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Heather

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Wow--these dishes sound terrific! I'm curious about the sweet potato pancakes. Did you shred the sweets raw to make the pancakes, like a potato latke or make them with cooked, mashed sweets as more of a breakfast-style pancake?
Thanks! I made the latter, using this recipe. They got rave reviews. I liked the recipe, but given the chipotles in the sweet potatoes, I think next time I would forego the nutmeg, possibly in favor of some other spice.
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Had a large handful of folks over tonight, made the following:

apps:

dates stuffed with marscapone and yogurt - a total steal from komi. easy to make, garnered much praise

baby radishes topped with mustard and then a sliver of bacon - a partial steal from komi...i wanted to make the radish+butter+roe teaser, but one of my guests was anti-seafood, so i had to improvise. turned out pretty well, but my homemade mustard sorta took over flavorwise.

main:

soft-shell crabs (farmer's market), roast beef (WF rump roast), plated on a layer of celeriac soup. I was trying to be creative, but in reheating the beef, I overcooked it, and I'm not sure the celeriac really went with the crabs and beef that well. Still tasty stuff (crab is crab) but I've gotta do some tweaking, maybe just ditch the soup base idea and use it with other elements.

dessert:

chocolate ice cream and some Kourambiethes from the Greek Deli on 19th between L and M. I spent all afternoon shopping/cooking for the rest of the menu, so dessert had to be a no-effort one, and it worked well.

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main:

soft-shell crabs (farmer's market), roast beef (WF rump roast), plated on a layer of celeriac soup. I was trying to be creative, but in reheating the beef, I overcooked it, and I'm not sure the celeriac really went with the crabs and beef that well. Still tasty stuff (crab is crab) but I've gotta do some tweaking, maybe just ditch the soup base idea and use it with other elements.

Instead of calling it "soup" call it "coulis"...

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Had a few friends over last night.

Spring pea soup with prosciutto

Perch Vera Cruz ala Joe H with saffron rice (Snapper was $20 a pound at Whole Foods! The perch ended up being really good and far more affordable).

Passionfruit mousse domes with white chocolate and strawberry sauces.

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(This one was an extra that started to slump a bit sitting in the heat of the kitchen)

Drank some good stuff:

Gramona Gessami 2005

Lan Rioja Reserva 1998

Rogue Chocolate Stoudt (a friend brought this over-- phenomenal beer)

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Before symphony snacks: stinky cheese, baguette, serrano (?) ham, grape tomatoes, bottle of pink wine.

After symphony supper:

Wild mushroom quiche (recipe from Bouchon) Very, very time consuming and very very rich.

Green salad

Chocolate cake with fleur de sel, Capogiro pistachio or Turkish coffee gelato. The cake recipe is from Paula Wolfert's The Cooking of Southwest France. It's been reliably good up until now but this one turned out much too dry.

Far too much wine and good conversation.

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On friday night, cjsadler and I cooked dinner for my sister and her boyfriend. While we made dinner, we munched on shrimp flatbread (with pineapple, roasted red pepper, cheese and bbq sauce).

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The first course was homemade cracked pepper pasta with corn and asapargus.

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Our main course was nut-crusted tilapia with mango sauce and scallion oil and oven-roasted green beans.

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For dessert, cjsadler made my sister's favorite dessert - creme brulee. There were two flavors - orange vanilla and cinnamon.

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On Saturday, we made dinner for friends who were visiting from Pittsburgh.

We started with an antipasto platter that consisted of flatbread and crostini, marinated olives, roasted garlic, tomato chutney and cambozola (a creamy, mild blue cheese). The idea was from a lunch I had recently at a restaurant in Indianapolis.

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Our first course was the same as Friday night - fresh pasta with corn and asparagus.

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The main course was dry-aged strip steak with a red wine mushroom sauce, green beans and potato gratin.

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Dessert was strawberry shortcake (not pictured).

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BBQ for 25, a mix of homemade and ordered from the nice folks at Urban BBQ in Rockville:

whole roast piglet (Waitman is in on this. There will be pictures.)

burgers & hot dogs

cole slaw

BBQ beans

cornbread

buttermilk biscuits

collard greens

tortilla chips & salsa

potato chips & french onion dip (yes, the soup mix recipe ;) )

fresh fruit

chocolate sheet cake

watermelon

popsicles

Wine, beer, sodas, wine, beer, margaritas, beer, and beer.

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When Drive-by Critic revealed that she and her husband are avid birders whose life and work involve birds and conservation, as well as food, I realized that we had to meet in person. While I am not a birder, my +1 is a bird artist and naturalist who writes and edits books for birders. Birds and food--it had to be. So they joined another birder-foodivore friend for dinner at mi casa last night. I wasn't in the mood to cook Mexican, much to their surprise, but the food seemed to be enjoyed nonetheless:

Antipasti:

Marinated frutti di mare (octopus, squid, shrimp and mussels--from BlackSalt, poached separately in a fennel-tinged court bouillon then combined. The teeny baby octopi were amazingly tender with only a very brief poaching time)

Crostini with fresh fava and green garlic mousse, prosciutto di Parma and Reggiano

Grill-roasted marinated peppers

Roasted fennel and figs (n.b. the Balducci figs tasted fine, roasted with honey, lemon and olive oil)

Sharlyn melon and prosciutto di Parma

Marinated roasted cippolini onions

Selection of olives and nuts, provided by our guests

2005 Cantine Grotta del Sole Gragnano

Charcoal roasted boneless leg of lamb, marinated in rosemary and garlic

Homemade quince mostarda*

Green beans with lemon and pine nuts

Baby new potatoes with sage

2001 Capcanes Vall del Calas

Selection of cheeses (guest-provided): Petit Billy chevre, Robiola, Papillon Roquefort, Le Pie d'lAngloys Boursault, apricot-almond paste

Ricotta-yogurt cake (with homemade goat milk ricotta and goat milk yogurt) and cherry compote

2006 Lodali Moscato d'Asti

*edited to add--in a senior moment, I neglected to list this condiment, which got the most compliments of anything I served.

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BBQ for 25, a mix of homemade and ordered from the nice folks at Urban BBQ in Rockville:

whole roast piglet (Waitman is in on this. There will be pictures.)

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The only thing completely devoured, other than the pig, was the onion dip. ;)

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Those are lovely, tempting photographs. I have been wildly unsuccessful in figuring out how to post a photo here. Would anyone be able to let me know how to accomplish that? Please bear in mind that my sons refer to me as roadkill on the information superhighway.

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Zora has misled all of you, confirming my belief that great cooks have secrets, and deliberately omit ingredients from the recipes they share with others. However, I figured it out yesterday morning, while out hiking (OK, so we didn't get up at 4 a.m. to hike...we slept late...until 5 a.m.). She's omitted the liberal sprinkling of warmth, the special blend of humor, the joy of creating and of giving pleasure to others, and the indescribable delight of making new friends...but I'm sure I'm still missing something. Some elusive herb...the very richness and joy of a life well-lived infused every bite, scented the air, and enveloped us in a mist of gentle bliss. Those who say that Zora is a great cook are right, but that's only the start....

With humble and grateful admiration,

Ellen

When Drive-by Critic revealed that she and her husband are avid birders whose life and work involve birds and conservation, as well as food, I realized that we had to meet in person. While I am not a birder, my +1 is a bird artist and naturalist who writes and edits books for birders. Birds and food--it had to be. So they joined another birder-foodivore friend for dinner at mi casa last night. I wasn't in the mood to cook Mexican, much to their surprise, but the food seemed to be enjoyed nonetheless:

Antipasti:

Marinated frutti di mare (octopus, squid, shrimp and mussels--from BlackSalt, poached separately in a fennel-tinged court bouillon then combined. The teeny baby octopi were amazingly tender with only a very brief poaching time)

Crostini with fresh fava and green garlic mousse, prosciutto di Parma and Reggiano

Grill-roasted marinated peppers

Roasted fennel and figs (n.b. the Balducci figs tasted fine, roasted with honey, lemon and olive oil)

Sharlyn melon and prosciutto di Parma

Marinated roasted cippolini onions

Selection of olives and nuts, provided by our guests

2005 Cantine Grotta del Sole Gragnano

Charcoal roasted boneless leg of lamb, marinated in rosemary and garlic

Green beans with lemon and pine nuts

Baby new potatoes with sage

2001 Capcanes Vall del Calas

Selection of cheeses (guest-provided): Petit Billy chevre, Robiola, Papillon Roquefort, Le Pie d'lAngloys Boursault, apricot-almond paste

Ricotta-yogurt cake (with homemade goat milk ricotta and goat milk yogurt) and cherry compote

2006 Lodali Moscato d'Asti

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Had a couple of friends over for dinner to share my Dupont farmers' market purchases. Great night to eat on the rooftop deck. Pictures didn't come out so good, though.

Oven roasted cherry tomatoes with herbed sheep's milk ricotta (the stuff from Cheestique), served as a first course with some toasted baguette for a make-your-own-bruschetta (Cave de Vouvray Lieu-Dit Les Fosses d'Hareng)

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Bacon and poblano corn chowder with buffalo sausage (Shooting Star Blue Franc)

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Peach and bourbon crumble with homemade caramel ice cream (Avondale Muscat)

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Late supper on Friday (recipes from Bouchon):

Butternut squash soup with brown butter, nutmeg creme fraiche, and sage

Bacon and Onion Quiche

Salad (probably bitter greens)

Apple Calvados ice cream with gingerbread cookies

The squash soup is a knockout version. Part of the squash is roasted and the other half cooked stovetop, then both are combined with veg stock (Keller's is super, so flavorful), shallots, onion, leeks, garlic, and a little honey.

I am struggling with a wine pairing for the quiche. Any suggestions? The onions are added as confit, and are very sweet.

ETA: my first thought was riesling, but would like something less obvious.

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We tried out a new recipe a few weeks ago on some neighborhood good friends. It came from the slow mediterranean cookbook (either that or All About BRaising, I can't remember) --

Braised sausages with plums

Throw in some polenta, a frisee salad and apple pie for dessert and nothing could have been easier to host good friends very easily and thus allowing us to enjoy their company instead of slogging away in the kitchen.

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Late supper on Friday (recipes from Bouchon):

Butternut squash soup with brown butter, nutmeg creme fraiche, and sage

Bacon and Onion Quiche

Salad (probably bitter greens)

Apple Calvados ice cream with gingerbread cookies

The squash soup is a knockout version. Part of the squash is roasted and the other half cooked stovetop, then both are combined with veg stock (Keller's is super, so flavorful), shallots, onion, leeks, garlic, and a little honey.

I am struggling with a wine pairing for the quiche. Any suggestions? The onions are added as confit, and are very sweet.

ETA: my first thought was riesling, but would like something less obvious.

Are you planning to serve a different wine with the soup? My first thought was an Austrian dry muscat, or a gewurz on the dry side. Either would probably pair nicely with the soup, as well.

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We tried out a new recipe a few weeks ago on some neighborhood good friends. It came from the slow mediterranean cookbook (either that or All About BRaising, I can't remember) --

Braised sausages with plums

Throw in some polenta, a frisee salad and apple pie for dessert and nothing could have been easier to host good friends very easily and thus allowing us to enjoy their company instead of slogging away in the kitchen.

this was probably from all about braising, because i've been wanting to make that recipe but just never got around to doing so. i'm glad this turned out great (i'm assuming because no negative comments)...i'll have to remember to pull this recipe out in the near future.
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this was probably from all about braising, because i've been wanting to make that recipe but just never got around to doing so. i'm glad this turned out great (i'm assuming because no negative comments)...i'll have to remember to pull this recipe out in the near future.

Yeah that's the book.

Make the recipe and prepare to be blown away at its simplicity and layers of flavor. It helps to start with great sausages, though. We get ours at Laurel Meat Market. Just a great dish.

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this was probably from all about braising, because i've been wanting to make that recipe but just never got around to doing so. i'm glad this turned out great (i'm assuming because no negative comments)...i'll have to remember to pull this recipe out in the near future.

The recipe is here. (The percentage of recipes from cookbooks that are online always amazes me. Most of the time you can find a given recipe somewhere if you look hard enough).

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The recipe is here. (The percentage of recipes from cookbooks that are online always amazes me. Most of the time you can find a given recipe somewhere if you look hard enough).
Sometimes it takes a slightly different set of search terms or digging pretty far into the returned results. After looking in vain for a restaurant recipe online, I finally contacted the restaurant. They very kindly faxed me the recipe, but the quality of the fax was poor enough in places that I couldn't make out all of the directions. I decided to search again online and discovered that a newspaper had published the recipe a couple of years ago. It's different from the recipe I was faxed but not generally too substantially different. Some of the ingredient amounts are slightly different, as well as elements of the procedure. Between the two versions (and my well-honed ability to read illegible documents :blink: ), I think I've pretty much got the recipe, except for a little of the technique. (If there weren't differences in the way the directions are given, I'd just take it straight from the online version.)

I feel kind of stupid that I searched and the recipe was online all along, but I'm glad that to have the original recipe.

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Late supper on Friday (recipes from Bouchon):

Butternut squash soup with brown butter, nutmeg creme fraiche, and sage

Bacon and Onion Quiche

Salad (probably bitter greens)

Apple Calvados ice cream with gingerbread cookies

--------

I am struggling with a wine pairing for the quiche. Any suggestions? The onions are added as confit, and are very sweet.

ETA: my first thought was riesling, but would like something less obvious.

Waitman and Mrs. B brought an '06 Cass Estate Cuvée (50% Marsanne, 25% Rousanne, 25% Viognier) that was lovely with the soup. We drank a couple of French reds with the quiche.

The recipes from Bouchon remain the gold standard for quiche, and the finished product is worth the three days spent making it. The Bacon Onion Quiche has got to be alchemy of some sort - it manages to be light despite including heavy cream, eggs, cheese, bacon, and onion confit. :blink:

The ice cream was an interesting experiment. It has a creme fraiche base, and 100% creme fraiche was just a little too tangy to my taste and overwhelmed the apple. Plus, dumping a quart of creme fraiche from Cowgirl Creamery on the stovetop and turning up the heat just seems wrong somehow. If I do it again it will be 50-50 creme fraiche and milk.

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We hosted a dinner party for 9 this past weekend...here's the line-up --

Apple, Chestnut (and Celery Root) Soup

Chilled Green Bean 'Salad' with a mustard vinaigrette

Avocado & Sardine Crostini

Braised Sausages with Plums for most, and Moroccan Grouper (instead of tilefish) for one

a 5 selection cheese course

Apple & Goat Cheese tart

And a crapload of excellent wine

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Family dinner for ten:

Olives, and marcona almonds to nibble before dinner.

Pork chops. Seared, then finished in the oven and sauced with white wine, cream, dijon mustard, tarragon, chervil, and finely chopped cornichons.

Fresh tagliatelle with butter and chives.

Simple green salad with vinaigrette.

Cheese.

Fleur de sel chocolate cake with pomegranite sorbet (for the grownups) and vanilla ice cream (for the kids).

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Prepared brunch for eight for a friend:

Nibbles: Three types of herbed, cream cheese crepes: filled w/ chopped, radishes, smoked salmon; Portobello and oyster mushroom duxelle; and chopped tomatoes, kalamata olives, capers

Salad: Spinach salad w/ mandarin oranges, toasted walnuts, red onions, and baked goat cheese croutons; honey mustard vinaigrette

Mains: Two stratas: one with a rather spicy pork sausage and a rather plain one for the vegetarian

Spicy shrimp over creamy grits

Dessert: Cinnamon-apple cake

Most everything was prepped, and delivered, the night before; the host had only to cook the grits and the stratas. Despite very explicit instructions, she burned the stratas. Even more disappointing: there were no leftovers; I had to take her word on how everything turned out.

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I served my magnum opus cassoulet for six last night. I made duck leg confit early last week and had them resting in the fridge under a blanket of duck fat. The duck breasts were cured and smoked in my stovetop smoker. This past week's project was French garlic sausage. I bought a couple of pounds of pork butt at Canales meats, and enhanced the mix with a very fatty pork chop from Eco-Friendly. I ground and seasoned the pork with fresh mild garlic, black pepper, a little allspice and powdered bay leaf, and some full-bodied syrah. It was delicious on its own. Stuffing the sausage casings was a trip. I first tried doing it with an improvised rig utilizing the metal tube from an apple corer and a pastry bag, but that was an enormous hassle, so the next day I tracked down a sausage stuffing attachment for my Kitchenaid food grinder. I'd made bulk sausage before, but never made links. They looked just like the real thing--what a great feeling! The biggest coup was getting a whole shoulder of yearling wild venison from a friend. I marinated the meat in a cooked wine marinade and oven braised it a day later with lardons of pancetta. I used the bones to make venison stock, which I mixed with duck stock to cook the beans in, along with onion and garlic sauteed in duck fat and some San Marzano tomato added near the end.

The whole thing was assembled, covered with homemade breadcrumbs and baked for about three hours. I served it with a dusting of fresh chopped Italian parsley and rosemary, with roasted Next Step Produce turnips and 2005 Nicholas Rossignol Burgundy.

The cassoulet was preceded by home cured olives, Marcona almonds, Medjool dates stuffed with homemade lavender-fennel chevre, and mouhamarra--a walnut/red pepper/pomegranate molasses dip--thoughtfully provided by Anna Blume. We drank rye manhattans made with Carpano Antica Formula vermouth and home-cured cherries.

The cassoulet was followed by a green salad of frisee, butter lettuce, radicchio and mache, and a cheese course with Chaource, Stilton and P'tit Basque with dried figs and homemade membrillo.

For dessert we had a rustic pear and quince tart made with almond pate brisee, and Haagen Dasz cinnamon-dulce de leche ice cream. I know, I know. I didn't make the ice cream. But nobody complained...

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They looked just like the real thing--what a great feeling!
That has to be one of the most rewarding feelings that results from culinary enterprise. What a wonderful meal and worthy of the investment of time and effort. It's fun reading how everything came together.
For dessert we had a rustic pear and quince tart made with almond pate brisee, and Haagen Dasz cinnamon-dulce de leche ice cream. I know, I know. I didn't make the ice cream. But nobody complained...
:( :(
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:( :(
You should have seen the seat cushions she embroidered just for the occasion, with thread spun from the cotton plants in her backyard and needles forged from recycled metal that secures Champaign corks. The pearls used to stitch the names of each guest came exclusively from oysters in Chesapeake Bay who willingly gave forth their jewels thanks to their humane treatment.

The menu was beautifully orchestrated and everything delicious. The two sausages not added to the cassoulet were plump works of art. I particularly loved the homemade chevre and the way it was served. The venison was rather cool, too. From what I understand, Joe Riley had a role in selecting a perfect wine for the meal.

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You should have seen the seat cushions she embroidered just for the occasion, using thread spun from the cotton plants in her backyard and needles forged from recycled metal securing Champaign corks. The pearls used to stitch the names of each guest came exclusively from oysters in Chesapeake Bay who willingly gave forth their jewels thanks to their humane treatment.
But she didn't make the ice cream! :( :(. I'm having a pretty bad day, and this just keeps cracking me up.
The menu was beautifully orchestrated and everything delicious.
It sounds wonderful.
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Had a couple of friends over for a holiday dinner. Took a few bad, blurry pics.

Tuscan white bean soup (using some really nice Rancho Gordo cannellini beans)

Coenobium Bianco (Joe Riley pick from a Trappist monastery in Italy)

Roasted rack of pork (using Thomas Keller's method in Bouchon, which worked really well) with red wine braised cabbage and sour cream-herb sauce

Oreana '?' Mistake (a friend brought this)

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Chocolate cheesecake with raspberry sauce (the cheesecake is Dorrie Greenspan's 'Lush and Low Chocolate Cheesecake'... good recipe).

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My annual tamale blow-out dinner. I made homemade masa this year. Sorry, no time for photos.

Margaritas made with Tezon añejo tequila, fresh lime juice, Cointreau and Agavero

Guacamole and chips

Pico de Gallo

Home-cured olives and Marcona almonds

Persimmon and radish salad with lime-cilantro vinaigrette

Duck confit and roasted papaya tamales with mole verde

Pork tamales with roasted tomato-red chile adobo

Rajas de poblanos tamales, also served with mole verde

Frijoles refritos with homemade queso blanco

Saffron Savannah Gold heritage rice

2002 Sarah's Vineyard Santa Clara Valley zinfandel

2005 Turley Rattlesnake Ridge zinfandel

Flourless Valrhona chocolate cake with whipped cream and Guatemalan fire-roasted cacao nibs

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My annual tamale blow-out dinner. I made homemade masa this year. Sorry, no time for photos.

Pork tamales with roasted tomato-red chile adobo

Dinner was fabulous, and Zora very kindly gave me and Mrs. B a lesson in tamale making in the afternoon. She really knows her stuff, and I almost feel ready to try it at home. :( All the tamales were delicious, but the adobo made the pork tamales the standouts. I'd love the adobo recipe, and to know how you make guacamole.
Flourless Valrhona chocolate cake with whipped cream and Guatemalan fire-roasted cacao nibs
I'd never tried cacao nibs before. Oh my goodness. They are spectacular & well worth the heart palpitations when you eat too many.
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Dinner was fabulous, and Zora very kindly gave me and Mrs. B a lesson in tamale making in the afternoon.

I'd love the adobo recipe, and to know how you make guacamole.

Heather and Mrs. B kindly provided labor for a labor-intensive process. Much more fun than doing it all by myself! I think that I provided a guacamole recipe for one of the Rockwell picnic recipe assemblages. Basically: avocado, onion, tomato, tomatillo, garlic, jalapeño, cilantro, lime juice and salt. Exact amounts of each? Well, it all depends... Sorry I can't be more precise.

Adobo is a cooked salsa made with roasted vegetables. Remove seeds and then pan toast (but do not burn) some dried red chiles: guajillo and ancho are my favorites, used together--8 to 10 of them. They are moderately spicy. Then soak them in hot water. (I often include a couple of dried chipotles, but I happened to have an open can of them in the fridge, so I used two of those.) Roast the following veg until soft, and/or the skins have blackened: one large or two to three small tomatoes, a few tomatillos, an onion cut into wedges, 6 or 8 cloves of garlic, a poblano chile. Actually, the poblano needs to have the skin blackened completely so that it can be peeled, so it is better to do that in a separate operation, either over a gas flame on the stovetop, under a broiler, a barbecue fire, or as I did because there was a wonderfully hot fire in the woodstove--in a fireplace. Once the fresh veggies are roasted, peel the garlic and put all, including the juices that have exuded, into a blender. Add some salt, a little cider vinegar, lime juice, and a fistful of cilantro--stems are okay. Lift the softened red chiles from the soaking liquid and add them to the blender. Discard the soaking water--it can be bitter. Add a couple of tablespoons of honey, some ground cumin and ground Mexican oregano. Blend until you have a smooth puree. Pour into a heavy-bottomed pot and simmer on a low flame for 30 minutes to an hour, stirring frequently to make sure it doesn't burn. Add a little bit of water if it seems too thick. Taste and add more salt if needed. If it tastes a little bit bitter, add more honey. If it seems a little flat, add more vinegar or lime juice. If it is not spicy enough, add some bottled hot sauce. If it is too spicy, tough luck. :(

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Thai dinner:

dtom khaa gai (recipes from David Thompson's Thai Food)

pad bai grapao, with head-on shrimp

or

pat prik king muu bpaa

pak dtom (boiled vegetables) with coconut cream

ajat dtaeng gwa (cucumber relish)

jasmine rice

Meyer Lemon ice cream with ginger cookies

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Duck confit and roasted papaya tamales with mole verde

Pork tamales with roasted tomato-red chile adobo

Rajas de poblanos tamales, also served with mole verde

Your tamales sound great! What kind of husk do you wrap yours in, corn or banana?

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Dinner for an out-of-town visiting friend, and a local colleague of his. Visiting friend is an "I'll eat some seafood" vegetarian.

Winter vegetable soup--pureed roasted kabocha squash, parsnip, yellow turnip, carrot, onion, leek, persimmon, lemon, apple cider and cream. I rarely make soup without meat stock of some sort, but I was good and used a mixture of white wine and water and lots of thyme, bayleaf and parsley. I garnished it with a dollop of creme fraiche, chopped fresh rosemary and Meyer lemon zest. It had a fair amount of sweetness from the squash and splash of cider, but the savory flavors and lemon offered enough balance that it didn't seem like dessert. Big hit.

2005 Don Alegario Albariño

Slow roasted Scottish salmon from BlackSalt Market

Mushroom barley risotto

Braised chard with balsamico

La Tur

2005 Dom. Nicolas Rossignol Volnay

Pear and quince tart with streusel topping and vanilla whipped cream

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Thai dinner:

dtom khaa gai (recipes from David Thompson's Thai Food)

pad bai grapao, with head-on shrimp

or

pat prik king muu bpaa

pak dtom (boiled vegetables) with coconut cream

ajat dtaeng gwa (cucumber relish)

jasmine rice

Meyer Lemon ice cream with ginger cookies

I skipped the vegetables, added a course, and had to buy dessert because of time constraint. We started with summer rolls with sweet chili dipping sauce. I was happy to find coconut vinegar to use in salads and relishes; it made a big difference in the cucumbers.

Everything tasted good but the heat level was disappointing. We've got the recipes down and usually know about how many chilies we like, but next time I am doubling the amount. The chilies I've been getting lately have been bland, even the usually incendiary bird chilies.

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We had Banco and his delightful family to dinner on Sunday...

Parsnip and apple soup: I started with Thomas Keller's vegetable stock recipe and added slices of galangal. Strain, add parsnips, apples and garlic, cook until soft and run through the blender in batches. Finish with a little cream and garnish with chives an a drizzle of oil. We drank an Alsatian Pinot Blanc with this, but I don't remember which one.

Quiche Lorraine, recipe from Bouchon (I will never use a different basic quiche recipe, ever). Greens and sliced cucumber dressed with shallot vinaigrette and a little sang de Scott - he christened his new mandoline. We opened a sprightly and herbaceous 2005 Breton Chinon Beaumont, which matched nicely with the bacon and thyme.

Bonaparte cherry tart bought at the market that morning, with Moorenko creme fraiche ice cream and homemade sour cherry/almond sauce. The kids had ice cream with chocolate sauce. :mellow:

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A couple of weeks ago cjsadler's aunt was visiting. She loves to eat, so we made dinner for his family and her. The theme this time was Spanish tapas.

To start, we had roasted red pepper and crab dip, toasts, and meatballs in a tomato sauce.

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Dinner, served family style, was leek and goat cheese phyllo triangles, garlic shrimp, apple and manchego salad, roasted potatoes, and chickpea and chorizo stew.

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Dessert was a layered almond cake with creme fraiche cheesecake.

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The biggest hits of the night were the crab dip, leek and goat cheese triangles, the apple and manchego salad, and the dessert.

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Taking advantage of the confluence of the Lunar New year and my birthday…

Longevity: Soba noodles | Buckwheat noodles, Shitake, Carrots, and Baked Tofu tossed with a Tamari-ginger sauce. Topped with toasted sesame seeds

Making wishes come true: Roasted salmon | Drizzled with Orange-Miso Sauce

Fellowship, community: Lion's Head Meatballs | Simmered in Ginger Coconut Sauce; Potstickers | Served with a Sweet Chili dipping Sauce

Luck and wealth: Bok choy with/ braised Shitake Sauce; Spicy Garlic Spinach

Abundance: Black Pearl Layer Cake

New beginnings: Oranges

And... no celebration is complete without Champagne and Sparking Wines; all paired well with the spicy foods.

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So yesterday me and the missus went to her former co-worker's house for brunch. Before we ate, our hostess mentioned that we were guinea pigs for a graduation brunch she was throwing in a few weeks. She wanted my opinion of the food. ;)

Well, I couldn't give her an honest opinion. I told her the souffle thing was good, and it was, though I'm not sure it would qualify as a souffle. But I kept my mouth shut on the rest of the meal. We had undercooked unseasoned hash browns, and a salmon mousse mold sort of doohickey that was pretty freakin' hideous. I don't know where the salmon came from-- perhaps from a can in the clearance section of a thrift store. It looked like it was straight out of one of those 70's cookbooks with the garishly colored photos. A cucumber and onion salad that had been pickled in plain ol' white vinagar and a LOT of sugar was served alongside. It wouldn't have been too bad except that I topped it with a dill yogurt dressing which may have had some plain yogurt in it, but I'm pretty sure also had some vanilla yogurt. Vanilla and dill is not a great combination. :)

My apologies in advance to the attendees of the graduation brunch. :( If it's any consolation, I didn't sleep well last night as I kept having nightmares about being attacked by an off-white gelatinous salmon with evil caper eyes.

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So yesterday me and the missus went to her former co-worker's house for brunch. Before we ate, our hostess mentioned that we were guinea pigs for a graduation brunch she was throwing in a few weeks. She wanted my opinion of the food. ;)

Well, I couldn't give her an honest opinion. I told her the souffle thing was good, and it was, though I'm not sure it would qualify as a souffle. But I kept my mouth shut on the rest of the meal.

You had the unfortunate experience of an invitation from someone who is not a good cook, but thinks they are--otherwise why would she attempt difficult dishes like souffle and molded salmon mousse?

I had a mirror-image invitation on Saturday night--someone who expressed great concerns about their cooking ability, but who provided a delicious meal. We had grilled salmon, very fresh and slightly medium rare in the center, rice pilaf with pine nuts and golden raisins, steamed asparagus and feta-stuffed mushrooms.

These were folks who had dined at my home and were reciprocating. So many times we have hosted people for dinner who never returned the favor--in some cases, there were understandable budgetary or space considerations. But more often because they have felt that in order to invite me to dinner they have to cook as well as I do. The people we dined with at least had the moxie to come out and admit that they felt intimidated, and invited us anyway. I assured them that I am fine with very simple food, and even take-out. It's true--I'm much happier eating some simply roasted or grilled protein, salad and bread than badly belabored "gourmet" party food any day.

They fessed up when I praised the meal, that the pilaf had Uncle Ben's at it's base--which they fixed up, which is perfectly legitimate "semi-homemade" as it were. I thought it tasted really good, and that's all that really matters. And the stuffed mushrooms had come from River Falls Seafood, where they bought the salmon.

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Well, I couldn't give her an honest opinion.
WWMissMannersD?

If you were being consulted as someone whose cooking your hosts admire, is there a nice way to avoid being frank about the food served and focus, instead, on alternatives that might not have occurred to the offending host?

This meal sounds like it was planned by someone with basic cooking skills, but poor judgment when it comes to shopping for ingredients and complementary dishes in a menu. Hash browns find their way onto steam tables in most hotels, but not with salmon mousse. On the other hand, if you can prepare and unmold a seafood mousse, you could probably pouch a salmon and read the label on a tub of yogurt.

Chances are, though, she was saving money by grinding up a smaller amount of the fish. Probably also lacks a decent cookbook. Thus, the retro taste.

An easy save were this a high school graduation: "What sophisticated fare! Yogurt, dill and salmon is a classic combination...." Then talk about your teen-age niece and how mortified she was when no one touched the seafood mousse you brought to her birthday party. Instead, they gobbled this. Nova on the side. Fruit. Or maybe a nice Spanish tortilla made w thick potato chips.

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Dinner last night for some dear friends who are expecting their first child soon. She is allergic to cow's milk and does not eat meat beyond poultry. I find a lot of pleasure in cooking for friends with dietary restrictions because it makes me get out of my comfort zone.

We started with a butternut squash bisque enriched with goat milk and some surprisingly good rolls from Trader Joes. The main was quiche. Both were made with a base of eggs, goat milk, manchego, and sauteed onions with crumbled turkey sausage added to one and spinach to the other. I served this with a simple salad of greens, roasted golden beets, and naval orange segments. Dessert was rich chocolate brownies with bittersweet chocolate chunks. The pregnant friend was thrilled by the meal, never having had bisque or quiche in her entire life. The look of sheer pleasure on her face as she ate that quiche was wonderful to behold and earned her the leftovers to take home for her lunch today.

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