The first: A Birthday Dinner Party for Toma

The Birthday Boy


Toma's birthday is next week, but he'll be out of town for work, so I've decided to throw him a dinner party tonight. There's all sorts of challenges involved. For instance, my tiny one bedroom apartment doesn't have a dining room. The way I have gotten around this is having a huge fabulous veranda with a lovely large dining table on...but well it's January.







The Solution


I'm using the conference room of my office for it's inaugural dinner party. The room is ready to go, and I have a tiny little kitchenette in the back with all the requisite appliance substitutions: hot plate, microwave, toaster oven, mini fridge. Now, so that you know how I've been able to cheat, my apartment is across the street. I oven roasted what needed roasting before hand and brought all those things over to be finished off. Also, between courses, I ran over and grilled the pork chops too.




So the other challenge was trying to cook from Sunday Suppers at Lucques and do all my shopping at the 24 hour WalMart SuperCenter at 10:30p the night before. The original menu was supposed to be "kabocha squash and fennel soup with crème fraîche and candied pumpkin seeds," "persimmon and pomegranate salad with arugula and hazelnuts," and "cured pork chops." No, kabocha, fennel, persimmon, pomegranate, arugula or crème fraîche, so the kabocha became butternut, the fennel, leeks, the c.f., sour cream and the salad changed completely to "beets and tangerines with mint and orange-flower water." and well, flat leaf parsley will just have to do. Also forgot to buy sherry, so saki it was. Then some fantasy vegetable standards that I had up my sleeve--oven roasted madras curried cauliflower and sautéd broccoli rabe and radiccio. Thanks be to Jennifer for bringing me some back from her trip to NJ!

All in all, I was really pleased with the food. The surprising thing was the brined porkchops. I really had no idea that the flavor would instill itself so completely. I expected it to be fairly subtle after grilling, but it was all really there. Also, next time, I'll remember to use kosher salt when called for. I used table salt, and being that it's not all fluffy and airy like the former, it ended up being about double what I think it needed.

The soup turned out really well with substitutions and everyone seemed to really like it, especially the candied pumpkin seeds. However, it was really thin, so the sour cream sank to the bottom instead of being a delightful swirl...and the pumpkin seeds also took a nose dive.

The beets and tangerines were to die for. I've never been a huge fan of beets, but I'm realizing more and more that it's all in the preparation and in no way the fault of the vegetable itself. I think the secret is a caramelized beet.

Portioning was good except I bought the wrong cut of pork chop. It was like a Fred Flintstone slab of meat in comparison to the pretty little piles of sides. But, well, everyone enjoyed it anyway. Also, another note to self. People are really afraid of pink pork. Strangely, it wasn't really underdone, it was that the vinaigrette from the beets soaked into the chops and dyed them that suspiously undercooked shade of pink. Oh well, I've been served medium rare pork before, so I wasn't all that scared, but it did take some convincing for the others.














BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND LEEK SOUP WITH SOUR CREAM AND CANDIED PUMPKIN SEEDS

2 lb butternut squash
3 leeks
extra virgin olive oil
4 T butter
2 c sliced onions
2 chiles de árbol
3/4 c saki
8 c chicken broth
1/4 c sour cream
candied pumpkin seeds
kosher salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Pare the skin off the squash and remove the seeds and quarter. Slice the quarters into 1/2" sections. Toss with olive oil to coat, salt and pepper. Lay out evenly on a cookie sheet.

Trim off the root end and greens of the leaks. Cut lengthwise and rinse thouroughly. Shake off excess moisture. Lay out on cookie sheet with the squash, cut side up, and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Roast for about 35m or until the squash is fork tender and a little caramelized.

Heat your soup pot and add butter; when it foams add the chopped onion and two cumbled chiles, 1t salt and freshly ground black pepper. On medium high sauté about 10m, stirring often until onions are just starting to brown.

Chop the leeks into 1" sections and add them and the squash to the pot. Stir well and add the saki. Let it reduce briefly and then add the chicken stock. Bring to a boil and then simmer about 20m.

Whizz it up to a smooth consistency either in a blender or with my favorite, the hand-held wand-type blender.

Serve with a little dollop of sour cream and sprinkle with candied seeds.



CANDIED PUMPKIN SEEDS

1/2 t cumin seeds
2 T butter
1/2 c raw pumpkin seeds
1 T granulated sugar
generous pinch each of ground cinnamon, smoked hot paprika and cayenne pepper
1 t honey
kosher salt

Toast the cumin in a small cast iron skillet until browned and starting to pop. Add the butter and melt. Add all else except the honey and sauté until the seeds start to brown and pop, stirring often. Turn off the heat, wait about 30s, then stir in the honey. Spread on a plate to cool. The seeds will hold together much like peanut brittle, so you'll have to break it up into little clusters.


BEETS AND TANGERINES WITH PARSLEY AND ORANGE FLOWER WATER

3 med beets
extra virgin olive oil
4 largish tangerines
2 T finely diced shallot
1 t sherry vinegar
1 T lemon juice
1/2 t orange flower water
1/4 c chopped flat leaf parsley
kosher salt and pepper


Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Remove the greens from the beets, peel and quarter. Then cut into 1/2" slices. Toss with olive oil to coat and salt and pepper. Lay out evenly on a cookie sheet and roast about 40m or until fork tender and slightly caramelized. Lay out on a plate to cool to room temperature.

Prepare the tangerines by slicing the top and bottom off. Then with a paring knife, slice off the peel, taking a small abount of the fruit with it. Slice down the middle and seed, then cut into 1/2" slices.

Squeeze all of your removed rind over a bowl; you should have about a 1/4 c of juice. Add shallots, salt, lemon juice and vinegar. Stir to disolve the salt, then slowly whisk in about 1/2 c of olive oil.

Toss beets, tangerines and parsley with the vinaigrette and serve immediately.



CURED PORK CHOPS

Plan ahead. The chops need to be in the brine for 24 hours.

6 10oz pork chops
2 T juniper berries
2 T allspice berries
1 T fennel seed
1/3 c granulated sugar
1/2 c kosher salt
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
2 crumbled chiles de árbol
1 sliced onion
1 peeled and sliced carrot
4 sprigs of flat leaf parsley

Crush the seeds and berries in a mortar and pestle to a coarse texture.

Disolve the sugar and salt in 2 c hot water, add all else to the pot w/ 3 more quarts of cold water or enough to thoroughly submerge the pork chops. Stir well, cover and refridgerate for 24 hours.

Remove from brine and scrape off most of the spices.

On a hot grill, cook pork chops for 5-7m on the first side, turn and cook another 4-5m until medium rare to medium. They will still be the slightest bit pink in the middle and near the bone if your chops have bones in.

I served this with a little dollop of sundried tomato pesto on the side, but found that gratutious with all the flavor the brining supplied. If you pan seared them, it might be nice to deglaze the pan with a little white wine or sherry and drizzle that over the top. I'm gonna try that next time.



OVEN ROASTED MADRAS CURRIED CAULIFLOWER

1 head cauliflower
1 T dried madras curry powder
olive oil
kosher salt and pepper

Cut a good section of the stem away and slice the head of cauliflower down the middle. Place on cutting board cut side down and slice into 1/2" sections. Toss with other seasonings and enough olive oil to coat.

Lay out on a cookie sheet and bake until browned and tender in a 400°F oven about 45m.



SAUTÉD BROCCOLI RABE AND GARLIC

1 bunch of broccoli rabe
4 cloves of minced garlic
olive oil
kosher salt and pepper

Trim off the old ends of the broccoli rabe, holding into a bundle. Then slice into three big sections crosswise. Rinse well and mostly drain off the excess water. Leave a little left for it to steam in the skillet.

In a large hot cast iron skillet, add 2 T olive oil and garlic. Sauté, stirring constantly until the garlic just starts to turn golden. Make sure your broccoli rabe is standing by so your garlic doesn't burn. Add the broccoli rabe all at once and quickly cover. You'll hear a loud sizzle. After a couple of minutes, check the progress. You want it to be just wilted and still brilliant green. The stems, just tender. Remove from heat immediately to prevent overcooking and toss with salt and pepper to taste.

Total cost: $60.00
7 diners, with enough food for 8