Day 3 - Mushrooms

I forgot to take pictures tonight as Cafe Davis moved back inside the house. I spent the few days prior trying to figure out how in the world I was going to fit a bunch of people in my house now that we no longer have a dining room. The dining room/sun room switcheroo is a great way to provide better play space for the kiddo and family time for us, but it doesn't do much for entertaining. My solution was to move around all of the living room furniture and to set up folding tables smack in the middle of the living room. And since hindsight's 20/20, I can confidently look back and say that the set-up, although unconventional, worked just fine.

This particular night I set way too many chairs at the table because the weather outside was FRIGHTFUL. We still had some great guests who were willing to brave the icy elements, however, and enjoyed a really great evening with Chase Milner and Rebecca Heselmeyer, John and Erica Cavanaugh, and Justin Grandinetti. The fact that we lost a number of guests due to various weather and sickness-related issues, however, meant that I had a surplus of mushrooms on hand. Lots of fungus among us, if you will. We did our best, though, and got to chow down on some hearty fare on a chilly night while at the same time having great conversations about a really wide array of topics, including hearty congratulations for Chase and Rebecca's newly announced engagement!

The menu was another (mostly) veggie-friendly night, with French onion soup stuffed mushrooms, creamed mushrooms on chive butter toast, polenta with wild mushroom sauce, and green beans with wild mushrooms. I love polenta, and I'm calling out that recipe, which originally hailed from Cooking Light, as my fave for the evening:

Polenta with Wild Mushroom Sauce

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 polenta slices, 1/3 cup mushroom sauce, 1 1/2 teaspoons parmesan cheese)

• 1 1/3 cups yellow cornmeal
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups water
• Vegetable cooking spray 
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 6 1/2 cups thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 1 pound mushrooms)
• 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
• 1/3 cup dry white wine 
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons (3/4 ounce) fresh grated Parmesan cheese 
• Thyme sprigs (optional)

1. Place the cornmeal and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large saucepan. Gradually add water, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium. Cook 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Spoon the polenta into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray, spreading evenly. Press heavy-duty plastic wrap onto surface of polenta, and chill 2 hours or until firm.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, thyme sprigs, and rosemary sprig; cook 3 minutes or just until garlic begins to brown. Stir in mushrooms and next 5 ingredients (mushrooms through pepper); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the thyme and rosemary sprigs. Add parsley; cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside, and keep warm.
3. Invert polenta onto a cutting board; cut crosswise into 12 slices. Place slices on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Broil 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
4. Arrange 2 polenta slices on each of 6 individual serving plates. Top each with about 1/3 cup of mushroom sauce and 1 1/2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese. Garnish with thyme sprigs, if desired.

Day 2 - Eggplant

It's technically another year, the Christmas tree was officially delivered to the curb tonight, and I figured I should get around to actually posting stories about Cafe Davis before they fade into my memory. So I'm back to Day #2 - eggplant. Cafe Davis had a change of venue that night when we ventured into the "Annex," our former garage-now family room. My original plan was to have all of Cafe Davis out there, but this one foray into that bright idea left me feeling like I was waiting tables in a VERY LARGE restaurant. I henceforth had a change of heart.

I do appreciate our guinea pig guests who braved the journey across the backyard for the one and only Annex dinner - Nick Lepp, Erin Hadi, and Leah Webb, pictured in the fuzzy picture below, Paula Davis and Evelyn Button, pictured with the cute kiddo below, and Fannie Hutton and Misty Newman, pictured in the last picture below.

The menu was a veggie night featuring eggplant, and included roasted eggplant dip with crudite, rigatoni with eggplant puree, and grilled eggplant stacks with tomato and feta. Dinner was lovely because of the company, but I really didn't feel like any one dish stood out that much. I'll share the eggplant stacks recipe because I think it has the potential to be the best, but I wonder if lightly breading and frying the eggplants would have been better. Or maybe I just needed to toss them in more oil/grill longer. I dunno - I just don't feel like they lived up to their potential, and I'll leave them at something worth tinkering with again. Regardless, the stacks had tomato and feta, and that alone is yummy enough. Without further adieu, heeeeeeeere ya go! The recipe is originally from Gourmet magazine.

Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Tomato and Feta

• 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 medium eggplants (1 3/4 to 2 lb total)
• 1 large tomato (about 4 inches in diameter) and 2 medium tomatoes (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
• 3 oz feta, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)

• Garnish: finely shredded fresh basil leaves

Blend basil with oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in blender until finely chopped. Pour into a paper-towel- or coffee-filter-lined sieve set over a bowl and let drain 20 minutes. Gather together sides of towel or filter and press gently on it to extract more oil. (You will have a generous 1/3 cup oil.) Reserve 1 tablespoon basil oil separately for serving. Scrape basil solids into a small bowl and reserve.

Prepare grill for cooking over medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas); see "Grilling Procedure," below.

While grill heats, cut off bottoms of eggplants, then cut 6 (1/2-inch-thick) crosswise rounds from each, starting from cut end. Reserve remaining eggplant for another use. Cut 4 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds from large tomato and 2 center slices (1/3 inch thick) from each medium tomato, reserving remaining tomato for another use.

Lightly brush eggplant rounds on both sides with basil oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Grill on a lightly oiled grill rack, covered only if using a gas grill, turning over occasionally, lightly brushing eggplant with more basil oil occasionally if it looks dry, until eggplant is very tender, 6 to 10 minutes. (Leave gas grill on.)

Make stacks:
On baking pan, arrange 4 largest eggplant rounds side by side and spread each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of reserved basil solids, then top each with 1 of 4 largest tomato rounds. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and top each with about 1 tablespoon feta. Make another layer with medium-size eggplant rounds, basil solids, medium tomato rounds, salt, pepper, and feta, then top with remaining eggplant and feta.

Set baking pan on grill and cook stacks, with grill cover closed, until heated through and cheese on top is softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer stacks to 4 plates and drizzle plates with reserved basil oil.

Day 1 - Masa

Cafe Davis is off to a great start! I, of course, forgot to take pictures of any of the guests. Lack of photographic evidence aside, we were pleased to have Sarah and Greg MacDonald, Janell Bauer, and Heath Dewey join us. Tonight's menu was built around masa, an ingredient suggested by Sara Ardrey-Graves (who will be joining us later on... on coffee night? Perhaps - my memory isn't what it used to be.) The menu was crispy potato sopes (masa boats) with salsa, goat cheese and herb salad; chicken enchilada soup; and green chile tamale pie. 

To be honest, I feel rusty to this whole blogging thing. It's been a number of years since I actually tried to remember to write posts about our Cafe Davis meals. In retrospect, I kick myself for slacking in that department because the memories start to fade. This is an example of a conversation I have with Mike: How many times have so-and-so been to Cafe Davis? Two? Three? Oh, you know - they were here that time with those other people. Riiiiight.

That's no good. I'm trying to be better y'all. Hang in there.

So anyway, back to the meal. I love food made with masa. I will eat me some tortillas like they are going out of style. Tamales? Yes, thank you. But I've never actually cooked anything with masa harina from scratch. And that's reason number 1 why Cafe Davis is awesome - you lovely people get me out of my comfort zone. No more cheese and crackers for dinner - we shall have sopes!

And yes, you too should have sopes. These things are dee-licious and pretty easy to make. Here's the recipe that inspired our appetizers for the evening. It's from Williams Sonoma. Sure, they would probably taste better if you made them in a fancy cast iron sopes pan, but a deep skillet will do just fine.

Crispy Potato Sopes (Masa Boats) with Salsa, Goat Cheese and Herb Salad 

Ingredients:

• 2 russet potatoes, about 8 oz. total, peeled and cut into large pieces

• Salt, to taste, plus 3/4 tsp. salt

• 1 cup fresh smooth-ground corn masa for tortillas, or 1 cup powdered masa harina  mixed with 1/2 cup plus 2 Tbs. warm water

• 1 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar, plus more as needed (optional)

• 3/4 cup fresh salsa, such as red chili-tomatillo salsa

• 2 generous cups loosely packed torn herb leaves, such as watercress, arugula, mizuna  and/or basil

• About 1 cup crumbled goat cheese (chèvre), ricotta salata or Mexican queso añejo

• Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Directions:
In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the potatoes with water to cover by 2 inches and season with salt. Bring to a boil and cook until the potatoes are very tender, about 25 minutes. Drain and let cool for 15 minutes. Pass the potatoes through a potato ricer or food mill into a mixing bowl. Discard all but 1 cup of the potatoes and return the 1 cup to the bowl. Knead in the masa and the 3/4 tsp. salt to form a soft dough, similar to a soft cookie dough. 

Heat a nonstick griddle over medium heat. Divide the dough into 18 pieces, roll into balls and transfer to a plate. Cover with plastic wrap to keep them from drying out. 

One at a time, shape the balls into disks about 1/4 inch thick and 2 1/2 inches wide. Using your thumb and index finger, pinch up the edge of the dough to create an upstanding border, about 1/2 inch high, all the way around the disk, forming the sope ("little boat"). Transfer the sope, flat side down, to the heated griddle and cook just to set the bottom, about 1 minute. Meanwhile, continue shaping and then cooking the remaining portions of dough. As you remove each one from the griddle, prick the bottom without penetrating the sope and transfer to a plate. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. 

Preheat an oven to 175°F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and set in the oven. Stir the balsamic vinegar into the salsa and set out the herbs and goat cheese.

In a deep-fry pan or heavy fry pan over medium heat, pour in oil to a depth of 1/2 inch and heat to 350°F on a deep-frying thermometer. (If you don't have a thermometer, dip the side of a sope into the oil—if it sizzles vigorously, the oil is ready.) Fry the sopes a few at a time until they are a rich golden brown, about 1 minute. Drain them upside down on the paper towel-lined baking sheet and keep warm in the oven. 

When all the sopes are done, arrange them on a serving platter. Spoon about 1/2 Tbs. of the salsa into each one, top with a tuft of the herbs and sprinkle generously with the cheese. Serve immediately. 

Makes 18 sopes; serves 8 or 9 as an appetizer.

My thoughts on the recipe:

1. It didn't make anywhere close to 18 sopes. Maybe 12. I'm sure I could have made them smaller, but it was tough and I fear things falling apart in hot oil, so I went with the bigger size. 
2. I think it's ridiculous that it says to discard all but 1 cup of the potatoes. Since I was essentially making mashed potatoes, I kept those things to give to my 2 year old. Add some frozen broccoli and a maybe a chicken nugget and dinner's done.  Waste not, want not.
3. I made the sopes recipe super easy. As you see, there are a lot of steps listed above. My version: after cooking the sopes, top each one with a dollop of salsa verde (from a jar), a dollop of ricotta cheese, and some torn mixed salad with herbs from a package. Quick, easy, and yummy.

That's it for day 1! Day 2 involved more people and a change of venue, but there will be a couple of days delay before I'll be able to post about it. Until then, stay glued to the edge of your seat for the eggplantastic details! 

May 13th - Coriander night, landscaping plans, and the Civil War

I'm a bit late posting (again). My parents came up to visit on the 14th, and I've been busy showing them the sights. But here I am, with a belated run-down of coriander/cilantro night. The guests tonight were Paul and Erika Mabrey, Clayton Johnson, and Sohrab Najafabadi. I know that the menu said coriander was the featured ingredient, but it really turned out to be somewhat cilantro-heavy. As you likely know, the leaves of the coriander plant are variously called both coriander and cilantro, but when I wrote the menu I was thinking of coriander more as the spice, or the seeds of the plant, and not the herb, or the leaves of the plant. One of my favorite parts of the evening was when Clayton pushed back in his chair and asked, "Was there one ingredient common in all of those dishes?" Obviously, Clayton is the type who makes his Cafe Davis reservations based on schedule availability, and not the menu options. :)

Now that we've gotten past that drawn-out bit of introduction, the menu for the night was chick-pea falafel with coriander dip; tomato, cucumber and coriander salad; cumin-coriander crusted salmon; and cilantro potatoes. Here's a picture of the falafel in progress:

It was just ok. I think it's something that I'm willing to tinker with though, because when falafel is good, it's *very* good.

Now on to the featured recipe of the day - the only one that actually had coriander spice in it:


Cumin-Coriander Crusted Salmon
(from Cooking Light)

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fish fillet and 1 lemon wedge)

Ingredients

•      2  tablespoons  finely chopped fresh cilantro
•      1  tablespoon  finely chopped shallots
•      1  teaspoon  olive oil
•      1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
•      1/4  teaspoon  ground coriander
•      1/4  teaspoon  kosher salt
•      1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
•      4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets
•      Cooking spray
•      4  lemon wedges

Preparation

Combine cilantro, shallots, oil, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, stirring to form a paste. Place fish, skin side down, in a shallow baking dish. Coat top of fish with cilantro mixture. Cover; refrigerate 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400°.

Arrange fish on the rack of a roasting pan coated with cooking spray, and place rack in pan. Bake at 400° for 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Serve with lemon wedges.

As far as guest photos go, I somehow only managed to get pictures of Clayton. He was at Cafe Davis, however, to begin his 35th birthday celebration. Erika had the foresight to bring absolutely delicious cupcakes from Shank's Bakery as dessert. We cracked open a bottle of champagne, threw a "3" candle on top of a cupcake, and had an impromptu birthday party. Hopefully the rest of his birthday weekend only kept getting better!

I spent the following three days hanging out with my parents. On Saturday we drove almost 200 miles around the Valley, taking in sites we had never seen before. Somewhere near Bryce Resort we stumbled across a little store with an awesome inspiration for our backyard. We have plans to construct a shaded rock-garden next to the beer shack, and this is what I want to build in it:

As you can see, Mike is already relaxed just thinking about it.

Finally, today we headed to New Market to see the Civil War battle reenacted. It was a breezy, cool, overcast day. The reenactment experience was interesting, but it seemed to be more satisfying for the people participating in it than than for the spectators. Here's an amusing anecdote: We were in the shopping village area where people can buy Civil War-era buttons and really expensive period costumes. There was a man in full uniform talking to a couple in one of the tents, and he was making fun of people who dress up and go to Star Trek conventions. Really? Because dressing up and hanging out in a pasture is that much better ....

I love that the guy in the foreground is dressed in his naval uniform. But at least he's not a Trekkie.

May 11th - Shrimp night

Yummy. Tonight was shrimp night. I joked on Facebook that "shrimp" indicates the featured menu ingredient and not the stature of our guests. :) For a meal centered on shrimp, though, I didn't feel like it was too much. Definitely not a journey to Red Lobster's "Endless Shrimp." The menu included Vegetable Shrimp Cocktail; Butternut Squash Soup with Star Anise and Ginger Shrimp; Shrimp Wellington; and Roasted Asparagus. There were three sizes/types of shrimp in the meal - salad shrimp in the cocktail, large shrimp in the soup, and jumbo shrimp in the Wellington. 


I think both the shrimp cocktail and the shrimp Wellington were fantastic - probably my favorite dishes of the season so far. I had to make sauces for both that I did not originally anticipate. The shrimp cocktail called for chili sauce instead of cocktail sauce, and I really have no idea where to find such a thing in the grocery store. I did find a substitution recipe for it online though. The Wellington called for bechamel sauce. I don't know if you can actually buy that pre-made or not, but the recipe I found by Mario Batali is delicious. I seriously could have eaten it like soup (I admit - I had a few spoonfuls in the kitchen. So what if it's made of butter, milk, and flour? That's good for me, right?!) I have a bunch of bechamel sauce left over - tomorrow's goal is to figure out something to do with it. Suggestions?


Without further adieu, here are the recipes (plus the sauces) worth sharing from tonight:


Vegetable Shrimp Cocktail
From www.finedinings.com

Serves 5, generously


Coat Martini Glass Rims (or a cordial glass, whatever you have on hand)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp parsley, minced
5 martini/cordial glasses


Put lemon juice in a shallow wide soup bowl. Put minced parsley in another shallow wide soup bowl. Turn martini glass upside down and dip rim in lemon juice, then in the minced parsley to coat the glass edge; set aside. This can be done ahead.


Ingredients
1/2 cup celery, diced
1/2 cup tomatoes, peeled, seeded, diced
1/2 cup English cucumber, peeled, seeded, diced
1/2 cup red or green bell pepper, diced
2 Tbsp green onion, sliced
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper, to taste
1/2 cup Chili Sauce (see recipe)
3/4 cup salad shrimp
5 celery sticks, 4-inches long


Preparation
In a large bowl mix celery, tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, green onion, salt and pepper together, fold in the salad shrimp reserving some for the top, spoon vegetable into martini glasses.  Top each glass with 1 tablespoon chili sauce, add a celery stalk for a "swizzle stick," garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.


Chile Sauce Substitution (from www.recipezaar.com)
1 cup tomoto sauce + 1/4 cup brown sugar + 2 Tbsp vinegar + 1/4 tsp cinnamon + dash of ground cloves + dash of ground allspice = 1 cup chili sauce


Here's a picture of the bechamel sauce in the making - this is approaching the "straw color" required before adding milk:

Shrimp Wellington
(from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

•      2 tablespoons olive oil
•      4 cups fresh spinach leaves
•      salt and pepper to taste
•      1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
•      4 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
•      4 ounces crabmeat, drained and flaked
•      1/4 cup bechamel sauce (see recipe)
•      1 tablespoon chopped shallots
•      1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
•      1 egg, beaten

Directions

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet 
2.      Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add spinach; cook and stir until wilted, about 3 minutes.     Season with salt and pepper. Drain off any excess liquid; set aside.
3.      Lay the sheet of puff pastry out on a clean surface, and cut into 4 squares. Prick lightly with fork.
4.      In a medium bowl; mix crabmeat, bechamel sauce, shallots, and tarragon until well blended.
5.      Cut prawns lengthwise and open them up to form a butterfly shape. Lay one shrimp in the middle of each pastry square with open side facing up. Stuff each shrimp with an equal amount of spinach and top with a heaping tablespoon of the crab mixture. Fold over pastry to make a triangle, and press the edges to seal. Place on the baking sheet, and brush with beaten egg.
6.      Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.

The parcels can be frozen prior to baking for up to 2 weeks before you need them. Thaw in refrigerator for 4 to 5 hours before baking.

Bechamel Sauce (from Food Network)



Ingredients
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


Directions
In a medium saucepan, heat the butter over medium-low heat until melted. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until the mixture turns a light, golden sandy color, about 6 to 7 minutes.


Meanwhile, heat the milk in a separate pan until just about to boil. Add the hot milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth. Bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes, stirring constantly, then remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg, and set aside until ready to use.


And now, last but not least... the guests for the evening - Erica Clarke, Nancy Rollman, and Steven Rollman. Erica is a first-time guest to Cafe Davis, and despite the fact that she's about to leave the 'Burg for another 'Burgh (Pittsburgh, that is), we hope she'll be back in the future. Nancy and Steven, on the other hand, are three-peaters. Nancy made a delicious dessert with strawberries, whipped cream, pecan sandies-like crunchies, and dark chocolate candy sticks. Many thanks for that! Also, just to put a plug out there for her, Nancy is a co-owner of an adorable gift boutique in Dayton called The Cottage. If you are in need for a one-of-a-kind gift, make sure you check it out! (and my apologies for posting a picture of her with her eyes closed... I guess this is why people take more than one picture most of the time).

May 9th - Avocado night

This is how it starts... I'm one day behind on blogging, then two... then this whole blogging facade is blown out of the water. I'm really trying to stay on top of things though. May 9th (two days ago, if you're counting) was avocado night. There were 9 diners, and 10 pounds of avocados used in the meal. Wowzers. At least we got our daily dose (or weekly, perhaps?) of mono-unsaturated fatty acid.

The menu tonight included avocado eggrolls with duck sauce; baby lettuce salad with carmelized avocados; roasted pork tenderloin with avocado and apricot sauce; and ginger garlic green beans. In addition to the obvious overload of avocados, there was also a ton of pork in this meal. The salad called for me to carmelize a slab of bacon and then to cut it into 1-4 inch lardons. Luckily, I had a huge slab of bacon/pork belly from a Polyface hog butchered a while back. Here's a picture of it:

The dimensions of that hunk of meat were probably about 12" by 14". I roasted it for two hours, and once it was all cut down to size I had maybe a cereal bowl worth of pork for the salad. The dogs enjoyed their bites of fat, and the pork was a tasty addition. I think learning more about cuts of meat and how to prepare them would be a worthy endeavor if I ever wanted to pretend to be a real foodie. In the meantime, though, I think I'm getting by alright.

Now for some more food pictures - first, this is the stuffing for the eggrolls:

The eggrolls were good, but I thought that the sundried tomatoes clashed somewhat with the apricot in the rest of the meal. I'd make the eggrolls again, but perhaps paired with something more savory. 

The pork loin turned out really well, and the odd combination of apricots and avocados was surprisingly good. Here's a picture of the pork coming out of the oven:

As you can see, I made a TON of meat for 9 people. Mike bought the tenderloin at Costco, but he didn't write down how much I needed. I asked for 3 pounds, he bought 8. Leftovers are one of the perks of Cafe Davis, though, so I'm not sad that I have two delicious pork loins in the freezer.

Here's the finished product, and the recipe is below:

Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Avocado and Apricot Sauce
(recipe from the California Avocado Commission)

Serves 4

Ingredients
1 (3/4 lb.) boneless pork tenderloin
Garlic powder
White pepper
2 Tbsp. apricot spreadable fruit or jam
2 Tbsp. apricot nectar
3 green onions, sliced diagonally
1/2 Tbsp butter
1/3 cup dry wine
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 ripe avocado, peeled, seeded, and thickly sliced
1 (8-ounce) can unpeeled apricot halves, drained (liquid reserved) and cut in half
1 cup cooked rice

Preparation
1. Lightly sprinkle pork with garlic powder and pepper.
2. Place pork on rack in aluminum foil-lined shallow baking pan. (** Before I did this, I seared the pork in an cast iron skillet with apricot nectar. I think searing tenderloin before roasting it helps make everything more moist, personally.)
3. To make glaze, combine apricot spread with first measure of apricot nectar.
4. Brush all sides of pork with some of the glaze.
5. Roast at 425 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 160 degrees on meat thermometer.
6. Brush with remaining glaze several times during cooking. Let roast stand with preparing sauce.
7. In a non-stick skillet, saute green onions in butter for 1 minute. (**I forgot to buy green onions, so I used a yellow onion and about 1/4 cup of chives)
8. Add remaining apricot nectar, wine, paprika and ginger, heat.
9. Combine cornstarch with drained apricot liquid. Stir into skillet mixture.
10. Cook, stirring until sauce thickens.
11. Add avocado and apricot quarters; heat briefly.
12. To serve, thinly slice pork and arrange on rice. Serve sauce over pork and rice.

And finally, here's a picture of tonight's avocado-loving guests (from L to R: Dmitri, Matt H., Sohrab, Matt Y., Erin, Jake, and Amber):

May 7th - Sweet Potato night & May 8th - Sean and Shruti's Graduation Party

I completely forgot to take pictures tonight, and it was an important night! Alas. We had first-time guests, Lindsay Brubaker and Matt Robinson, and our very first Cafe Davis anniversary dinner. Peter and Christy Norment decided, out of all of Harrisonburg's romantic offerings, to spend their 5th wedding anniversary with us!  I hope it was all they wanted it to be!

The dinner ingredient of the night was sweet potatoes. The menu included sweet potato sausage balls; yellow and green bean salad with olives, cherry tomatoes, and summer savory; sweet potato ravioli with brown butter; and homemade bread. Or, that was the plan. In reality we only had green bean salad - there was no yellow to it - because I couldn't find yellow beans anywhere. I also forgot to put the olives in the salad, mostly because the ones I had in the refrigerator spilled, and then I forgot to look in the pantry to see if I had more (which I'm pretty sure I did). We also did not have homemade bread. Mike is the baker in the house, and I completely forgot to tell him that his skills were needed for the evening until late in the afternoon when he was already engrossed in yard work and Sean and Shruti's graduation party preparations.

On the whole, I thought dinner was fine, but I wasn't a big fan of the "ravioli" made with won ton wrappers. The filling was really tasty, but the won ton wrappers are just the wrong consistency for me to truly believe them as ravioli. I *could*, I suppose, make my own pasta, but that seems like a lot of work. Maybe it's something I can work on in the Cafe Davis "off-season." The best part of the meal, in my opinion, were the sweet potato sausage balls. They reminded me of something that I used to eat as a kid (maybe at my grandmother's house? or at covered dish suppers in the church Fellowship Hall?) I can't really place the taste memory, but they are delicious and worth revisiting if you too vaguely recollect some kind of cheesy pork biscuit tasting thing from your youth. Plus, they're easy to make (bonus!). I'll definitely be adding these to the Christmas party line-up this year, even if that does make a lot of my favorite appetizers pretty pork-heavy.

Sweet Potato Sausage Balls
(from About.com)

Ingredients

• 3 cups biscuit mix
• 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes*
• 1 pound hot sausage, uncooked
• 1 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans

Preparation
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking pan with foil and lightly grease or spray with nonstick cooking spray. 


Combine biscuit mix, cheese, mashed sweet potatoes, sausage, and salt until well blended, using hands. Add chopped pecans. Wet hands with cool water and shape the mixture into 1-inch balls; place on the prepared baking pan. Moisten hands from time to time as needed to prevent sticking. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on tops and deeper brown on bottoms.


* To make mashed sweet potatoes, microwave two large sweet potatoes in high for 6 minutes. Turn potatoes over and microwave for 6 additional minutes. Remove and let cool. Peel by cutting off the skins, and mash in a medium bowl.

Mustard Dipping Sauce
Mix together 1 cup mayonnaise, 2-3 teaspoons ground mustard (Dijon or other preferred flavor) and 1/4 tsp fresh dillweed.


So, that's the scoop on Cafe Davis for the evening. Now on to what I tried to do next.... After all of the guests left, Mike prepped the hamburger patties for Sean and Shruti's graduation party, and made some tasty pasta salad. I got to work making what was supposed to be an awesome cake. The intended cake was a jelly roll style cake - the plan was to only roll it partially, frost it with white cream cheese frosting, pipe decorative swirls on the side and "Class of 2010" on the unrolled part, and then tie a bow on the "diploma scroll" with a fruit roll-up. The picture of the finished cake I found on the internet was adorable. I mixed up the delicious cake batter, made the cake, rolled it out in a cocoa-dusted towel, and was about to start on the frosting when I decided to unroll the cake and add the creme between the rolled layers. That's when it all fell apart... literally. First a small tear, then a gaping hole. Apparently, size does matter, and my jelly roll pan was significantly larger than what the recipe required. The result was a too-thin cake that wouldn't hold its shape. Oh well. By the time I created my delicious pile of disappointment, it was pushing 1am and I decided to just go to bed. The following are all pictures of the graduation soiree, and even though the festivities were graced with a 1/4 sheet cake from Food Lion, I think everyone still had a good time.

Graduate (and roommate) Sean Lowry:

Some of the debaters, hanging out on the patio:

Sean and his dad - maybe sharing wisdom upon graduating?

Christy and Elliot (she's half of the aforementioned anniversary guests). Kids love playing with the patio gate:

Elliot, suspicious of the paparazzi:

View through the hammock fibers. I just like this picture:

And finally, yours truly, catching up on some R&R in the hammock:

May 4th - Pepper night!

My head is just not in the game. I looked at who was coming to dinner tonight before I went to the grocery store - 7 guests, counting Sean. So then I only bought 4 poblano peppers. Huh, that didn't make sense. So I sent Mike back to the grocery store to buy 3 more peppers. Then, as I was in the kitchen, I asked Mike to set the table. He came in and said, "You know, I think we can really fit 7 people around the table. We don't need to set up a folding table." I agreed, and kept on chopping one of the millions of peppers I cooked for the meal.

Time flew by - me, furiously chopping, stirring, frying. Guests started to arrive. First, Lesley, then the Dang-Marrs, Meris.... Mike came in and asked if all of the guests were there just as I was finishing up the chiles rellenos. I answered, "Yep!" But I was wrong. A few minutes later, Lindsay and Jeremy walked in, and there I was with 9 people, 7 seats, and only 7 chiles rellenos. Oh yeah - there were seven guests alright, but there was also me and Mike. 7+2=9. Luckily we were able to scramble quickly to set up the folding table. I also fortuitously (for me, maybe not so much for her) forgot that Meris is a vegetarian and can't eat the meat-stuffed chiles, so all the carnivores got at least half a serving of the main dish.

This story leads me to a promise of planning ahead for Friday's Cafe Davis. No snafus - just the well-oiled Cafe Davis machine I know that I'm capable of somewhere deep, deep down inside. There is no Cafe Davis tomorrow night - May 6th. Mike isn't really sad about that because the featured ingredient is supposed to be tofu, but we're all excited about Friday's sweet potato meal!

Now about the pepper cooking - the menu tonight was Cuban black bean dip with habanero peppers (kind of blah, but better with lime juice - thanks to Sean for the suggestion), red pepper soup (I forgot to strain it, so it was a little chunky), chipotle and roasted corn salsa with homemade tortilla chips, chiles rellenos, and sweet pepper rice. The homemade tortilla chips are one of my personal favorites and definitely a staple for most parties at our house. I got the recipe years ago (about 12 years ago, actually), out of a Martha Stewart cookbook. I'll have to dig it out and share the title at some point in this blog - I use the cookbook all the time, and it has rarely disappointed me. Regarding the tortilla chips, though, they are one of the easiest, most delicious, and probably least healthiest, things to make in the world. Here's the (paraphrased) recipe:

Tortilla Chips

Ingredients
Corn tortillas
Vegetable oil
Sea salt

Preparation
Cut the corn tortillas into quarters. Place gently into hot vegetable oil (about 1/2 inch in large skillet). Fry on one side for about 1 minute until light golden brown. Then flip over each tortilla quarter and fry for about another minute. (You may need to play with the frying time a bit). Remove and let drain on paper towels. Salt lightly, and place in a paper bag to store for no more than 1 day.

Tortillas in frying process:

Tortilla chips chilling in the paper bag - a picture of health food!

And now to the guests of pepper night - all seven of them! (not counting your hosts, which makes nine....)

From left to right: Sean Lowry, John Marr, Thanh Dang, Jeremy Aldrich, Lindsay Aldrich, Meris Mandernach, and Lesley Brown.

Finally, I wanted to share Mike's newest garden creation - raised garden bed #3. He's planting sweet potatoes in the picture, which of course will not be ready by Friday's meal. But if the recipes for Friday turn out decently then perhaps we will have home-grown sweet potatoes to make them again some day. We can only hope!

Cafe Davis opens! May 2nd - Chickpea night

Wow, I was wholly unprepared for Cafe Davis to open. It wasn't even on my radar until late last night. I even had plans to meet my colleague to grade this evening until Cafe Davis reservations dawned on me last night. I went to bed resolved to have a productive day, beginning with getting up early this morning to clean the house. I rolled out of bed, however, at 10:30am. Whooops. Luckily I had time to get to the grocery store and Mike took care of the cleaning after his softball game. I promise I will have my act more together the rest of the month....

Tonight featured chickpeas. The menu was hummus crudite, seared salmon and chickpea salad, roasted apples and onions with thyme, and ginger garlic green beans. The hummus, I think, was the star of the meal, although the rest was definitely edible. I took pictures of the hummus evolution, so I'll include that here with the recipe:

Hummus (from www.epicurious.com)

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon salt
• two 1-pound 3-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2/3 cup well stirred tahini
• 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, or to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil, or to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted lightly

Preparation

On a cutting board mince and mash the garlic to a paste with the salt.  In a food processor puree the chickpeas with the garlic paste, the tahini, the lemon juice, 1/4 cup of the oil, and 1/2 cup water, scraping down the sides, until the hummus is smooth and add salt to taste. Add water, if necessary, to thin the hummus to the desired consistency and transfer the hummus to a bowl.

In the food processor, cleaned, puree the remaining 1/4 cup oil with the parsley until the oil is bright green and the parsley is minced. Transfer the parsley oil to a small jar. The hummus and the parsley oil may be made 3 days in advance and kept covered and chilled. Divide the hummus between shallow serving dishes and smooth the tops. Drizzle the hummus with the parsley oil and sprinkle it with the pine nuts.

 

Finished product!

The guests tonight were Kaitlyn and Oliver, two of Mike's debaters. 

Kaitlyn's roommate kindly made some half raw brownies for dessert, but we were able to firm them up with another half an hour or so in the oven. Sean, our ubiquitous Cafe Davis guest/roommate, took charge and turned the brownie sludge into a delicious end to a fun meal. Hanging out with the kiddos was a great way to start off the Cafe Davis season, and we're looking forward to seeing all of our friends over the course of the month!

Now onto some other non-Cafe Davis news... this is what Mike found in the flower garden yesterday when he returned from the Farmer's Market: 

Mike and Oliver both made the same joke - what kind of plant grew that?!? I told Mike that whatever it was, he should get a more mature plant next time and see if we can grow an SUV. Apparently the owner of this Porsche left it in neutral in the parking lot next door. It rolled out of the parking lot, across the alley, and into our yard. Mike said that the car didn't suffer any damage, despite rolling over some big rocks in our flower garden/weed patch. I just thought I would share because it's not everyday that one can say: huh, there's a Porsche in the yard....

That's it for now. I'll check back in for Cafe Davis #2 - Peppers!!!