I must be a pretty cheap sister, since I rarely get my sister gifts for her birthday. Since we all love food, I just make her a multiple-course dinner. Anyone can get one, and most of my family has, except those who don't come near us for their birthdays. She picks out her favorite foods and we work the menu until she likes everything; she usually has to help clean up afterwards.
Basic Vinaigrette
Juice of one lemon
1 T dijon mustard
1-2 T olive oil
Combine lemon and mustard first, then whisk in oil with a fork. Toss with greens just at serving time or they wilt. If you need to get rid of the bowl and are not ready to serve just yet: Put the dressing in the tossing bowl, and add the greens on top but do not toss. They can stay there for about 30 minutes or so before combining. I usually mix the dressing in the serving bowl so I don't have to wash extra!
Herbed Vinaigrette: Chop any or several herbs and add just before pouring on greens. Combinations are nice, and we used Dad's fresh oregano and purple basil, plus Heidi's fresh green basil.
Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness, and layer on slices of ham and swiss cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides. Roll chicken up and squeeze to set, using toothpicks if necessary. In bowl #1, add 1 t. salt to 1/2 c. of flour. In bowl #2, add 1 t. water to one beaten egg (or 2 whites). In bowl #3, add 1 t. dried thyme (or fresh) and 1 t. oil to 1 c. panko bread crumbs. Dip chicken rolls in flour first, then egg, then bread crumbs. Place in a greased pyrex dish, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. Slice each roll into little pinwheels of chicken goodness and serve.
We served an Albarino with the first courses, Martin Codax Albarino, 2006. All the female Callaways love Albarino, and we previewed it at a tasting a few weeks prior. It did not disappoint. The main course wine was a Pinot Noir which was forgettable. I still hold firm that a light red is the best choice for the chicken course, just not that particular Pinot Noir. It was something like Huntingdon, but you can forget it.
This year it seemed like every course she picked had cheese in it. I asked her, "You don't really want every course cheese-heavy, do you?" And she said, "What better idea for a multi-course menu than a tribute to cheese?" So, cheese, it was. Mostly.
First course: Stuffed Baby Potatoes. We had something like this for a Christmas Eve dinner one year, and Kathryn has asked for them ever since. I think I got the idea from something similar with caviar on top. I'm not a caviar girl. Basically, you boil/steam small baby potatoes. Once they cool enough, you core out the center of them (apple corers work great, so do vegetable peelers) and fill them with sour cream, top with caviar. But to dodge the caviar, I stuffed the cavity with a mixture of cheddar, cream cheese, bacon and chives and baked them in the oven. If the potatoes are all small and uniform enough, you can slice off a sliver from the bottom and they stand up. Three are enough for a first course, but eighteen are nice for a midnight snack. These potatoes were so long, we just split them length-wise and stuffed them like regular twice-baked potatoes. Still yummy, though. There's no real recipe here, just rig something you like inside.
Second course: Baby Romaine with Pears, Parmiggiano, Walnuts and Herb Vinaigrette. A Pretentious Salad classic! Remember the formula: greens+fruit+nut+cheese. It will never fail you. The pears were sliced, the cheese peeled with a veggie peeler (and actually was an aged goat cheese rather than parmiggiano), and nuts are toasted. Keep all the elements separate from the greens. Mix the dressing first and toss the greens with that, then layer everything else on top.
We literally make the basic version of this everyday. It is mis-titled, since I use lemon instead of vinegar, but you can use vinegar if you like it. Stretch the dressing as you need for as much greens as you prepare. We use 1/2 lemon for just me and Sean, but we are heavy greens consumers. And are not fans of gloppy salad dressings.
We literally make the basic version of this everyday. It is mis-titled, since I use lemon instead of vinegar, but you can use vinegar if you like it. Stretch the dressing as you need for as much greens as you prepare. We use 1/2 lemon for just me and Sean, but we are heavy greens consumers. And are not fans of gloppy salad dressings.
Basic Vinaigrette
Juice of one lemon
1 T dijon mustard
1-2 T olive oil
Combine lemon and mustard first, then whisk in oil with a fork. Toss with greens just at serving time or they wilt. If you need to get rid of the bowl and are not ready to serve just yet: Put the dressing in the tossing bowl, and add the greens on top but do not toss. They can stay there for about 30 minutes or so before combining. I usually mix the dressing in the serving bowl so I don't have to wash extra!
Herbed Vinaigrette: Chop any or several herbs and add just before pouring on greens. Combinations are nice, and we used Dad's fresh oregano and purple basil, plus Heidi's fresh green basil.
Sorbet course: Watermelon. As many of you know, I am a melon-hater. But I know lots of people like watermelon. We happened to have some cut-up watermelon on hand at my 'rents house, so we made a Watermelon Sorbet to serve just before the main course. Boil equal parts sugar and water in a pan until dissolved. I wanted to put mint in the syrup, but we didn't have any. However, herbs work really well in sorbet, so be adventurous. Puree fruit in a blender/food processor until smooth and add sugar syrup. If you have a sorbet or small electric ice cream maker, use the manufacturer's directions. (My parents have one.) But if your kitchen is limited (like mine), pour the fruit concoction in a pyrex dish and put it in the freezer. Every so often, scrape and stir it with a fork, keeping it fluffy. It will take about a couple of hours, but no one will care. You can serve this one on squares of watermelon rind and it looks cool, or in sake cups.
Main course: Chicken Cordon Bleu with Baby Carrots. The carrots recipe is in an earlier blog, and I added peas for color. The chicken can be made ahead and baking while you are eating the earlier courses.
Chicken Cordon Bleu (healthy version)
Pound chicken breasts to 1/4 inch thickness, and layer on slices of ham and swiss cheese, leaving a 1/2 inch border on all sides. Roll chicken up and squeeze to set, using toothpicks if necessary. In bowl #1, add 1 t. salt to 1/2 c. of flour. In bowl #2, add 1 t. water to one beaten egg (or 2 whites). In bowl #3, add 1 t. dried thyme (or fresh) and 1 t. oil to 1 c. panko bread crumbs. Dip chicken rolls in flour first, then egg, then bread crumbs. Place in a greased pyrex dish, cover and refrigerate until ready to cook. Bake at 375 degrees for about 30-45 minutes. Slice each roll into little pinwheels of chicken goodness and serve.Dessert: Flourless Chocolate Cake. This selection arose after Kathryn rejected Dark Chocolate Creme Brulee. And the whipped cream layer on top is covering the overdone quality it seemed to pick up when Mom was in charge. It just proves you cannot ruin this. It still tasted great.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
7 oz. dark chocolate, chopped
7 oz. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar, divided
4 eggs, separated
Butter a springform pan with removable sides, or a 9 in. cake pan. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. You don't have to own one, just rig it with bowl on top of a pan of boiling water. Don't let the water touch the bowl, though. Once it is melted, add the butter until it melts and then set off heat to cool.
In a standing mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy, then add 1/2 c. of the sugar until soft peaks form. In another bowl, whisk the yolks with the other 1/2 c. of sugar until pale. Add a bit of the chocolate into the yolks until the temperature starts to warm up (avoiding scrambled eggs with choclate- yuck!) Once it is warm, dump in all the chocolate and mix till combined. Add about 1/3 of the whites and mix vigorously. Then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour in prepared pan and bake at 350 for AROUND 35-40 minutes. A toothpick or knife should come out clean when stuck in the center. The cake will deflate, and that is normal, as it cools. Cool to room temperature, and remove from cake pan if you wish. Fresh whipped cream is nice, too.
7 oz. unsalted butter
1 c. sugar, divided
4 eggs, separated
Butter a springform pan with removable sides, or a 9 in. cake pan. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. You don't have to own one, just rig it with bowl on top of a pan of boiling water. Don't let the water touch the bowl, though. Once it is melted, add the butter until it melts and then set off heat to cool.
In a standing mixer, beat the egg whites until frothy, then add 1/2 c. of the sugar until soft peaks form. In another bowl, whisk the yolks with the other 1/2 c. of sugar until pale. Add a bit of the chocolate into the yolks until the temperature starts to warm up (avoiding scrambled eggs with choclate- yuck!) Once it is warm, dump in all the chocolate and mix till combined. Add about 1/3 of the whites and mix vigorously. Then fold in the rest of the whites. Pour in prepared pan and bake at 350 for AROUND 35-40 minutes. A toothpick or knife should come out clean when stuck in the center. The cake will deflate, and that is normal, as it cools. Cool to room temperature, and remove from cake pan if you wish. Fresh whipped cream is nice, too.
We served an Albarino with the first courses, Martin Codax Albarino, 2006. All the female Callaways love Albarino, and we previewed it at a tasting a few weeks prior. It did not disappoint. The main course wine was a Pinot Noir which was forgettable. I still hold firm that a light red is the best choice for the chicken course, just not that particular Pinot Noir. It was something like Huntingdon, but you can forget it.
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