From time to time, I have to remind myself to pay attention to my produce on hand.  I tend to get carried away by the beauty of fresh vegetables at the grocery, and sadly admit to letting more than my fair share of produce go bad before I’ve integrated it into a meal plan.  I think I’m going to have to put myself on a shopping ban.  But before these tomatoes went bad, I was inspired to re-create a meal I had on the Big Island in Hawaii a couple years ago.  It’s been awhile, so I’m not sure this at all resembles what I had, but we loved the result.  Feel free to use canned tomatoes if you don’t have fresh on hand, as peeling and seeding is kind of a chore.  I’d advise you to leave your onions on the crunchy side – it adds a lot to the dish, but they will still be delicious and sweet if you soften them all the way.  And you know me, in retrospect it would have been even better with some olives thrown in for good measure.

As for peeling tomatoes, cook books generally advise scoring one end with an X, then blanching and peeling.  I find the process significantly easier with my OXO vegetable peeler.  I core the tomato, then peel from the cut down the length of the tomato using a slight wrist jiggling to gently ease the peel right off the surface of the tomato, no large pots of boiling water required!  As for the seeding, I gently scrape the seeds from the flesh with my paring knife.

I think this sauce would be excellent paired with a bucatini pasta.  Does anyone remember eating that kind of pasta more than 5 years ago?  I don’t, but perhaps I wasn’t paying attention.  In any case, it seems to be one of the more recent food trends.

Pasta with Fresh Tomato, Red Onion, Bacon, and Crushed Red Pepper Sauce

serves 4

6 slices center-cut, thick sliced bacon

2 lbs roma tomatoes on the vine

2 small red onions

1 tsp kosher salt

12 turns fresh ground pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

spaghetti, capellini, or bucatini pasta

Prepare the bacon in a wide skillet over medium heat.  When crisp, remove to a plate covered with paper towels.  Drain all the fat except for about 1 teaspoon to a coffee cup and reserve for later use.  Slice the ends off of onions, then peel.  With a cut side facing down, slice into half, then half again then into wedges to create little crescent moons of red onion.  Cook onion in remaining bacon drippings for about 4 minutes.  Peel tomatoes, seed, give a rough chop and add to the onion.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, reduce heat to low, then cook for 10 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook pasta of choice to package instructions for al dente.  Add crushed red pepper and 1 ladle of pasta water to tomato sauce, then cook for 5 more minutes.  Crumble reserved bacon, then add to tomato sauce.  Add drained pasta to sauce, toss, then serve.

Italian Parsley and I are having a great love affair.  It’s magical.  We should all eat more.  With olive oil, in mass.  Last night I cooked some quick Turkey Tenderloins with a fresh and bright chimichurri.  Turkey tenderloins?  What’s that you say?  Yep, they’re found in your grocery, though a simple turkey breast bone in, is much more tender.  But the tenderloin is quick, healthy and ready to please.  Plus, it’s easy to save leftovers for a sandwich.  Top with more chimichurri, a few slices of oatnut and you’re good to go.  So on this rainy, dreary night, I bring you an express meal.

Turkey Tenderloins

1 lb turkey tenderloins

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

paprika

Old Bay seasoning

1 tbsp olive oil

1 and 1/2 c. chicken broth

Preheat oven to 375.  Sprinkle the entire surface of tenderloins with salt, pepper, paprika, and a smidge of Old Bay, ensuring you coat all sides.  Heat a braising pan over medium heat for 3 minutes, add olive oil, swirl for 30 seconds then brown turkey tenderloins on all sides.  Add chicken broth, then cover and move to oven.  Cook for 35-40 minutes then check with a meat thermometer.  Ensure an internal temperature of 170 in the thickest part, return to oven if necessary.

Slice at into 1/2 an inch rounds,then top with Chimichurri.  Enjoy!

I wound up at Target this afternoon with two kids in tow, because I needed milk, wine, and maybe a new pair of jeans.  That’s a hard list to fill in one stop, but luckily for the disorganized of our generation we have Target.  The jeans didn’t happen.  Sadly, I can never understand the Target clothing department.  I see people out all the time looking sassy who claim their ensemble or a part of it came from Target, but when I peruse their clothing aisles, it all just looks sad and depressing.  More than likely that’s due to my severe hatred of clothes shopping and the whining child or two in tow, but I’m blaming it on the skinny jeans style.  For the love of God, will that trend please go away.  It’s killing me.  I’m sure you all are rocking it solidly, but every time I put on a pair I’m constantly looking over my shoulder – certain to hear my dad telling me to get back upstairs and put on some real pants.  And for some fool hardy reason the Gap has decided to “redesign” their tried and true Long and Leans, so I can’t just order the same old jeans online and skip this whole nightmare.

Anyhow, by the Wine aisle, I was feeling pretty harried.  Then as I was staring aimlessly at the selection wondering who in the world had organized it and why didn’t I recognize anything, I saw it.  Middle Sister Mischief Maker Cabernet Sauvignon.  Snappy graphic, Snappy Font.

And I’m a middle sister and a mischief maker!  Now, normally, I never go for wines with clever names.  And even if it’s ridiculous, I know that the wine with the plainest label and the most beautiful script will taste better.  But I had to try this.  Frankly, my mood improved as soon as I purchased it.  Then I uncorked it and saw the website written on the cork and sat down to check it out.  Trust me.  If you, too, occasionally purchase a vitamin water just to read the catchy phrase on the bottle, you must peruse this website.  It totally made me giggle.  As for the wine, I don’t feel I can fairly judge the complexity, because I’m drinking it with Cheetos.  Yep, that’s right I’m taking a very much needed two days off.  Don’t ask what the kids are eating because they just opened a giant Halloween care package from Aunt Chelsea and I’m pretty sure Q is on his 10th package of pop rocks.  That’s the beauty of cooking healthy, well rounded meals the bulk of the time; sometimes it’s okay to live on pop rocks and cheetos ; )

Maybe this is why I’m such a chameleon.  Perhaps it’s all a result of my birth order.

“Erin Wassum is one of the inspirations for Middle Sister Wines. Sandwiched between an older sister and younger brother, and therefore sheltered from the demands of either role, Erin was free to re-invent herself on a regular basis. From fashionista to social butterfly to flower child to happy rebel, Erin loves trying things on for size…”

So peruse their website and have a chuckle at the silliness of birth order, run to Target, grab a bottle, and cheers.

I’ve made batches and batches of crab cakes in my life, yet somehow they’ve just never been quite perfect.  I’ve tried recipes from Ina Garten and Paula Deen and numerous others as well as just winging it on my own.  Somehow the perfect crab cake has eluded me until now.  I started a post called Crab Cake Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette on February 8th, but it just wasn’t quite perfect, so I never published it.  Now (albeit 8 months later), I’m pleased to say, I’ve developed my favorite crab cake recipe – almost entirely lump crab, lightly browned, and the perfect topping for a bed of baby spinach.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program, I received several coupons from Fresh Express redeemable for one free bag of salad each and the challenge to create a recipe featuring the salad.  I jumped at the chance as we already eat a lot of Fresh Express Salads around here.  My favorites include the Baby Spinach, the 50/50, and the Fresh Herb Salad.  Any of those three would create a terrific base for this crab cake salad, but can you think of anything more tender than a 1/4 pound of lump crab meat?  A cake like that deserves a bed of pillows provided by tender baby spinach leaves.  If you’d like to give this salad a shot, or come up with a fresh salad creation of your own, post a comment and I’ll mail you a coupon for a free bag salad, compliments of Fresh Express.

Did you read that right? Yes, 1/4 pound of lump crab meat.  I use the super lump crab meat from Costco.  It’s $13.99 a pound compared to the fishmonger’s $25 a pound.  There are almost never shell pieces mixed in and it tastes and smells delicious, sweet, and delicate.  I cooked these in about 2 teaspoons of olive oil in my Calphalon Unison Slide Non-Stick Griddle.  Crab meat is so tender, frying crab cakes in loads of oil is blasphemous.  This non-stick griddle has such a slippery surface, you can use very little oil when browning, but not run into any sticking or falling apart issues, just be sure not to flip before your first side is completely browned.  As an added bonus, the Unison line is dishwasher safe!

Crab Cake Salad

1 pound super lump crabmeat

1/2 a large white onion, minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp olive oil

1 egg

2 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tbsp capers

3 tbsp Italian Parsley, chopped

3 tbsp panko

1 tsp Old Bay Seasoning

cayenne pepper

1 tsp kosher salt

12 turns fresh ground pepper

panko for coating

olive oil

1 bag Fresh Express Baby Spinach

In a large bowl, pick through crab meat and remove any shells you find.  In a saute pan over medium heat, add olive oil, then onions.  Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, then add garlic.  Cook one more minute, then add mixture to the crab.  Add egg, mayonnaise, capers, parsley, and panko to crab mixture.  Add old bay, 3 dashes of cayenne from shaker top, salt, and pepper.  Mix all together, then divide mixture into four equal portions.  Form each portion into a round disk about 1 inch tall.

Preheat oven to 300.  Cover the bottom of a rimmed plate with panko.  Place crab cakes one at a time on panko, then coat completely in panko crust.  Heat a non-stick griddle over medium high heat.  Add two teaspoons of olive oil and swirl to coat.  Brown the crab cakes on one side for about 4-5 minutes until lightly browned.   Turn, then brown the second side for 3 minutes.  Add small bits of additional olive oil if pan looks dry.  Move pan to oven and bake 5 more minutes.  Serve over a bed of Fresh Express Baby Spinach, top with blue cheese and Sherry Vinaigrette.

Sherry Vinaigrette

4 tbsp sherry vinegar

6 tbsp olive oil

4 tbsp water

2 tbsp honey

1 tsp kosher salt

12 turns fresh ground pepper

Combine all ingredients and whisk like crazy.  Serve.

By reader request, I’m posting the directions for my sausage gravy to go with my flaky southern style biscuits.  I have a bacon gravy recipe up and several other gravy recipes, but no sausage.  The thing with gravy is, it’s more of a feel than exact measurements.  And it is definitely not a recipe you can walk away from.  Once you have it down, you’ll know it like the back of your hand.  I had to make it this weekend to remeasure because gravy is something I do on sight, so I had no idea what the measurements were.  The basic rules are like this:

1. Breakfast Gravy and Chicken Fried Anything = Cream Gravy = Milk and Flour base
2. Meat Gravy (i.e. Turkey, Chicken, Beef, etc = Brown Gravy = Water or Broth and Flour base
3. Mashed Potatoes = BROWN GRAVY I am seriously affronted by cream gravy on mashed potatoes

The other important method of gravy is how you incorporate your fat, flour, and liquid components.  For cream gravies, I usually use a roux method – or browning your flour in the fat before incorporating the liquid.  For meat gravies, I usually combine my flour and liquid first then add to the fat.  That’s the way I was taught to make gravy, so why mess with what works?  In retrospect, my mother often used Wondra flour – which is more easily dissolved in in cold or hot liquids than regular all-purpose flour, so perhaps that’s why we combined it first?  I stopped using Wondra in college because a nutrition teacher swore Wondra flour was the most grave sin a person could commit when making gravy.  She was a bit extreme, but my parents paid good money for that class so by golly I was going to learn from it ; )  That said, Mom – don’t change your method, you weren’t officially present in that class so you can just keep on sinning and pretend you’ve never heard such a thing in your life.  Your gravy is excellent, don’t mess with perfection!

Anyhow, the important thing is to start with low heat when incorporating, whisk like crazy until you feel like your arm will fall off, and never panic.  If it looks to thin, it won’t thicken until it starts to boil.  If it looks to thick, you can always add more liquid.  And salt can cure a multitude of sins.  For that matter, I don’t see why you couldn’t treat it like pudding and throw it in the blender in a pinch if you couldn’t correct the lumps.

Sausage Gravy Recipe

1 package breakfast sausage

1/4 c. all purpose flour

1 and 1/4 c. milk, I use 1%

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

Brown your sausage in a heavy bottomed skillet on medium heat.  Remove sausage to a plate.  Add flour to the remaining fat and brown, scraping up any brown bits from the sausage.  You want it to resemble a paste.  Keep browning, if it looks too crumbly, add a teensy bit of bacon grease to the mixture.  (Always keep a coffee cup of bacon grease in your fridge for cooking and seasoning!)  If it looks to wet, add just a little bit of flour to adjust.  This picture is what you want yours to look like – but it’s a double recipe, so you’ll have less paste!

When you can smear the mixture across the bottom of your pan with a gentle nudge from your spatula, you’re ready to add your milk.  Turn heat to low, If you’re right-handed, hold the milk in your left hand and your whisk in your right.  Pour the milk in a slow stream, while whisking furiously with your right hand.  Keep going until all your milk is added, then keep right on whisking.  After about 3 minutes turn your heat to medium, still whisking.  After about 3 more minutes, turn your heat to high, whisking all the while.  When it begins to boil, gauge your thickness and whisk in additional milk if needed.  If after it boils it’s still too thin, mix 1 tablespoon of flour with 1/4 cup of milk in a cup, then whisk that into your gravy.  Return to a boil.  Season generously with salt and pepper to taste, then serve.  Enjoy!

Don’t forget to book your holiday cooking class by emailing lane@dinnerandconversation.com spaces are filling up quickly!

Weekly Menu Week of October 19th

Order by email to lane@dinnerandconversation.com or cook along side me at home with recipes from dinnerandconversation.com

Chicken Marsala over angel hair pasta $24

Flank Steak with Herb Sauce served with Basmati white rice $22

Roasted Turkey Breast served with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy $18

Roasted Shrimp with Lemon Basil Orzo $28

Asparagus Wrapped in Prosciutto $10

Fresh Lemon Cupcakes $2 each

Fresh Blackberry Cupcakes $2 each

Lemon Artichoke Pesto $8

This super quick chicken recipe is fancy enough for dinner guests, though admittedly probably a bit to spicy for children.  My friend Dr. Ruth, no not that Dr. Ruth – this one is a professor at UT, recommended her version adapted from an old issue of Bon Appetit.  I adapted the herbs further to my taste and what I keep on hand.  As with all things, I’m certain fresh oregano in the place of my dried oregano would be much better!  Just be sure to use quite a bit more of the fresh herb – like 2-3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano.

Roasting the cherry tomatoes allows them to absorb the heat from the chili flakes and the flavor from the garlic an the herbs.  The resulting pan sauce is delicious mopped up with a crusty french bread, but I’d love it served over a garlic mashed potatoes as well.  I served the dish with lentils and a spinach salad, it made a colorful presentation and was all completely finished in 45 minutes with a lot of idle time!  Enjoy!

Spicy Chicken with Tomatoes, Garlic, and Oregano Recipe

serves 4

4 bone in split breasts

2 bags cherry tomatoes (next time I’ll try grape tomatoes!), whole, washed, and stemmed

5 garlic cloves, chopped

1 and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 and 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp kosher salt

6 turns fresh ground pepper

1/4 c. olive oil

Preheat oven to 450.  In a 9 x 13 glass casserole dish, place the four split breasts evenly spaced.  In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, salt, pepper, and olive oil.  Season the chicken breasts with a sprinkling of kosher salt and pepper, then pour tomato mixture over the top.  Roast in oven for about 40 minutes, until an internal temperature of 170.

Enjoy!

These ribs are so tender and packed with flavor that you might be tempted to drink the sauce straight from a glass.  You certainly will want to add an extra ladle full to your plate.  My recipe is adapted from an October 2007 issue of Bon Appetit.  One of the greatest things about this recipe is that it can be prepared almost entirely in advance.  I’m never that organized, but you could be!  I usually wake up one morning and decide it’s a good day to throw a dinner party and go from there.  If you’re looking for a good source for boneless beef short ribs, I always find mine at Costco.  They’re kind of a hard thing to figure out portion wise so here are my tips.  A half a pound per person is a safe estimate for weight, I tend to over do it on food, so I had two ribs per person or five pounds of meat for 6 adults.  Partnered with the polenta and the chocolate molten cakes I made, no one ate more than one rib, but almost everyone cleaned their plates.  Even ate the peas.  I’m mildly apologetic about those.  Timing ran short and I didn’t have time to run to the store to grab a fresh vegetable.  I’d wanted to serve a spinach salad, especially since Fresh Express just sent me like a million free salad coupons.  But for some reason, I’ve spent about 4 hours waiting in traffic this weekend.  Could that many people possibly be going to the fair? I’m headed tonight so I’ll let you know.

I also wanted to try the polenta base with a Port Salut and Montasio cheese so I’ll be trying that later this week.   You can also make them with blue cheese or a parmesan or probably fontina, but the cream cheese was yummy.  Really surprisingly delicious for me.

All of my food idols recommend cooking with as nice a wine as you would drink, if not nicer.  I’ll admit, I don’t do that.  This recipe was made with Black Box wine and a part of an already opened bottle of Bogle Cabernet. I do drink box wine.  I like it.  It takes up less room in both the grocery cart and the recycling bin than the equivalent 4 bottles of wine.  It’s cheap.  It doesn’t compare to a $50 bottle of Cab, but I can’t really afford those anyway.  Now the already opened for a couple days of Bogle?  I probably wouldn’t drink that.  That’s another bonus to the box.  It stays fresh.  Once a red wine has been opened, I tend to think of it as expired.  I tried the Bogle before I cooked with it and though it tasted a little vinegary.  Not horrible, but not preferable either.  Cory thought it was fine, but I’m never quite sure if he’s telling me the truth or if he just didn’t want me to waste that bottle and open another bottle.  Either way, it didn’t make one bit of difference in the sauce.  The sauce was divine.  So good that I’m thinking about eating it again.  For breakfast.  So the moral of the story is, I don’t know who is right on the mandatory quality of wine for cooking.  I’d say no to using a big jug of red table wine, but that’s mainly because I don’t really like that flavor to begin with.  But I think I’d still consider it sacrilege to cook with a $30+ bottle.

Cabernet Braised Boneless Beef Short Ribs

adapted from Bon Appetit October 2007 serves 10

5 lbs boneless beef short ribs

4 long stalks rosemary

dried thyme leaves

kosher salt

fresh ground pepper

1/2 c. olive oil

4 and 1/2 c. cabernet sauvingnon

1 can beef consomme

1 can water

2 tablespoons butter, softened

2 tablespoons flour

Use your thumb and forefinger to strip all the leaves from the rosemary stems.  Chop leaves into smaller pieces with a sharp knife.  Rub beef ribs with the rosemary, then sprinkle with the ground thyme leaves from a shaker top spice jar.  Next, season with kosher salt and pepper.  Heat a heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add olive oil let warm 1 minute, then add 4-5 of the ribs so they can sit in a single layer.  Turn the heat up to high and brown ribs on all sides. When thoroughly browned, remove to a plate and continue until all ribs are browned.

Preheat oven to 375.  Pour any fat from stock pot, than add wine, consomme, and water and bring to a simmer.  Add ribs and any juices from plate, cover and put in the oven.  Cook for two hours.

Remove stock pot from oven and use a large shallow spoon to skim any fat from the surface of the liquid.  (Up to this point you can do a day in advance – reheat on the stovetop to a simmer, then continue.)  Remove the ribs to a bowl and cover tightly to keep warm.  Turn heat on stock pot to high and boil sauce until reduced to about a third of the volume.  In a small bowl, use a fork to mash the softened butter and flour to a paste.  Add to stock and whisk furiously to combine.  Continue heating until thickened – about five minutes.  Serve ribs over polenta then spoon sauce over both.  Happy Eating!

Creamy Polenta Recipe

I used Elise’s recipe from Simply Recipes with a minor adjustment.  I’d say this recipe serves about 6 – maybe 7.  I used a 5:1 water to polenta ratio instead of the written 4:1.  To stir in the cream cheese with ease, I’d suggest having your cream cheese at room temperature, then adding it to your pan, covering it with a mound of warm polenta, cover the pan and walk away for 5 minutes.  Then come back and it’s a lot easier to stir.  Yum.

Hands on Holiday Meal Class

Learn to roast a perfect turkey, every time.

Learn to make mashed potatoes that make your relatives weep with bliss not to be outdone by the art of perfecting a brown gravy.

I still love a green bean casserole, yum.  But it seems they’ve gone out of vogue on most holiday tables.  So we’ll cover haricots verts with almonds.  A crisp and crunchy bright green dish perfect for the holiday table.

Don’t forget the stuffing.  Herbed or cornbread?  Don’t be confused when you hit the grocery store.  Perfect stuffing, every time.

Only responsible for bringing a dessert?  Great, we’ll cover the basics of pie crust making, both the flaky pastry crust and the graham cracker crust.  I promise, it’s really very easy.  But don’t worry, there’s no shame in buying a pre-made crust.

Class time 3 hours -$70

each class will be kept to small groups, no more than 4

Email lane@dinnerandconversation.com for more information and to schedule your dates.

I’ve decide to eat cheesecake for lunch today.  I made mini cheesecakes last week for my china and jeans dinner party, but didn’t manage to photograph them that night.  So I’ve made more and photographed them today.  Then I realized I didn’t eat them at the dinner party either, as I was entirely too full from the meal.  In order to write up an accurate description and review of my recipe, I am forced to eat cheesecake for lunch.  Rough life, eh?  These cheesecakes are made from the tartlet pans I purchased last spring with the super nifty removable bottoms for perfect mini crusts.  I absolutely love anything in a graham cracker crust, key lime pie filling is my personal filling of choice.  But since I’m branching out, I decided to fill them with cheesecake.  What’s your favorite filling?  I need some more ideas as these individual desserts make such great presentations.  Happy Tuesday, I’ve declared it eat dessert for lunch day, feel free to join me.  This recipe provides a light – almost fluffy cheesecake with a hint of sour flavor.

Cheesecake Tartlet Recipe

makes 12 3.5 inch tartlets

1 box graham crackers

6 tbsp sugar

10 tbsp melted butter

16 oz cream cheese

2/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 c. sour cream

Preheat oven to 300.  In a food processor pulse to grind up the graham crackers.  Pour crumbles into bowl and combine with sugar and melted butter.  Press about 2 tbsp of mixture into each tartlet, then press with fingers to evenly cover bottom and sides.  Add cracker mixture as necessary to ensure that all sides of tartlet are covered.  Place tartlet pans in oven to crisp cracker mixture for 3 minutes.

In a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat cream cheese until smooth and you see no lumps.  This seems to take an unbelievably long time, but be patient, it will appear smooth eventually.  Add sugar and beat until combined, add eggs one at a time, then use spatula to scrape the sides of bowl.  Add vanilla and sour cream, beat until combined.  Pour mixture into tartlet pans.

Bake in oven 14-16 minutes checking at 14 minutes by jiggling pan.  If the entire filling jiggles cook the additional 2 minutes, when only the center jiggles remove from the oven and cool on counter.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  Remove from tartlet pan by pushing up  from the bottom.  Use a butter knife to remove the disc bottom and plate.

Last Wednesday I threw a china and jeans impromptu dinner party.  Against my natural instincts, I prepared the party as my next entry to Project Food Blog 2010, before I knew whether I’d advanced to the next round or not.  I am amongst the world’s most superstitious people.  And of course, I jinxed myself and am out of the running.  Thank you so much for all of your votes and support, at the end of the day, a contest is a contest.  And winning a contest requires a great deal of luck, along with hard work and great presentation.  Unfortunately, last week was *not* my week for luck.  Aside from jinxing the contest, it appears for the second week in a row, I jinxed my Longhorns.

Even after breaking out the cloth napkins and my festive Longhorn napkin rings, my football team failed to perform.  With all of this jinxing, you’d think I’d be more frustrated.  The thing is, I Love A Party.  Top to bottom, the whole event.  And this party, created as a contest entrance, represents my very favorite style of party and my style in general.  I’m calling it China and Jeans.  Because though I broke out the china and crystal, polished the silver, and created a luxurious menu, I fully expect you to arrive in jeans.  I know I’ll be wearing jeans, probably paired with flip flops.  Because they’re comfortable.  And don’t give you blisters.  But that doesn’t mean I can’t use my china.

I want to encourage you to break out your china and use it.  There is no point to having beautiful things if they just sit in a cabinet.  And you don’t have to throw a dinner party to do it.  You can eat a hot dog on china all by yourself on a Tuesday if you want.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.

Luxury Dinner Party Menu

Hors d’Oeuvre

Skewered Mushrooms with Fresh Basil Pesto Cream Sauce

Soup

Spinach Soup with Madeira Cream

Entree

Fried Avocado Stuffed with West Indies Crab Salad or Chicken and Cotija Cheese

Lemon Basil Quinoa

Dessert

Cheesecake Tartlet

Beverages

San Pelligrino

Bodega Norton Malbec Reserve 2007

Bodega Sottano Reserva Malbec 2007

Girard Suavingnon Blanc 2008

The contest requirements called for creating a luxurious dinner party menu using new and exotic flavors.  I’m more of a classic flavors cook, but I have a few things that I consider new and exotic in my repertoire.  In home entertaining the soup course has largely been lost.  I love a soup course, and what better medium to deliver your vegetables than soup?  My recipe for spinach soup was written up last August.  I think my fried avocados make a powerful presentation so I offered a choice of fillings with a version of my West Indies Crab Salad or a slightly spicy shredded chicken and cotija cheese.  Quinoa is a relatively new food trend, and I love the crunch it offers in place of a traditional rice or pasta.  I’m still deciding what flavors marry best with the quinoa, but it always seems exotic.

Argentina is quickly becoming one of the world’s up-and-coming wine regions.  I picked 3 selections from Costco all rated 90 points by Wine Enthusiast or Wine Spectator.  I’ve never been a fan of traditional pairing, I prefer to drink what tastes good – not what matches the food.  In red wines, I look for descriptions using the words blackberry, dark fruit, and vanilla – even though my brain doesn’t associate these flavors with wines I enjoy.  Sometimes I think wine educators just grab words out of a hat and then start throwing it around with wild abandon.  Like jammy.  Really?  What does that mean?  No thank you, I would not like a wine glass full of jam.  I don’t even eat jelly with my peanut butter.  In white wine I know I like dry and citrus, while I do not like buttery or sweet.  I just loved the Wine Enthusiast quote on this one, so I picked it, even though it didn’t taste like any pink grapefruit or green apple I’ve ever eaten.

“Bone dry and zesty in acidity, with pink grapefruit, lemongrass and green apple flavors that have a honeyed edge despite the dryness. Vibrant and clean. Nice with a salad of bitter greens and chevre and whatever else you want to add, in a simple vinaigrette. ”

90 Points

Wine Enthusiast

I still haven’t photographed my cheese cake tartlets, so I’ll post the recipe and pictures for that later this week.  Cheers to my sweet friends for dropping plans and joining me with nearly zero notice.  Especially baby Vivian.  Onward and upward to new challenges I go.