Recipes and Resolutions
When I was in first grade, Sister Mary Jane, yelled at me quite ferociously for coloring a picture of a pumpkin horizontally after the class had been instructed to fill it in vertically. This was the very same nun who once broke a paddle on a naughty boy. And it didn't stop there. Sister MJ once asked the girl next to me, who had been talking during class, whether she would like a milkshake and what flavor. When the girl replied chocolate, the nasty nun grabbed her arm and shook it until the girl started to cry.
But as long as I could prattle on about the detrimental effects of parochial education, the point is that I don't always like to follow instructions, a tendency going back to the days of corporal punishment and hot lunches with tater tots. (That was always a good day wasn't it? When the hot lunch had tater tots?)
Well, my friends, with such a past, it is little wonder that I can't seem to follow a recipe. Whether by design, or sometimes poor planning, it seems an impossible task. And, although I once heard Nigella Lawson give very good advice during an interview on NPR that one should never cook something for guests that one has not already cooked and tried oneself, I have done it anyway, time and again.
I have decided that Nigella is probably right, at least when you are first cooking for someone you are newly dating. That's right, readers. I made dinner for the German last night. I did not follow the recipe I had for mushroom stew and dumplings because I wanted to make corn pudding instead of dumplings and add sausage for protein. Because I skipped over the first several steps of the recipe, two key ingredients were missing from my shopping list: Madeira (fortified Portuguese wine) and dried porcini mushrooms. And, the bison garlic sausage I bought at the farmer's market at noon was still frozen at 5:00.
So, the mushroom stew was lacking some depth (and protein), but a drizzle of white truffle oil over the top gave it a decadent earthy punch, and the broth was flavorful with rosemary and sage. (Thanks, LB and EB for such a fantastic gift!) The corn pudding was not as good as the one from last week. I didn't even follow my own recipe; I substituted smoked mozzarella for the Gruyère. Mozzarella is too mild for this dish, and I don't care for its stringy consistency when melted.
(The leftover mushrooms made for a tasty brunch today with a poached egg, arugula, blue cheese and crusty multigrain baguette. And the broth is going into another stew today with the bison and whatever other odds and ends I have in the kitchen.)
As a starter for our dinner, I served a salad of arugula and figs, a nice combo given their differing spicy-sweet flavors. Mine included Rogue blue cheese as well, but no blue cheese on salads for my otherwise nearly omnivorous dinner guest. We enjoyed a very nice bottle of red wine: 2007 Prestige Coteaux du Languedoc from Chateau des Hospitaliers, picked by the German in theme with the hospital located across the street from my apartment.
Dessert was an appearance by none other than Pappy Van Winkle.
All in all, it was a lovely evening, though perhaps one of my New Year's resolutions will be to follow recipes more closely and to test dishes before serving them. However, I still plan to color any direction I please.
Speaking of New Year's, A and her beaux M hosted a fondue party on Thursday. M flexed his culinary muscles by serving a roast, simply seasoned with Herbes de Provence and cooked in the oven until perfectly juicy. The juice was brought to a simmer and placed into a fondue pot. A second fondue pot was filled with Sauterne (French white wine), garlic, and lemon juice. When the wine was boiling, a combination of Appenzeller, Emmenthal and Gruyère cheeses was added with a little bit of cornstarch for smoothness.
Double-dipping abounded as we let veggies, beef or bread sit a moment in the juice and then dunked each bite in cheese. (There was chicken as well for one guest who did not eat "meat." Yep, that's what she said.) Beverages for the seven of us included Rosè Cava, Bulleit Bourbon, Williams Pear Brandy, Crystal Light and a variety of beer.
After stuffing myself silly, I put on some lip gloss and said farewell to my gracious hosts. I had a dessert-and-champagne date with the German. He followed Nigella's cooking rule much better than I by making his signature dish of creme caramel, which was fabulously sweet with a texture that was much more pleasant than the cremes of my past. Although the German was slightly unhappy with the few speckles of burnt caramel in the middle, I quite enjoyed the balancing hint of bitterness.
Also of note this week, dinner at Salumeria Rosi on the Upper West Side, a favorite of the German and a cozy spot with delicious salumi (cured meats) and a nice selection of wine. I decided to forego taking notes, but I highly recommend a visit, particularly on a cold winter day. What better to warm you up than wine, meat and good company?
And, brunch at Mud on East 9th Street with A and with LP (on different days). Dark, wonderful coffee with tasty brunch items like the Avocado panini and eggs with bacon and guacamole. Service is super slow so allow yourself a good amount of time and order that second cup of mud before you finish the first!
There you have it, readers, a new year rung in with, what else? Generally gluttonous gastronomy and fancy panties. And, wow, what do you know? This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Urban Gastronomy.
Stay tuned!
When I was in first grade, Sister Mary Jane, yelled at me quite ferociously for coloring a picture of a pumpkin horizontally after the class had been instructed to fill it in vertically. This was the very same nun who once broke a paddle on a naughty boy. And it didn't stop there. Sister MJ once asked the girl next to me, who had been talking during class, whether she would like a milkshake and what flavor. When the girl replied chocolate, the nasty nun grabbed her arm and shook it until the girl started to cry.
But as long as I could prattle on about the detrimental effects of parochial education, the point is that I don't always like to follow instructions, a tendency going back to the days of corporal punishment and hot lunches with tater tots. (That was always a good day wasn't it? When the hot lunch had tater tots?)
Well, my friends, with such a past, it is little wonder that I can't seem to follow a recipe. Whether by design, or sometimes poor planning, it seems an impossible task. And, although I once heard Nigella Lawson give very good advice during an interview on NPR that one should never cook something for guests that one has not already cooked and tried oneself, I have done it anyway, time and again.
I have decided that Nigella is probably right, at least when you are first cooking for someone you are newly dating. That's right, readers. I made dinner for the German last night. I did not follow the recipe I had for mushroom stew and dumplings because I wanted to make corn pudding instead of dumplings and add sausage for protein. Because I skipped over the first several steps of the recipe, two key ingredients were missing from my shopping list: Madeira (fortified Portuguese wine) and dried porcini mushrooms. And, the bison garlic sausage I bought at the farmer's market at noon was still frozen at 5:00.
So, the mushroom stew was lacking some depth (and protein), but a drizzle of white truffle oil over the top gave it a decadent earthy punch, and the broth was flavorful with rosemary and sage. (Thanks, LB and EB for such a fantastic gift!) The corn pudding was not as good as the one from last week. I didn't even follow my own recipe; I substituted smoked mozzarella for the Gruyère. Mozzarella is too mild for this dish, and I don't care for its stringy consistency when melted.
(The leftover mushrooms made for a tasty brunch today with a poached egg, arugula, blue cheese and crusty multigrain baguette. And the broth is going into another stew today with the bison and whatever other odds and ends I have in the kitchen.)
As a starter for our dinner, I served a salad of arugula and figs, a nice combo given their differing spicy-sweet flavors. Mine included Rogue blue cheese as well, but no blue cheese on salads for my otherwise nearly omnivorous dinner guest. We enjoyed a very nice bottle of red wine: 2007 Prestige Coteaux du Languedoc from Chateau des Hospitaliers, picked by the German in theme with the hospital located across the street from my apartment.
Dessert was an appearance by none other than Pappy Van Winkle.
All in all, it was a lovely evening, though perhaps one of my New Year's resolutions will be to follow recipes more closely and to test dishes before serving them. However, I still plan to color any direction I please.
Speaking of New Year's, A and her beaux M hosted a fondue party on Thursday. M flexed his culinary muscles by serving a roast, simply seasoned with Herbes de Provence and cooked in the oven until perfectly juicy. The juice was brought to a simmer and placed into a fondue pot. A second fondue pot was filled with Sauterne (French white wine), garlic, and lemon juice. When the wine was boiling, a combination of Appenzeller, Emmenthal and Gruyère cheeses was added with a little bit of cornstarch for smoothness.
Double-dipping abounded as we let veggies, beef or bread sit a moment in the juice and then dunked each bite in cheese. (There was chicken as well for one guest who did not eat "meat." Yep, that's what she said.) Beverages for the seven of us included Rosè Cava, Bulleit Bourbon, Williams Pear Brandy, Crystal Light and a variety of beer.
After stuffing myself silly, I put on some lip gloss and said farewell to my gracious hosts. I had a dessert-and-champagne date with the German. He followed Nigella's cooking rule much better than I by making his signature dish of creme caramel, which was fabulously sweet with a texture that was much more pleasant than the cremes of my past. Although the German was slightly unhappy with the few speckles of burnt caramel in the middle, I quite enjoyed the balancing hint of bitterness.
Also of note this week, dinner at Salumeria Rosi on the Upper West Side, a favorite of the German and a cozy spot with delicious salumi (cured meats) and a nice selection of wine. I decided to forego taking notes, but I highly recommend a visit, particularly on a cold winter day. What better to warm you up than wine, meat and good company?
And, brunch at Mud on East 9th Street with A and with LP (on different days). Dark, wonderful coffee with tasty brunch items like the Avocado panini and eggs with bacon and guacamole. Service is super slow so allow yourself a good amount of time and order that second cup of mud before you finish the first!
There you have it, readers, a new year rung in with, what else? Generally gluttonous gastronomy and fancy panties. And, wow, what do you know? This weekend marks the one-year anniversary of Urban Gastronomy.
Stay tuned!
Happy one year anniversary of UG!~V
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