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My original blog - I have moved to http://shannonclark.wordpress.com so this remains only as an archive.
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Searching for the Moon
by Shannon Clark
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Monday, June 03, 2002
This weekend I cooked for my friends Jennifer and Rich. It was their 25th wedding aniversary and they celebrated by throwing a party for their friends, roasting a pig, and inviting us to spend the day with them eating, drinking and talking in their backyard. I cooked many dishes, all of which were quickly eaten!
First an appetizer of baked brie with crushed roasted pecans and currents. Took less time to be finished than it did to prepare, and it only took about 15 minutes to prepare!
Second, a salad with mixed greens, two types of pears, apples (Braeborn), purple onion, roast pecans, and goat cheese in a balsamic vinagrete dressing. The dressing was made with Italian Balasmic, greek first pressing virgin olive oil, and dried basil, I got the porportions just right so the dressing mixed perfectly. I tossed the saled with all the ingrediants but one of the pears and the goat cheese, then I garnished with pear slivers and goat cheese. Very popular salad and a nice mix of tastes, not too sweet, but not a traditional salad either.
Third, I made mashed potatoes from baby red potatoes mashed with french butter, half and half, a couple teaspoons of horseradish with beet juice, and some dried minced green onions. The result is a nice mix of my Jewish and Irish roots, and a very "potatoe" flavored mashed potatoe, very rich, very creamy, but with the skins on and the pink coloring, and the hint of horseradish a very unusual and tasty dish.
Fourth, I made homemade applesauce to serve with the roast pig. The applesauce was made from Red Delicious apples I picked up at a local fruit stand (one large bag for $0.99 can't beat that), as well as five Braeborn apples. I then added some Indonesian cinnamon. The apples were peeled and cored. They were then cooked over medium heat for a time, then brought down to low heat and they simmered away for the afternoon.
Fifth, I baked some Braeborn apples. After washing and coring the apples, I backed them at 350 degrees with a small ammount of butter, cinnamon sticks, and some cloves. A very tasty dish to eat with the roast pig.
Sixth, we turned a pinapple also purchased at the same fruit market into long spears which were then grilled. The trick being that the pinapple was very ripe (and cheap, also $0.99).
All in all one of the most fun cooking experiences I have had in a long time. People kept asking me if I do this for a living either if I were a professional chef or a professional caterer. Might be a fun hobby and weekend occupation for me to consider?
Got some writing in over the weekend, but not too much. You can see more about my ongoing writing at: BIAW which is a writer's challenge where we all challenge each other to finish our novels in a week (well usually in two weeks). The main point being to keep us all writing at a fast pace and not let us have the time to edit what we have written.
6/03/2002 04:48:00 PM
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