Tuesday Night #8 - 5/17/11

My friend Julie threw us all for a loop when she announced her engagement.  The "girls" and I decided to get together for an impromptu happy hour.  Jason and the groom-to-be joined us.  We hosted at the house and it just happened to fall on a Tuesday night.  The plan was to arrive with an app and a bottle of champagne/prosseco/sparkling wine.

I tossed together Jason and my favorite salad--simply mixed greens and a basic vinaigrette.

Basic Vinaigrette

from Mark Bittman's The Minimalist Cooks at Home

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 T. or more good wine vinegar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 large shallot (about 1 oz.) peeled and cut into chunks

Whisk together.  Best used fresh but will keep a few days in the fridge.  Makes about 3/4 cup.

I use Olio Santo Olive Oil and Olivier Balsamic Vinegar aged 25 years.  Both available at Williams Sonoma.  Grey Poupon mustard.  These olive oil and vinegar are the key.  I've done it with others, still good but not as fabulous.

I also did grilled bread spread with goat cheese and topped with chopped ratatouille.  For the ratatouille I grilled 2 whole portobello mushrooms, a red bell pepper sliced in half, a yellow zucchini cut lengthwise, a red onion sliced thickly and skewered so it would stay together and lastly a halved tomato.  These were grilled until they soften slightly but are not mushy.  After removing them from the grill I let them cool before I diced them all up.  Once it is like a chunky salsa I add balsamic vinegar, olive oil, chopped garlic, salt, pepper and handfuls of whatever fresh herbs I have around -- basil, oregano, rosemary and italian parsley.  Toss this all up and use it to top grilled italian bread with goat cheese.  Yum!

Along with this we had a great cheese plate, smoked trout spread, cake, cupcakes and lots up bubbly.  A good time was had by all.

Thanks to Ann, Tiffany and Jason.  Congratulations to Julie and Mark!

Tuesday Night #3 - 12/14/10

Tuesday Night Dinner Party was reserved for family in honor of my mom and sister's birthdays.  Mom requested chocolate, of course, and Lisa choose lemon poppy seed cake.  Grandma flipped when I told her I planned on only making a chocolate dessert.  As a result I quick ran and got mini lemon poppy seed muffins.

MENU
Appetizer - Stuffed Mushrooms (Epicurious.com), cherry tomatoes
Wine - Pinot Grigio (Black Box)
Salad - Caesar
Bread - Garlic
Entree - Turkey and Artichoke Stuffed Shells with Arabiatta Sauce (Giada DeLaurentis)
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/turkey-and-artichoke-stuffed-shells-with-arrabbiata-sauce-recipe/index.html
Dessert - Mini lemon poppy seed muffins, Chocolate Oblivion Truffle Torte w/ Raspberry Sauce (The Cake Bible) and Whipped Cream.

OK, this menu is the bomb.  I started on the stuffed shells on Monday.  I doubled the batch so we'd have some for the freezer but somehow it seemed to produce almost 3 times the amount.  I was up to my elbows in pasta, sauce and filling.  I had started the raspberry sauce the night before so i finished that up as well.  This was a dinner party for 8.  Had to pull out the folding chairs.

Family all arrived and we had beer and wine along with our apps.  I saved a small portion of the stuffed mushrooms for Jason and I.  I was sick of no leftovers for the next day.  I should not have bothered since I didn't think the mushrooms were that good.  Next time I'll try a recipe with spicy sausage in it.  Dinner was great and again, everyone had seconds.  Everyone oohed and awed when I served the torte.  I did look very pretty with the sauce and whipped cream.  I stacked the mini poppy seed muffins into a pyramid.  Corny but effective.

This picture really does not do it justice.

No game playing this week.  The birthday girls had gifts to open.  I got my mom flowers and my sister a casserole dish with the Campbell's soup recipe printed on it.  I think it is totally cute.  It is significant because it is pretty much the only thing she is allowed to bring to family dinners.  She has many talents but cooing is not one of them.  My niece entertained me after the meal when I had a chance to relax.  What an angel!

Jason did an excellent job of cleaning up the able and starting the dishwasher.  I owe him because I got a little crunched for time and when he got home I started barking orders at him.  Yikes!  I can get a little worked up.  I apologized and thanked him already.  Once again, he got yummy leftovers for lunch and I didn't.  I woke up about 2:30 in the morning and when and did the final load of dishes and cleaned up the kitchen nice.  At least he didn't have to see a mess while making his morning coffee.

Thanks to mom, dad, grandma, Lisa, Tim, Carol, Morgan and most of all Jason.

Tuesday Night #2 - 12/7/10

Oh boy, well, I have already fallen behind.  It is already the Wednesday after Dinner #3 and I haven't blogged about #2.  I must improve.

I once again had to email/call invites.  I think this is how it is going to be until Tuesday Night Dinner Party catches on.

I feel that this meal was an improvement over the first.  The menu was as follows:  Appetizers = Auntie Kathy's Chex mix, dill herbed cream cheese piped on vegetable crudites, Entree = bolognese sauce on linguine, Salad = mixed baby greens with my favorite vinegarette, Bread = italian herb, Dessert  = Auntie Kathy's chocolate peanut clusters and assorted chocolates.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/flavored-cream-cheeses

I loved the herbed cream cheese.  It is so fun and cute to pipe it onto veggies!  This is from martha Stewart's Hors Devours  cookbook.  I did them for christmas one year.  The bolognese sauce is a favorite from the Dean and Deluca cookbook.  I loved Lynn Rossetto Kasper's bolognese from The Splendid Table (or maybe it is the Italian Country Table) but her recipe is much more complicated.  My italian herb bread didn't excite me.  I won't use that recipe again.  Auntie Kathy's treats are super!  That is why I am glad to have them out of the house.  Too tempting.

I'm pleased to say that everyone mixed nicely and we had a good time.  Everyone had second helpings! :)  Beer and wine was plentiful.  We even had a nice italian red to go with the meal.  There were only enough leftovers for Jason's lunch.  None for me.  :(  We girls played Bananagrams after dinner and listened to the guys talk--very entertaining.  Overall, good friends, good food, good hooch and a good time.

I have figured out that for the future 6 is the right amount of people for dinner.  We can fit that amount comfortable around the dining table without having to pull out folding chairs.  We have a smaller living room that 8 gets tight in.  It is also way easier to cook for 6 than 8 so far.  I'm still a novice.

Thanks to Jason for all his help getting the house ready for guests and thanks to Tara, Sean, Mark and Sandra for making it a good night.