Fresh Tart

Ahhh,Happy Mother's Day! I hope you're all enjoying a lovely day! I sure am - John's doing the dishes from last night's dinner party - now that's a gift. (As you can see in the pic, we put a fair amount of tableware through its paces.)

So, last night's dinner menu (recipes posted in comments, below). I leaned pretty heavily on one of my favorite cookbooks, Sunday Suppers at Lucques by Suzanne Goin. The book is broken down into seasonal menus, eight/season - I didn't follow any one menu to the letter, but pulled favorite little gems from here and there, all spring-y, all tasty. Stu and Rudy brought fabulous wines to taste and share, also listed below.

Swiss Chard Tart with Goat Cheese, Currants, and Pine Nuts
Veuve Cliquot Ponsardin Champagne, Reims (France)
Ferrari-Carano Fume Blanc 2006, Sonoma County
McGrath Farms' Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast
Adrian Fog Pinot Noir 2003, Anderson Valley, Savoy Vineyard (brought by Stu)
Chambolle-Musigny Clos du Village Monopole 1999, Domaine Antonin Guyon, Cote d'Or (France;
brought by Rudy)
Grilled Lamb Chops with Garlic & Herbs (my recipe)
Artichoke-Potato Hash with Black Olive Aioli (because there were no artichokes available at Byerly's - very odd - we instead had Asparagus-Morel-Potato Hash, worked quite nicely)
Faiveley Echezeaux Grand Cru 1992, Nuits-Saint-Georges, Cote d'Or (France; brought by Rudy)
Cain Five 2003, Napa Valley
Buttermilk Lemon Tart (the almond crust is via Sunday Suppers, from the cherry tart recipe; lemon filling is mine)

Despite being pretty wiped out from his birthday party the night before, Nathan was able to join us for (most of) dinner (he's a BIG fan of Bizarre Foods). Man, it was great to finally pull this party together, I'm kinda bummed that it's over. We've had good intentions, but getting Zim and Rudy in the same room, in the same city, at the same time, is a bit of a challenge - how crazy we pulled it off twice in one week! I particularly had a blast cooking all day, I don't get to do that very often these busy days. The only thing that could have made the day better was a lot less rain, and just a bit of warmth, for appetizers on the deck. But whatevs, we have all summer for outside fun (listen to me, so nonchalant about summer, ha), and having everyone in the kitchen with me while I cook is pretty damn sweet.

Today, leftovers baby! Already had some soup for lunch, nice. Perhaps a bite of a lamb chop in a bit. Dinner tonight a laLucia's, with Mom and Stacey, to celebrate Mother's Day (natch) and Stacey's Birthday - Happy Belated Birthday Stacey Pooh (here with Cooper; I know she's having a Happy Mother's Day, ha.)

Moderate it: Stace, you may feel older, but you're never as old as me. After party - enjoy the party leftovers! It's too much work for just one meal - just be ready to pare back to normal. Er, tomorrow.

OK, here's the deal. It's just about midnight (which makes it Sunday, Mother's Day, Happy Such to all you Madres out there)... I got oh, about five hours of sleep last night due to Nathan's Boy Soup birthday sleepover... I have a cold... I just spent the entire day prepping a three-course dinner for nine (John & moi, Nathan, Rishia & Andrew Zimmern, Rudy Maxa& Ana Scofield, and Debbie & Stu The Wine Genius Williams)... Aaaaand I therefore have pretty much no right to be sitting here on the computer writing about said (fun!) exertions. That said, a quick overview of this weekend's kitchen kitsches (menu/recipes to follow tomorrow; er, make that later today):

• I love watercress soup.
  
• If your grill isn't firing perfectly evenly, monitor your lovely lamb chops carefully. (Smoke=fire, well, always.)
  
• If Stu Williams and Rudy Maxa bring wine to your dinner, drink it.
  
• Potatoes taste good with almost anything.
• Dinner by candlelight and flowers tastes better.
• Grilling meat in high heels rather sucks.
• Drinking champagne in high heels rather rocks.
• I must go to bed.

And with that, having experienced a lovely night, I bid you a fond farewell (of the goodnight variety). Sleep tight....

Moderate it: if you cook in heels - and who doesn't? - I suggest a bit of a platform sole. Easier on the ball of the foot; plus, a wider heel is more stable. Especially when grilling on a rainy, slippery deck.

I'd declare tomorrow night Soup Night, what with another *%^&ing snowstorm coming and all, but instead my mom and I are off to see Jersey Boys. I couldn't help but think as I watched last week, my mom must see this. So she is. Or will be... Can't wait!

But for any of you who will be knocking 'round your kitchen, trying not to look out the window, here are a couple of the batten-down/snuggle-up soups I'll wish I were eating. Man, nothing chases away a bad mood like a pot of soup - comforting (and simple) to make, plus nutritious and tasty. (It takes only a hint of smoky bacon or a splash of rich cream to make a so-so soup pretty damn fabulous.)

Top of the list - I have been loving the Sunday Suppers at Lucques (by Suzanne Goin, terrific book) watercress soup recipe I posted a couple of months ago - salty, buttery croutons afloat in silky, spicy deliciousness. I crave it. And I've found the basic recipe to be quite adaptable - we've had arugula and asparagus versions so far, both lovely.

Chicken soup with bacon, asparagus, and truffle oil is also delicious - fragrant, flavorful, quick to pull together. And one of our all-time favorites, which requires a few extra steps but is quite worth it, fish soup with grilled bread and rouille, oooh, pretty insanely good. Grilling the bread adds a hint of smokiness, while the rouille rounds it all out with a spicy-garlicky kick. Ka. Pow. Yeah.

Of course, New England clam chowder is always warm and filling on a cold spring's night. Especially this version, chock full o' baconand creamy but not thick. With warm crusty bread, or even popovers (rarrr...), it could be almost pleasant to ride out (frozen) April showers. Almost.

And oh, here's a must-read for those of you who already embrace (or at least aspire to) the art of eating (very) well without weighing 400 pounds. Moderation, anyone? As Jason Perlow, a founder of the foodiest of forums - eGullet - notes in the article, “I think you can still keep the food very interesting, but do it in moderation. That’s what the food community of the future is going to have to be.” Or, as the livin' large Food Network star and New York chef Mario Batali said, “You can’t eat a large portion of a pig and lose weight.” Damn, forget a quest for measured pleasure, THAT should be the tag line for this blog!

Hey, I forgot to say Happy St. Patrick's Day yesterday! Mostly because I hardly thought about it, until I decided to rummage through the cooler to see what I could scare up for dinner. What I discovered was quite green - green beans and arugula - hey, a subconscious St. Patty's Day dinner! I created a soup with the arugula, basically following the delicious watercress soup recipe I posted awhile back - a simple broth, pureed with fresh greens and a bit of cream. We also had a few shrimps, which I chopped and sauteed with minced garlic and included as a garnish. All nice. Green beans, boiled until just-tender, finished with a bit of butter and a sprinkle of salt. The way my Grandma Meyer always made them. As in, simply perfectly.

(That might look like Irish soda bread in the background, but I wasn't that motivated - just a whole-grain Toast to Bread baguette that I pulled from the freezer. Sorry!)

I'm trying my best to stabilize on the food front these days - Mexico threw me way off my game, and my body reacted so badly (puffpoof!), I'm really looking forward to getting back to normal. Since my return I've consumed many pots of magically depuffing green tea, a variety of fresh fruit and veggies, and attempted to steer away from processed grains. (Easier said than done while entertaining!) The efforts have paid off, although I leave for San Francisco tomorrow - one of the most amazing food cities in the world. Aaaagh! But since I'm traveling with Nathan (not John), the focus won't be on fine dining/wine, plus we'll be walking a lot, so hopefully moderation will rule the day, even while on vaca. (No surprise here, I am, er, particularly moderation-challenged while on vaca...) Stay tuned...

Sweet, sweet Saturday. As much as I love being with my kids, every other Saturday (due to our second-marriage, share-custody status), John and I have the day to ourselves. We try to take full advantage of our limited - yet usefully predictable - alone time and have ourselves a fine Saturday (lemons to lemonade as they say, not that I'd suggest divorce and remarriage as a "fun" way to find alone time as a couple, Lord no; but hey, we all have to find and polish life's duller benefits wherever they exist).

We usually scrape out a tasty brunch or lunch of some sort (if not a movie as well), either here at the hacienda or at, you know, La La Lucia's. Today, it was here, with leftovers from my high-input-yet-solo dinner last night. John had a work thang, but I was in the mood to cook, so I made myself (as I had mentioned) Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast as well as grilling up a few lamb rib chops. Oh Good Lord, I had such a good meal by myself it was almost obscene as I talked, sang, danced, and laughed through the preparation.

Best of all - plenty of leftovers for today's lunch, which we just happily, heartily consumed. With sips of the holiest of wines, our beloved Turley Zinfandel, this time a 2003 Lodi Zinfandel, Dogtown Vineyard. Sigh. We only pull out the Turley if I've worked really hard on a meal, and it's turned out particularly deliciously, and this meal qualified. Charred, salty lamb chops, followed by creamy, spicy watercress soup, bathing a crispy, chewy, herb-buttered crouton... Ridic, really, and best consumed in a lavender-scented garden somewhere in Provence (the window in the pic makes me want to leap right through, sniffing deeply as I crash-land, ahhh...), but we made due with our own - because, you know, we had to - winter-in-Minnesota kitchen. Cold, gray skies warmed by Larry Turley and Suzanne Goin, as it were. And perhaps (!) a bit of my own enthusiasm for eating and sipping heartily and well with my Johnny on a Saturday's afternoon...

No complaints here, my friends, none at all. (Well, perhaps one tiny complaint - as in, it's over! Lunch is gone, wine is put away, sniff. Always the moderateepicurean's dilemma - knowing when to call it quits. Shucks. Time for a cup of really strong coffee - nothing signals "the end" of a meal like a great cup of coffee.)

I love the peppery bite of watercress, in salads, on sandwiches, and very much in soup, where it tastes like spring, mmm. Oh, I know that we are very, very, very (sigh) far from spring (in this neck of the woods, anyhow), but what better reason to slurp a breath-of-fresh-air little soup-tasty, spring-inspired but still completely cozy, creamy, and warm? I've included a recipe from the lovely Sunday Suppers at Lucques cookbook, by Suzanne Goin, perfectly appropriate since it's, well, Sunday, and you might be looking for an idea for, well, supper! And since watercress (and other fresh herbs) are now available year-round at almost every grocery store, why the heck not? So here it is...McGrath Farms' Watercress Soup with Gentleman's Relish Toast - crispy, salty anchovy-toasts afloat in a classic,creamy watercress soup. Delightful. To be really decadent, grill up a few small, crusty lamb rib chops and eat 'em right off the bone as a little appetizer. Lick your fingers. Sip a Pinot Noir. Savor your creamy, peppery soup. Lick the spoon. Nibble a piece of soft cheese with slices of ripe pear for dessert. Kiss your sweetie. Ouch. Man, if that won't chase away the January blues, I don't know what will. (Recipe posted in comments, below.)

Oh wait, yes I do! A girlie, giggly late-afternoon cruise with Suz and Kim! Yes, one more birthday celebration (tee hee) coming up later today. A long, lazy drive over to St. Paul, along the creek, over the river, down stately Summit Ave, ending at Sweeney's Saloon. Yep, I chose a burger-beer outing to celebrate with my minxes, followed by a long-overdue Feminine Hijinx session. We have yet to podcast in Suz's new home! No more sipping wine and cackling from the "naughty pine," sniff, we'll have to rechristen our new recording space. Stay tuned...