Fresh Tart

A Last Look at (Moderately) Healthy Eats, 2009 Version

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:21:01 PST

Party Prep Continues...

FreshTartSteph — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 15:45:44 PST

John and I shifted into high gear today, doing set up for tomorrow's party. Plates and glassware are set out. Food is assigned spots on the buffet table. Flowers are arranged. Fruit and nuts are scattered amongst the greens and pine cones (this year I chose kumquats, persimmons, and seckle pears - mostly because it's so fun to say all those words). The actual centerpiece I got from Arts & Flowers and it turned out beautifully - they do seriously cool arrangements (I love Roger Beck too). Candles are distributed around various parts of the house, wood is in the fireplace; both await the touch of a match. Beer is chilling in the garage; water, soda, and wine are ready to pour.

Despite a cold day, I was able to get my grill hot enough to put a good sear on both pork and beef tenderloin roasts (I'll serve them tomorrow cold, sliced, and garnished with mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, and fresh herbs). Tonight I'll bake the Almond Triangles (stay tuned for results).

Tomorrow we'll do the final straightening of the house, chop and prepare garnishes, slice the roasts, compose a cheese tray, set out bowls of cashew brittle and almonds, ice the beverages, light a million candles, get some good holiday tunes playing, and clean the kitchen of pretty much everything in preparation for the caterers to do their thing. Somewhere in there I'll remember to get dressed and put on some party shoes.

Hope your holiday party plans are going well! (We're going OUT for dinner tonight - Cafe Barbette, here we come!)

The Party is Over...

FreshTartSteph — Sun, 17 May 2009 07:44:13 PDT

Ah, the glassware. Crystal flutes and goblets, mere hours ago filled and fragrant, cradled and kissed, now stand alone - a stark bouquet of dried red and gold in the morning light...

Sorry, got a little carried away there.

Suffice it to say, we had a party last night, woo hoo! A dinner party - six of us total, few snacks, little meat-n-potatoes, sips of wine, chat and laughs, cheese and fruit, everyone toddled home and off to bed. (You might have read about a few of those here before...) But this party was different than our usual, a new trick for us old dogs - we didn't know our guests! You see, our dinner was a silent auction item for a local school fundraiser that someone bid on and purchased. (Thank you Pam Van Ert for coming up with the concept and setting it all up.) How cool is it that someone actually paid to have dinner with John and me? Very cool. Very, very cool.

As are the two couples who joined us, Cindy & Ed Bennett and Liz & Mark Pihart. I confess, I'd met Cindy & Liz, as we're all neighbors and such, but I hadn't met the boys and John had met no one. With a "we eat anything" all-clear (yes!), I sat down earlier in the week to plan the menu. I have to say, I had a blast thinking about what to serve and how to serve it. A soup course? Plated entree? In the end, I decided that it would be most fun for everyone if I just did my usual - appetizers with drinks, buffet-style dinner, simple dessert. I wanted to actually talk with our guests, so I made sure I wasn't standing out on the deck grilling while all the fun happened inside. I chose uncomplicated dishes that have been successful in the past. And I chose dishes I could prep in advance with just minor finishing (sweating over a hot stove in heels and jewelry, in front a group of people I've just met, uh no). Here's how it all shook out:

Grilled bread with a platter of ricotta, tapenade, salami, roasted tomatoes, and olives
Grilled artichokes with mustard sauce
Prosecco, Pinot Noir, Fume Blanc

Herb-roasted beef tenderloin (garlic, rosemary, thyme)
Wild mushroom sauce
Mashed potatoes (sour cream, pecorino romano)
Swiss chard (pancetta, pine nuts, currants, balsamic)
Malbec, Grenache

Cheeses, brownies
Muscat

I spared our new friends from having their pictures on my blog - a first-timers' pass. I also spared them from watching me photograph the food I was serving them - not exactly what they bid on, ha. In the end, John and I had a complete blast. Both couples are smart and funny, and gracious guests, and the whole night flew by, whoosh. Bonus? They're all four serious Foodies. As in wild-asparagus-hunting, organic-vegetable-growing, whole-pig-roasting Foodies - love!

Sharing a meal with friends old and new...yeah, it's all good.

Happy Valentine's Day!

FreshTartSteph — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 20:01:22 PST

Whew, I made a big V-Day dnner for John and Nathan tonight, I'm slightly wiped. And full. But it was great fun to prep and they both enjoyed the din thoroughly, so totally worth the effort. (The mess I made of the kitchen? Um, I'm hoping my gift is that someone else cleans it up...? UPDATE: John and Nathan did, thank you boys!)

I decided to make a real guy's dinner, a total steakhouse spread - roasted beef tenderloin, sauteed mushrooms, creamed spinach, hashbrowns, and chocolate cake for dessert. There's nothing like a tenderloin roast, easy and impressive, the perfect combination. I'll confess, tenderloin doesn't do much for me (especially given the insane price) - NY strip is my steak, beefy and toothsome, the king of steaks. But, the fam (and pretty much everyone but me) loves tenderloin, so I splurge for special occasions. To boost its flavor, I give it a good rub with minced-to-a-paste garlic (forget garlic presses, they waste 1/2 of each clove, and it's easy to make a quick paste with a sharp knife and a generous sprinkle of coarse salt), mixed with a bit of olive oil and some dried herbs. You can see in the pic that I cut a whole roast in half. I usually roast the larger piece a bit longer, but if you're serving a group with a variety of doneness preferences, well there you go - the large side is still quite rare when the narrow has achieved medium.

If not for the cold, I would have thrown the roast on the grill, my favorite, simple method for achieving a good crust with a rosy interior. But when it's less than 30 degrees outside - yes, it was cold in Minnesota today, strange, I know - my (gas) grill is too unpredictable. Fine if I'm griling say hot dogs or chicken breasts, but a tenderloin roast? Uh, no. So I instead popped the roast into a 450 degree oven (for 15 minutes), then turned it down to 375 degrees (for another 20-30 minutes, depending on desired doneness), then let it set up for 15 minutes while I made the hashbrowns and spinach. Worked nicely.

Creamed spinach is a breeze to make, and not nearly as decadent as it sounds. Saute a minced clove of garlic in a bit of butter, stir in the spinach, drizzle with a small amount of cream, and when the lot is wilted add a generous grating of Parmesan and fresh nutmeg. Salt and pepper to finish. Delicious.

And hashbrowns, also simple, especially if you've got a food processor (but a box grater does the trick as well, albeit a bit more slowly - watch your knuckles!). I love a combination of russets and red potatoes (about 5-6 potatoes peeled, grated, with 1/2 tsp. of salt stirred in). To get the classic steakhouse "cake" of hashbrown, press the potatoes into a bit of hot peanut oil, fry on one side until quite crisp, flip onto a plate, add a bit more oil to the pan, then slide the potatoes back into the pan until the other side is crisp. My kids would be very happy if I made these every single day of the year.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Party Central is Now Closed

FreshTartSteph — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 09:38:00 PDT

Ah, the parties are over. In the last week, we've entertained almost 100 people (30 on Tuesday, 70 on Saturday), and I have to say, it all went off without a hitch. Whew! And both were really...FUN, which is the point of course. Reconnected with old friends, met a lot of new ones, ate good food, drank good wine, and in preparation, really got our house in order. Feeling good. Next big one: Thanksgiving, woo hoo!

I luckily didn't have to prepare food for 70, since Saturday's party format - parent party - had folks bring either an appetizer or dessert. You know what that means - WAY more food than everyone can eat, but lots of fun tasties to try! I did make a few things, to get the party rolling, including gougere (cheese pastry puffs), a platter of cold sliced beef tenderloin surrounded by couscous, and a plate of toasts topped with ricotta and roasted tomatoes (I'm into them lately, what can I say?). I was even able to take leftover ricotta and tomatoes, puree them together, and make a quick-n-lovely pasta for dinner last night. That's about as far I was willing to go with 1) prep, or 2) clean-up, no surprise there.

Today, back to reality. Few things to put away, but not much (thank you John and Nathan, my official clean-up crew; thank you also to my extremely polite guests, who tossed almost every plate and napkin and deposited every bit of glassware in the kitchen - if that's Minnesota Nice, I'll take it). The pool gets put to winter-sleep this week, so it's time to think about putting away patio and porch furniture. The lights and lanterns have come down. Flower and herb pots will soon be emptied (I've still got a few tomatoes coming in, although they are the obviously the very, very last). Yes, the parties are really over. Sniff.

Guess I'll just have to cheer myself by...going out for dinner with Kim & Suz! To celebrate Kim's birthday - Happy Birthday Maven of Mischief! Look out, True Thai, here we come!

Moderate it: there's nothing like hosting a huge party to get a good workout. I'm not kidding! I hauled around four cases of wine, 100 bottles of water, 80 lbs. of ice (up and downstairs a couple of times), furniture, trays of glassware (I rented wine glasses), not to mention all the groceries and trash. I felt it in my lower back, for sure!

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 23:53:00 PDT

Geez (OMG, John just said the word 'geez' right while I typed that - perhaps coincidence, or as he cracked, because we're 'yoked', ha), I really need to pull out my damn cam when we socialize. Argh! Last night we had dinner at Morton's, with Mack's and Zimmern's, to celebrate Aaron's birthday. No pic, unless Aaron scans and sends me the picture the maitre d' took (hint). Lovely salads, steaks, scallops, crab cakes, broccoli, and hash browns floated by and disappeared with nary a record of their greatness, other than the shadow of flavor on our palates, swallow. Or perhaps a bit of creamed spinach in our teeth. Shame, really, I'm all about the pic. All I can say is good times, as always, good times.

Tonight, we hosted Sheri and Darin Lynch for dinner - man did we luck out not only with cool guests but with the cool breeze that blew through around 5:00 pm, whoooo, effectively removing all humidity from the sultry air and thus creating a damn-near perfect July's eve. NICE. We noshed pre-dinner on grilled bread, grilled tomatoes and red onions, and paper-thin slices of Molinari dry salami. For din - al fresco, baby,due to that fabulous breeze - a beef tenderloin roast, smeared with garlic and herbs, then seared on the grill, served alongside crushed new potatoes topped with creme fraiche, mushrooms sauteed with garlic and lemon, and sugar snap peas sauteed in a bit of butter. With warm fruit crisp (peach, plum, blueberry) for dessert, we polished off a pretty sweet evening of summer chat, if I do say so myself - again, good times, good times. (And again, no pic, argh! However, recipe for fruit crisp posted in comments, below.)

Tomorrow, a little baseball, a splash of swimming, dinner a la Chinois, and Batman, baby. Bat. Man. Yep, once again - good times, good times. Happy Summer!

Moderate it: as I mentioned below, I knew I was making steak for din tonight, so I passed on the steak at Morton's on Thursday. Grilled scallops wrapped in bacon fit the bill nicely. The broccoli with Bearnaise was delicious. But I did not get away before the hash browns - or even tastier, and just as rich, the potatoes Lyonnaise - arrived. Ah well.

FreshTartSteph — Sun, 25 May 2008 11:02:00 PDT

Grillin' & chillin', that's the goal for Memorial Day weekend, right? Our lovely sunshine disappeared, but that's OK. The grill still works in the rain! (Although the griller will be tucking her hair into a hat - no steak is worth frizzy hair, even if it is tenderloin, sniff.)

As much as I lurve a grilled bratwurst, covered with raw onions, sauerkraut, and mustard, washed down with an ice cold beer (the Wisconsin t-shirt I'm wearing today does not help that craving and in fact probably put it in my head, ack), I had this plan to keep things on the lighter side this weekend...right. Not that we'll feel deprived, heck no. As I hinted above, Nathan and I picked up a beef tenderloin for tonight - smeared with a little olive oil and lots of minced garlic, herbs, and coarse salt, it should come off the grill with a good crust. A couple of slices over a big spinach salad, simple and delicious.

For dessert? Peaches! They're in the store and tasting great, my fave fruit. Hey, sticking with the theme, I could even grill one - mighty nice with a drizzle of best balsamic and a little honey. Yeah, that sounds like a tasty, lovely plan.

PS If you happen to be grilling brats, enjoy one for me!

Moderate it: beef tenderloin is very special (expensive!) and delicious yet quite lean. It's easy to prepare - perfect on the grill. You can get away with buying smaller portions because there is literally no waste - no gristle, fat, or bone to trim away.

FreshTartSteph — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:12:00 PDT

Here we are, Little League baseball season once again, the third time since I started this blog - time flies, eh?! I have to say, it feels good to be back in the fresh air and warm sun, eating a little dust, catching up with the Baseball Moms (outside of McCoys, ha), and watching my nephew Cooper Cuteness running all over the place, thinking he's ready to play some ball. "I want to go in there!" says Cooper, age just-2, pointing over the fence at the Big Boys, the cool ones, the ones hitting and throwing the ball as hard as they possibly can... Eeek!

We had a game yesterday too, an appetizer of sorts before the dinner I made for Dad, Susanna, Stacey, Cooper, John, and Nathan. We all ended up here by four or so, in time for Jake (my parents' dog) to take the inaugural '08 swim in the pool (splash!), while I pulled together some (real) appetizers and Cooper and Nathan ran around chasing Jake. We vegged out - literally - with sauteed artichokes and roasted asparagus, followed by a first course of thin fresh pasta with favas and morels (hey, what can I say, 'tis the season) and a dab of creme fraiche. Oh, don't worry, we beefed up plenty - a whole beef tenderloin roast, rubbed with minced garlic, herbs, olive oil, and coarse salt, grilled crusty and served over slices of grilled bread with sauteed cherry tomatoes, spring onions, and Brussels sprouts. With zabligione for dessert, oy we were stuffed, daring to ring in spring with a truly spring-y meal.

Today, due to a lovely, sunny visit with my friend Kathie, I actually achieved sun rash, itchy and bumpy and...completely welcome. Hey, I'll take any sun at this point, especially on Kathie's pretty patio, especially in comparison to gray clouds and snow. Rash on!

Moderate it: roasted vegetables make delicious - and not overly heavy - appetizers. The goal is to set out a nibble, not fill everyone up before dinner.

FreshTartSteph — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:56:00 PDT

Hola! Hola! Back from Mexico, in fact since Thursday night, but I've been having too much fun hanging with the Bryt family, visiting from New York, to scratch a post together! It's been a fast blast of weekend, with Bartley arriving Wednesday for work, and Maud and their daughters Catherine and Natalie joining him (us!) Friday night. We just had dinner here at the hacienda, simple pasta and roasted vegetables.

Yesterday Maud and I stole over to Stacey's to see Cooper Cuteness, Stacey's amazing Stacified house, as well Stacey's studio/new work. Thanks Pooh!

Then back here to cook and cook, with Harry Cunliffe and Suz et al coming for dinner to join all of us. For a little appy I made shrimp paste, a recipe from The Gift of Southern Cooking, basically sauteed shrimps pureed with lots of sweet butter, with a hint of cayenne pepper, sherry, and lemon. We spread it on toasts, but I'm dying to try it stirred into some hot grits, oooh... I'm a little obsessed with it in fact. (Recipe posted in comments, below.) For dinner, I grilled an insane amount of beef tenderloin (lots of tasty leftovers, more than enough to put Bartley & Maud on the plane with thick roast beef, tomato, lettuce, and horseradish sandwiches!), whipped up my new favorite saute of okra, onions, and tomatoes with bacon, and made a pile o' popovers. Ahhh, popovers. Nothing is better alongside beef, especially with pan juices to soak them in. Just kill me. It was a pretty magical evening - literally, since Harry is a sometimes magician and was gracious enough to show off a few of his tricks for the kids. (And adults!) Great, great fun!

And now, the Bryts are gone, sniff. House is very empty feeling, although not for long. Nathan is home from Florida soon (yay!) and then we're heading out for Cooper's 2nd Birthday Party! Happy Birthday Cooper Cuteness!

Many, many highlights from Mexico to share, a little later today, so stay tuned...