The Art of Eating In

Yes, nearly a year later...the food blog has been resuscitated. There are several reasons why I've been "out of season" for so long, the biggest one being the fact that we haven't had dependable Internet access at our house for several months, and I just didn't have enough dedication to blog regularly at the library or coffeeshops. But for the time being, we are online, and hopefully this will motivate me to post more, since I definitely am not lacking things to post about!

Onward. Cameron and I both had the day off yesterday so I decided to cook him a fancy dinner as an alternative to the usual night out. It was also a good excuse to try out some interesting recipes I found in a book called The Art of Eating in, by Cathy Erway.

Cathy writes a food blog in New York and at one point did an experiment of not eating out for two years and instead cooked everything herself. Then she wrote a book about it, which I found a couple weeks ago while perusing at the library.

The book itself was pretty dull but I'm not a book reviewer so I'll just cut to the chase and focus on the food: she included several recipes for some of the things that she cooked along her journey. I picked out four of them that seemed to go well together in a four course dinner and set out for the ingredients.

I found most of the fresh ingredients at the Farmer's Market, which was excellent since the growing season is in full throttle and the market is brimming with produce. The rest of what I needed I found at Meijer (except for one thing that I got at Ojibwa and will explain later).

Since I wanted it to be a somewhat "formal" dinner, I made my poor husband put on a tie in our unairconditioned house on a 90 degree day. I hoped he would find it worth it after dinner was through.

So here's what was on the menu:

APPETIZER
Grilled Peaches with Spiced Goat Cheese and Caramelized Shallots

I was definitely the most excited for this dish, which, in the book, is meant to be a main course, but I thought it would be a cute appetizer. I used a grillpan for the giant, juicy Farmer's Market peaches and whipped the Zingerman's goat cheese with some cumin and lemon zest. I added a little bit of curry powder too, which unfortunately gave it a yellowish hue due to the turmeric. I sprinkled some paprika on top for presentation and by the end I realized how much the dish resembled deviled eggs, which was not was I was going for. Oh well. Cameron thought it looked and tasted delicious.



SALAD
Artichoke, Avocado and Watercress Salad

The recipe originally called for asparagus but since it isn't in season anymore I got broccoli instead. The market didn't have watercress so I guiltily bought some at Meijer; even though I have lettuce and chard growing up a storm in my garden, I wanted to stay true to the recipe. Since I'm a big fan of color, I thought the salad was too "green" and needed something else to make it more attractive, so I threw some artichokes in a skillet along with the broccoli and sauteed them together for a few minutes. It was a good idea.




MAIN COURSE
Moroccan Cous Cous with Mint and Ghee

This dish was a little strange. I think the measurements were off because it called for two cups of cous cous and only one cup of vegetable broth. I ended up having to add a lot more water which made the flavor a little bland. The fresh mint leaves were a nice touch, though, and the combination of unusual ingredients at least made the dish interesting. There were tons of leftovers so we'll be eating cous cous for a few days.






DESSERT
Fresh Basil Panna Cotta

This Italian custard would have been the easiest dessert in the world if I weren't a vegetarian. I had to find a substitute for the gelatin. I heard that agar agar, a seaweed, was a common one, so I ended up finding the last one on the shelf at Ojibwa, on sale for about 50% off. It came in these weird, spongy bars that become soft and "rippable" when soaked. I had a hell of a time figuring out the agar agar to gelatin ratio and even after filling the ramekins and letting them cool and set in the fridge, I still had no idea if it would turn out okay. Not only did it work, it was delicious! The texture was great, just like Jell-O, and the flavor was marvelous. After steeping the basil leaves in the cream, I thought some mint would be a nice addition, since I already had some on hand for the cous cous, so I added a few sprigs. The last touch was a little bit of vanilla extract. I'm glad I added these extras because I think it would have been a little boring with just basil. Regardless, the combination of flavors and textures were surprising and delicious!

We paired the meal with a bottle of our favorite cheap wine, Smoking Loon cabernet, and by the end of it our bellies and taste buds were pleasantly overwhelmed.

Fancy dinner at home = success!

If Cameron decides to take on this challenge, I promise I'll wear a tie next time.