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.' 

Veggie Pimento Cheese Burger of the Gods

I have been busy updating my recipe files with the Paprika app for iPad. I have had my Precious for about a year and Paprika is one of the best apps I have bought, turning my already amazing iPad into the most impressive recipe box ever. It 'swipes' recipes from most of the major sites, including photos. Once you have the recipe in Paprika, you can edit it easily, email to a friend or add it to your shopping list--which automatically adds the ingredients to a list, which again you can modify. Amazing. I love it.

Four large binders of copies of recipes from magazines? Gone.

Stack of old magazines I hadn't had time to photocopy? Donated to the Library book sale.

Going through all of the recipes was also great because I found some things I wanted to make and ideas for other meals and dishes. Case in point: Pimento Cheese Veggie Burger. What? I mentioned this to my friend John and he said, "Yes, I put pimento cheese on everything." And well he should. I've made sandwiches out of it, filled celery with it, spread it on every manner of cracker and used it in grilled cheese. Why NOT a pimento cheese burger? So when I made some p.c. to take to a friends house on Saturday night, I held a little back for just that very experiment.

Why not a pimento cheese burger before now is really the question, because it is one of the best things I have ever eaten. It goes like this: a little bit of mayo on the bun (I'm really not a mayo on a burger type of guy, but it does go perfectly with the p.c.), some bread and butter pickle slices, a couple of pieces of veggie bacon for smoky crunch, your favorite veggie patty cooked to perfection and smothered with a big dollop of pimento cheese that melts all down the sides of the burger. It. Is. Heaven.

Whether you make the p.c. or buy it, I don't care. Just try this and thank me.

Recipe: Pimento Cheese Spread (redux)
Research and experimentation continues, but here is my latest suggestion for pimento cheese spread, perfect as an appetizer or on the pimento cheese burger, as above. (Yes, I purposely shaped the pimento cheese to look like my home state of Oklahoma. Why not?)

1/4 lb. cream cheese, softened
4 oz. jar pimentos, drained with liquid reserved
1/2 cup mayo or Miracle Whip
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1 tsp. rice vinegar (or other low-acid vinegar)
1-2 tsp. reserved pimento liquid, as needed
Couple of dashes of hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz. sharp cheddar, grated
8 oz. Monterey Jack, grated

Combine the mayo and cream cheese in a big yellow bowl, using an electric mixer or by hand, mix until well-blended. Add the sugar through salt and pepper, combine until well-mixed. Add the cheeses and mix by hand until well combined. Serve and enjoy!

Mangez!

Downtown Pizza Lives Again!

Ever since the closure of Jeshua's last year, many (including moi!) have been mourning the passing of downtown pizza: mourn no more!

Tonight we tried Wise Pie's Pizza & Subs which just opening at 9 South 6th Street in the TH DT.

The facts:
--> Thin crust New York-style pizza by the slice or whole pies!
--> Open, Tuesday through Sunday, including late nights on Friday and Saturday.
--> Lots of topping choices, salads and calzones.
--> Beer & wine, eventually, but none right now...

I ordered a slice of cheese and a slice with artichoke and spinach. I will admit, I love simple flavors like cheese pizza, but I also think its the best way to judge not only the crust, but the sauce. Result: the red sauce is rich with a slight, sweet edge and the crust is crispy and perfect. The second slice was just as good!

The interior of the place is simple and classic, the waitstaff warm and personable. There is plenty of space inside and lots of tables on the sidewalk--just in time for summer!

If you want a whole pie instead of a slice, they have plenty of toppings including three of my favorites: asparagus, broccoli and ricotta! I can't wait to have another piece...and I'm so glad to have a pizza joint just around the corner again!

Recipe: Do You Fondue?

I discovered recently that my family name is Swiss, not German. I know, my last name sounds German, but it's actually a German pronunciation of a French-Swiss name due to the fact my forbears went to part of what is now Germany for half a generation before emigrating to the colonies in 1731. With Germans. It's been a complete paradigm shift and entirely changed how I think about myself. I used to think my rigidness wasn't just a matter of my bourgeois, middle class upbringing, but part of my Germanic birthright. And I explained the swarthy complexion of my family (which I don't share) as 'Black Dutch.' But no more.

Now, I understand better my obsession with chocolate. (The Swiss eat more chocolate per person than any other country: 25 lbs per year.) And my affinity for cheese. Plus my obsession with fine time pieces, numbered bank accounts and protecting the Pope. And my neutrality. Suddenly my neutrality makes so much more sense.

But, I understood German food. Or thought I did, perhaps I was wrong. Meat and processed meat. Someone somewhere said the sausage was the heighth of German engineering. Perhaps, perhaps not. I knew as a vegetarian it really wasn't for me, but I do still enjoy spaetzle with butter or cream sauce and of course good German beer.

But what do Swizz people eat? I did a little research, and of course came upon the most basic: fondue. They do do the fondue. So I decided to throw a casual little fondue dinner, which is a fun and easy way to entertain.

Recipe: Cider Fondue
I have at least four vintage cookbooks on Fondue, but I adapted this recipe from one I saw in Bon Appetit magazine. It's really delicious and we consumed the entire pot. For dippers, I offered two different kinds of vegetarian sausage (Tofurky Kielbasa and Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage); cubes of bread; asparagus (which isn't really a great idea); roasted mushrooms; steamed new potatoes; roasted fingerling potatoes; and Granny Smith apples. Dessert was my favorite chocolate mousse with almond whipped cream.

6 cups coarsely grated Gruyère cheese (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups coarsely grated Emmenthaler cheese (about 1/2 pound)
3 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cup hard apple cider
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons brandy

Toss the cheeses and cornstarch together in a big yellow bowl to coat. Bring the hard cider and vinegar just to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low (mixture should be barely simmering). Add a handful of cheese to simmering cider mixture. Stir until cheese is melted sort of melted: you really have to achieve a certain ratio of cheese to cider before it actually begins to melt to a smooth consistency. Add remaining cheese one handful at a time, stirring until melted between additions. Increase heat to medium and cook until fondue begins to bubble, stirring constantly. Stir in brandy.

Transfer fondue to the fondue pot. Set fondue pot atop stand; carefully light candle or canned heat burner according to your product directions.

Now, about fondue pots:

Crate and Barrel have several to choose from on-line. I have the model they sell from Bodum which I highly recommend. It is composed of a large metal container which can be used for oil-based fondues when you are cooking meaty things. Likewise, it has a glass fondue container which you suspend into the larger metal one filled with water. This is great because your fondue is warmed in a hot bath, rather than having the direct flame on the pot. But, at the same time you don't end up with that little bit of crusty cheese which is considered a delicacy by the Swiss and divided amongst the guests.

I also have a smaller, electric fondue pot from Oster. It's a vintage model and I love it, especially for chocolate fondues. And even for simply melting chocolate. These can be found (as well as conventional fondue models) at the thrift store or on eBay. You really need a pot that is electric or uses a gel or cannister of fuel. The smaller ones which use a candle will not keep your cheese warm. Cold cheese fondue? Faux pas, n'est-ce pas?


Brie Hole?

On Boys for Pele (one of my favorite albums of all time), Tori Amos sang, "Had me a trick and a kick and your message. You'll never gain weight from a doughnut hole. Then thought that I could decipher your message. There's no one here, dear. No one at all." But what about a brie hole? Can you gain weight from that?

I was shopping for cheese at Baesler's Market last week for my staff party and was very pleased with the selection they were offering. They had the Stilton with lemon that I like, plus a very good Manchego. The most surprising thing? A medium-sized wheel of brie with a hole cut out of the middle where you could put fruit or other things. Huh? What did they do with the part they cut out? It's called 'brie charmant,' which translates to 'charming brie.' Mais, oui oui! Tout le monde! Zeut alors! Sacre couer!!

I just bought a slab, because I have found a little bit of brie goes a long way. When I buy the huge, delicious wheel it never gets eaten, so I'll stick with a perfect wedge--une wedge parfait.

Fromage, s'il vous plait! (Cheese, please!)