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

The Perfect Roast Chicken

I really can't believe I haven't written about the perfect roast chicken yet - it's the Mister and I's go-to Sunday Night Dinner. In fact, I think it was the first SND that I made for us. I really can't think of anything better than a roast chicken - amazing, tender, and juicy. It's a little fussy, but when it comes out right OH MAN is it tasty. I'd love to hear your versions of this classic dish, but for now here's what I think you should do. My version is inspired by the great Ina Garten, and I will NOT tell you what Robb calls her because it's super mean and I love her. So there.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. Start with a 4 - 5 pound whole chicken - try to go for organic/free range if you can. It makes quite the difference in flavor, and it's way better for you. Both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods have great options. Remove the giblet package (you can freeze this and use later if you make your own chicken stock) and then give that chicken a rinse inside and out. Be sure to pat dry thoroughly with paper towels and set aside.

Slice up two large onions - white, yellow, or red are all fine - or a mix would be nice. Scatter those in the bottom of your roasting pan with 5 carrots that you've peeled and chopped into pretty diagonally sliced chunks. Don't make them too small or they'll cook too quickly, but you want them to be bite sized. Another don't - don't salt and pepper your veggies at this point, when you S/P the chicken, plenty of that seasoning will fall off into your onions and carrots.

Now back to your chicken - salt and pepper the cavity, then add one half of a large orange, a big ol' handful of fresh thyme, a halved lemon, a halved clementine (you can skip this citrus if you don't have, just add another halved lemon if you'd like), a bulb of garlic halved crosswise, and finish with the other half of your orange, if you can fit. You want the skin of the orange to be showing through the top of the cavity - it will hold everything in if you do this. Tie the legs of the chicken together firmly with some butcher's twine (any butcher will give you a length of this if you bat your eyes, but it's also readily available at kitchen supply stores). Soften two tablespoons of butter - don't melt it completely, just soften it. Time to give that chicken a butter massage! Set the chicken in the rack of the roasting pan breast side up over your veggies and rub that butter all over the skin. Liberally salt and pepper (AFTER you've buttered, it sticks that way - also some of the seasoning will fall down on your veggies) and you'll get a delicious salty crust when you roast.

Pour 1/2 cup of white wine and 1/2 cup of chicken stock over the veggies, and then slide the roasting pan into the oven - make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven. Roast the chicken and the vegetables for ninety minutes. Make sure that there is always some liquid covering the onions and carrots - they will burn otherwise. Add more wine or chicken stock accordingly. When there is about thirty minutes left, take the chicken out of the oven and quickly turn it over so that the underside can brown as well. Turn the chicken back breast side up for the last ten or so minutes of cooking. You want your guy to be 160 degrees - I really recommend a digital thermometer that has an oven safe cord, they're amazing. Mine lets off a little alarm when the desired temperature has been reached. Once your chicken reaches 160 degrees, take it out the oven and transfer it to a wooden cutting board (preferably one with a groove running around the border of the board to catch the delicious juices). Tent that guy with some aluminum foil and let it rest at least twenty minutes before you carve - you'll scald your fingers if you don't wait.

Remove the onions and carrots from the roasting pan with a slotted spoon and cover with foil to keep warm for later when you're ready to eat. Strain the pan drippings into a saucepan and spoon off any fat that has risen to the top (or you can use a handy dandy fat separator - it's the greatest invention ever and available at Crate and Barrel). Add any juice that has collected around the chicken on the cutting board and a splash or two more of the white wine you used before as well as bit more chicken stock. Just eyeball it - you want to have a cup and a half or so of liquid in the sauce pan. As you're simmering that, whisk three tablespoons of cornstarch with a quarter cup of chicken stock in a separate bowl, then whisk that into your saucepan. The gravy should start to thicken right away. Keep whisking, and if it's too thick, add some more chicken stock - too thin, mix a little more cornstarch with some chicken stock and add to the gravy. Taste for seasoning and you should have some spectacular gravy!

You can serve this amazing chicken with the onion, carrots, kick-ass gravy, and some mashed taters or crusty bread. When I made this the other night, I served it with the artichoke gratin that I've featured in an earlier post. Check it out, it makes a really nice accompaniment.

And there you have it! Fairly simple - once you've gotten the chicken in the oven you've got plenty of time to relax with a glass of wine and some port salut.

XO,

D

Swedish Meatballs!

Oh hai everyone! Sorry I missed last week, I was celebrating our country's independence by setting off some totally legal fireworks. For this week, I decided to make a SND from my heritage: Swedish Meatballs! Also, the Mr. loves him some meatballs and has wanted me to try this for a while.

It was a really delicious experiment, but I'd love to hear from ya'll to see if/how your recipe differs, but this is what I humbly suggest via Alton Brown, Marcus Samuelsson, and my own head.

Okay first of all what is with grocery stores not carrying ground pork?? Super irritating. Sometimes they have it, sometimes they don't. Well, Whole Foods always has it, but after I had gone to Trader Joe's and Ralph's I had had it! So when you, my little darlings, try this at home go for half ground pork and half ground beef. I used all ground beef (80/20 fat content heh) and they were tasty, but everything is better with a little pork fat, ya hrrd?

Anyhoo, you want a pound and a half of ground meat - half pork/half beef. If you were politically incorrect you could use some ground veal in there too, or lamb. Delicious. Mix your ground beef in a bowl with 2 eggs, 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs, 1 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice, and 1/2 cup (about one half of a medium large) finely chopped red onion. Before you add the onion to the mix, soften it in a pan over medium heat with a two count of olive oil and S/P. Mix everyone together using your hands - it's the best way to get the best mix! After you've mixed, form little meatballs and set aside on a plate or sheet pan. Don't make them big, you want them to be around bite sized (and you need them to cook all the way through), I'd say around 1/2 or 3/4 inch.

Now it's time to cook those suckers! Using the same pan you cooked your chopped onion in, heat two tablespoons of butter and a three count of olive oil over medium-high heat. Brown your delectable meatballs on all sides. Be careful not to burn - you want them to brown evenly but not burn and still cook all the way through, so keep a weather eye on your heat and adjust accordingly. You may have to cook your meatballs in shifts, and when they are done set them aside - you can keep them warm in an oven set to low. Time to make the Swedish Sauce!

Turn the heat down to low in your pan and add a heaping 1/4 cup of flour to the accumulated fat. Whisk that around until you've cooked and browned the flour slightly, it should take two minutes or so. Next add three cups of warmed beef broth - whisk it in a cup or so at a time to thicken your sauce. Okay here comes a weird addition: add 3 tablespoons of pickle juice. No don't argue, just do it! It adds a little somethin' somethin' in the background of the sauce. Whisk that in, then add 1/2 cup of sour cream. Whisk whisk whisk and taste for seasonings, you'll probably need to add some S/P. Whisk over low heat until the sauce is at your desired thickness.

As you cook the sauce, cook some egg noodles or baby red potatoes. Serve your amazing Swedish Meatballs over the noodles or potatoes and ladle your kick ass sauce over the lot. Have some raspberry (or lingonberry) preserves at the ready for those who want, sprinkle some fresh parsley and enjoy! Hooray for the Swedes!

'Til next time...

D

Brooklyn SND - Pulled Pork/Chicken, Coleslaw and Goat Cheese Polenta

Hullo friends! I spent a fab weekend in NYC with my sisie for her birthday, so I now present to you Brooklyn Sunday Night Dinner! Sis wanted pulled pork for her birthday SND, so I came up with a kick ass marinade....which I proceeded to pour some beer into 'cause it would be delicious. Fail. For those of you that don't know, Sisie is allergic to all wheat and gluten. Ah, balls.

But wait! It all turned out okay - I made the gluten soaked pulled pork BUT ALSO some kick ass pulled chicken! Huzzah! Here's how I did it all:

For the pulled pork, I did an all night marinade. I used a three pound bit of pork shoulder that had a lovely fat cap on it. In a large glass bowl I whisked together 3 tablespoons of salt (kosher, people!), 1 tablespoon of cracked black pepper, 1 and 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 3 smashed cloves of garlic, 1.5 to 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper (yup! make it as spicy or not spicy as you want though - but don't be wussy) and the leaves from three sprigs of fresh thyme. Next add half to three quarters of a bottle of your favorite beer - I recommend a summer brew or a hefewiezen to counter act the cayenne; I used Honeymoon by the makers of Blue Moon. Dude, it's delish! Whisk everything together and put your pork shoulder in. Make sure the pork is covered with this delightful mixture, then cover with saran wrap and refrigerate overnight. If you can't do overnight, I'd recommend at least three hours so the flavors can penetrate (heh) the meat.

Okay, fast forward to the next day, time to cook! I heated a three count of olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan (Sisie's Le Creuset risotto pan to be specific) and browned that gorgeously marinated piece of pork shoulder. After I got a good sear on all sides, I put the meat along with the liquid marinade into a handy dandy crock pot and covered. I went with the high setting for three hours, then set it down to low until we were ready to eat. The liquid was poured out and discarded (thank you delicious gluteny marinade!) Take two forks and shred that meat - it will fall apart and you'll be taking taste after taste because you won't be able to resist! After the meat was shredded, I poured some BBQ sauce over it and it was AMAZING. Use your favorite flavor of sauce - Sweet Baby Rays would be good, especially with the cayenne pepper that you used. Serve on some buns and you're in pulled pork heaven.

Hold on! If you are allergic to wheat and gluten, here's what I made for sis! I bought three leg/thighs combos from the butcher - bone in skin on. Gotta go dark meat here, sports fans, if you want the falling apart consistency. Prepare the chicken by giving it a good ol' spice rub. Use your favorite BBQ spice rub, or make one up! I used chili powder - probably a tablespoon total and just massaged it all over the meat. Next, take one leek and thoroughly clean that sucka. Dirt loves to hide between those leaves. Slice up the leek and and throw it in a frying pan that has a cover with a three count of olive oil. Saute the leek for three minutes (add some S and P), then add two sliced carrots. Cook for a few minutes more, then make some room and add the chicken skin side down. Once the chicken is properly browned, add enough rose wine (NOT white zinfandel, shudder) to deglaze and simmer the chicken in. There should be about a half inch of wine covering the bottom of the pan - I eyeballed it, probably a third of a bottle. You could also use white or red wine, or your favorite beer. Cover the pan and turn the heat down to low and simmer for about an hour. You'll know when it's ready - the meat will be fall off the bone, just poke at it with a fork. Once it's ready, turn off the heat and let it cool a bit so you can debone and deskin the chicken. After you've removed the skin and bones shred the chicken back in the pan with the veggies and mix with your favorite sauce! For Sisie's chicken I used a spicier sauce because the chicken was cooked with sweet carrots and the wine. We served her sammich on a delicious gluten free roll and she was in birthday heaven!

I also made a yummy cole slaw. I threw ingredients together into a bowl until it tasted right. It was mayo based, so all you mayo haters out there just need to GET OVER IT. Mayo is freaking delicious. Use one cup of mayo, and whisk in in the bottom of a salad bowl with a 1/4 cup of white or red wine vinegar, two tablespoons of Dijon mustard, a squeeze of honey or maple syrup, a pinch of cayenne or chili powder and some S and P to taste. Whisk and taste, whisk and taste until it's right. A squeeze or two of lemon would be great too. Add some shredded cabbage and carrots on top of your dressing (we used shredded broccoli too, yum) and toss. Now, if you're super cool, you'll put coleslaw on top of your pulled pork or chicken and eat the sammich like a pro.

Serve this all up with some goat cheese polenta and you've got a Brooklyn SND for the ages!

-D

PS I realize I've written this post in several different voices/tenses. Deal with it. It's Sunday Night Dinners not Sunday Night Grammar. Boosh.