Guest Blog! Cream of Asparagus Soup

And now dear friends, it's time for a long overdue guest blog. This one comes from my lovely and fabulous cousin Steph, who I hope will become a frequent contributor. In her first guest blog, she treats us to a delicious recipe for cream of asparagus soup - a recipe that I am soon to try. Peruse, enjoy, and let us know what you think! Take it away, Steph:

I made this soup for a Valentine’s Day party. Some mommy friends and I got together while our beauties played and this is what I served them. They ranted and raved over it – even my mom (who is not an asparagus lover) really enjoyed it.

First, I sautéed some onions and garlic in some butter (I suppose you could use EVOO if you wanted… I am a fan of the buttah). Maybe ½ an onion and a tablespoon of minced garlic. Once those become soft, add 2 bundles of asparagus that have been sliced into 1 inch pieces. The size doesn’t really matter because you will be blending it all up anyway. Make sure to remove the bottom 1/3 of the asparagus. It’s kind of woody and not really yummy to eat. Sauté that for a couple minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added a teeny tiny bit of cayenne pepper (and by teeny tiny, I really mean teeny tiny, you don’t want that to over power). Then add 2 boxes of chicken broth – or 1 box of broth and the same amount of water. If you use water, you will need to add a tablespoon or so of chicken base for extra flavor. Boil the asparagus until it’s tender. At this point you can either bust out your handy dandy emersion blender which is one of Dana’s favorite kitchen tools or let the soup cool and in batches, put in the blender and blend until smooth. MUST. LET. COOL….or you will have an asparagus explosion on your hands.

Once everything is blended until smooth, add it back into the soup pot. Add a 16 ounce container of sour cream (or plain Greek yogurt would probably work too if that is more up your alley). Stir to combine and taste for seasoning. Be careful how much salt you add because ….wait for it… you will be adding some roasted asparagus and homemade croutons to the soup!! Yes please! If the soup seems too thin, make a quick rue and add that to the mix. I used 2 tablespoons of butter and about 1 ½ tablespoons of flour. A nice loose rue will help to tighten up the soup a little bit. Make sure to cook the rue for a couple minutes so you don’t get the raw flour taste.

Now, on to the roasted asparagus and croutons. Slice another bundle of asparagus in 1 – 1 ½ inch pieces (discard the bottom 1/3 again). Put them on a baking sheet and coat them in EVOO,

salt, and pepper. Roast in the oven for a half hour or so (until they are soft). For the croutons, cut up some French bread or some other kind of dense bread into 1 inch cubes. Drizzle with EVOO, garlic salt, and pepper. Bake in a 375 degree oven for a half hour or so (until they are kind of crunchy). Serve soup with a few roasted asparagus pieces and some croutons on top. It is delish!!! And easy peazy lemon squeezy!!

Guest Blog! Pumpkin, Barley, and Sage Soup

Well folks, I finally got her to do it.... here is a guest blog by my one and only momma! Enjoy:
Hi everyone, Dana's mom, Lynn, here. I guess I am a designated guest writer of Sunday Night Dinners, and have I got one delicious and savory fall soup for you, which happens to be very simple, also! I initially made it for myself a couple of weekends ago, when the boys were golfing in Northern Minnesota. (One of the perfectly warm, fantastically sunny weekends we have had in October in Minnesota this year.) I love the house to myself once in a while, I work at my projects, watch my TV shows (NO SPORTS! HGTV, Food Network, Cooking Channel) and always make myself a little gourmet meal to enjoy with a glass of wine and the quiet (hopefully with a nice sunset!). So, even though I was having a very busy day, I took the time to make this little soup, and ate it at 9pm! We Ostermans eat late.... Pumpkin, Barley and Sage Soup--Better Homes and Gardens, Everyday Easy 8 oz. smoked sausage links, chopped, or small dice ( recipe calls for andouille, which would add some heat. I used kielbasa)1 small onion, chopped1 tbsp snipped fresh sage1 tbsp olive oil1 cup quick cooking barley1 tsp chicken bullion granules( I use the Better than Bullion brand, and use a couple of spoonfuls to taste)4 cups water1 15 oz can pumpkin (I have not used pumpkin, first go around I used a sweet dumpling squash I baked in the microwave, and the next time, I used a small butternut squash, baked,)2 tbsp real maple syrup1 tbsp apple cider vinegar In a large saucepan, or Dutch oven, cook sausage, onion and sage in hot oil over medium heat for 3-5 minutes, stirring often. Add barley, water and bullion. Bring to boil and simmer, covered, for 12 minutes or so, stirring occasionally. Stir in pumpkin(squash), maple syrup, and vinegar, heat through. Season to taste with salt and fresh ground pepper. Serve in a warm bowl with 2 or three very thin slices of a Minnesota Honeycrisp apple (or any crispy apple in your area!), and enjoy! Makes four servings. So there you have it, very simple and so tasty! Give it a try some cool evening soon. For my dear daughter in NYC with a gluten allergy, and anyone else who eats gluten free, substitutes for the barley would be millett, quinoa, buckwheat (crazy name for gluten free wheat), or a can of cooked wild rice would be delish and very quick! Lesser known substitutes are amaranth and teff; celiacs would know these names! Lynn signing out--love you daughter, and all your recipes!! (I'd like to think that I had some tiny bit of influence on my daughter's love of cooking and good food!)**

**Blogger's Note: Yes you did, momma. You are an inspiration :)Well folks, I finally got her to do it.... here is a guest blog

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

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