sunday dinner menu

• honey/thyme/lemon chicken and oyster mushroom gravy
• goat cheese mashed baby red potatoes
• roasted green beans with balsamic glaze
• corn on the cob

Tonight's delayed Thanksgiving menu

- Roast Turkey
- Sautéed shaved Brussels sprouts with dried cranberries, whole grain mustard, and bacon
- Mashed Potatoes (Yukon golds, potato ricer, duck fat)
- Roast French green beans with shiitake sage cream sauce
- Stuffing (cubed ciabatta rolls, celery, spicy pork sausage, and apple)
- Gravy. Duh.
- Baked apple dumplings with bourbon caramel sauce.

Prepping vegetables and watching some horror b-movie on Netflix. This is a good Sunday.

in the swirling, curling storm of desire unuttered words hold fast

Last-minute menu planning, you know how it is. Tonight I'm cooking a surprise anniversary dinner for Lenna, my former boss at Mason's Office of Sustainability, and her husband Pete. This dinner came about mid-July when Justin was campaigning to get to Venice via Indigogo. If you donated $200 (in Virginia, it was more if we'd have to travel), I'd come over and cook dinner. They've come to collect. Well, technically, I do believe their anniversary was a month or so ago, but the timing was never right with my schedule, Lenna's schedule, and Justin being able to come down from Jersey. 

Dinner is at seven. I'm still not entirely set on what I'm cooking, though this is what I've been thinking about for the past few days: 

- Warm baguette with butter, radishes, and salt 

- Whipped hazelnut dip with green fall crudités

- Cauliflower or parsnip soup with fried sage and toasted walnuts

- Wild herb ravioli 

- Roasted multicolor carrots with carrot top pesto. (who knew you could make pesto from carrot tops? Blew my mind when I found out.)

As for dessert, I can't decide between: 

- Plum cobbler with vanilla ice cream and fresh thyme. Simplest. 

- Southern baked apple dumpling with a bourbon honey sauce. Sexiest. 

- Pumpkin pie in a jar. Cutest. 

- Apple or pear galettes with salted caramel sauce. Most French. (Frenchiest, if we're following a theme.)

- Apple rose tart with maple custard and walnut crust. Most complicated, but will be beautiful. May reserve that one for a Sunday afternoon baking project. 

To imbibe, Lenna requested red wine, but I might sneak in a pear Haymaker in there, just because I love me some ginger beer and the pears will be lovely. Sprig of rosemary. Maybe fresh cider. Too bad I don't have time to make celery bitters.

All of this may change by the afternoon. I won't know until I see what's good at the farmers market. I'd like to include mushrooms somewhere into the menu, but that's probably because I love mushrooms. 

I listened to Peter Gabriel and Justin Vernon discuss Peter Gabriel's interpretation of Justin Vernon's 'Flume' and Peter Gabriel's 'Come Talk To Me' while I flipped through cookbooks and old food magazines. At least, I think that's what they're discussing. It became white noise after awhile, which is what I really wanted. 

If you happen to follow me on the Instagram or the Twitter, sorry not sorry for the influx of farmers market, vina cooking, and “oh look what I made!” photos today. 

Happy Saturday, mes amies. 

I don't know how I feel about Chef's whimsical quiche.

Researching restaurants for tomorrows' Williamsburg adventure with Stephanie T. 

No lie, I'm kind of curious about this whimsical quiche. It's the only item on Second St. Restaurant's menu that had an adjective. Well, beside house-made. I'm the queen of writing house-made for work. 

deep fried burghers and hangover chips

Take out menu for the new Eamonn's, opening Monday. Supposedly.
I craved fried sweets the entire time I was designing this menu.

Something that didn't make it into the book

I don’t even have a favorite food. There’s no way; they’re all so good. I can, however, tell you the words that catch my eye. Anything with avocado. Anything that says slow in the description, slow-roasted, slow-braised. You know you’re in for a good time when food is taken slowly. All the dairy products: whipped cream, heavy cream, and, oh god, butter. I once saw “butter-poached” in a menu. 

A. butter.
B. slowly simmered in butter.

Be still my heart.

Tonight

- seared scallops with a rendered bacon/white wine/lemon zest/mushroom/cream sauce.
- grilled steak with roasted baby reds and asparagus.
- arugula salad with simple vinaigrette.
- vanilla bean buttermilk cake with fresh raspberries and whipped cream.

Tonight

Slow-roasted pork shoulder with rosemary/apple butter paste
Smashed and broiled potatoes with scallions and Greek yogurt.
Mixed greens salad with feta and lemon juice.
I might bake some black tea cupcakes. We'll see.

Tonight

Roast rosemary lemon chicken
Potato gratin
Roast carrots with apple butter
Salad?
Milk chocolate crème brûlée. Maybe, maybe, salted caramel popcorn ice cream.
I also made a pitcher of iced tea from that peach black tea I bought in Savannah. Yes.

NYE: the dinner

The not dog

Steph: I love eating this not dog so much. I want to live in it.

photo via stephanie's phone

Shrimp and True Grits

 

I love the movie-titled dishes for Bobo's Oscar Party menu

I judge on design.

G: There's this new place in DC called Hot-N-Juicy. Everyone's going there because the Man vs. Food guy went to the Las Vegas one.
me: Ew, look at their website. I don't want to go there; their menu is ugly.
G: It's a big flame with stuff inside, what's not to love?

And this is why we are going to Joe's Crab Shack.

“I feel mighty fine, y'all. I've got music on my radio.” 

Merry Christmas Baby | Otis Redding

I love:

• menus. 
• Christmas. 
• lists. 
• finger puppets.

Friday night

•  I took my dog with me when I went to pick up my sister. He threw up on her on the way home. I almost had to pull over because I was laughing so hard. 
•  I need to decide on what to make to all the Thanksgiving potlucks. Pumpkinpalooza. (Here's where I go Bubba on your ass) Pumpkin flan, pumpkin cake, pumpkin rice pudding, pumpkin bread, pumpkin rolls, salted caramel pumpkin pie..
•  This came in the mail so now I have something new to read on tomorrow's NYC bus ride. Side note, I like popping the big bubble wrap.
•  This girl has skills. I have a good feeling about her. 
• Gchat conversation with Steph went like this: Pacqiao, Filipino food fight night, lumpia and rice, want lumpia for dinner/want anything fried for dinner, Remember that time we made zucchini pancakes?, and I think we used yogurt in lieu of eggs. Long story short, I am going to make zucchini pancakes for dinner.
• I went to a food photography workshop at the Art Institute of Washington on Tuesday. Learned how to make faux ice cream. Faux ice cream? That's fucked up. More on that later. 
• Rewrite artist statement. Eating is Remembering.  
• I've just decided to bake oatmeal raisin cookies for tomorrow's trip. You know who else likes cookies? Susan Sarandon.

photo from Forever is Today

Tonight

- grilled steak. I don't know what kind since I haven't gone to the market yet.
- creamed spinach
- rosemary/thyme roasted potatoes
- asparagus soup
- pound cake with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel

Tonight

+ baguette
+ mushroom soup (trumpet, shiitake, portabella)
+ smoked oysters
+ stinky fromage so runny you need a spoon
+ charcuterie
+ a nice Bordeaux
+ whatever entices me at the Redbox

Tonight

+ oyster sauce/sweet soy-glazed short ribs
+ broccoli, zucchini, and eggplant tempura
+ brown rice
+ cold shrimp with homemade cocktail sauce and dill aioli (which doesn't match the menu at all but sounded good)

This was almost:
+ grilled short ribs with a lemon gremolata
+ baked ratatouille (Oh, how I love baked eggplant)
+ shrimp scampi

“Sorry, I'm going to need a few more minutes.”

Words that catch my eye in restaurant menus
à la mode (Frank, shut up.)
andouille sausage
arugula
asiago
avocado
bacon
brie
broiled
brunch
buttery
camembert
capers
caramel
cheese and fruit plate
chorizo
chowder/bisque
coconut
Cointreau
corn
cream
crème fraîche
crispy
dijon
fresh-baked
garlic mashed potatoes
goat cheese
gnocchi
grapefruit
horseradish
lamb
lemon zest
loaded nachos (only if guac is involved)
mango
microsalad (I only like microsalads when they're on top of protein)
mint
mushroom
pad sa ew
pancakes (buttermilk with butter pecan syrup)
pan-seared
pappardelle (I'm a big fan of wide ribbon pasta)
peaches (favorite fruit, hands down)
peppery
pepper jack
pie
quiche (Florentine, not Lorraine. I made a good roasted corn quiche once.)
reduction
ricotta
seared scallops
slow-roasted
spicy
spinach
spring mix
steak fajitas (s'what I usually order in Mexican eateries)
Stilton
tart (both adjective and noun)

This is why it takes me so long to decide what to order. I really like menus.This list is just off the top of my head. I'm sure there's more. Good thing I just ate otherwise I'd make myself hungry.