Fresh Tart

What?  I didn't know what to call this...sort of had the concept of hot pot in my mind, but since each person builds their own version, it's more a bowl thing than a pot thing.   Anyhow, whatever it is, it's delicious, and fun for a crowd.  As I've mentioned too many times before, I make rather deconstructed food on Wild Wednesdays to accommodate the varying tastes of the family.  Beef stroganoff, sauce on the side.  Spaghetti with meat sauce, meat on the side.  Chicken Parmigiana, cheese on the side.  I often throw a chicken soup in there, chicken and vegetables on the side.

But last night, since my aunt Mary & uncle Bruce were joining us for dinner, I decided to innovate a bit and add an Asian twist to the soup concept.  I loosely had in mind Japanese udon soup, or a Chinese soup with little meatballs or wontons, so I riffed on that.  I also wanted to create a healthy-meal-in-a-bowl, and something I could prepare ahead, so that we could eat right away and fly out the door to get the kids to religious school.

So here's what we had: a fragrant, lightly spicy chicken broth, with optional pork meatballs; thinly sliced tofu, chicken, and vegetables (cabbage, scallions, shitake, bell pepper, and snow peas); and thin noodles.  It was delicious, and pretty (photo above doesn't do it justice since it didn't include the noodles - the vegetables and meatballs piled on top of the pasta are gorgeous), light-yet-filling...and fun to build and eat.  Bonus: the leftover noodles in broth blow away any version of packaged ramen you've never had (photo right, with a squirt of sriracha); I plan to have them for lunch (meatballs and veggies are gone...shucks).  Recipe here.

For dessert (we had guests; I pretty much only make desserts for guests), a chocolate cake with killer chocolate sauce - a pre-Valentine's Day sweet-for-the-mostly-sweet.

Just in case we forgot, winter is coming. It was easy to be lulled into complacency given 75-degree days earlier this week. And then yesterday...snow. And today...a high of 34 degrees. Alrighty then.

Thursday, when it was still warm outside, I actually spent a good part of the day baking. I'm not really much of a baker, but I contribute a cake or two each year to John's office's United Way fundraiser (they sell off pieces of baked goods and donate the proceeds). This year I kept it pretty simple with cheater's coconut cake (made it last year too) and chocolate bundt cake with killer chocolate sauce. John bought six pieces - by my count, almost half of each cake. Very...John.

Friday, Suz and I braved the snow with a drive to Buffalo to check out a few antique stores. It is a testament to how fond I am of Susie that not only will I shop with her (I really don't like shopping), I actually enjoy shopping with her (I really, really don't like shopping with others). We had a blast, cruising around and even enjoying a totally tasty junk-food lunch at Culver's. Which put us both in a coma. Turns out even better-quality junk food is still, well, junk.

Moderate it: bake it, then give it away! Works like a charm, unless your husband buys half of what you baked and brings it back home. Hmmm...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Nothin' like a little love on VD, we all need some love, right? If you're cooking up love for your honey, which I most often do (although not tonight; more on that, below), it's hard to beat the, uh, aphrodisiac perfume of truffles, even in something as simple as Chicken Soup with Bacon, Asparagus & Truffle Oil (add warm, crusty bread for a fully sensual experience, crunch). Or, it never hurts to bring on a little heat, baby, perhaps in the form of Pasta with Tuna Sauce. And for dessert, chocolate but of course, even something as basic as Killer Chocolate Sauce served warm and melty over really good ice cream. Lick the bowl. Rarrr!

My love already arrived, and not in the form of chocolate (perhaps later), jewelry (not later, I'm quite sure, oh well), a card (certainly later) or flowers (hopefully later?), but in...an email from Baseball Mom Beth.

Huh?

Well, Beth just happened to be listening to Cities 97 this morning, and just happened to catch a segment with "Chef Philip," and Chef Philip just happens to be none other than Philip Dorwart of Create Catering, where we just happened to have our amazing dinner last Friday night... So? Well, after I wrote about our dinner, Stu the Wine Genius sent Philip the link to my blog (thanks man!), and Philip scoped it out (eek! nice!), and in turn gave Ye Old Moderate Epicurean some sweet raves this morning as he chatted about food and dining blogs - and naked sushi! - with hosts Lee Valsvik and and BT. You can listen here, if you're so inclined (the "2/14 Chef Philip" segment).

So gosh, thanks to My Super Surprise Valentines - Beth, Stu, and Philip!

How do I top that VD thrill? Well, I probably don't (sorry John!), although I'm gonna give it the old college try when we whisk off for love=food in the bar at Cafe Lurcat. It's abso-friggin-lutely (to paraphrase Mr. Big from Sex and the City) a pommes frites and vino night for me, my friends. Chocolate to finish (just like you)! Hopefully completely immoderate. (Back with moderation over the weekend, don't worry...) Oh. Yeah.