the moderate epicurean

Hello friends!  Yes, I'm still here, still cooking, despite falling way behind on taking pics and posting.  Like everyone, we are in full summer mode and that has meant non-stop entertaining and dining out, whew. Funny thing, you'd think that since I step up my cooking game for guests that I'd have more to write about, but lately it just hasn't panned (pun!) out.

Whirlwind overview of recent tasties, I hope it inspires a fun night out or some barbecue fun at home:

Last Thursday night, John and I broke out of our usual groove and headed over to Bradstreet Craftshouse, in the Graves 601 Hotel, for the finest drinks in the Twin Cities.  We had some nice food too - mini burgers, marinated vegetables - but Bradstreet is all about the drinks, highly crafted and beyond delicious.  I particularly loved the Juliet & Romeo (Plymouth gin, lime, mint, cucumber, rose water), refreshing with just a hint of sweet, perfect on a 90-degree day, ahhhh.

 

 

 

 

 

Last Friday night, we were invited to a Farewell to D'Amico Cucina (at least in Butler Square) Dinner with Debbie and Stu The Wine Genius Williams and Genie & Joe Dixon (as well as Genie & Joe's daughter-in-law and son, Twyla and Joe Jr.).  Lord what a feast, completely immoderate, ah well. I (over) indulged in seared foie gras with fresh figs (badly pictured above) and the most seriously kill single ravioli I have ever encountered.  Filled with smooth-creamy ricotta, and a whole egg, I cut into it to spill cheese and yolk into the browned truffle butter drizzled at the edges of the plate.  Oh yes, beyond decadent, luckily small portions, I won't say more, uff, except it appears the D'Amico Cucina team will soon be taking over the Chambers Kitchen.  When one door closes, another opens...

Saturday, we...golfed.  Yes, golfed!  I just started playing, oh about a month ago, John doesn't play at all, but we golfed anyhow, with our kindly neighbors Kasey & Dan Hatzung, in our neighborhood's "Better Half Invitational," hosted by Ellen & John Skahan and Lindsay & Dave Polyak.  Such fun, such non-serious golf, we had a complete blast, topped off by a lovely party at the Polyak residence.  I brought an appetizer - a thin-crust "pizza," lightly topped with pancetta, caramelized onions, tomatoes, and fontina cheese and served at room temp - and enjoyed the buffet of gorgeous appetizers brought by all the golfers.  Yum, I do love myself a pot-luck buffet...almost as much as my husband does...

Monday night we hosted my cousin Peter, his wife Kristin, and their adorable - adorable! - twin three-year-old daughters Emily and Erin.  Stacey and Cooper were here too, to dig in to garlicky pork tenderloin, tsatsiki (yogurt sauce with cucumber, garlic, and dill), grilled pita bread, a giant Greek salad, and Suz's to-die-for blueberry kuchen for dessert (she served it to me on Friday Afternoon Coffee with Suz.  I crave it - bonus, it's a breeze to make...).

Tuesday night, Kim The Maven of Mischief and I snuck out to Barrio Tequila Bar for mid-week tasty drinks and Mexican snacks.  Crab empanadas, potato-chorizo tacos, and shrimps grilled on sugar-cane skewers didn't put a dent in their fine menu, but put us in a fine mood nonetheless, completely making up for the fact that I didn't make a res (which the annoying hostess gravely told me was a BIG mistake - ugh).

Tonight, no entertaining, but a recipe I'll (re)post, in case you're looking for a tasty appetizer for weekend entertaining.  Crab cakes, baby, this version from our friend Carol Mack via Andrew Zimmern, is a stellar recipe.  The focus is the crab (not breading), tender in the middle, crispy on the exterior, not too thick, not too thin.  Basically, Perfect Crab Cakes.  For a twist, tonight I stuffed them in toasted buns (moderate it: cut the middle out of the bun to make it much thinner, spritz with nonstick olive oil spray, then toast) and giggled that we were having Krabby Patties for din.  Sauteed kale - fresh from my veggie share, likely picked this morning - alongside, a nice foil for the richness of the sandwich.

And this weekend, ah yes, another party, woo hoo!  I'm counting 15 of us at this point, including my bro David, for a big ol' 4th of July Barbecue.  I'm planning pork ribs, mini-burgers (with home-made mini-buns, I'll let you know how they turn out...), broccoli salad, garbanzo bean salad, potato chips (Cape Cod 40% reduced fat kettle-cooked chips are seriously yummy), and bing cherries, along with snacks by the pool (guacamole, raw veggies, and tortilla chips), along with dessert (compliments of Suz), along with cold beer and wine, along with fireworks on the golf course...  Ooh, aah, one of my fave holidays.

Happy Independence Day!

Well the Annual Super-Duper-Shubert-Coopster 4th of July Celebration (that's what I'm officially naming it, ha) was a blast. We got in quite a bit of swimming before a (thankfully brief) thunderstorm chased us into the house - which was fine, since it was time to make din anyhow. And chow down on Suz's Deviled Eggs (and sip beer, of course!) while grillin' and chillin'. The storm quickly cleared and the sun again emerged, so we wiped down the chairs and ate our burgers and 'dogson the deck. (Insert: a plug for Nathan's Famous brand hot dogs, available at Byerly's, hooooey they are fabulous. We decided even better than Hebrew National, another family fav. See what you think...)

When it was time for Suz's Blueberry Kuchen (crisp short-crust topped with a mass of ripe blueberries and baked into a buttery, cinnamon-y, warm-berry crumble, topped with freshly whipped cream, rarrr...), we moved out onto the screened porch so that I could make everyone try out the new cushions I ordered to pull together our hodge-podge of hand-me-down, white -wicker furniture. One chair is from John's parents' East Hampton home (thank you, Dot!), spiffed up with a fresh coat of white paint (thank you, Stacey!) and a new melon-colored pillow. The sofa and other chair are un-matching pieces I bought on clearance. I'm not even sure where the end tables are from, I've been hauling them around with me for years. With a new rug, some sheer curtains, and the white lights/paper lanterns I wrote about a few weeks ago, it's all come together quite inexpensively and nicely, I think. And since I'm the one who loves to hang out there - particularly while eating my lunch - I guess that's what matters most, eh?

So, uff, stuffed full of guacamole and burgers and blueberries, it was time for...fireworks! Yay! I love fireworks, just like a little kid, I clap and ooh and ahh - I can't help myself. I found my face was hurting from smiling through the whole thing! Best part of our fireworks experience is the kids' reactions, especially little Sully's commentary - he notices the most amazing things. Since I don't ever spend the 4th with Nathan (his dad's bday), I'm so happy that I get to spend it with Vivian and Sullivan, and someday Coop de Loop as well!

(Recipes posted in comments, below.)

Happy 4th of July!

Looks to be a lovely day for barbecuing and hanging by the pool - good thing that's our plan! Stacey and Cooper, and Suz, Cory, Vivian, and Sullivan are all coming later this afternoon for some food and fun before we head out on the golf course for fireworks. We didn't know there were fireworks right here in the 'hood the first summer we lived here, but we figured it out pretty fast as we were driving by the entire neighborhood walking toward our house! It's so sweet - no parking, no traffic, just a bag of chips, a cold beer, some bug spray, a chair, and we're out the door, yeeaah.

Simple food today - guaaaahcamole with chips and raw veggies (a nod to moderation; there, I'm done) at the pool; Suz's deviled eggs (she's the deviled egg queen, yum); grilled burgers and dogs with all the fixin's (including a little guac that I set aside, there's is nothing like guac on a burger, The Kill...); a big salad with grilled tomatoes and onions; and Suz's blueberry kuchen for dessert. How fabulously, patriotically red (tomatoes), white (eggs), and blue (kuchen), eh? Hope you have plans for a tasty, Festive 4th as well!