Did that surprise you? I hope not. Our concept here is family, friends and strangers alike are treated like royalty. No one gets better treatment than the other. This way, you take the care and attention needed to show that everyone is important, special and welcome.
Now, here is a little story, true, I swear. As much as I have always respected Martha Stewart and the Savoir Faire shows for their flair of collecting just the right dishes, we were not that into it. So…..the first dinner invitation we had with our former, long ago gone friends, Don and Rose, my husband was sitting at the dinner table and got the strangest look on his face. I asked him what was going on and he told me to turn around.
There, in her china cabinet, was a table setting for 22. All one pattern, all displayed as individual settings. OMG! We share this with them after the dinner and they just roared. Who else but us would count the dishes.
Now, on to the reason for this ditty.
Dinner Menu to try:
- Crab cakes with lemon sauce and fresh crab legs
- Millenium Festive Salad
- Mushroom Risotto (my absolute favourite)
- Steak Au Poivre with a Merlot cream
- Steamed Asparagus
- Angel Food Cake with Strawberries and cream
Chilled Pepper And Raspberry Soup
Here is another fabulous cold soup to make, taste and drool over. This summer, here at least, has been mighty hot and a chilled soup makes it seem a little cooler.
- 4 yellow bell peppers
- 3 cups raspberries
- 1/2 cup vegetable stock
- 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, room temperature
- pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/3 cup Grana Padana cheese***
- fresh raspberries for garnish
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and roast until blistered and blackened. The best way is really to place on the top of a gas burner and turn it as it blisters. Remove and place in a plastic bag and let sit for about 10 minutes.
Remove the peppers from the bags, scrape the skins off, seed and cut in half.
In a blender, puree the peppers and raspeberries until smooth. Strain to remove all the seeds.
Return to the blender, add the stock and mascarpone cheese and blend until smooth. Season and refrigerate for a minimum of 4 hours.
To serve, garnish with some diced grana padano cheese and raspberries.
The Grana Padano cheese is one of the world’s first hard cheeses from Italy.
Yummy…just pour the wine and enjoy the ambience…summer evening, friends, family or guests, lively conversation…what more could you ask for?
Chilled Chocolate Icing
This is really a nice icing for either a German chocolate cake or the really dark Devils Food Cake. It has to be chilled sufficiently to keep it shape on the cake.
- 24 oz. semisweet chocolate wafers
- 4 cups whipping cream
- 1 tsp. light corn syrup
Place the chocolate and cream in a heavy saucepan over low heat. Stirring constantly with a rubber spatula until melted, combined and thickened. (20-25 minutes).
Increase the heat to medium and cook a further 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the corn syrup. Transfer this mixture to a metal bowl and refrigerate. Check every 15-20 minutes and stir until it is cool enough to spread (about 2 – 2 1/2 hours).
It is worth it, I promise you.
Chicken Baked My Way
This recipe has a little Moroccon flavour. It has been adjusted slightly for our tastes. I hope you will try it and enjoy.
- 2 x 2 1/2 lbs. chickens, quartered
- 2 tbsp. grated lime peel
- 1/2 cup lime juice
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
- pinch of salt
- pinch of freshly grated pepper
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 3 limes, sliced thin
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
Wash the chicken under water and dry well with paper towels. Arrange the chicken in a single layer in a shallow baking dish.
Combine the lime zest, juice, garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and mix well to combine. Spoon over the chicken, making sure to turn it over to completely coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 4-5 hours, turning the chicken every hour.
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove the chicken and drain on paper towels. Save the marinade. Arrange the chicken in a 2-3 quart casserole and brush with melted butter.
Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Brush with the marinade reserve and bake for another 35-40 minutes. Brush with the marinade a few times during this second timing.
Garnish with the lime slices and sprinkle with the parsley.
This will serve 8 people. You can also heat the marinade and put it in a gravy boat so it can be served as a sauce. With this chicken serve with rice or broad buttered noodles. YUMMY!
Lime Cucumber Relish
This is a wonderful traditional relish to accompany grilled or roasted chicken. It has a yogurt sauce as well. So with these two companions you have a super great meal in minutes.
- 1 medium English cucumber, chopped ( 2 1/2 cups)
- 1 large tomato, chopped (1 cup)
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tsp. shredded lime peel
- 2 tbsp. fresh lime juice
- 2 clove garlic, minced
In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients and stir to blend it well.
Yogurt Sauce
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp. honey
- 1 tsp. cream
Whisk this together until smooth.
When serving this with grilled or roasted chicken, top the chicken with the cucumber relish and then drizzle the yogurt sauce over.
Cantaloupe Soup
This is a different but lovely new summer soup. Honest!
- 3 cups ripe cantaloupe, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch pieces
- 3 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sparkling apple cider (non-alcoholic)
- 1/4 cup Piesporter wine, chilled
- small pinch of Madras curry powder** This is optional.
Puree the fruit with the lemon juice until smooth. Put through a sieve and add the sparkling cider, wine and curry.
Serve immediately at room temperature and enjoy.
This serves 4
Lemon Scented Potato Chowder
I love chowders and, in fact, is the one soup I don’t want my husband to make. He makes terrific soups, but not this one. I do.
- 4 cups chicken stock (better if you make your own, but store bought is good)
- 5 slices of bacon, cut in 1″ pieces, cooked crisp
- 2 cloves glarlic, chopped
- 3 large Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut in 1″ pieces
- 2 stalks celery, peeled and finely chopped
- 1 tsp. kosher salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1 tbsp. grated lemon zsest
- 1/2 – 3/4 cup whipping cream
- 2 tsp.fresh, chopped dill
Once you have cooked the bacon to crisp, remove and drain on a towel.
Combine the stock, garlic, potatoes, celery, salt and pepper and boil for about 15-20 minutes until tender. Remove from the heat and puree until smooth. Stir in the lemon and cream. Simmer for about 5-8 minutes over a medium heat and lastly, add the dill. Garnish each bowl with the bacon pieces.
Just remember, this should be a thick soup, so cook it down until as thick as you want it to be.
Anyone sitting at your table will always want more. Serve with crackers or toasted ciabata bread.
Roasted Lamb Chops
Cooking lamb is easy but getting the right flavour, sometimes, takes much longer.
This recipe is for 4 servings…if company coming-great! If not and it is for 2, here you go again…cook once-eat twice… Either way it is pretty tasty.
- 4 large garlic cloves, pressed
- 1 tbsp. fresh thyme, lightly crushed
- 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary, crushed
- pinch of kosher salt
- 2 tbsp. olive oil, divided
- 6 1 1/4 inch thick lamb chops – someone may want 2
Mix the first 4 items with 1 tbsp. of the olive oil in a large bowl. Add the chops and turn to coat. Let this marinate for about 1 hour. You are trying to get great herby flavour here-did I just invent a new word? Nah!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Now heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the lamb, cooking about 3 minutes on each side.
Now transfer the skillet to the oven and roast for about 10 minutes to attain a medium-rare doneness.
Remove from oven, transfer to a plate and let rest, covered, for about 5 minutes.
Serve with garlic mashed potatoes, some fresh asparagus and voila! you have a winning dinner.
Frozen Apricot Yogurt
All you really need for this frozen delight is an ice cream maker. If you use California apricots you attain a more intense flavour and colour that seems to be missing when using any other type.
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 3/4 cups cold water
- 2 cups soft dried apricots
- 3 1/2 cups whole milk plain yogurt
- 2 1/2 tsp. unflavoured gelatin
Bring sugar and water to a boil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Keep stirring until the sugar dissolves and then add in the apricots. Turn down the heat and simmer, covered until they become soft and plump. This should take about 25 minutes or so.
Strain the apricots over a bowl and return the syrup to the pot. Cook this for about 4-5 minutes until it becomes a dark caramel colour. This will be bubbling, so remove from the heat to check the colour properly.
Very carefully, add 1/2 cup of water, returning the pot to medium heat and keep stirring until the caramel dissolves.
Put the apricots into a blender and puree until smooth and then cool to room temperataure.
Whisk the apricots and yogurt together until well combined and cover with plastic. Chill in the fridge for about 5 hours.
Sprinkle the gelatin over the remaining 1/4 cup of water in a small saucepan and let sit for about 1 – 1 1/2 minutes to soften. Heat this up, stirring until dissolves then immediately whisk into the apricot mixture.
Freeze this in an ice cream maker and transfer to an airtight container and freeze.
Tapenade
Okay, you want to do something ‘special’ to go with your signature drinks prior to dinner….or just an evening together with good friends. Try this and surprise them and yourself. Remember your mantra “Damn, I can do this”.
- 20 oil cured black olives
- 2 medium garlic cloves, baked and removed from the base
- 2 tbsp. capers, really well drained
- 2 tsp. Dijon grainy mustard
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 2 tbsp. chopped basil
- 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, fresh only
- More Italian parsley
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup really good olive oil
Place the olives on a cutting board and smash them down to remove the pits. Place the olives and everything except the olive oil in a blender and puree.
Be sure to scrape down the sides of the blender. Slowly add the olive oil and blend until completely absorbed.
Refrigerate and place in a pretty bowl on a platter of toasted/buttered toasted baguette or focaccio crisps. Snips bits of parsley and scatter over the bread so it can be added (or not) to the tapenade.
Yummy!
Hungarian Pork Cutlets
This is a lovely cutlet and when served with butter-fried cabbage and broad egg noodles, you just saved the airfare to Hungary. Try it ‘cuz it makes a great family dinner.
- 1 1/2 lbs. thin pork cutlets (or 4 boneless chops)
- 6 tbsp. Crisco oil
- flour for dredging plus 2 tbsp. flour for thickening the sauce
- 2 shallots, minced
- 2 tbsp. sweet paprika
- 1 1/2 tbsp. caraway seeds
- 1/3 generous cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup plain yogurt
Place the cutlets between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound them out (use a rolling pin) until about 1/4 inch thick.
Heat 2 1/2 tbsp. oil in pan on medium high until hot. Dip half of the cutlets in the flour to dredge and shake off any excess. Add to skillet and saute until a golden colour. This takes about 1 minute per side. Remove from heat and add another 2 1/2 tbsp. oil, dredge the remaining meat and saute, then remove from heat.
Reduce the heat to low, add the remaining oil, shallots, paprika and seeds. Saute for about a minute and then add the wine. Simmer until almost dry. Add 1 1/2 cups of the broth, bring to a boil and simmer for two minutes.
Whisk together the remaining stock and 2 tbsp. flour and simmer for a couple of minutes. Return the meat to the skillet and simmer, turning often, until completely warmed through. Return the pork to plates, add the yogurt, pinch of salt and pepper to the skillet and gently heat through. Spoon over the meat. This, my friends, is delicious.
Pour a glass of wine and away you go.
Lime Cookies
These are a really nice citrusy bite of deliciousness. Easy to make and easier to eat.
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 cup of butter, room temperataure
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tbsp. grated fresh lime zest
- 1 tbsp. lime juice (fresh)
- 1 1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- pinch of salt
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine all the ingredients in a mixer bowl and beat at low speed, scraping the bowl often until really well mixed.
Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 9-10 minutes just until the edges are lightly browned.
Glaze
- 2 1/2 cups icing sugar
- 1/4 cup lime juice
- grated lime zest
Mix together until completely smooth. Frost the cookies while still warm and sprinkle with grated lime zest.