February 17, 2008 - Steve's Sacrebleu

Let them eat cake, that is what I say. And so with that I decided to enlighten my guests with some morsels of French culinary mastery; the kind of mastery only to be sprung forth from the loins of a half-blooded, non-native Frenchman. All in all, I felt my arteries clogging the moment I read the recipe online. I think the meal was enjoyable, Jackie liked it so much she tried to take some home with her between her bosoms. I should not pick on Jackie too much as she did bring me a wonderful sex-toy, I mean, oil dipping spices. I'm the best chef ever.

The menu consisted of the following:
Homemade French Bread (Note, this is not some crap Italian bread from Serpes)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/235423
** note, I did not use a food processor in this recipe.

Pommes de Terre au Gratin avec Tarragon et fromage
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/107935
** I added crispy bacon to each layer of potatos, did not butter the dish, but did place pads of butter on top of the dish before placing in the oven.

Steak au Poivre (Bifteck au Poivre)
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/233549
** shallots look like garlic almost but taste like onions. The brandy did not ignite, which sucked.

February 10, 2008 - Jackie's Homemade Italian

Our first Sunday meal was an Italian feast of homemade pasta with a spicy puttanesca sauce and chicken grilled to perfection by Pat who was willing to battle the bitter cold for the sake of a delicious meal.

The homemade pasta was easy to make and quite tasty. We added some basil and parmesan cheese to take it up a notch - bam! As for the sauce, it was a combination of anchovies, lots of garlic and crushed red pepper, onion, capers, basil, crushed and fresh tomatoes (those cherry ones were for you Steve), black olives, and zucchini. The chicken had a light coating of grapeseed oil and was seasoned with dried basil, garlic sea salt, and freshly ground pepper.

Steve brought a nice red that really toned down the spiciness of the sauce and a beautiful white that had a wonderfully light flavor that accentuated the dish perfectly. He also brought a delicious, crusty loaf of Italian bread which thankfully did not come from that scone-less crap of a bakery Serpes. This paired with the olive oil and dipping spices might just have been the hit of the night.

Cost of the meal: about $6/person

Pasta recipe:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_10292,00.html

February 5, 2008 - Pat's Irish Feast

Ye Irish feast began with a brining of a 7 pound pork shoulder the night before the dinner. This pork was then moved to a pot and was boiled for a little under 3 hours resulting in a delightfully juicy and porkificually tender piece of meat. After the meat was cooked I threw in some cabbage and carrots which cooked in the awesome meat juice for about 15 minutes.....supurb.

The side to this meal was a twist on a traditional Irish favorite, colcannon. This version was mashed potatoes combined with some kale that had been simmering away with garlic and onions for about 30 minutes.

The meal was a resounding success and paired well with the Guinness and Harp so expertly picked out by Jackie. This was a very simple meal to make, fed 5, as we had a visitor Mark the mouth Heinemmann, and best of all the ingredients totaled about $35. Just call me Dave Lieberman!

Recipes are below

Irish bacon and cabbage
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/107859

Mashed potatoes and kale
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/1945