dinner party

I am unabashedly overjoyed to be out of the stay out until 4am crowd (well, at least not as a regular weekend occurrence) because it means that I have moved into the dinner party set. Yes, some of us had dinner parties a decade ago, but a decade ago I don't think I really saw cooking for what it is - a therapeutic way to let my creativity flow....not to mention some tasty vittles as a result.

So you can imagine how pleased I was to receive an invitation to a friend's house for a dinner party a few weeks ago. And let me say, this was a proper dinner party. The cocktail of the evening was a basil gimlet (OUTSTANDING drink, I might add, and one that I need to try at home sooner rather than later). The appetizers were figs drizzled in honey, olives, baguette slices with some sort of sun-dried tomato tapenade (maybe I'm not remember that part right, but it was good whatever it was).

Then came the entree. A perfectly cooked beef roast (red and bloody in the middle, but out to just ever so slightly pink towards the ends....something for everyone). Since we were in absolutely no rush and have a wonderful time making conversations in between nibbles of sticky figs, the hostess put the roast in while we were there. The hour flew by (no doubt helped along its way by the gimlets) also because the rest of the meal was a sort of dinner theatre. The way this apartment is set up allows some people to sit at the island's counter, watching what the cook is doing, and someone else could stand over to the side and participate in the island's conversation while talking to the cook. While all of this conversation was taking place, our hostess was deftly grilling bias-cut yellow squash and zucchini, large slices of avocado, and onions. The cheesy polenta that she had made earlier in the day and let set in a baking dish didn't fare quite as well on the grill as the vegetables, but taste-wise it was certainly a star (I'm willing to make that trade off any day - cheesier polenta that doesn't grill well...no problem here).

I feel as if I'm leaving something out, but the red wine we had with the dishes was the perfect accompaniment. It was all perfect. We then retired to the sectional to look over some magazines and continue our wine and conversation when the hostess exclaimed that she had completely forgotten to serve us her chilled melon soup as a starter. Oh well - we'll have it for dessert...and that we did. It was delicious. There was a dollop of what I surmised was greek yogurt on the top and she had added some dried herbs to the soup that I would have never considered - perfection.

The piece de resistance was that she insisted some of us take home leftovers. I've never been one to shy away from the leftover, so I gladly accepted. The first dinner companion said she would only take leftovers if it were in a tin foil swan. The gauntlet was thrown. Ask, and ye shall receive. A tin foil water fowl was created (one can't say for 100% sure if it was a swan, but the point was easily made). So how would our hostess follow up that masterpiece? With a tin foil fish, of course.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but I got to bring home a fish whose shape I can only describe as being shared with that of Flounder from Finding Nemo. It was perfect. However, it could not have been more perfect than the leftovers found inside. My dog, of course, got a tiny nibble of the meat (I'm a sucker for the pooch. What can I say). But the vast majority was left to me. I think I got two meals out of that beef roast and it was even more flavorful each time I bit into it. I'm thinking I'm going to have to try my magic at some point with a beef roast. Yum

Prodigal Daughter

After a fairly long hiatus, I returned to the Sunset Valley Farmer's Market this morning. I love that place. In an effort to be more financially responsible, I have made a conscious decision to not buy a ton of produce that will just go bad in my fridge. So while I spent a nice chunk of money, I did not overbuy in terms of amount.

I limited myself to the following items:

• One cantaloupe
  
• Two Sharlyn melons
  
• Two zucchini
  
• Two yellow squash
  
• Two cucumbers
  
• A skirt steak
  
• 1 lb. Black Bean & Queso Fresco Ravioli in Cilantro Pasta
  
• Some green beans
  
• Four mid-sized tomatoes
  
• A dozen farm-fresh eggs
  

Some explanations...

Sharlyn Melon I found this definition online: "This melon tastes like a cantaloupe and honeydew combined. Sharlyn melons are sweet with netted outer layer, greenish-orange rind, and white flesh. The availability varies, so check your local supermarkets and farmer’s market." It's funny because to me it smelled a bit like a mix of a peach and a cantaloupe.
The first one I ate didn't have nearly as intense a flavor as it did a fragrance. It was good, but a bit of a let down. The flesh was perfectly ripe, though, and I was able to just sit there and carve out bites with my spoon. The second one, however, had a more developed flavor, and it was rather tasty.


Skirt Steak
At about 9:30pm two nights ago, I realized that I had not prepared lunches for the rest of the week (as was my intention). So I figured that since the skirt steak was pretty thin, it wouldn't take too terribly long to cook it. I was right. I didn't put anything but salt and pepper on it and threw it on my grill pan. About 2-3 minutes each side, resting about 10 minutes (while I cooked the zucchini), and it was perfectly pink in the middle. Delicious.


Zucchini I cut a zucchini in half and then in small half moons. I tossed them with a tad of salt, pepper, and some herbs de provence. I then threw them in my grill pan so they could also soak up some of the beef yumminess that was left on the pan. Definitely turned out as well as I could have expected.

The only thing that went wrong at the Farmer's Market this time around was that I brought my pooch with me. He was wonderfully behaved, but there was a lot to smell, say hello to, and so on. He isn't particularly food motivated, so I didn't have to worry about him jumping up after some food or people. It was just hard to maneuver a leash (while trying not to trip people) and trying to remember not to drop the eggs or smoosh the blueberries or the tomatoes.

As of yet I haven't used the tomatoes, yellow squash, cantaloupe, green beans, and cucumbers. But check my next post to see more about the ravioli and the blueberries.