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Whoops – thought this went up before I left for vacation, but apparently it did not. Well. enjoy while I sort out a few photos from Mexico… xx
If it is not yet apparent, friends & dinner is my favorite thing ever – and I particularly love the combination at home. On Saturday, we had a few friends over and did another version of spring favorites. You may notice that the many of the ingredients below mimic those found at the first “spring dinner” – some in a new way, some the same.
It was much warmer this time around, so the overall feel was a bit lighter, but definitely just as good.
We started with ...
Fresh Pea & Fava Puree and Ricotta with Lemon Zest
Great with grilled bread - eaten solo or piled together for the perfect bite. This is the same Jamie Oliver version as before (and several other dinners in the meantime), but with favas too, as they were available at my farmer’s market. Good ricotta doesn’t need much, but a little sprinkling of lemon zest and a drizzle of good olive oil takes it over the top!
And for dinner ...
Little Gems with Pickled Green Strawberries
I saw the green strawberries at the market, and decided to attempt the same method from a recent salad at Cotogna – with a quick pickle. I used the same recipe as when I pickled grapes, and added roasted beets and goat cheese to the little gems. As for the vinaigrette, I added a few smashed ripe strawberries in place of honey for sweetness, and love the ying and yang of it.
Spring Risotto with Preserved Lemon
When looking around for different versions of spring risotto, I found one on Food 52 that added chopped preserved lemons at the end. I loved that idea, and used it myself — I didn’t follow the whole recipe (which called for Pernod instead of the usual white wine) and just did a fairly traditional version with asparagus and spring peas, but I did sub green garlic and fennel for onions, which made it particularly “springy” too me.
yet, the pièce de résistance (in my book) was the ...
Whole Roasted Brazino with Caper Butter
I have never roasted whole fish before (grilled once) and must say, I am hooked. Super simple but so tender and delicious! I stuffed it with lemon, fresh rosemary & oregano and followed this technique. Served it with caper butter and it was perfect! Added bonus it comes across as quite a showstopper.
And for dessert ...
Yogurt Panna Cotta with Fresh Berries
A truly perfect dessert for spring and summer. In fact, it was such a hit that I had to make it again on Sunday when some friends dropped by. Suffice it to say, we will be following up with our own post on this one.
Have you had a chance to capture spring yet. What are your favorties? And can you believe that summer is almost here?
Like this:
This past weekend, in a attempt to get some warmth and sunshine, we had plans to head south to the beach with some friends. However the rain that poured down on all of California derailed the sunshine bit, so we were ‘forced’ to stay inside and cook. And boy did we ever!
It was a weekend with lots of leisurely time in the kitchen, and long stretches at the table — engrossed in good conversation with plenty of food and wine. It was such a treat that I can now (3 days later) face the fact that it is over and download a few pictures. I was planning to put them all together, but there is so much goodness, I may space it out a bit, if you don’t mind…
And for the good part, Friday night’s menu:
Pimento Cheese (with homemade mayo) with radishes and celery
Panko Crusted Sole with lemon and tartar sauce
Roasted Potato Wedges
Coleslaw with a bit of blue cheese
Roasted Carrots
and, of course
Vanilla and Banana Ice Cream with Salted Caramel and Peanuts
And the decadence just continued from there …
Like this:
Thursday night, B and I went to dinner at Nopa with our good friends Catie & Jimmy, and while at dinner, the boys made plans to go out on Saturday night. By the time Saturday rolled around, their ‘wild plans’ had morphed into cooking at our house with a few beers and the UNC/Duke game.
It was a joint effort, as C+J picked up some some surf and turf (by way of skirt steak and sea bass) at the Ferry Building, we sort of split the veg based on our respective fridge’s, the farmer’s market selection (or lack there of) and the corner market, we covered drinks and sides and our friend Mike brought some goodies as well.
The spread turned out as follows:
Spicy roasted chickpeas, vegetable quesadillas and Micheladas {with a half-salted rim} à la Nopalito to start.
Steak tacos with grilled grass-fed skirt steak, quick-pickled onions, avocado and cilantro.
Fish tacos with sea bass that was so fresh it tasted like it was caught 5 minutes before dinner. The bass was grilled with a chile-cumin-aleppo pepper dry rub {with a teeny dash of cinnamon} and piled on tortillas with everyone’s FAVORITE chipotle-lime cream and cabbage.
Rice, Beans and salsa ~ brown rice, Rancho Gordo cranberry beans, and store-bought fresh salsa doctored up with some of the leftover chipotles, to be exact.
Salad of butter lettuce, radishes, tomatoes and pepitas with cilantro-lime vinaigrette
Whether or not we made Kim Boyce’s oatmeal cookies later while watching a movie, I’ll never tell. But what is more disturbing, is that for what is possbily the first time ever, people were able to drive home from dinner at out house. That combined with boys night equaling dinner and movie means I am likely much older than I think.
Don’t worry, I don’t expect this sort of maturity to last long. And at least it tastes good!
