SOMETHING FISHY WENT ON!

When I was planning the meal for some friends who were coming over for dinner last night, it was one of those freaky very hot days for April.  Had already decided to cook fish and remembered something I had done last year just for Alan and I that I mentally earmarked as a good dinner party dish.

GREEK STYLE MAHI MAHI was what I decided on. Only problem was that there was no Mahi Mahi to be found.  We have a pretty good fish monger in New Canaan and he had some Scottish salmon which had apparently flown in the night before! It worked really well and looked very pretty too.  Served this with TOASTED ORZO WITH SAFFRON AND FENNEL, as suggested in the fish recipe.  It was really good, little tricky to make as you do not drain once cooked, so you have to get the amount of water exactly right.  My quantities were different, so I calculated the amount of water, used a bit less and kept additional water just off the boil in the kettle.  I did need to add some more water and it all worked out fine.  Val did a delicious green salad to go with, which had a lemony dressing.  Her new trick was to add thinly sliced brussel sprouts which added some great crunch.

 Another delightful and delicious evening, around my table with friends.

NOT THE SUNDAY ROAST!

Julia's brother and niece are visiting from London, wanted to try to give them some 'taste' of our lives.  We have had some freakily warm weather recently which probably affected my decision to do Beef Salad with Asian dressing.  This is a very short recipe I cut out of the NY Times some years ago, have made it maybe 6 times, and it is always good.  Makes me think of my nephew, Sean, because I did it for him and his Dad & brother a couple of years ago and he really enjoyed it. Anyway, back to the present - it was a chilly, rainy day BUT this only takes about 10 minutes on the grill,  Alan was stoic and it was wonderful!  Good dish for a dinner party, all the prep can be done in advance, all you need to do is grill the meat and toss the salad.  I change up the lettuce, today it was a mix of cos and baby arugula. Very important not to overcook the meat, it turns into leather!  Alan cooked it perfectly and ours was sumptuous!

Dessert for the boys!

BLOOD ORANGE POLENTA UPSIDE DOWN CAKE:

Was going to be a gorgeous day, who would have guessed after that big storm just one week ago! Another wonderful dinner planned at Julia's, with good friends, Iain & Rick who we just do not see often enough.  Bamfords were joining too, so, OK, a few few girls present but the boys visit was the reason for the gathering.
As happens so often, leafed through the current Bon Appetit and decided to make this cake.  Was thrilled with it, pretty easy, looked good (presentation always important!), and the fact that I was not allowed to bring home the left-overs is proof that it was delicious!
Not much to add to this recipe, don't fuss too much over making the orange slices too perfect, the baking covers the imperfections. The first layer should look good, choose your  best slices, after that don't worry too much.  Also, recipe said to bake for 45 mins, mine was done after 35.
One thing to add, I really still enjoy reading the actual magazine, rather than 'browsing' on line.  I also love that I can then save the recipe in my own file on Epicurious, so much easier to organise recipes that way.  I wish that all the recipes in the many cook books I own, were available on the Author's web sites.  Some are but many are not.  As I have already paid for the book I feel I should be able to use the recipes  from the site.  There has to be a way to figure this out.  Maybe I should start a group on Facebook to see if anyone else feels strongly about this, perhaps we can affect some changes!!

YOUR CHICKEN MY CHICKEN!

It has been a stormy weekend!  My good friends were without power and we discovered that we both had a chicken in the fridge, planning to do a Sunday roast chicken.
I was going to do the standard sage and sausage meat stuffing, not sure what Julia was planning with hers.  As we were prepping we (she would say 'I'!) starting talking about my chicken vs your chicken! MINE was a Bell & Evans and HERS was a Stop &Shop, Natures Choice.
Turned a routine Sunday into fun almost dinner party,  relaxed, family style.
Here are the equally delicious chickens, photo does not do them justice, sorry! Let me know if you need 'recipe'.  Few roast veggies to go with, of course!

CASSOULET & PROFITEROLES

Charlotte was in the mood for cooking Cassoulet, luckily for her friends! I offered to bring a relevant and, hopefully, worthy dessert.  I browsed through my cook books and looked at Epicurious and decided on Profiteroles.  The recipe I used was actually from La Varenne school of cooking.  A very long time ago, when I lived in London I collected this series of partworks from The Observer, which was 'the other' Sunday newspaper.  I still have this collection, in the binder which I must have sent away for!  I use quite a few recipes in here, the classic French Apple Tart which I did for Elizabeth is from the same series. I cannot find this recipe on line and so have substituted one from Epicurious, which looks very similar for the pastry. This recipe calls for the choux puffs to be filled with Ice Cream, which I'm sure is pretty good but I prefer the classic Creme Patisserie.  I include here recipe for Custard from Delia, which is very similar.  Make sure it is thick enough, maybe use a little less cream and make in advance so that it can chill for at least an hour before you use to fill the profiteroles.
Have to apologize for the picture, I forgot to take one before it got devoured, BUT it did look spectacular, was much admired and was really quite delicious!
(Note 1: in order to get the Delia recipe you have to become a member, which only takes a few seconds and if you remember to un-check the relevant boxes you won't get any unwanted solicitations from them!
Note 2: This is not the Cassoulet recipe Charlotte used, but looks pretty good to me.)

Here is chocolate sauce recipe I used, which in one opinion voiced last night, 'made the dish!'

• 1001g/7 ozs good dark chocolate (I used Green & Black organic)
• 60g/2ozs butter (I only ever have salted butter)
• 5 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons rum, brandy or Grand Marnier (I used a Remy Martin, thanks Tim!)

Put first 4 ingredients in microwave safe bowl, microwave until chocolate almost melted, but still some visible chunks. (Can do this old fashioned way, bowl over simmering water, if you prefer). Remove and beat until smooth and glossy.  Stir in liqueur. Reheat gently in microwave just before using.

Here is what they sort of looked like! I made them smaller, more or less bite sized as that is how I like them.

VEGETARIAN VALENTINE!

Tiffany and Noah came for dinner last night. It was a multi celebration, both their birthdays were in January and mine was a few days ago, what to cook??
I got a Kitchenaid standing mixer for my birthday, long overdue, in fact most of my 'cooky' friends can't believe I have not had one for years! My wonderful husband added Thomas Keller's 'Ad Hoc at home' to the birthday gift so I had to find something to use both of my new toys, and of course satisfy vegetarians and carnivores.
Leek Bread Pudding served with Slow Roasted Tomatoes was the answer.  Here is the tomato recipe as I cannot find link and it was pretty easy:

• 12 plum tomatoes
• few sprigs thyme
• Half cup extra virgin olive oil
• Salt & pepper

Heat oven to 200 degrees F.  Line baking tray with foil.  Skin tomatoes (he suggests coring then making a long cross on other end, worked really well) by plunging into boiling water; as soon as you see peel coming away put them into water bath to prevent cooking and cool enough to handle and peel.  Cut in half length ways. Put cut side up onto tray, drizzle oil over them, making sure oil goes into crevices in tomoatoes; scatter thyme and season.  Bake for 5 - 6 hours depending on size.  My tomatoes were pretty large so I did them for 6 hours and honestly, although they were delicious I think they might even have improved with more time.  Do not be tempted to over-season, the long cooking time concentrates the flavours. These will complement all kinds of dishes, we are planning to use the leftovers with some steal tonight.
The Leek bread pudding was absolutely delicious.  I could not find brioche or a pullman loaf the recipe called for, so used challah, which I have used before in bread pudding.  It was very light and pretty rich.  Only thing I would say is that, next time, I would prefer this as a smaller part of the meal rather than the star.  I also thought there could have been more leeks, recipe called for 2 cups, I would try 3 next time. And the last thing is that it is difficult to distribute the leeks evenly when you mix with the bread as per the recipe. I will add the leeks when you do the layers with the bread and cheese next time, I think, put a layer of leeks under the cheese.
I added some roasted vegetables and chicken thighs to the menu.  More of that in next post!

PERFECT LEMON BARS!

Thanks to Elizbeth, she posted this on her blog and she is right, this is the best Lemon Bar Recipe, from Ina Garten. She does a different crust which I also copied and it is excellent. Here it is, with a couple of modifications, sorry we all have our tried and trusted methods! 

    * 2 cups whole wheat flour (this makes it nutty and interesting)

    * 3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting

    * 1 tsp salt

    * 2 sticks butter, at room temperature but cool

Pulse the flour and sugar in a food processor and slowly add the butter until crumbly, not quite holding together.  Pat into a 9×13 pan,  put in freezer for about 20 mins, then bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until the edges started to brown. Pour Ina’s filling onto the warm crust and return to the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely, dust with powder sugar and cut.  I find the few mins in the freezer makes the crust crumblier and more delicious, and does not add time as the filling took about 40 mins to make.  If you are a quicker baker than me then adjust the time in the freezer accordingly!

These freeze really well for 6 weeks or so, max. MIne never last that long! T