Foodie Sundays

Sunday, October 31st - Culinary Costume Party

2010-10-27T00:39:00.000-07:00

What a fun 8 weeks it has been!

We've had an absolutely great time entertaining so many of you in our home these past two months. Inspired by halloween we've decided to finish off our Foodie Sundays project with a bang...

Culinary Costume Party

Sunday, October 31st, 2010

(A trompe l'oeil food potluck)

What is trompe l'oeil?

(I know, I don't like French terms either)

Trompe l'oeil means "deceive the eye" in French and most often refers to faux finishes painted on walls or ceilings to look like windows, vines, or the sky:

In food, this kind of deception is often seen on April Fool's day or at Halloween. You're familiar with this - think about the "eyeballs" (peeled grapes) "dirt and worms" (gummi worms and oreo pudding) and "brains" (spaghetti) often served at kid's parties or haunted houses. For fancier foods, Trompe l'oeil often looks like one food while tasting like another. For example, a giant hamburger cake:

L- Hamburger, 1X, R- Hamburger Cake, 5X (by Shawna!)

You may have seen an episode of Top Chef where the contestants cooked disguised food for the CIA head. Here is a recap.

Here are a few links to get you started with ideas:

tons of ideas&recipes

Halloween food...

and more Halloween food!

We will make 4-6 trompe l'oeil dishes and hope you can bring one to share. We will set up dishes on a buffet or serve them as appetizers depending on the dish. We will make a note of which things contain red meat, chicken, or fish. Please note in the RSVP if you are vegetarian or have any food allergies. Halloween-themed food and drinks are encouraged if you don't feel up to the faux-food task.

Menu:

"Potstickers"

"Finger sandwiches"

"Sausages"

"Cupcakes"

Spiced Apple Cider (real!)

and more....

Needs:

Standard potluck.

Please bring either an appetizer, main or dessert type dish,

or non-alcoholic or alcoholic drinks.

Make a disguised food (please!) whether "fancy" or classic Halloween.

Dress in this year's halloween costume or any festive garb.

No guest limit!

Starts 6pm on Sunday 10/31

Sunday, October 24th - Mad Men Cocktails and Dinner

2010-10-20T02:31:00.000-07:00

Mad Men Cocktails & Dinner

Menu for Sunday, October 24th

We have been watching Season 1 & 2 of Mad Men the past couple of months, and like everyone else, we love the show. It's dark, often sad, visually arresting and immediately becomes an obsession. Please, no season 3 & 4 spoilers when you come over!

We wanted to throw a retro cocktail and dinner party inspired by the show and some vintage cookbooks Shawna was given before the wedding.

Please come in cocktail attire or "dressed for dinner" as they used to say. Here is your chance to re-wear your favorite dress from the summer wedding season or go all-out 60s style. Guys, you can actually wear that one suit you own.

Please arrange for a car-pool, bike or bus ride this week if you plan to indulge as much as Don Draper would!

Menu: Mad Men party

Cocktails & non-alcoholic Punch

Appetizers:

Cheese Ball & Crackers

Stuffed Celery
Rumaki

Cocktail weenies

Deviled Eggs

Standing Rib Roast

Potatoes

Creamed Spinach

Ambrosia Salad Jello Mold

Baked Alaska

Pineapple Upside-down Cake

Needs:

French Onion Dip

Relish Tray (veggies)

Caesar Salad (two could bring this)

Soft dinner rolls (two could bring this)

Burgundy Wine

Heineken

Party starts at 6pm

Number of guests: up to 16
RSVP by Friday Evening

Recap: Southwestern Fiesta

2010-10-20T02:23:00.000-07:00

On October 17th, we had a New Mexico and Arizona style fiesta inspired by Phoenix (where I grew up) and some New Mexico green chiles we found at Berkeley Bowl. Luckily we bought them early in the week, because they disappeared when we went back for more later on.

We made some fresh salsa with tomatoes from our first Terra Firma Farms CSA box. We have been talking about re-joining a CSA for more than a year and finally did it. We used to get Full Belly and were happy with them, too.

We also made some delicious beans: Pintos and Calypsos from Seed Savers Exchange. You probably know by now that I have a dry bean obsession. You can find excellent dry beans outside at Monterey Market (near the squashes), from Rancho Gordo, or from SSE. The different varieties have much better flavor than the plain black, white, pinto and kidney beans in cans.

Rachel asked me what the "secret" to my beans is. I always try to soak them overnight or for as long as possible. I cook the beans on the lowest heat that still lets them barely simmer, which will take 2-4 hours. To cheat, use the pressure cooker which is ~1 hour but the beans get softer. When they are mostly done, I add a bouquet of herbs onion, usually some kind of sweet pepper, and spices. For the mexican beans I added oil, onion, chili powder, cumin, mexican seasoning (Adobo), veggie broth, salt, cilantro, oregano, epazote, sweet pepper and a tomato.

We made Chile Rellenos in Red Chile sauce from this recipe. I loved the red sauce and liked the filling, but would go with a different overall recipe next time.

John chars the chiles to skin them.

beginning of the chile sauce: four kinds of dried chiles cooking up

We also made fish tacos. We finally made it to Tokyo Fish Market and grilled some Rock Cod and Halibut for the tacos. The fish from there was excellent and they have lots of other Japanese goodies.

We used this recipe for the fish marinade:

http://www.cooking-mexican-recipes.com/fish-taco-recipe.html

And served the fish on corn tortillas with shredded cabbage, salsa, avocado, cotija cheese and creamy San Diego-style sauce. I would (and we did) eat this sauce on everything!

This was the base recipe:

http://soupaddict.wordpress.com/2009/06/06/wickedly-good-fish-taco-sauce/

I used less (about 1/4c) mayo, ½ c each yogurt and mexican crema casera, and about 2x the spices. I used fresh oregano and minced a roasted NM green chile instead of a jalapeno, canned chiles would work also.

Last, I made some dragon fruit granita/sorbet which looked lovely but didn't taste like much:

We had such a beautiful spread of other dishes from guests. Ben brought amazing little seared tuna & mango salsa appetizers:

Erin & Jeff brought spaghetti squash dish, Tanya & Kevin brought guacamole AND tomatillo enchiladas, Kent brought margaritas and Haley & Benson brought two kinds of yummy sangria. The Spencer-Reed family came with Terra Firma strawberries and watermelon and made Agua Fresca.

Phew! Almost done... I made a Tres Leches Cake from the Tartine Bakery cookbook with a blood orange/citrus compote from here.

And a Pumpkin Flan with the last of my frozen pumpkin from last year

(just in time to make another batch!)

The recipe was from here:

http://cookingwithmarriedtoamexican.blogspot.com/2009/10/flan-de-calabaza.html

I used 1 ½ Tb orange juice concentrate instead of juice. And used 4 eggs plus two egg yolks. I went easier on the spices (about ½ of recipe amounts) to let the pumpkin shine through.

Last but not least, some guests got a taste of Dulce de Leche that I used between the cake layers. It's quite easy to make from sweetened condensed milk and SO tasty. I used the method here:

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2005/11/dulce-de-lechec/

Phew! That was a long post, Mexican food has so many details. It was a delicious dinner and we were too busy eating our way through the spread to take many pictures, but here is one of me sneaking away to read a bedtime story to the kiddos before they went home:

Two weeks to go!

Recap: Alisa's Party with Guitar Cake

2010-10-20T00:40:00.000-07:00

On October 10th, we hosted Welch Lab members and friends at the house at a going away party for Alisa.

Alisa and I worked together closely in the lab and have been friends for more than three years now.

She is a hilarious, vibrant, intelligent and beautiful person who brightens every day in the lab, and she will be greatly missed.

Alisa reads the lab cartoon & quote board made by Taro.. ahh, inappropriate memories.

We were excited to host a party for her at our house - it was close to home for most people and not such a daunting task after the last few weeks of dinner parties.

The whole Picasa web album of the party is here.

It was actually an easy cooking week for us, since the party was a true potluck we only made a couple of dishes. John made his first true smoked meat in the Big Green Egg smoker: slow-cooked pork shoulder which hung out in its spice rub for 12 hours and then cooked for more than 18 hours from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon. It was served with a peach sauce and he achieved great flavor and texture with a true smoke ring! Yum! The spices were a bit Asian inspired so I made a ramen noodle salad:

Crunchy Cabbage Salad (From K.S.)

1 head cabbage, chopped (I used a med napa cabbage and 1/2 a small red cabbage)

1 bunch scallions, chopped

1-2 carrots, grated

2/3 c slivered almonds (toasted)

2 tbsp sesame seeds (toasted)

2 packet Ramen noodles, uncooked, smashed up.

(Chicken, or Oriental flavor for vegetarians)

Dressing:

~1 c. olive oil

1-2 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tbsp rice wine vinegar

4 tsp sugar

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Seasoning packets from Ramen Noodles

Toast sesame seeds and almonds in a dry pan until just browned.

Stir dressing together.

Toss dressing w/ rest of ingredients a little before serving. Will stay crunchy overnight.

We had an amazing and totally delicious spread of food including pot stickers, lasagna, sweet potato and bean casseroles, fried chicken, spinach dip, korean grilled beef and veggies, lamb steaks, cheese from Cheeseboard, cookies, and more that I'm forgetting...

And we played a rollicking game of Yankee Swap:

And I made a guitar-shaped cake for Alisa.

How do you make a guitar cake?

Bake three boxes of cake mix up in a casserole dish, large loaf pan and two small loaf pans. I placed a mason jar (jam jar) in the upper middle of the big cake for two reasons: it made a perfect hole in the body of the guitar, and it serves as a heating core so the cake bakes a little faster and more evenly.

Cut out a guitar-body shape from the large cake:

Put together the body with some trimmed loaves for the neck and top:

I wanted to frost the cake with my go-to chocolate frosting recipe. I tried to stabilize it with some extra ingredients and ended up with a big curdled mess. I didn't want to waste all that butter and fancy cocoa powder so I added some extra stuff to try and make it into brownies (recipe below). You can see the brownies above the cake, which I ended up frosting with chocolate ganache. The ganache worked out as it was very firm and a little shiny, and held the cake together well.

I made marshmallow-fluff fondant for the top of the guitar body and the knobs. I used this recipe. It was much easier than I thought, and truly ends up like adult play-doh. There are many variations; if you don't eat gelatin (in mini marshmallows) you can make the fondant with a jar of marshmallow fluff instead. It's a little difficult to get the colors even but it works after a lot of kneading. I made ivory as a base color for body panel which was rolled out, cut using the same template as the body shape, smoothed with my hand and then painted with a little tan, gold, and brown food coloring to look like wood:

I then made a brass/brown tone for the knobs & tuners, which I dry painted with edible "luster dust" for shine:

I painted angel hair spaghetti with brown food coloring and then luster dust for the strings:

I put it all together with some melted chocolate and white candymelts for the details and to hold it together.

The finished cake:

Alisa "plays" the cake:

Chocolate Frosting Brownies recipe:

1 1/2 sticks butter (12 Tb)
1 cup Cocoa
4 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup cream or half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Splash o'booze1 tablespoon corn syrup (probably optional)

2 tablespoons shortening (optional)

3 eggs

1/2 to 1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2/3c walnuts

Melt butter& shortening. Stir in cocoa. In electric mixer, Alternately add powdered sugar and cream, beating until smooth. Add vanilla extract and corn syrup. You will probably have frosting now, because you won't mess it up like I did. Add eggs and the batter will come together, sift in flour and baking powder and mix until combined. Fold in some walnuts or chocolate chips. Turn into rectangular baking pan lined in parchment and bake at 350 for 60+ mins or until done.

(New) Mexican Family Friendly Fiesta

2010-10-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

(New) Mexican Fiesta

Menu for Sunday, October 17th

A menu inspired by the New Mexican Chiles that have come in season:

Cheating Chile Rellenos

Fish Tacos

Beans & Rice

Salsa & Chips

Tres Leches Cake

***

Needs:

Guacamole

Margaritas (or just the fixins to blend here)

Other Mexican/Southwestern food

4:30 PM Sunday (note the family friendly time!)

Number of Guests - up to 14

Please RSVP before Friday Evening

***

Upcoming Sundays (private party on 10/10)

2010-10-04T01:26:00.000-07:00

We've figured out the themes for Sundays in October and thought we would let you know ahead of time to ease your planning, especially for the end of the month.

Sunday, Oct 10th: Private Party for Alisa's goodbye (Shawna's lab - see below)

Sunday, Oct 17th: Mexican/American Fiesta (Family Friendly)

Sunday, Oct 24th: Mad Men retro dinner party (Cocktail or retro attire)

Sunday, Oct 31st: Trompe l'oeil Halloween party (foods in disguise, dress in costume)

~~~

Sunday, October 10th: Alisa's Bon Voyage party

Shawna's labmate Alisa has moved on to a new job and the lab is celebrating with her at our house.

Details going out via email to labmates.

We'll be back to public dinners next week!

Recap: Farmer's Market Feast

2010-10-04T01:14:00.000-07:00

Farmer's Market Feast; October 3rd, 2010

We decided to do an all-vegetarian surprise menu from what we found at the weekend farmer's market this week. The other surprise was that after two weekends of retreats for UC Berkeley people, and a busy September for pretty much everyone, we ended up with a quiet family dinner. Shawna's sister, her wife and their two kids came over which was perfect since the family is vegetarian. We extended the celebration from Phoebe's birthday party the day before:

We got an amazing array of produce at the Temescal farmer's market:

We made a big spread:

L-R: Butternut squash, figs, cassoulet, squash blossoms, soup.

We started with Fried Squash Blossoms:

Trim the stems and remove the stamen from squash blossoms (3+ per person). Check for bugs but

don't wash under water. Very finely dice a tiny summer squash or baby zucchini and a small shallot, and sautee in butter until just tender and remove from heat. When cool, add 3oz or so (1/3c?) fresh goat cheese, salt & pepper and stir until combined. Add a small spoonful of cheese mixture to each blossom. Dip in well-beated egg then dredge in flour seasoned lightly with seasoned salt or salt&pepper. Fry in a deep pan or dutch oven in 1-2 inches of oil over med-high heat until golden. drain on towels, sprinkle with kosher salt, and eat while warm. I used a gluten-free flour mix so Emerson could eat these and really liked the texture, so I would use a mix of rice flour, tapioca flour, etc. in the future.

John made a lovely potato-leek soup (so simple!) with fresh, small yellow potatoes& leeks cooked until soft then pureed. Plus a little cream and chives at the end.

We also had some fresh figs. I cut an X on the bottom and squished some fresh mascarpone in there, then dipped the ends in toasted pine nuts. Very simple and elegant.

I cooked up an heirloom acorn and a butternut squash in one of my favorite recipes; Butternut Squash with Date and Pistachio topping from Local Flavors.

We had an amazing french-style baked flageolet bean cassoulet. Flageolets are little green beans with a great flavor and traditionally used in cassoulet which often has duck confit and/or sausages cooked into it. To make a vegetarian version, I got richness from a tomato-onion confit:

Soak 1 1/2 c flageolet beans overnight & cook in 2 inches of water/veggie broth with thyme, rosemary, sage leaves, bay leaf, & 2 garlic cloves. Alternatively, soak ~1 hour or less and pressure cook 40-60 minutes until tender.

Early in the day, put about 1/2c olive oil in a big casserole pan. Slice up 2 large cipollini onions (could use shallots or sweet onions) and throw into pan. Peel ~1 1/2 pounds dense-fleshed tomatoes (blanching is easiest) and squeeze into the pan to break them up. Add a couple cloves of garlic. Cook the veggies uncovered at 300-400 in the oven, adjusting temp so they don't burn. Stir occasionally and cook until they are thick and caramelizing at the edges, about 2+ hours. When you want to eat the whole pan on a slice of bread, they are done. Mash up with a potato masher and set aside until the beans are done.

Drain the beans, reserving the broth. Mix the beans gently (folding) into the tomato-onion confit. Add more broth if needed to make a moist but not soupy mixture. Season with salt, pepper, etc to taste. Add a tablespoon or two of heavy cream. Scoop into a new casserole dish, top with bread crumbs, and reheat until bubbling. Enjoy!

Last (phew!) Rachel made a lovely quinoa salad to round out the meal, we needed a little grains and something light with the beans & squash.

I made a peach-strawberry pie for dessert. I wasn't sure about the combo, but I grated 1/2 a granny smith apple for tartness and body in the pie filling and only used about 2 tsp of sugar to sweeten, it turned out very nice.

We really had a great time; this is what a family dinner with a 2-year old and a 4-year old turns into:

storytime break during dinner

break to wash down the walls with a sponge (?)

General cuteness break...

See you in two weeks!

Recap: Indian Feast Sept 26th

2010-10-04T00:35:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 26th: Indian Feast

We made some of our favorite comfort food this week; After some trial and error we have a Saag Paneer recipe to our taste and wanted an excuse to make a huge batch.

The only picture I have from this dinner is one, of the beans/legumes (dal) before I started soaking them the night before; I'm always amazed at the legumes used for Indian food.

I made Dal Mahkani similar to this recipe, and this one, and cooking for more than 4 hours on the stovetop to get the right texture. You can also pressure cook, but we've done it before and the texture wasn't quite right. I liked the mix of legumes (dal). The red are "rajma" (Red/Kidney beans), Phaseolus vulgaris. The yellow are "Chana Dal"(small split chickpeas), Cicer arietinum and are different than yellow lentils, Lens culinaris. The black are one of the keys to getting your Dal and Tadka (more on that later) to taste right - "Urad Dal" or "Kali Dal" (related to Mung Beans), Vigna mungo.

I also saw many mentions of asafoetida, an Indian spice, being critical for good-tasting dal. It's actually made from the resin of a fennel-like plant. I was scared to buy it as it is also very pungent...nicknamed "devil's dung", but I gave it a try and double-sealed it in a glass jar outside of the plstic container. It smells a little like rotten garlic and a little like sweaty shoes&socks, but as soon as it hits hot oil it has a very rich, umami-type flavor like roasted garlic but hard to describe. I think it did add something to the dal and chutney. I have more than I'll ever use so borrow the jar if you are curry-making!

(Sorry, was I being a scientist for a second...?)

We made our favorite Saag Paneer recipe... really it should be called Sarson da Saag, as we use mustard greens (Sarson) as well as spinach (saag). We found out that 2 bags of prewashed baby spinach from Trader Joe's to one bag of the "braising mix" with mustard greens, collards, & spinach is the right proportion for getting the flavor right. We make the recipe as at the first link with many changes;

Start with only one or two hot green chilies and work up (you can sautee more and add at the puree step if it's not spicy enough). Double all the other spices (coriander/garlic/ginger paste, coriander/cumin seeds). Add some black mustard seed, garam masala, curry leaves, and turmeric powder to your taste. Double the cashew amount and add a little cream or thick yogurt to finish.

What is a tadka? This has been my secret to having success making Indian food. All the spices must be bloomed or sauteed in oil when you add them. Sometimes you do this along with the sauteeing onions (in a curry), but often you add more seasonings at the end of cooking, especially for dal. You heat oil or ghee in a little pan and fry up the seasonings until they are fragrant before adding to a dish. This made a difference in my cold dishes like Raita also.

I also made some coriander/mint chutney and raita with carrots & cucumbers. I made some Naan which was fun to grill on the smoker but didn't have that stretchy-soft texture we wanted. John also grilled some tandoori masala lamb, using the yogurt-based marinade in Joy of Cooking.

We had a full array of Indian dishes from our guests to complete the meal;

Justin & Michelle: Cold veggie curry from Alton Brown, perfect with the rest of the meal.

Sol: Chicken curry, just delicious and flavorful.

Haley & Hannah: Samosas from Vik's with Chutney.. what we needed waiting for the other food!

Hannah also made a stellar Seviya Kheer/Payasam, which is like the rice pudding common to Indian restaurants but with the thin noodles. Her recipe was excellent!

Thanks everyone! Sorry for the wordy post, more pictures and less talk next recap.

Recap: Creole Food September 19th

2010-10-03T23:53:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 19th: Creole & Southern Feast

John's extended family is from Southern Louisiana and maintains strong roots there. Despite being born in Connecticut and raised in Philly John can make a killer Jambalaya and we've been wanting to make a big batch for a long while. When Nhu, who is from Baton Rouge, offered to make a pot of Gumbo we knew what the weekend's dinner would be.

What is the difference between Jambalaya and Gumbo? Jambalaya is a cousin to Spanish paella and is a moist, rich pilaf-like dish with lots of veggies and many kinds of meat. Gumbo is a thick soup or stew and has fewer kinds of meat and a different flavor. I'll save the difference between Creole and Cajun food for another time...

John's Jambalaya recipe (no, he won't share it!) has ham, andouille sausage, chicken and shrimp;

Onions, tomatoes, a rich broth & seasoning mix, peppers and celery

The finished product:

We also made some Red Beans

And a great vegetarian Collard Greens recipe from Lee Brothers Southern Kitchen, using a little smoked paprika to season the greens (among other things) makes it so you don't miss the bacon... but collards aren't very photogenic so no pictures. We also had a great salad, perfect skillet cornbread, and Nhu's incredibly delicious gumbo... no pictures of the empty pot that remained after I snuck the last portion into the fridge for my lunch the next day.

Of course, the desserts! I wanted to make sweet potato pie but I couldn't decide between two recipes, and at the store I couldn't decide between white sweet potatoes and orange ones. So I made:

Molasses-pecan sweet potato pie from Eula Mae's Cajun Kitchen. It had good texture but pretty strong molasses-ey flavor. I would make it again with only honey or cane syrup so you could taste the sweet potatoes.

Sweet Potato- Buttermilk pie from Lee Brothers Southern Cookbook. This one I made with the white sweet potatoes and it tasted like cheesecake! You whip the whites separately and fold them into the pie, making it very light and delicate. I liked this and the flavor was nice, but I would definitely try it with the stronger tasting orange/garnet yams next time. Recipe on request!

I also made a Red Velvet Cake, but I didn't get a good photo. I use the Buttermilk Cake recipe from Joy of cooking, adding 3Tb of cocoa powder and 1 bottle (3oz) Red food coloring, then frost with cream cheese frosting. I always make cream cheese frosting with
1 stick softened butter
2 packages (16 oz) cream cheese
powdered sugar to taste or until a good texture (usually 3-4 cups)
1 tsp vanilla
beat sugar and cream cheese in mixer until smooth. Add powdered sugar a little at a time until it's sweet enough and holds together well. Beat in vanilla. Add more sugar if too soft and a splash of milk or cream if too stiff.

This Southern Feast was amazing - and we all had a great time, helped along by my Southern-style Rum Punch;

Recipe; Cut up 2in knob of fresh ginger, 2 peaches, 1 lemon and one orange and put in a big pot or juice pitcher with a top. Cover with 1-2 cups of liquor mixed between spiced rum, brandy, vodka, and flavored liquor (I used domaine canton ginger flavor and a splash of orange, I think). Add a juice to you need to cover the fruit (or you can use unsweet iced tea). I used white cranberry-peach cocktail and it was great in this. Soak in the fridge for at least 4 hours. When ready, mix about 1 1/2 cups booze, a few scoops of boozy fruit (avoid the ginger), 1/2 bottle of champagne, juice and some club soda to taste with ice in a pitcher. Sorry to say I don't have exact amounts, you're just going to have to suffer through tasting it and making sure it's right. If you can fish out the boozy peaches, darn but they are amazing!

This booze mix will make 2-3 pitchers of punch. You can add more or less hard liquor to adjust the strength.

2010-09-29T23:00:00.000-07:00

Farmer's Market Feast

Menu for Sunday, October 3rd

A variety of fresh and vegetarian dishes

created from what we get at the Berkeley Farmer's Market

Fresh Fruit Pie

***

Needs:

Anything! Vegetarian only please*

Bread & Cheese

Wine

5:30 PM Sunday

Number of Guests - up to 10

Please RSVP before Friday Evening

***

* We want to be able to host Bill Clinton should he want to crash!

Recap & Recipes: Comfort Food

2010-09-22T00:57:00.000-07:00

After the last couple of weeks, our tummies and our feet needed a little break. We had lots of fun making traditional American food

Comfort Food - September 12th

We made our favorite comfort food recipe:

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti

I never had casseroles growing up, so they feel exotic to me, and this one is excellent. The recipe makes a big batch and there is always enough to freeze. This time, I experimented with using a combination of Campbell's cream of mushroom and a new Pacific-brand natural condensed soup. It helped to cut down on the MSG!!! effect which is, to tell the truth, part of the charm of this recipe. I ended up using about 1/2 and 1/2 regular and natural soups and I was very happy with it. We also got a nice, thick spaghetti and cooked it just barely al dente which keeps the casserole from getting mushy. I added some bread crumbs on top.

We also got one pasture-raised chicken and one organic/free-range chicken. Since I had to pick the meat off both boiled chickens, I was suprised to find the difference between them. Before cooking, the pastured chicken (which was MUCH more expensive) was obviously a different variety with a thinner shape, much smaller breasts, and longer legs. The pastured bird had bright yellow fat instead of ivory. The meat was much tougher and the ligaments and muscles were stronger, but the chicken also had a great 'chickeny' flavor. I would use it again for a braising or soup recipe but not sure how it would fare as a roasting bird.

The grilled cheese and tomato soup was yummy - no recipe as I always cheat and buy the roasted red pepper + tomato soup from Imagine or Trader Joe's

We all had fun eating artichokes and learning how to cut out the hearts to dip in butter - always the best part and your reward for eating all of the leaves!

For dessert, I made a yellow cake with chocolate frosting. After reading that Warren Brown's CakeLove yellow cake recipe was the winner after six recipe tests, I tried the recipe in the original form (with potato starch) since I had some potato starch to use up in the cabinet. I was happy with the cake, but definitely not the frosting as given; I had to add almost 1/2 cup of extra cocoa powder to get it chocolatey enough. The cake was good, but I'll stick to this recipe from smittenkitchen in the future.

The winner of dessert was definitely this apple pie, which we enjoyed with a "first dinner party" bottle of champagne Amorette gave me at my bachelorette party. Yes, Ami, we know it wasn't REALLY the first dinner party - but we forgot about the wine for the first one, put it in the fridge last week, and remembered to have it this week! It was a lovely not-too-sweet wine and great with dessert.

The apple pie, on the other hand, was amazing. The recipe has been saved by 77,000 people and reviewed by more than 3,200. It has an unusual technique where you make a brown sugar sauce and pour through the top of the crust onto the apples. I made a few changes: use 1/8c brandy + 1/8c water for the sauce, add 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2tsp vanilla and a bit of nutmeg. I mixed half the sauce with the apples in a bowl, and half poured over as directed. It took me about 1 1/2 hours to bake but my pies always seem to take a looooong time (I turned the oven temp down for the end).

Seriously, I love all variations on apple pie, but this was just the best one I have made. I also made the crust with 1/2 whole wheat pastry flour which added something nice and healthy.

Sunday, September 26th - Indian Dinner

2010-09-22T00:18:00.000-07:00

Indian Spread

Menu for Sunday, September 26th

Saag Paneer

Tandoori Lamb Skewers

Urad Dal

Naan

Rice

Kheer

***

Needs:

Appetizers (Chaat, samosa, papadum, etc.)

Other curries

Indian Sweets from Vik's

Mango Lassi

5:30 PM Sunday

Number of guests - up to 8

Please RSVP before Friday Evening

***

Sunday, September 19th - Southern and Creole Feast

2010-09-15T01:15:00.000-07:00

***********

SOUTHERN AND CREOLE FEAST

Menu for Sunday, September 19th

Deviled Eggs

Jambalaya

Gumbo

Collard Greens (vegetarian style)

Bean dish TBD (vegetarian style)

Sweet Potato Buttermilk Pie

Red Velvet Cake

***

Needs:

Cornbread, Biscuits,

Side dishes:

Salads, any southern-style vegetable, other Southern dish

Sweet and un-sweet Iced Tea

If you know someone with green tomatoes or

can fix fried green tomatoes let us know!

5:30 PM Sunday

Number of guests - up to 16

Please RSVP before Friday Evening

***

Sunday, September 12th: Comfort Food

2010-09-07T23:21:00.000-07:00

COMFORT FOOD

MENU FOR SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12th, 2010

***

Grilled Cheese mini-sandwiches with Tomato Soup

Pioneer Woman's Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

Broccoli "Trees" and Artichokes with butter & parm. cheese

Yellow Cake with Chocolate Frosting

Apple Pie

***

***
Number of guests - up to 18 (plus ourselves)

Time - 5:30 PM Sunday
-

Needs:

Homestyle Salad

Soft Dinner Rolls

Side Dish or Appetizer like Mama (or Papa) used to make

Beer, Milk or Juice

Note: If you would like to help us prepare or cook,
or would like to finish baking or cooking something here,
please just let us know, we're happy for the kitchen company!

Update: Easier email notifications

2010-09-07T23:16:00.000-07:00

I noticed that people are having trouble getting updates when a new post is added to the blog, especially if you tried the "follow" option I suggested last time.

Some of you already use Google Reader or similar RSS feeds or have "followed" with your Google accounts; let me know if post notifications aren't working for you.

I discovered and set up an easier way to send you email notifications; on the right-hand sidebar there is now a Feedburner gadget that looks like this:

Simply enter your email and click "subscribe", follow the instructions, and you should automatically be emailed when a new post is made. I've made clearer RSS feed buttons below that as well.

If this still isn't working for you, or signing up for Feedburner makes you nervous, I can manually add up to 10 email addresses to be notified when I publish. You just need to ask to be on the list!

This week is the last week we'll send out a mass email announcing the party, so you'll need to check the blog or sign up for emails in order to get the menus right away. Please RSVP by commenting on the menu as soon as you can so we know how much food to buy on Friday or Saturday, thanks!

We are SO looking forward to this weekend's dinner, it will be scrumptious - trust us!

Recap: 9/5/10

2010-09-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely dinner on Sunday, everyone was relaxed and happy since it was a holiday weekend. On top of that, several of the dinner guests had something good in their lives to celebrate, and we had some adorable tykes to provide entertainment. A great time was had by all....

We enjoyed fresh pasta made by John using our KitchenAid mixer:

Rolling the pasta, storage solution, cutting the fettuccine.

Finished dish.

Fresh Fettucine with vegetables, cranberry beans, and chantarelles in gorgonzola cream sauce.

Sautee veggies (carrots, shallots, red pepper & beans) in butter then add veggie broth and mushrooms and simmer til just done. Reserve on stove. For each batch, simmer broccolini and pasta together until just done. Mix veggies, pasta, parmesan cheese, gorgonzola cheese, heavy cream and pasta water til you like the consistency. Toss with fresh herbs and serve.

We also had Grilled Ribeye steak with a lemon-pepper-herb rub; and Grilled Portabella mushrooms with balsamic-herb marinade; we devoured these so fast we didn't take a good picture.

For a starter we had fresh home-made bread from E. and Acme sourdough from J. to eat with

Roasted Caprese Salad:

Smash a few cloves of garlic and rub the bottom of a roasting pan. Add olive oil, the garlic, one pint of heirloom or cherry tomatoes per person. Drizzle with oil, balsamic vinegar and a bit of salt. Roast at 425-450 until the tomatoes are cracked and juicy. Spoon tomatoes around fresh mozzarella (or Burrata if you are feeling fancy) and garnish with fresh basil. Serve warm with fresh bread to mop up the juices.

and some Olives from BB's olive bar:

along with a Green Salad from M&R.

For dessert we had Rhubarb tart with cornmeal crust:

recipe from Good to the Grain.

And Nectarine-Plum upside-down cake:

Recipe from Seasonal Fruit Desserts.

both served with some cinnamon whipped cream. Recipes on request!

And a good time was had by all!

This week's menu coming soon...

Sunday, September 5th: Italian(ish) Grill

2010-09-01T09:25:00.000-07:00

ITALIAN SUMMER GRILL

MENU FOR SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 5th:
~

Roasted tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and basil

Home-made pasta with vegetables and a light sauce

Italian-style grilled beef steak

Apricot/Plum/Peach cake or galette

Number of guests: 14 (plus ourselves)

Time: 5:30PM Sunday

Email for address/directions if you don't have it

Need: Red wine, salad?, crusty bread

RSVP in the comments, below if you are coming:
name, # of guests, bringing anything?

Welcome to Foodie Sundays!

2010-08-31T16:33:00.000-07:00

John and I were married on July 10th, 2010. We were only engaged for six months - just enough time to plan the wedding, but we were definitely lacking in free time this spring. On top of that, we were lucky enough to receive a number of generous kitchen and food-related wedding gifts. In order to re-connect with our friends, take advantage of our new gadgets and dishes, and indulge our food and entertaining fantasies, John had a fantastic idea - throw an open-house dinner party every Sunday in September and October.

How it works:

Each week, on Monday or Tuesday, we will post a menu and description for Sunday's meal. There are a few easy ways to subscribe to posts:

1) you can send me a request to be automatically emailed each time the blog is updated (should be 1-3 times a week), but for some reason Blogger is limiting me to 10 email addresses for this

2) you can subscribe via your Google account by clicking the link on the righthand sidebar:

or, by clicking the "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" link at the bottom of the page

3) if you use RSS subscriptions to follow blogs, just put the blog's URL into your Google Reader and you should be able to see new posts as soon as they appear.

4) if we can't get any automated options to work for you, you can ask to be manually emailed with updates to the blog, or you can just remember to check it on Monday or Tuesday.

Each post will have a description of the general or specific menu for the next Sunday, what else people might bring, and how many guests we can have that week. The first "x" guests to comment on the post will be welcome to attend; I will try to add a comment when we have reached the limit, but latecomers can comment and ask to be emailed or called if a couple of people cancel or no-show.

If you want to be emailed when people comment on a post, use the "subscribe by email" link or this button if it appears for you:

We are hoping that this can be a community event, but not necessarily a potluck. Let's say you come to 4 out of 8 dinners. Maybe you could bring wine, an appetizer, side dish or a salad to 1 or 2 of those - and for the others you could just be a guest! Please don't feel like you can't come over unless you bring something. On the other hand, if you would especially like to come over and help one of us, or make a special side dish for a particular meal, just let us know.

If you have a dietary restriction, or are bringing a veg/pescetarian to a meal without the right protein source on the menu, please let me know and we will work it out.

Any questions? Ask in the comments! This week's post coming soon...