncheon will include toasts and brief speeches, and the presentation of gifts to the President and Vice President, ahead of the Inaugural Parade.

The official "inaugural picture," on display at the luncheon, will be a painting of Niagara Falls by the 19th-century Danish artist Ferdinand Richardt. 

The Reverend Luis Cortés, founder of Esperanza, the largest Hispanic faith-based evangelical network in the United States, will offer the opening prayer.  His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, the Chairman of the Assembly of the 65 Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America, will offer the benediction at the luncheon

President Obama's 2013 Inaugural Luncheon Menu

First 

Steamed Lobster

with New England Clam Chowder Sauce

Served on Sauteed Spinach 

with Sweet Potato Hay

Wine:  Tierce 2009 Finger Lakes Dry Riesling (NY)

Main 

Hickory Grilled Bison

with Wild Huckleberry Reduction

Strawberry Preserve and Red Cabbage
 

Red Potato Horseradish Cake

Baby Golden Beets and Green Beans

Butternut Squash Purée 

Wine: Bedell Cellars 2009 Merlot (Long Island, NY)

Dessert

Hudson Valley Apple Pie with Sour Cream Ice Cream

with Maple Caramel Sauce

Aged Cheeses and Honeycomb

Toma Celena and Jersey Girl Colby,  
Cooperstown Cheese Company (Milford, NY)

Wine:  Korbel Natural, Special Inaugural Cuvée Champagne (California)

*Photos by Brendan Hoffman