Friendly Little Dinner

Entertaining isn't something we do as frequently as we used to, probably because we are still making friends here and also because work and life in general is very busy. I remember a time when we had friends over for dinner at least once a week, sometimes for last-minute dinner parties but other times for overly-detailed celebrations. Now, we probably only host two or three times a year, so when we do, you know I pull out every stop; consider the use of every dish, plate, sherbet or goblet; and pour over every recipe that has been waiting in the wings.

When our friends Gab and Kristina came in from Boston, MA and Dallas, TX for a quick trip to Marfa and Fort Davis, I put a lot of thought into each of the six courses (yes, six), not just what I would serve, but also in what I would serve each culinary creation...food photos courtesy of Gab, one of our guests!

To start:
Mustard-marscarpone spread with toasts, sesame sticks, bread sticks, assorted olives and almonds served in the little black lotus bowls with the black tidbit plates.

First course:
Double-baked three-cheese soufflé served in individual cast iron skillets with a white, Rosenthal under plate.

Salad course:
Butter lettuce with a lemon-oregano vinaigrette on white, Rosenthal salad plates.

Main course:
Homemade bucatini with homemade tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese in the oddly shaped pasta bowls.

Intermezzo:
Basil gelato in the chartreuse Russel Wright sherbets.

Dessert:
Easy candy bar tart on the patterned, Rosenthal dessert plates.

If I say so myself, everything was delicious and we had a wonderful time talking and catching up over the course of the meal. The only thing I felt like need some tweaking was the salad dressing, which was a little on the sour side--but the citrus, red pepper and oregano were a great flavor combination and will probably become something else in the kitchen.  The gelato and pomodoro were of my own devising, so there are a couple of recipes for you to try.

Recipe: Basil Gelato
I use corn starch to thicken my gelato, although many recipes use eggs instead. This recipe is the perfect thing to bridge an Italian main course and dessert; its first taste is sweet, which is replaced with a strong herbaceous flavor and ends with the spicy note of basil. Affected? Yes, but effective.


2 cups basil leaves
3 cups milk
3 tbsp corn starch
¾ cup sugar
1 tbsp. lemon zest
¼ tsp. salt

Combine basil, 2 1/2 cups milk, sugar, zest and salt in a blender and puree until smooth. Pour into a two quart saucepan and heat gently until sugar dissolves.  In the meantime, combine the remaining milk with the cornstarch and whisk to form a slurry.  Continuing heating the basil-milk mixture until it begins to steam; stir in the slurry and continue to cook until the mixture has thickened.  Remove from heat and pour through a fine strainer; chill in the refrigerator for several hours, or for best performance with your ice cream maker, overnight.  Pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve garnished with fresh basil leaves.

Makes about one quart of gelato.

Recipe: Pasta al Pomodoro
Everyone has a favorite red sauce and it may come from a jar--there are so many good-quality brands out there it is easy to find several you like. Lately, I've been trying to find my own perfect recipe and have tried every trick, idea or suggestion. My version combines slowly cooked onion, garlic, tomato sauce and great canned tomatoes to make a delicious sauce. My secret ingredient? Fennel pollen. My secret tool? Using the immersion blender for a smooth, delicious sauce.

For the sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely minced
4 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes or whole tomatoes, use a very good brand
1 8-ounce can of tomato sauce
Pinch of fennel pollen
Kosher salt
3 large fresh basil sprigs

To assemble:
12 ounces bucatini or spaghetti
2 tablespoons cubed unsalted butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving.  You'll want more!

Heat extra-virgin olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add minced onion and cook, stirring, until very soft, about 15 to 20 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, for another 2-4 minutes. Add crushed red pepper flakes; cook for 1 minute more. Increase heat to medium, add tomatoes, sauce and season lightly with kosher salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens a little, about 30 minutes. Remove pan from heat, stir in basil sprigs, cover and set aside for 30 minutes to an hour.  Remove basil, purée with an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender, until very smooth.

When you're ready to serve, bring water to a boil in a large. Season with salt; add spaghetti or bucatini and cook, stirring occasionally, until not quite tender. Reserve 1/4 cup of the pasta water, then drain pasta.

Bring pasta back to a simmer, add pasta and some of the pasta water; cook, stirring, until sauce coats pasta and pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes, adding more pasta water if needed. Remove pan from heat; add butter and cheese; toss until cheese melts. Serve with more cheese, if desired.  It will be desired!

Serves fours.  The sauce can easily be doubled to serve a larger crowd or to have some to save for later.  I added chopped green and kalamata olives, four extra cloves of minced garlic and 1 tsp. of red pepper flakes to my leftovers for a spicy, easy 'puttanesca.' 

Recipe: Barb's Chutney Dip

Monday, I had a little lunch for the Swope staff and it was quite a fun and relaxing afternoon. I prepared a meal of Indian flavors (not necessarily food), but a comforting and yummy lunch including my favorite curried cauliflower soup, a salad with lime-tamarind dressing and Barb-a-licious' famous chutney dip. I had to make Barb's dip because it's something she often serves for parties and I always enjoy. It's great on a cracker and perfect on a celery stick! Some olives, breadsticks and pickled okra; appetizers are done.


Recipe: Barb's Chutney Dip

Barb usually uses an apple chutney which is delicious. I used a mango chutney, but not a super spicy one. Whatever you usually enjoy will be perfect.


8 oz. cream cheese

½ cup chutney

1-2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

½ tsp each of curry, cumin & coriander (the three Cs!)


Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and combined. Transfer to the serving dish of your choice; cover and chill for a couple of hours or overnight. Mangez!


Thanks Barb!

If You Gonna Fry

A couple of weeks ago, a friend dropped off a box of treasure: baby artichokes! She wondered what I would do with them, and I wondered too. Honestly, I don't mess with artichokes very often. I think the frozen hearts you can buy have a wonderful green flavor and are perfect for most dishes. I will use the canned ones as well in recipes like my artichoke dip and they work perfectly.

But baby artichokes? Okay, lest you call the People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables on me, these are not real baby artichokes that are raised in crates and only fed milk. These are the smaller globes which appear around the base of the plant. In addition to being smaller in size and more delicate, they don't have a choke and are completely edible. What does completely edible mean? Once you get off the tough outer leaves, you can enjoy all of what's left!

So, what to do with the 'baby' artichokes? I did some research and the most common preparation is to fry them. Simple, easy and delicious. So, that's exactly what I did. Since lemon goes so nicely with artichokes, I created a lemon salt to finish them by combining lemon zest and coarse Kosher salt.

But, fry one thing? For me, frying is a big deal. I don't do it very often because, although delicious, cleaning up after frying is a pain. What do you do with oil? How do you keep you entire house from smelling like McDonald's? So, if I am going to fill a pan (my grandmother's cast iron that she used for frying chicken) with oil and go to all of the trouble of frying, I am going to be frying more than one thing.

Arancini! Qu'est-ce que c'est what?

Arancini are one of my favorite things to make and to eat. What are they? Small balls of leftover risotto that can be stuffed with a variety of things (or left plain), rolled in breadcrumbs and fried. Arancini is from the Sicilian dialect and means 'little orange' for the shape and color of the balls after they are fried. People always say, 'risotto has to be eaten hot off of the stove,' or, 'risotto isn't good leftover.' They're crazy and wrong. While I love risotto, I must admit that my primary motivation is to have enough leftovers to make the arancini.

So, I made a big Italian meal for friends:

Fried baby artichokes (recipe from Giada is here)
Arancini
Olives and other pickly things
Grissini

Dama Bianca

Gratineed gnocchi
Roasted winter squash with balsamic reduction

Panna cotta with pomegranate molasses and seeds
(I'm working on perfecting this recipe and will have for you very soon!)

It was very yummy and we had a fun (and fried!) evening!


Quick to Start

One of my favorite starters is a mushroom pâté; it's hearty, savory and delicious spread on crackers or toast points. I like to serve it with the traditional cornichon or other pickly things. It's best made the night before and chilled in the refrigerator where the flavors can mingle, but I made a batch yesterday afternoon to take to a friend's home and enjoy with an evening meal. The basic recipe is here, but I guess every time I make it there are some subtle differences. This time, I didn't have any dried mushroom, so I didn't use them. Instead, I added a little tamari (1 1/2 tablespoons) to give a depth of flavor to the mushrooms. Then, for a little brightness I included 2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar. For the nut, I used a mixture of pecans, walnuts and pine nuts. I toasted all of them in a dry skillet before pureeing all of it in the food processor. I thought it turned out quite good, event without the overnight rest.

So, if you're wondering what to make to begin your Thanksgiving dinner or maybe you just need a new appetizer for you holiday cocktail party, mushroom pâté is easy to prepare, can be made in advance and is delicious to eat!

Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Spread

Recipe: Lemon Goat Cheese Spread
I based this recipe on one I found on-line and served it as part of our Mediterranean dinner in Holland, MI plus at a Swope event the following weekend. It was a hit at both. It's delicious on thinly sliced French bread, but it would be equally good with some special crackers.

8 ounces soft fresh goat cheese, at room temperature
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
3-4 tsp lemon juice
4 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish
4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
2 garlic clove, minced
9 teaspoons olive oil
White pepper


Place goat cheese and butter in small yellow bowl, mix with spoon until it begins to combine. Add the lemon juice to the cheese mixture and continue to mix until it is combined, smooth and creamy. Mix thyme, lemon peel and garlic in another small yellow bowl; season with white pepper. Mix half of thyme mixture into goat cheese. Add olive oil to remaining half of thyme mixture. Form cheese into 2, 2 1/2-inch round; flatten slightly. Place in center of plate. Spoon oil-thyme mixture over top of cheese. I used the extra thyme to make the cute little bird's nests around the spread. Garnish with a couple of lemon slices also, if you wish.

Recipe: Hors D'oeuvres

Saturday night, we were invited to an Ides of March Party by some new friends in Terre Haute. Of course, the theme was Italian and we were asked to bring an appetizer 'fit for Caesar.' I debated on what to take, but decided to try my hand at something new in addition to a recent favorite: Parmesan Pinwheels and Baked Kale.

I don't have a lot of experience with puff pastry, but these are easy and turned out well. The piquancy of the paprika complements the nuttiness of the Parmesan. They would go well with just about any cocktail and can be a made ahead and stored sealed at room temperature. The kale, the kale...a lot of people thought it was just festive garnish. But it was enjoyed by some. Note to self (and Katie): it doesn't really keep, even sealed in a plastic bag.

There were so many wonderful things to eat at the party, and Anna Lee's lasagna was delicious. Great food, new friends and a fun time.

Recipe: Parmesan Pinwheels (From Martha Stewart Everyday Food)
Ingredients
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
Coarse salt and ground pepper
All-purpose flour, for rolling
1 sheet puff pastry (from a 17.3-ounce package), thawed
1 large egg, beaten

Directions
In a bowl, mix cheese and paprika; season with salt and pepper. On a floured surface, roll out pastry to 10 by 14 inches. Brush with egg. Sprinkle with cheese mixture; using a rolling pin, roll mixture into pastry. Roll up pastry, starting from short end. Refrigerate until firm, about 25 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut roll into 3/8-inch-thick slices. Place on a rimmed baking sheet; bake until golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 5 minutes on sheet; transfer to a rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container up to 1 day.

Makes 24

Recipe: Best Artichoke Dip

Recipe: Best Artichoke Dip
There are a million and one artichoke dips out there, but this is the recipe I created and have used for a long time. It's the perfect spring appetizer, with the splash of lemon and lovely artichokes. You can serve it with any of your favorite dippers like toasted French bread, celery sticks, assorted crackers and probably even Fritos.

1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese (there aren't many ingredients here, so use the best you can find), 2 tbsp reserved
2 cloves minced garlic
1 pinch of cayenne
Zest and juice of one medium to large lemon
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 12 oz bag of frozen artichokes hearts cooked according to package directions and cooled under running water or one 16 oz can of artichoke hearts in water, drained and rinsed

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a food processor, combine the first six ingredients and run the processor for a moment to combine. Add half of the artichokes and process until beginning to turn into a smooth spread. Add the other half of the artichokes, and pulse until they are combined and coarsely chopped. This gives you a dip that is smooth, but still has a little bit of texture to it.

Transfer the dip to a cute, Pyrex casserole lightly coated with olive oil. The recipe doesn't turn out right if you skip this step, so if you don't have one be sure and stop into Goodwill before you start. Top with the reserved Parmesan cheese. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until warmed through and nice and bubbly on top. Serve warm.

This spread also makes a delicious filling for little tartlets to serve as a slightly fancier appetizer. I'll provide directions for those for you soon.

Mangez!