Farmers Market, Kitchen Dinner

I am very lucky to have great friends who allow me the use of their beautiful kitchen, as well as taking a wonderful adventure to the farmers market.  The meal inspired by the first signs of summer, started to build around fresh greens, beautiful raspberries, and squash blossoms.  
While prepping & cooking, I made a suggestion that we just eat off the kitchen island, rather than move into the formal dining room.  This suggestion was met with lots of nodding and more refills on champagne. 
My new favorite dish, the Shrimp Spring rolls, started off the meal with a bang. Then moved to scallop & asparagus risotto topped with fresh basil, lemon zest and a drop of truffle oil. 

Then next course was a new one. In the squash blossoms, I stuffed a mixture of ricotta, goat cheese, lemon zest, and fresh italian parsley.  These were then dipped in a very light beer batter and deep fried. I tasted one of the blossoms once it had cooled and realized it definitely needed a sauce.

So, I took some fresh raspberries, white balsamic vinegar, and some agave nectar, and macerated the mixture until it became a sauce.  It paired nicely with the stuffed flower. Id say a new keeper. 

The last course, though we probably didn't need it, was a piece of skirt steak marinating in what I am calling a Florentine style chimichurri. The traditional steak sauce took on an Italian flavor by substituting fresh basil for the mint, and white balsamic for the red wine vinegar.  Also added was the juice of a lemon.  This turned out fabulous.  Succulent, juicy, and tangy. Perfect over a salad or on a toasted ciabatta.  Also good eaten with your fingers because you are too impatient to grab a fork. 

All in all this meal was fabulous. Everyone smiling, laughing, drinking, and dancing around the kitchen island.  However, there was one small food related injury.  As the steak was resting, glasses were getting refilled, and relaxation was happening, a full glass of champagne made its way in to Jake's hand.  Let's just say for the sake of this short story he had a few, and was feeling the effects of the good food and alcohol.  As I was slicing the meat for presentation I heard a sudden break in the conversation, and a "Holy shit!" I turned, and saw Jake running to the bathroom with his hands over his mouth.  I looked down and saw a shattered champagne flute.  It took a few seconds to register.  Jake had aggressively taken a sip of champagne and slammed it into his teeth, shattering the glass, cutting his nose, and lodging a few shards of glass in his teeth.  10 min, 1 yard of floss, and one embarrassing band-aid later, Jake emerged unscathed by the events.  We handed him a coffee mug for his beverage and then continued to laugh until we hurt.  Sorry Jake, had to tell it.

Easter Blackout

Easter dinner; nice collaborative meal, complete with an extension on the table and lots of wine. With assistance from Ali, Jerry, and Amanda on the main dishes, this was an easy meal to plan.  Except for losing power an hour before people showed up.  My dish was an old Tuscan recipe that required an oven. Amanda's potatoes required an oven.  Ali's asparagus required some light to prep. It felt like a Top Chef challenge, and I had fun with it.  

Luckily, my chicken was prepped before dark and all that was left was to cook it. The recipe is one from the cooking school in Siena which I was fortunate enough to have taken a few classes.  A traditional Tuscan dish, usually made with turkey, is stuffing the breasts with garlic, butter, sage and rosemary.  Then wrapping it up in butchers twine and roasting it with some white wine.  My version used chicken which was then wrapped in bacon, and tied.  Now, with out an oven this got a bit tricky.  So, i found some deep metal baking dishes, and cranked up the BBQ.  My two pans were directly on the grill, with Amanda's pyrex dish on the bun warmers. Ali was in the kitchen with lanterns and flashlights chopping and frying.  It was an awesome team effort. Below is a picture of the chicken, with the aid of a flashlight.

Candles lit, dishes completed, all without major disaster.  Luckily I had some battery powered speakers, the meal was saved (except for those east coast baseball fans pining over the opening day game). 

Happy Easter! What an awesome meal. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup - finally

This post comes about a year late, but it isn't every so often I make my version of Chicken Tortilla Soup.  The hardest part about this recipe is the base of the soup.  The stock is made from a previous meal involving Mexican style chicken.  The stars aligned, and time was on my side, thus making an incredible base for this soup.  I could never remember my recipe for this off the top of my head, so every time I made it I had to rummage through old emails to see who I emailed the recipe too and what exactly I put in the soup.  
With out further adieu...

Soup Base (Made at least a day ahead of time):
3 half chicken breasts (bone in), dredged
Yellow onion, quartered
1/2 bunch of cilantro
1 Jalapeno quartered
1 Bottle of Budweiser
Celery
Carrots
Salt
Lawreys Seasoning
Chili Powder
Chili Flakes
Cumin
Old Bay
1 Bay leaf
2 cloves of garlic
Water


This simmered for about 3 hours (or 4 weeks of Tecmo Bowl)

Strained and saved.


Now, for the soup. 
Start with 2 breasts of chicken, dredged and browned in vegetable oil & garlic. Once browned, add in saved stock.
In separate pan, jullianed white corn tortilla strips are crisped in oil, with 2 small leeks, and 1/2 of a white onion.  Once wilted, add in 1 can of diced tomatoes.  This is added to the chicken & stock. Along with 1 jalapeno, seeded & diced, and a hand full of cilantro. Depending on how much stock, some additional chicken stock should be added for consistency. This then simmers for about an hour until the chicken is able to be shredded easily.  Once shredded, add chicken back into the pot.  


Toppings:
Tortilla strips
Diced tomato
Diced avocado
Cheddar cheese
Cilantro


Served with a simple quesadilla.

This recipe finally has a home!