Our friend Linda came over on Friday night. We haven't seen her in a long time, and she admits she is just now begining to poke her head out after a couple of years of baby-induced isolation. We'd planned just a little get together, to let her finally see our house, to catch up, and to enjoy a nice meal. Dinner was pretty simple, and took me about two hours to put together. I did all the main work before she arrived so we could concentrate of socializing as I finished a little sauteeing. Then we were able to sit down and enjoy good food and good company.
I started with a Kabocha Squash Bisque, drizzled with Sage Oil. I like using kabocha over butternut squash for a couple of reasons. The flesh, once roasted, seem smoother and finer to me. It purees perfectly. It is also less sweet and has a richer, nuttier flavor. It takes flavors like curry and chili and melds wonderfully. I made this bisque with just a little butter, cream, coriander, cayenne, and rice wine vinegar. The sage oil was just crushed sage leaves seeped in warmed olive oil until infused.
Our next course was a miso/sake glazed ahi tuna, seared and sliced over a roll of sushi rice, with a pile of wakame seaweed salad and honey-chili avocado relish. The relish was super simple: I diced some avocado, sprinkled with a touch of salt, and drizzled a blend of honey and chili powder, then tossed. Because of its nature, honey will prevent an avocado from oxidizing the same as lemon juice, and it provides a great alternative flavor. For fun and flourish I added a rambutan(that spiny-looking thing) to each plate. The fruit was a nice palate cleanser after the dish.
After that I finished off the sushi grade grilled salmon, dusted with cumin, coriander, chili powder and garlic, and set it atop the creamed leeks, celeriac, and red onions. I usually match celeriac up with salmon these days, and generally it is pureed, as with mashed potatoes. But this time I shredded it and creamed it with the leeks and onions. The results were very pleasing. I topped the salmon with a spoonfull of heirloom tomato/dijon mustard salsa spiked with a little white balsamic vinegar.
All of that would probably have been enough, but I went one dish farther and did a red wine/balsamic braised short rib (I used a piece of chuck flap, which works excellently for braising). I sliced some king trumpet mushrooms and braised them in the beef's liquid for about 20 minutes, then reduced and strained the braising liquid to make a sauce. I oven roasted tiny tri-color potatoes with oil, garlic, and smoked salt, and sauteed a bunch of red swiss chard. The meat came out fork tender, the potatoes were perfect, the chard provided a nice bitter bite back against the somewhat sweet sauce, and the mushrooms added a beefy complement to the short ribs. Of course the beef and sauce were very dark, as were the mushrooms and the chard. Not the best photo, but it tasted darn good, for sure.
We retired to the living room for more catching up and dessert. A simple yet flavorful Caramel Vanilla Creme Panna Cotta, with Caramelized Seckle Pear and an Amarena Cherry. I made the caramel sauce for the bottom of the dish, and let it set up in the fridge, but bein impatient I added the panna cotta too soon and it melted and combined. Still, very good. A little too stiff, however. I cut back the gelatin quantity by 1/3 from the recomended amount, because I was making the panna cotta with 36% heavy cream. It was still a bit too much, since the panna cotta was not as smooth and spoonable as I wanted. Flavors were all there, anyway.
It is always a joy to cook for friends and to experiment with foods. I love having dinners like this, for the company and for the chance to play in Jack's Kitchen.
I was asked to make up a chocolate strawberry plate for a bachlorette party at work. I thought of ways to make it nice and creative, and to really "wow" the ladies and make it special. I dipped the strawberries and drizzled with white chocolate, then put them on sticks and arranged them in a vase filled with mint and lettuce, with some red grapes and rambutans for garnish.
I started with a Kabocha Squash Bisque, drizzled with Sage Oil. I like using kabocha over butternut squash for a couple of reasons. The flesh, once roasted, seem smoother and finer to me. It purees perfectly. It is also less sweet and has a richer, nuttier flavor. It takes flavors like curry and chili and melds wonderfully. I made this bisque with just a little butter, cream, coriander, cayenne, and rice wine vinegar. The sage oil was just crushed sage leaves seeped in warmed olive oil until infused.
