Holy cow, it's the end of May already! We had a fabu-licious time recently at Joyce and Jessica's home, where Fernando and Jessica hosted a springtime extravaganza! Truly, all of us had been feeling ready for a real springtime...Even Rosie was ready for a lift!
And speaking of said lift, did someone say, "Rum Cake?" Holy cow, doesn't that look amazing! Jessica had done some pre-baking in honor of Joyce's birthday. Wowser! I can tell you that my eyes were doing some pre-digesting when I saw that cake!
Fernando and Jessica had picked out some yummy snacks...
If I'm not mistaken, these olives were called "Love Olives" or "I Love You Olives" or something like that. My tongue was in love with them, that's for sure - they were delicious!
Gigantes...
Triple cream cheese with mushrooms - w00t!
Of course, vittles this fine can't be consumed with just any old accoutrement, no - we busted out the "Designer Toothpicks" for the occasion:
What a day - our springtime menu was beckoning the Real Spring outside to stick around a while. Isn't it lovely?
Fernando had done all the grocery shopping himself - without Shawn's input on quantities or anything. He had to double-check with the produce guy about whether the large green things he had picked up were indeed leeks, and he ended up buying two separate varieties of parmesano. However, he did a really wonderful job!
Our springtime menu would consist of:
Jessica got busy juicing some lemons for the mojitos...
Shawn and Fernando had brought a rhubarb syrup that they'd made a bit earlier in the day. Here, Fernando put his big muscles to work with the cocktail shaker:
Et voilà! Rhubarb mojitos! A surprisingly beautiful AND surprisingly delicious springtime cocktail!
Thirst temporarily slaked, Fernando got started grating one of his two cheeses:
Meanwhile, Anne and Rick enjoyed the snacks...
And Meg finely chopped some chocolate for the
pot de creme, which would take the longest of our menu items to prepare.
Here, Fernando proves that he can shake a cocktail while seated just as well as he can standing up. Can I get an amen?
The
pot de creme progressed - It was a fussy recipe, but don't decide never to make it! The final results were phenomenal!!
Here, the aforementioned chocolate is shown with the addition of spiced hot heavy cream...The chocolate was to sit undisturbed for three minutes with the hot cream until it melted. We had to help it with the microwave a bit, but it still ended up working well.
Next, we poured into the chocolate mixture a stream of milk which had been heated with sugar. We then whipped up a rich custard, which we poured through a sieve into the chocolate mixture and mixed to combine well.
Into a
baño maria our ramekins went, and from there, into the oven to bake.
Risotto was up next. Given the amount of chicken broth that the doubled recipe called for, it seemed that the longest stage of this dish would involve bringing all that liquid to a boil!
We chopped an abundant selection of mushrooms...
Put them in to cook down with some butter...
And stood by anxiously as the delectable smell of butter-browned mushrooms tortured our noses - and our appetites!
Once the
pot de creme and the risotto were started, we had a bit of time to relax a smidge. Damian gets to the bottom of that rhubarb mojito...
Anne delights in the springtime weather...
Frank mugs alongside Meg...
Fernando takes care of some unrelated business...And by "unrelated business," I mean "sitting outside in a decent temperature."
Joyce harvests some more backyard arugula as Jessica supervises. The combination of arugula, a touch of olive oil, some salt, and some leftover brie: man, oh man!!
Here's another great twosome photo:
Pretty soon, we got back to work.
Well, most of us, anyway...Tee-hee!
All that broth finally came to a simmer, so we toasted the rice with an onion...
And then began the slow, Zen-like process of pouring in a ladle of hot broth and stirring until absorbed. Lather, rinse, repeat. The risotto was looking (and smelling!) great!
Rick manned the stove for a while...
For the
pièce de résistance, we added our previously-browned mushrooms to the mix. Yum!
We washed and prepped the asparagus for grilling...
And reduced some balsamic vinegar on the stove to use for a glaze...
The quickest item on the menu was the lamb chops, but they required an interesting first step. We'd infuse some olive oil with fresh rosemary and sliced garlic. First up, the rosemary:
Next, we put the garlic on to fry a bit in the oil to infuse it with the flavors...I can smell it from here!
We'd separate the browned garlic and rosemary from the oil, and use the oil to marinate the lamb chops. Later, we'd add the solids on top for garnish, texture, and a pop of flavor. Have a look at those chops, would you?
Our chai chocolate pots de creme were done, so Joyce carefully removed them onto a cooling rack...With her BARE HANDS!
Don't the look purty?
Frank and his guns manned the grill for asparagus duty...
Here's the close-up:
All the excitement tuckered poor Rosie out - here she is, freshly disturbed from her nap. My hair looks the same way when I first wake up, too!
The asparagus came off, and the lamb chops went onto the grill...Don't these babies look scrumptious?
We finished them off with some beautifully-crafted curls of parmesano and a drizzle of that balsamic vinegar reduction...Looks good, eh?
Finally, the chops were done. It was nearly time for dinner! These looked gorgeous!!
Here's a closer look. You're welcome.
We served up the risotto - it had the perfect consistency!
We gathered around the table and poured some wine...What a spread!
What a plate!
It was amazing! I even picked up the bone and gnawed on it.
Time for rum cake next - remember it was nearly Joyce's birthday! Jessica added some candles...
It's my favorite photo of the night! Spectacular Joyce!
A slice of rum cake and a pot de creme capped off a WONDERFUL evening! Yes, those ARE chopped crystallized ginger bits on top, thank you for noticing!
Speaking of ginger things, Meg, you won't like this, but Joyce, you will...Next time you are in the Metropolitan Market, look for
Elixir G, a non-alcoholic mixer you can use for cocktails or with plain soda! It's delish, and contains only fresh ginger, cane sugar, and lemon juice.
So there you have it, folks! A maaaah-velous springtime dinner! Next up, we'll see you all on
June 16, when Meg and Frank will impress the heck out of us with something delightful.
We've decided to keep our "third Saturday" format for now and just make a random stab at pairs and availability. Mark time on your calendars for these upcoming dates: Also, if you want to stake a claim on one of these dates, let me know and I'll add it to the blog!
- June 16 -Frank and Meg
- July 21
- August 18
- September 15
- October 20
- November 17
- December 15
Whew! I barely squeaked in inside of May. I'm not promising that June will be any more timely, but I sure hope so!
Anne and I forgot to snap our belly series photo (Very Sad Face!), and I had every intention of trying to recreate it with Fernando and just photoshop on Anne's head to his body, but I ran out of time. Instead, I invite you to enjoy my new favorite belly photo (I think some of you have seen it already!) below. Until next time, Kissers!
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