The dinner club I belong to known as GLEE (Girls Laughing, Eating and Entertaining) is almost always based on dinner and a movie. Usually the dinner theme comes first, i.e. Greek food and the movie options; My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Shirley Valentine, Mama Mia, follow. This was not the case with the last get together that I hosted. The girls and I were all eager to see “The Descendants” with George Clooney. The move was picked first so the theme of Hawaii was what we had to work with. Determining a menu for a Hawaiian dinner party is not as easy as one might expect, especially in the Canadian prairies in the dead of winter where its hard to find a nice pineapple, never mind banana leaves. Lots of the food is hard to find and can be complicated to prepare, anyone want to dig a pit in the back yard to slow cook a suckling pig? The cuisine’s identity is sometimes had to pin down being a mix of American, Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, Polynesian and Portuguese influences. But we set forth doing the best we could and the end result was a pretty yummy dinner.
I made the onion Maui onion salad but forgot to serve it.
It was hard to pick what was yummier, the food or George?
Dessert was pulled together by Barb who kept it simple with angel food cake, fresh pineapple, chocolate sauce and whip cream.
Kath’s quote: “He who receives his friends and gives no personal attention to the meal which is being prepared for them, is not worthy of having friends.” –Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
This particular evening my dinner club decided to forgo a movie for more visiting time and we decided to visit Africa. Our post dinner activity included doing some shopping from a selection of hand crafted items from a number of African locations. An acquaintance of one of the GLEE girls is a missionary who brings items to Canada to
sell and then returns with the proceeds to the woman who made the item.
Unfortunately I didn’t have my camera that evening so can’t share a photo of the amazing peanut soup or our fantastic main of ground nut stew served with couscous, flat bread and all the accouterments, but it was all delish! We finished the evening with milk tart made from the recipe that my niece Bekah brought back from her time in Africa.
I was on appetizers and decided to do try two recipes I found on my favorite website www.epicurious.com Shrimp charmoula and Tunisian tuna and egg turnover also known a “brik”. Two delicious appetizers I would likely never have tried if it were not for the need to provide something African for this event. The shrimp was than any preparation of shrimp I have had before. The recipe was really easy and I made it ahead of time. I will certainly make it again.
I thought it would be fun to have an interactive component to the evening so decided to show my friends how to make the turnovers so they would be hot and yummy and I wouldn’t be stuck in the kitchen while they were all enjoying cocktails. So I set up an electric fry pan on the kitchen island and gathered my students around me. Each woman made her own turnover, or two and a good time was had by all. If I were to make these again I would most certainly do it as a hands-on activity for my guests.
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus additional for brushing
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water
About 3 cups vegetable oil
6 (8-inch-square) spring-roll wrappers
6 whole eggs (preferably medium)
Special equipment: a deep-fat thermometer; 2 pastry brushes
Accompaniment: lemon wedges
Instructions
Mash together tuna, scallions, parsley, capers, olive oil, salt, and pepper in a bowl until tuna is broken up and mixture is combined well.
Stir together egg white and water in a cup with a fork.
Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 200°F.
Heat ½ inch vegetable oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet until it registers 350°F on thermometer.
While vegetable oil is heating, arrange 2 spring-roll wrappers on a work surface and brush centers lightly with olive oil (do not oil edges). Leaving a 1-inch border all around, put 2 tablespoons tuna mixture near lower right corner of 1 wrapper and form mixture into a ring (about ½ inch high and 3 inches in diameter) to contain egg.
Repeat procedure with other wrapper. Brush edges of both wrappers with egg white mixture (use separate brushes for oil and for egg white), then break an egg inside each "ring" and season eggs lightly with salt and pepper. Fold top left corner of each wrapper over egg to form a triangle and press edges together to seal.
Immediately lift 1 brik gently by tip of triangle and lower into oil, keeping long side of triangle in center of skillet. Repeat with second brik and fry briks, lapping oil over exposed wrappers with a metal spatula, until undersides are golden, about 1 minute. Flip each brik over sideways with aid of 2 metal spatulas, so long side of each triangle stays in center, then continue to fry, lapping exposed wrapper with oil, until wrapper is golden and egg is cooked but yolk is still runny, about 1 minute more. Transfer to paper towels to drain briefly, then put on a baking sheet and keep warm in oven while making remaining briks.
Make more briks in same manner (using a second baking sheet for keeping last batches warm). Return oil to 350°F between batches.
Serve briks warm.
Cooks' notes: To take the temperature of a shallow amount of oil with a flat-framed metal deep-fat thermometer, put bulb of thermometer in skillet and turn thermometer facedown, resting other end (not plastic handle) against rim of skillet. Check temperature frequently. ·Tuna mixture can be made 4 hours ahead and chilled, covered. ·Each brik must be fried shortly after cracking egg onto wrapper so wrapper does not become too soggy to lift.
#version#
Kath’s quote: “Serenely full, the epicure would say, Fate cannot harm me, I have dined today.”- Sydney Smith
On my last evening of a recent trip to Montreal, my niece and I decided to head out for a late dinner. We really didn’t have a place in mind so jumped on a subway to St. Denis Street to see what struck our fancy. We happened upon Juliette & Chocolate, at which point Bekah said she had wanted to try it and I realized that I had seen one of their salads on a friend’s Facebook page and I too had it on my “must try” list.
I had the namesake Juliette & Chocolate salad which was an interesting combination of flavours. Mixed greens with strawberries, pear, goat cheese and a balsamic and chocolate salad dressing, it was topped with a crouton like object made by swirling buckwheat crepe batter in a hot pan. I was pleased to find that it was not overly sweet but instead the dark chocolate notes and the vinegar was a nice combination with the crunch fruit and the creamy chevre.
Bekah selected the buckwheat crepe topped with pesto, walnuts and goat cheese. We were both satisfied with our choices.
“All I really need is love, but a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt” Lucy of Peanuts – Charles M. Schulz
“A beautiful woman, much younger than his mother, was working at the table. She wore a long jumper of gray-striped wool with a white apron tucked around it. Her black hair was wrapped tightly into a chignon and tucked under a black kerchief. Her dark brown eyes squinted as she rolled a long skein of pasta on a smooth marble work slab. She hummed a tune a she took a small knife and whittled away tiny stars of dough, unaware that Ciro was watching her. Her long fingers moved surely and deftly with the knife. Soon, a batch of tiny pasta beads began to pile up on the board. Ciro decided that all women are beautiful, except maybe old ones like Sister Domenica. “Colallini?”. Ciro asked.
The young woman looked her and smiled at the little boy in the big clothes. “Stelline,” she corrected him, holding up a small piece of dough carved into the shape of a star. She scooped up a pile of the little stars and threw them into a big bowl.
“What are you making?”
“Baked custard.”
“It smells like cake in the hallway.”
That’s the butter and the nutmeg. The custard is better than cake. It’s so delicious that it pulls angels off of their perches. At least that is what I tell the other sisters. Did it make you hungry?”
“I was already hungry.”
So begins the time that little Ciro is raised in a convent in the Italian Alps. The story takes him to New York and northern Minnesota, both places that I know and love. Adriana weaves a beautiful tale based on her own families’ lineage and Italian heritage. Therefore, it is no wonder that food is a running theme in this story.
Adriana must come from a family of cooks as she also has co-authored a nonfiction book entitled “Cooking with My Sisters”, which I have added to my “must read” list.
Kath’s quote: “Custard: A detestable substance produced by a malevolent conspiracy of the hen, the cow, and the cook.”-Ambrose Bierce
I am on my summer vacation. We are at our beach house and there are various configuration of family that come and go to the 4 cottages that we enjoy here. The fact that my extended family is here too, means that there are often extra people at our table, sometimes invited and other times a meal just appears on the table on the deck, where some have accumulated to recount the latest fishing trip or time at the beach.
Life is different here-intentionally so. Now that the analog signal expired, we cannot catch the National! I was kind of liking this. But this summer everything changed. I was entitled to a remote access upgrade from my internet rocket stick and for less money, we acquired a wi fi hotspot at the cabin. One morning, as I tidied, there were 4 laptops, 1 mac tablet and three i phones recharging. Nothing is constant except change, they say.
Thankfully, there are some traditions that are still accomplished in a slower manner. This week I saw a corn sign on the highway and so we swung in to make our purchase. When the gentleman who was working on a project in his home came out, I asked him if he had had a chance to pick any corn that day. He said no-he picks to order. So he hopped on his little tractor and 4 minutes later, we were driving away with 2 dozen freshly picked ears! We ate a platter full that night for dinner. It was so firm and sweet that butter was not required. I had mine with a squeeze of lime and some freshly ground sea salt-oh yum…
Today will be spent walking the dogs in the forest, riding my ancient bike to the beach or reading in the hammock-perhaps a little of everything. Life is good.
Kath’s quote: “For the millions of us who live glued to computer keyboards at work and TV monitors at home, food may be more than entertainment. It may be the only sensual experience left.”-Barbara Ehrenreich
