casual dinner with friends

The evening was cooling off a bit, so we had drinks on the deck, accompanied by a white bean, lemon and rosemary spread served with paper thin toasted pitas. Dinner in the kitchen, enabling us to look out at the garden. We started with a platter of mixed yellow and red tomatoes interspersed with sliced melon, strewed with dwarf basil and tiny signet marigolds and drizzled with a lovely olive oil. On to the main course, scallops cooked with garlic, parsley and lemon juice - this was mixed with spaghetti not quite fully drained, drizzled with olive oil, and topped with toasted bread crumbs - it was devoured - delicious. Dessert - ah, dessert. A french tarte de granmere, an almond flour crust filled witht he most luxurious cherry preserves I could find, enhanced with a bit of lemon juice, topped with big pastry stars, and painted with an egg wash. I could barely restrain myself from cutting a slice. There were moans of pleasure - and guess what I had for breakfast the next morning. A truly extraordinary tarte.

dinner last night

Late in the hot afternoon I calmed myself shelling the last peas from the garden.For supper I cooked them briefly and put them aside. I'd previously harvested and precooked little turnips from the garden. I sauteed these little jewels in butter and when they'd caramelized I added the peas, a good pinch of sugar to further caramelize the turnips and some marjoram. These were my accompaniment to a slice of turkey meatloaf. A small salad completed the meal. I was tempted by the luscious lemon ice cream I'd made earlier in the day but decided to defer that pleasure. I'd indulged in vegetable gluttony and enjoyed every bite.

a quick and simple supper

After a long and somewhat tiring day, very hot and humid, I wanted a simple supper, quick to prepare. I heated an already baked curried zucchini tart,the thin layer of custard strewn lightly with currants whose sweetines offset some of the heat of the curry. With this a salad of greens gathered an hour earlier to which I added sliced baby beets - infanticide in the vegetable patch is a habit - and I dressed the mix with an herbaceous, lemony vinaigrette. Simple, quick and eminently satisfying.

hot night-cool dinner

Sunday night I cooked for friends. With drinks we had kale chips, crisp chips of fresh kale, roasted in the oven after being sprinkled with olive oil, gray salt and pepper. They were addictive and disappeared in record time. We followed this with a room temp orzo salad - the pasta mixed with chopped spring onions, lots of bronze fennel, feta cheese and roasted shrimp, tossed with a lemony vinaigrette. With this, batons of grilled zucchini topped with basil pesto. Oh, I forgot- we began at table with a cold soup, puree of scallions,spring onions and leeks and potatoes, blended when cooled with Greek no-fat yogurt. Dessert was strawberry shortcake, the biscuits split and lightly buttered. All perfect for a summer night, and enlivened by lively conversation and a chilled Viognier.

April dinner with friends

Though spring has made only tentative appearances, hope springs eternal, so I set the table with yellow and leafy green linens, palest mint-colored candles and a fat bunch of daffodils and narcissi from the garden. There were five of us, the conversation was easy and provocative and the wine flowed. With drinks before dinner I served little tartines of soft goat cheese spread on sliced, thin ciabatta, topped with thin slices of strawberries which I then drizzled with balsamic syrup. A turn of the pepper grinder, a shard of basil leaf and voila. Pretty to look at and delicious. At the table, a salad of boston lettuce, belgian endive and baby artichoke slices with a meyer lemon vinaigrette. The main course was chicken roasted on a bed of sliced onion, new potatoes, garlic and carrots,and a cup of armagnac. After the vegetables were lightly softened in olive oil, I added the chicken and brandy - then the enameled steel casserole went into a 400 oven to roast until beautifully bronzed. The aroma when the lid was lifted - sublime. Dessert was a martini glass layered with sliced peaches which had marinated in fresh tarragon and gran marnier and whisked mascarpone lightened with whipped cream and just a bit of sugar. I topped each serving with crushed amaretti cookies and sliced roasted almonds. Good friends, good food - it doesn't get much better than this.

lunch with a friend

A good friend was coming to lunch and,for the first time in a long while the sun was shining, so I cut some daffodils, set the table with sunny yellow linens and made lunch. First, the simplest of soups, a mix of cubed fennel and zucchini, fennel seeds and chicken broth, quick to put together and delicious. I topped each serving with fennel fronds and next was a salad - crab louie. I lined a platter with baby romaine leaves, red and greed, then mounds of artichoke heart, grape tomatoes, poached asparagus, radishes and green beans. In the center, luscious lump crab with the sauce Louie on the side. With the salad, toasted wheat, raisin and walnut bread that I'd brushed with olive oil before grilling. A most satisfying lunch, not least for the conversation and laughs.

A Winter's Tale

Yesterday was cold and windy, so what better for lunch than a bowl of hot, nourishing soup. I had a rich, slightly lemony chicken stock on hand, so after heating it I added sliced scallions, tiny, mushroom-stuffed tortellini, shredded swiss chard and a few shredded carrots. Simple, heart-warming and much enjoyed.
Tonigh, good friends for dinner. We'll start out with wine and gruyere wafers, then, at table a salad of escarole and roasted walnuts. Our main course will be duck stuffed with a combination of sauteed apples, prunes and onion seasoned judiciously with sage and mixed with cubes of seven-grain bread. A squeeze of lemon and some heavy cream to complete it. With the duck I'll serve thin-sliced turnips cooked slowly in olive oil till they're caramelized, then strewn with a bit of parsley. For dessert, individual chocolate tarts topped with a dollop of whipped cream. A fruity red wine with the duck, some good conversation - a perfect Sunday evening.