Adventures in Catering

Hi pals - sorry for my tardiness in posting this week. I've been busy blah blah blah. I have something different for ya'll though! Last Saturday night John, Adam and I catered a birthday party for some good friends of John's. The birthday girl loves appetizers, so our menu consisted of small bites. She also said she loves seafood and is big on cheese. Can do! The picture for this post is of the cheese plate I constructed, and it was pretty fabulous if I do say so myself. Here was our menu for the evening:

Homemade parmesan and thyme short bread crackers

Homemade hummus

Store bought pita chips

Pan fried onion dip with homemade potato chips (made in our deep fryer!)

Grilled asparagus with pancetta and citrus vinaigrette

Scallop ceviche

Crab salad served in endive leaves

Smoked salmon cucumber sandwiches

Carnitas tacos with avocado and mango salsa

Best Cheese Plate Ever with grapes, dried figs and apricots, marcona almonds, and crackers

Chocolate covered strawberries

Lemon sorbet in frozen lemon cups with vodka

Dude. I know, right? Sounds like a lot! There were 20 or so peeps at the party, and we wanted to have a really nice variety of bites for people. The fantastic host (Kevin, the party was for his lovely wife) was mixing margaritas and mojitos, and pouring bourbon and wine all night. I was worried about getting everything together, but it all came out beautifully! We worked as a great team, starting to prep at 3pm after shopping at Bristol Farms. We had the first items on the table for the guests at 7.30pm and continued serving as things were ready throughout the evening.

I'll start with the cheese plate - it included a 2 year white cheddah, rosemary crusted manchengo, cave aged gruyere, maytag blue cheese, triple creme brie, and goat cheese. It was a really nice mix of hard and soft cheeses, and the birthday girl was thrilled. I put out bowls of dried figs, dried apricots and marcona almonds, as well as some tiny grapes on the plate. Turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself!

Okay, carnitas. I used Rick Bayless' epic recipe. I bought a 3 pound piece of boneless pork shoulder and cut it into three even pieces, then marinated it in 1/2 cup of fresh lime juice and some salt for an hour. Meanwhile I melted 2 pounds of lard (yes, lard - use it) over medium heat in a large pot. Once the lard was melted I added the pork and its marinade to the pot. The lard came to a slow, lazy boil - that's what you want. I kept it at medium heat and monitored the bubbles, because you just want to slowly cook this for now. The pork cooked this way for 2 hours, then I turned the heat up to medium high for a half hour - the bubbles came fast and furious then! This gives your pork an amazing crunchy outside with a melty soft inside. Guhhh it was so amazing. We served the pork with slices of avocado, cilantro leaves, and a delish mango salsa that John made. You'll have to ask him for the recipe.

Speaking of John: Oh hai Guest Blog! I wanted John to tell you in his own words how to make his oh so delicious crab salad. Take it away, Johnny!

"My take on the Crab Salad is inspired from a Swedish “recipe” taught

to me first-hand by a real live Swede.

Get yourself (and check yourself) a big bowl. One sturdy enough to
withstand a flailing drunken limb. Insert into the bowl already cooked
bay shrimp. If you didn’t know that you could purchase shrimp that
way, please stop reading now. Now insert real, cooked, crabmeat. I
find claw meat usually less expensive, unless you oft procure seafood
from the black market, which I strongly encourage. Salt and pepper the
protein. I am told that in Sweden you don’t need to perform this step.
Which step? Yeah…that one… In Sweden Land, they often use imitation
crab.

Dice sweet onion, and insert it into the bowl. Cut fresh dill over the
bowl, and you won’t need to do any inserting. Now add mayonnaise. This
is where you need to be careful…add much less than you think you need,
then blend the ingredients to see if you have the right consistency.
If you need to add more mayonnaise, go ahead and add a little bit
more. Be careful. Too much can be an expensive mistake.

After you’ve done a solid amount of gentle blending, cover it,
refrigerate it, and forget about it for an hour or two. Remember to
taste this sucker at obvious stages throughout. If you need to know
why, please stop reading this now.

Remove the mixture from the fridge and serve in halved avocados (or
endive leaves if a finger food appetizer). Cut the bottoms of the
halved avocados in order to stabilize them on the plate. Use the
removed sliver as garnish, accenting it with fresh dill, salt, and
cracked pepper. Salt and pepper the avocados as needed. Garnish with
lemon wedge. Tell your guests to squeeze the lemon to taste. Chill the
plates in the freezer.

Leftovers are great on crusty bread or crackers the next morning.


Ingredients for 6 (Approximate)

- 1/2 lb. cooked bay shrimp
- 1/2 lb. cooked crab meat
- ½ medium sweet onion
- Fresh dill (use your judgment)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 Lemon"

Thanks John! I hope everyone tries this super recipe!

Okay, one more recipe and then I'll wrap up this uber long post. Thanks to those who are still with us. DUDE. The pan fried onion dip was the SHIZ. I thinly sliced up two large yellow onions and put them in a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of delicious irish butter and a two count of olive oil. I caramelized those suckers well - adding some white wine here and there so they didn't burn, and the sugar in the wine helps the caramelization. Be sure to salt and pepper to taste, kids! I also added two nice pinches of cayenne for a good kick. Once the onions were done I shut of the pan and let them cool. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment I added 4 ounces of room temperature cream cheese, a 1/2 cup of creme fraiche, and 1/2 cup of mayo. I mixed those together until smooth, then added the onions, mixed some more and my oh my. It is the most out of this world onion dip you'll ever have. We made the potato chips by thinly slicing russet potatoes on a mandolin (be so careful! extremely sharp, as one of my fingers found out) into a bowl of water. They were dried thouroghly and thrown into peanut oil heated in our deep fryer. I insist you purchase one and make this dip NOW.

All right all right, I've blatherd on long enough. It was a really great experience, and I must say the guests loved the food. I would do this again, but I think the key is to stick with small bites. Let me know if you'd like any of the other recipes listed above.

See you next week!

xo

d

Greek Lasagna...Oopah!

Sup kids. You're probably wondering why I make so many heavy dishes during the summer months. My reasons are three-fold: 1 - I like making this kind of food. They are dishes that take time and care - the essence of a SND. 2 - My area of Southern California is having the most boring summer ever: barely gets above 75 degrees on a good day. I'm sure that if it was 90 degrees outside I'd be making lighter dishes. 3 - Calories don't count on Sundays!

Okay, that's out of the way - thought I had some 'splainin' to do. On to today's recipe: Pastisio! I watched my dear friend Ina's show on Saturday last, and she made this amazing Greek lasagna dish for her adorable husband Jeffrey. It looked delicious and the ingredients seems wack-a-doo to me, so of course I had to try it! Adam okay-ed it after I promised I would make the crazy salad that Ina made as well: arugula with feta cheese and WATERMELON. /Shudder. I'm not a fan of any melon. But I'm a good sport too, so we had an accord.

First things first: make the meat sauce. Finely chop a medium to large yellow onion and throw it into a pot that's been heated over medium heat with a three to four count of olive oil. Sweat those onions out for five minutes or so - you want them to soften but not brown. Next add one pound of ground beef and one pound of ground lamb. Cook that down for 10 minutes or so, and break it up until it crumbles with a wooden spoon. Try to get a little color on the meat. After all that work, the meat and onions need a drink! Add 3/4 cup of red wine (I used rose because that's what I was drinking), and stir well to get any delicious bits stuck on the bottom of the pan up. Next up: add four cloves of minced garlic, one teaspoon of dried oregano, one and a half teaspoons of fresh thyme, two pinches of cayenne pepper, and here comes the wack-a-doo part. One TABLESPOON of cinnamon. Cinnamon??!? I know, nuts right? I was nervous about it because I didn't want to eat dessert meat (who does?) but I was brave, and you need to be too. Mix all of your spices in with the meat and wine well. It will smell very cinnamony, but don't fret. It will be delicious. After cooking for about five minutes, add one 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes in puree, along with two teaspoons of salt and one teaspoon of pepper. Mix well, then simmer that lovely sauce for 40-45 minutes. Stir occasionally, and do not cover. The sauce will be quite thick. Be sure to taste for seasonings.

Once the sauce is close to done, start making your béchamel. A béchamel is a white sauce (a "mother" sauce) that can be flavored a million different ways. In a small pot heat 1 1/2 cups of whole milk and 1 cup of heavy cream over medium low heat until simmering. Side note: I used lactose free milk and half/half and it worked out just fine - and was less lactosey for my man friend. Win! As your milk is warming, heat four tablespoons of butter in a saucepan over medium heat until melted. Add 1/4 cup of flour and whisk until it is totally mixed with the butter. Cook for about two minutes, then add your warm milk/cream, whisking whisking to avoid lumps. Simmer this for another five minutes until it is thick and smooth. Turn the heat down to low, then add a pinch of grated nutmeg, one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of pepper. Whisk again, then add a few ladlefuls of your meat sauce and 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese and stir well. Sneak a few tastes.....hot damn is that sauce gooood! Turn the heat off and let the béchamel cool for 10 minutes, then add a few more wacky (but delicious!) ingredients: 2 eggs (beaten together beforehand) and 2/3 cup of Greek yogurt. I was delighted by these additions - not only was the sauce really amazing, but after it's time in the oven the white sauce took on the texture of ricotta cheese and was totally outstanding.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and get out a large cake pan. Whilst you are making your béchamel, cook one pound of shell shaped pasted just to al dente. You really want it to have some bite, as it will continue to cook in the oven. Drain and add to your meat sauce and mix well. Pour your meat sauce and noodles in the bottom of your cake pan, then spread the white sauce on top evenly with your spoon. Add 3/4 of grated parmesan on top - shake it all over to make a yummy brown crust.

Bake that bad boy for one hour. Towards the end of the hour, keep a weather eye on your Pastisio - mine was nice and browned by forty five minutes. Pull it on out of the oven and let it cool/set while you make your salad.

I made a simple lemon vinaigrette for the salad - the juice of one lemon, a small squirt of dijon mustard, a splash of my wine, pinch of S/P, and a five count of olive oil. Whisk and done. Pour that over your arugula, crumbled feta (get the good stuff that comes in water), and cubed fresh watermelon. Adam loved the watermelon in the salad, and I thought it was pretty darned good without.

Serve up your out of this world greek lasagna after it's cooled a bit and go to town, guys! It has amazing flavor - the cinnamon and cayenne give it such a warm, happy taste. Probably would be great mid-winter but what the hell. Make what you want, when you want. That's my motto.

Heart,

D

Adam's Summer Artichokes - Guest Blog!

I have never myspaced, friendstered, twittered, or facebooked. And I have certainly never blogged before. Usually my role in Sunday Night Dinner is twofold; I eat and I clean. But this week, we made a spontaneous stop at a farmers market in West LA that we had never visited before and we came across one of my favorite summer treats-- the artichoke.

I love artichokes! And I like them prepared any which way. I like them grilled, gratineed, stuffed, steamed, and fried. I'll take them fresh, frozen or canned. Fresh is best thought they are a PAIN IN THE ASS to prepare. But it's always worth it and this night was no different.

We only got one artichoke knowing that the pot pie would be plentiful. There are many ways to clean or "turn" an artichoke. I'm going to try and explain but google it if you need pictures.

Fill a medium to large bowl with water and squeeze the shit out of a couple of lemons into the water. Grate the zest into the water and add the lemon husks.

Take a sharp paring knife and trim the stem down to a couple of inches (if you have a long stem artichoke, save the stem and steam it with the rest of the artichokes for a marrow-like treat). Remove any small leaves near the step with the paring knife.

The next step is to take your chef's knife or scalloped-edge knife (bread knife) and cut the top of the artichoke so that you remove most of the sharp tips. With your kitchen shears, snip off the remaining thorny-tips.

Now cut the artichoke in half from top to stem. If you'd like (as we did) you can cut them again into quarters. You'll notice that there are fuzzy fibers and small pink leaves that are very sharp at the points. You want to remove all of this. I take the paring knife to cut out what I can, then use a spoon to scrape out the rest. Give the artichoke a rinse under the faucet and drop the artichokes into the lemon water so they don't turn brown. I kept them in this bath, turning occasionally, for about 30 minutes before moving on.

In a large pot, heat some olive oil over medium then add a handful of chopped fresh parsley, a few sprigs ofthyme, one crushed bay leaf, four cloves of smashed garlic and a pinch of red pepper flake. You can really use any fresh herbs you'd like. add the entire bowl-- artichokes, water, lemon and all in with the herbs. Add more water if necessary to cover the artichokes. You can weigh them down by using a lid that's smaller than the lid for the pot you are using. Bring the water to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for about 20 minutes. Strain the artichokes and allow them to cool.

You're just a few minutes away from the well-deserved reward now! Heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the artichokes cut side down and drizzle a good amount of balsamic vinegar over it all. Let them cook for a few minute then move them around, get the backside. You can also do this on a grill for excellent results. It may look like you've burned the artichokes... but you haven't! That's the caramelized balsamic. Transfer to a platter and enjoy. Juicy isn't a word normally used to describe artichokes, but these were the juiciest, best artichokes I've ever had!

All the best,

Adam

Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping

Hi kids! Oooooooh this one's a good'un. But Dana, you say, pot pie in the summer? Hell to the yes. Pot Pie is delicious during all seasons, and also West LA has not been having much of a warm summer, so the pot pie was just the thing I needed.

The mister and I started this fab SND off with some AMAZING artichokes for an appetizer, and the mister is going to guest blog the recipe in a separate post. Ya'll are going to love it and never eat an artichoke any other way. Yeah I said it.

But back to pot pie. This one is a little fiss-fussy, so that makes it perfect for SND. The recipe that inspired me calls for pearl onions in the stew, and Adam had the brilliant idea to make the onions a la Julia: brown braised. I made them in my Beouf Bourgignon post, but here are the instructions again:

You'll need two thirds of a bag of frozen pearl onions, defrosted. Melt 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of butter in a three count of olive oil. I'd say over medium heat, and use a frying pan that has a cover. Drop in your baby onions with a little salt and pepper, and roll those guys around until they brown. As Julia says, "You cannot expect them to brown uniformly". That cracks me up, I don't know why. Anyhoo, after you've browned your onions lightly, add 1/2 cup of beef stock and (this is a Dana addition) 1/3 cup red or white wine (I used white cause that's what I drink). Cover the pan and lightly simmer those beauties for thirty for forty minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Do the onions first, because you'll want them ready for the stew - you can start the stew after the onions have been cooking for 15-20 minutes if you'd like. You'll need a pan (cast iron is best, but it needs to be oven safe) that is at least nine inches in diameter and four inches thick. Now you'll want to preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Heat four tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add one celery stalk (cut into 1/2 inch pieces), three medium carrots (1/2 inch pieces), and 7-8 quartered crimini or button mushrooms. If you want to brown the mushrooms more, add them first for a few minutes, then throw in the carrots and celery. Add a little S/P and and stir stir for about five minutes. Add your brown braised mushrooms and any leftover juices in that pan, and then add a heaping 1/3 cup of flour to your veggies. Stir everything together and cook for one minute more to get the flour cooked down a little. Now add four cups of chicken stock, bring everything to a boil, stirring your life away. Simmer until the stew thickens, 3-5 minutes or so. I added a couple of glugs of beef stock to the pot for a little depth of flavor when my stew was looking too thick. Try it if you have some on hand, otherwise if you think your stew is too thick you can add a little chicken stock or white wine.

Now it's time to add the chicken. If you'd like, poach a couple of chicken breasts in some stock with herbs (thyme/bay) but that's more work that I'd prefer, and I'm not a fan of poached chicken. Boring, dry. I go with the rotisserie chicken from the market, de-skinned, de-boned and shredded. Easy peasy. Plus Ella loses her mind when we get a rotisserie chicken, so she gets to have a few treats. That cat thinks she's people, and loves roasted chicken. But I digress.

So put your shredded rotisserie chicken into your simmering stew. I'd say we used about 2/3 of the meat from the chicken, but use your own judgment. Stir in the chicken, then add a handful of chopped parsley, minced chives, and some asparagus that you've cut into bite sized lengths. I used half of a bunch of asparagus, but put in as much as you like. Stir everything together, taste for seasoning, then turn off the heat and set aside whilst you make the biscuit dough.

Biscuit dough on a pot pie! I know right - sounds nuts! IT'S NOT. It's so freaking good. In a large bowl, whisk together 2 cups of flour, one tablespoon of baking powder, one teaspoon of sugar, and one teaspoon of salt until well combined. Rub 2 tablespoons of cold butter into the flour with your fingertips until it is completely absorbed into the flour mixture. Add five more tablespoons of cold butter (I cut it up into cubes) into the flour in the same manner, until the butter is combined and in pieces the size of a pea. In a separate bowl combine 3/4 cup of milk with the zest of half of a lemon and a handful of minced chives. Gently stir the milk, lemon and chives into the flour mixture to make a loose sort of dough.

Dust your clean work surface with a handful of flour and turn your dough out onto it. Pat the dough with your hands into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle, then fold it into thirds like you would a buisness letter. Now pat that bad boy into a 10 inch in diameter circle. Bring your stew back up to a low boil, and gently place your biscuit circle on top. Word of sage, experienced advice: do this with a rolling pin or a bottle of similar shape. I've made this recipe a few times before, and never used a rolling pin until the other night. No rolling pin = epic fail. Rolling pin = clean execution. Roll the dough onto the pin without any smushing, and re roll it back onto your stew. Lovely. Also please note, you do NOT need to hang the dough over the sides of the pan like you would with a regular pot pie. Note my picture above, and just try to get the dough to the edges of the pan as best you can. Use a sharp paring knife to slice a small hole in the middle and shove that pan into the oven for around 20 minutes. You want your biscuit dough to get nice and golden brown.

Remove your pot pie masterpiece from the oven and let cool for ten minutes and enjoy! You'll never go back to regular pot pie, I'm tellin' ya! Make it and report back to me, BFFs!

Word.

D