Fud, Glorious Fud...
Sep. 27th, 2004 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerSaturday evening, the wife and I went to Viognier for a friend's birthday. It was a nice, small gathering of foodies - mostly people I hadn't met. The first time I'd seen ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
finickynarcane in a while, too. It was a nice time, and a faboo dinner.
All were served with a glass of wine. The pairings were okay - the only one I really liked was the first one. One of the wines, I thought, was Oakland (a merlot with no there there).
But still, a lovely evening of food, wine, and conversation. A nice way to celebrate a birthday and I might steal the idea.
For those what might be curious, the "molten chocolate crispy rolls" were somewhat like melted chocolate chips, breaded and fried. It was really, really good.
And now, the Resolution Recipe. The sharp-eyed (or nit-picky) among you may notice that I missed last week. Yes. Yes, I did. I'm still a good person.
Grilled Mushroom Sandwiches
Spread:
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
several cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
Place tomatoes in a small saucepan and cover with water or white wine. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, and let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze dry and place in a food processor with garlic and oil. Process until smooth, scraping down as needed.
4 Portobello mushrooms
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
fresh ground black pepper
crushed red pepper
salt
Clean mushrooms, combine all in a pan or Tupperware and marinate overnight. Drain, pressing out liquid.
1 red onion or 2 Cipollini onions (a small Italian roasting onion I got from our CSA farmers)
8 slices herb bread, toasted/grilled
arugula or other interesting salad green (I used purple orach)
roasted red bell peppers, torn in 1" pieces
4 thin slices cheese: Swiss, Provolone, or Mozzarella.
Heat oven to 325 and a broiler to high heat. Place mushrooms on a rack over a roasting pan and dry in the oven for 15 minutes. Transfer to the broiler and grill along with the onion slices for 2-4 minutes per side, until they are slightly tender. Cut the portobellos into 1/2" slices at a sharp angle.
Lay bread out and spread each side with about 1 T of the tomato spread. Scatter a layer of greens and top with a slice of grilled onion, bell pepper, and portobello to fit. Top with a slice of cheese and broil long enough to melt the cheese. Close each sandwich with the remaining bread and serve.
Comments: This needed improvement. I didn't slather both sides of bread with the tomato spread, and I forgot the orach - so the sandwiches were a bit dry. I also used smoked Gouda, which in Federal parlance exhibits "poor meltability". The curvy upstairs neighbor thought the vinegar flavor was a bit overpowering. I liked it, but I like vinegar. The fuzzy upstairs neighbor thought that a foccacia-type herb read would be better than the default sourdough sandwich loaf I used. Not sure on that, although it wouldn't make it less good.
End result - decent, but not faboo. Worth trying again with noted changes. The tomato spread, though - that's what catsup wants to grow up to be. That, I'll happily make regularly for sandwiches.
finickynarcane in a while, too. It was a nice time, and a faboo dinner.| Course One: | salad of seared figs, goat cheese, & pecans |
| Course Two: | sweet corn soup with Maine lobster |
| Course Three: | grilled scallop brochette with butternut squash risotto |
| Course Four: | plate of three cheeses |
| Course Five: | molten chocolate crispy rolls and sour cherry ice cream |
All were served with a glass of wine. The pairings were okay - the only one I really liked was the first one. One of the wines, I thought, was Oakland (a merlot with no there there).
But still, a lovely evening of food, wine, and conversation. A nice way to celebrate a birthday and I might steal the idea.
For those what might be curious, the "molten chocolate crispy rolls" were somewhat like melted chocolate chips, breaded and fried. It was really, really good.
And now, the Resolution Recipe. The sharp-eyed (or nit-picky) among you may notice that I missed last week. Yes. Yes, I did. I'm still a good person.
Grilled Mushroom Sandwiches
Spread:
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes
several cloves garlic
2 T olive oil
Place tomatoes in a small saucepan and cover with water or white wine. Bring to a simmer, remove from the heat, and let stand for 20 minutes. Squeeze dry and place in a food processor with garlic and oil. Process until smooth, scraping down as needed.
4 Portobello mushrooms
balsamic vinegar
olive oil
fresh rosemary
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
fresh ground black pepper
crushed red pepper
salt
Clean mushrooms, combine all in a pan or Tupperware and marinate overnight. Drain, pressing out liquid.
1 red onion or 2 Cipollini onions (a small Italian roasting onion I got from our CSA farmers)
8 slices herb bread, toasted/grilled
arugula or other interesting salad green (I used purple orach)
roasted red bell peppers, torn in 1" pieces
4 thin slices cheese: Swiss, Provolone, or Mozzarella.
Heat oven to 325 and a broiler to high heat. Place mushrooms on a rack over a roasting pan and dry in the oven for 15 minutes. Transfer to the broiler and grill along with the onion slices for 2-4 minutes per side, until they are slightly tender. Cut the portobellos into 1/2" slices at a sharp angle.
Lay bread out and spread each side with about 1 T of the tomato spread. Scatter a layer of greens and top with a slice of grilled onion, bell pepper, and portobello to fit. Top with a slice of cheese and broil long enough to melt the cheese. Close each sandwich with the remaining bread and serve.
Comments: This needed improvement. I didn't slather both sides of bread with the tomato spread, and I forgot the orach - so the sandwiches were a bit dry. I also used smoked Gouda, which in Federal parlance exhibits "poor meltability". The curvy upstairs neighbor thought the vinegar flavor was a bit overpowering. I liked it, but I like vinegar. The fuzzy upstairs neighbor thought that a foccacia-type herb read would be better than the default sourdough sandwich loaf I used. Not sure on that, although it wouldn't make it less good.
End result - decent, but not faboo. Worth trying again with noted changes. The tomato spread, though - that's what catsup wants to grow up to be. That, I'll happily make regularly for sandwiches.
