Dinner #32 - Cold Winter Night with Some Comfort Food

For this dinner we were able to bring some very close friends as well as some strangers. The night was full of a very fun conversation and incredible comfort food.

The now famous croquetas with wild boar and fontina cheese. This was our second run with the croquetas and mastered the recipe. Later we replaced the wild boar with panceta, so good.

To add to the comfort food, I was able to create a personal favorite,  pasta ai frutti di mare. With a little added arrabbiata spice, just to heat up the night.

Another favorite, pumpkin creme brulee.

A lot of smiles, always the best sign for an amazing night! Oh and congratulations to Alonso and Alex on their recent engagement! 

From Inception to Execution: Things Never Come Out As Planned... And For That We Are Grateful

Adaptability and patience; these are perhaps the most challenging assets that we as humans have and must develop in our lives. To say that life is always full of surprises is not only an overused cliché but does not even come close to how much anything that is planned could potentially change at a whim. Yet, these changes are what makes life… beautiful.

The real tale of our Thanksgiving is one which we could have never predicted, but the reality was amazing.  In order to properly tell it we must go back to the beginning.  A story which I hinted at in my previous post.

On Saturday November 20^th, some friends which we had recently meet were shooting a pilot for a new show they were just developing. The setting for this episode was going to be a Worth Kitchen dinner. As the apartment was being lit and the cameramen were shooting Tamy and myself prepping the food and the apartment, I received a call from my parents telling me that my grandfather had just passed away. In shock and not knowing what exactly I needed to do next, I continued cooking. It was Tamy and Evita (producer and camerawoman) that took action and started packing up the equipment. It was 7:30 at the time that Evita and Beto (the other cameraman) left and at 11:30 both Tamy and myself were sitting on a plane on our way to Bogota.

Funerals are very sad, and this case was not different. However I do not share this with you guys looking for any condolence, my grandfather was 98 years old and he lived a very rich and full life. He brought us together as a family to wish him a sweet  (bittersweet) farewell. Our trip to Colombia was quick and unexpected, yet an amazing chance to reconnect with family members I have not seen in a while, especially my Grandmother.

There was a very special moment Tamy and I shared with my Grandmother, in the middle of a restaurant surrounded by uncles and cousins. She silently taps our shoulders and tells us “please do not say thank you nor any comments. You are the only ones I have a gift for and I do not want anyone else to know.” She slips a very small package into Tamy’s hand and tells us “This is a very lucky item that used to be my Grandmother’s and I want you to have it for your kitchen.” Its really the small details like this one that can completely change your day, your week, or your perspective.  We now had in our hands an amazing family heirloom that is over 150 years old… passed on to us in one of the sweetest ways possible. A great close to an emotional 4 days in Colombia.

And like that we found ourselves on our next plane heading to Mexico for our very intimate family Thanksgiving. The first of two Thanksgiving dinners that we had planned. Yes, I know, TWO!  And we took it upon ourselves to cook the two dinner’s on Thursday and Friday. You see, my friends from Mexico love the Thanksgiving tradition, not just because of the food, but because it’s a moment where the old high school group of friends, friends who have remained very close since our graduation, can come together and have a great time. Plus, they have been complaining how unfair it is that they have not participated in a Worth Kitchen event, so what better opportunity than this to have a special Thursday AND Friday dinner.

So friends, I present to you the very special Thanksgiving menus and pictures from our traveling roadshow in Mexico.

Dinner #1 Traditional Thanksgiving Menu
Appetizer:
Lima Bean salad with pickled onions & cilantro

Entree:
Italian inspired turkey with rosmeary, basil, & white wine as well as roasted vegetables
(gravy was made from turkey broth, drippings and all roasted veggies blended)
Stuffing - Italian bread stuffing with basil an Parmesan cheese
Mashed potatoes with hazelnut and cinammon
Candied Yams
Green beans with almonds and cilantro

Dessert:
Pecan Pie (store bought... I know but I did not have time to do everything! We arrived at 3:30 AM that day)

Plating the salad... man I love that kitchen!

The turkey just before it was removed from the oven. You might notice a small hole where the rosemary is coming out from, I stuffed it with butter and rosemary for additional flavor and tenderness.

The appetizer on the table as was set for the dinner. Notice the wine on the top left? Quintessa 1996. So good!

And this is what a traditional Thanksgiving plate looks like in the Donnelly Family household. I am pretty sure it is very similar as many home across the States. This one happens to be in Mexico.

Dinner #2 (On Friday) Thanksgiving a la Mexicana

Appetizer:
Nopales (cactus) salad with red and green tomatoes and fresh cheese on a bed of stuffing souffle

Entree:
Chipotle-honey rubbed turkey with kumquats and rosemary and "chile de arbol" pickled onions
Cilantro Pasta
Green beans with almonds and cilantro (we had a lot of green beans)

Dessert:
Yam (sweet potato) Crème Brulée

The turkey before going into the oven with a close up of the chipotle rub, rosemary and juicy kumquats.

The nopal salad lying on top of the stuffing. If you have never tried cactus before, it is very delicious, highly recommended. Every once in a while you can find them in Chelsea Market, but almost year round in Spanish Harlem markets.

Prepping the dishes as everyone awaits in the table behind me. 

And this is my take on a Mexican Thanksgiving. The gravy was made by reducing the juices and drippings from the turkey. The onions have been sitting in vinegar and chile juice for three days, they were SPICY! So good! And yes, the plates definitely added some additional Mexican flavor.

And this was the group of friends for whom we cooked the non-traditional (but what I hope will become a tradition) Thanksgiving. There is one important person missing from this picture due to the fact that he left early (once he saw the tequila being poured), my Dad. He joined us for the entire dinner.

Also missing is a picture of the dessert. They all came out terrible, however, the combination of yams in a crème brulée was definitely delicious and highly recommended for anyone to try.

Over all the Thanksginvings were amazing. And for all of those who donated to the Children's Cancer fund in Mexico, we raised $1,200. A great figure, especially considering all the complications we had leading up to the event. A very special Thank You to all of you who donated, and to all of you who helped us out so much in this project.

Adaptability and Patience is a virtue, but one we should always be thankful for as well.

Back to Basics... Wines and some Seasonal Veggies

Dinner #19 was a very fun one to work with. To say that it was earthy would be a huge understatement. The theme was a very simple one to choose, one step outside last week would have clearly reminded you that it was already Fall (in case you had forgotten). One trip to the TriBeCa Green Market (greatly recommended by our former guest and TriBeCa Citizen writer, Erik, whom I ran into at the market) would tell you that squash and pumpkins were back. And if you did not know, the great variety of both is amazing.  So squash and pumpkins had to be the theme. Now to figure out what to do with them… but that is always the fun part.

As for the invitees, we had the great pleasure of having our wine consultant Christy from Frankly Wines with her husband, Melissa from VinoVino with her husband, and Dinorah and Jorge two very good family friends that flew in from Mexico just in time to participate.

We always ask our guests to bring some wine, but I forgot to tell Dinorah and Jorge that we had invited two wine gurus to the dinner. As more wines come out from the Frankly Wines set (brought to us by Melissa and Christy), the level in which each was being described in can only be defined as pure love and passion for each bottle of wine. Our Mexican guest then realized that not only do they not have much to say about the wines they had purchased, but they almost felt bad in pulling them out after such magnificent presentation from enologists. Granted they brought two magnificent blends from South Australia (Adjenda - Shiraz, Cabernet & Malbec blend) and had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of (we love South Australian wine by the way).

In retrospect, the wines did steal the show for this dinner, they were all absolutely amazing. The stories behind each one was told as if the actual winemaker was with us explaining the journey that each particular grape made before reaching each bottle. The food was a fantastic accompaniment to the amazing wines. The earthly flavors of the ingredients definitely reminded us that fall is back but with it is a sense of companionship that these dinners always give us.

The menu for Dinner #19 was:
Appetizer – Fresh squash & Zucchini blossoms with goat cheese seasoned with rosemary and basil, served on a quinoa bread.
Main Dish – Duck with Worth Kitchen sauce, butternut squash pasta, and grilled squash julienne
Dessert – Pumpkin  Crème Brûlée

As the appetizer was served, the dish was explained, the wine was served and the autumn inspired dinner was ready to go.

If you have read a lot of this blog then you will know, but if this is your first time, let me tell you that quinoa is quickly becoming one of my favorite ingredients to work with. In this case, I placed one cup of rinsed and dried quinoa in the food processor for 5 minutes until it became flour. Then, by using two eggs and ¼ cup of olive oil mixed together to create a batter, I baked it in the oven at 350° for 15 minutes and made quinoa bread. This served as the bed for the squash and zucchini blossoms to lie on.

The main plate was a combination of duck in our special sauce (not like McDonald's, but the recipe for that one is amazing and unbeliveable. Anybody that wants it please email me), fettucini with butternut squash sauce (absolutely delicious), and grilled squash (tasted almost like french fries since they were grilled with the duck fat... mmmm). (Oh, also I bought the duck at Eataly, way too expensive, and ran into Mario Batali, and he was doing a great job of managing and working the place, instead of PR)

I will take advantage of any moment to show off the Worth Kitchen table (We love it). Also you will notice that in fact there is a lot of space on the plate. You might think to yourself "hhmmm they barely serve anything to their guests!" Not true! Its all part of the presentation. I prefer a more minimal one, and I never want my guests to leave with a feeling of being "stuffed" nor do I ever want them to leave hungry.

Caramelizing the sugar on top of the Pumpkin Crème Brûlée. The dessert came out spectacular.  For final presentation purposes and added flavor, I grated some Indian nutmeg over the dish (it added a sweet and peppery flavor, think white pepper) For the recipe, please see my Crème Brûlée recipe, additional to that cut into pieces about 3 cups worth of sweet pumpkin. Add the pumpkin to the mix as the mixture heats up. Once the pumpkin is soft (about 15 minutes) blend it. As you return it to the pot to let it sit, strain the mixture. 

The final interactions after dinner are always so much fun. The conversations can go anywhere. Sometimes they stay on topic (as here we continued to talk wine), sometimes they can go into a completely different direction. Thank you to all our guests for such an excellent night! Hope to see you soon.

Please stay tuned to a separate post about the wines... we will list them all out.
(also I have noticed the incredible amount of parentheses used in this post, they are used as my sidenotes. I almost feel as if I have so much more to say, so I use these parentheses to add some more thoughts!)

Family & Friends Gather

This past Thursday we finally served our first actual reservation. It had been set about a month ago and we were both very proud to have received it. So of course we planned out the dinner very carefully. And in case you were curious who these mysterious guest were, well, yes they are my parents, but the point is still valid! Tamy’s parents experienced the Worth St Kitchen a month ago and now my parents were the ones that made the trip to New York. Along with my parents we had a great family friend that flew in from Miami and my uncle and his girlfriend that came in all the way from Brooklyn (Park Slope!).

If any of you readers were in New York or even in the Northeast you would have noticed that it was HOT last week. But not like “oh my god, it’s the middle of summer, boy its hot.” NO it was “HOLY CRAP I CAN’T WALK ANOTHER BLOCK WITHOUT LOSING ANOTHER LITER OF SWEAT!” Might not be the nicest picture you would like to have before reading some succulent recipes, but I needed to set the mood. Considering the heat, we needed to serve something fresh as an appetizer. And thanks to our Greek friend that introduced us to watermelon and feta cheese we had the perfect appetizer.

As for the main course, the choice was to try out a meat we have not used as of yet, we went with lamb. But not the traditional lamb chops, instead lamb loins were the cut of choice. We served these with a mint cream sauce accompanied with edamame mashed potatoes and beet chips. The chips made the difference in the decoration of the plate.

The dinner was fantastic. The wine was by far the best we have had as of yet on a Thursday (may this be officially a competition to all guest, who can bring the best wine) two Italian Super Tuscan and two Argentine Pinto Noirs (not known for their Pinots but definitely worth a try).

Enjoy the recipes:

Watermelon & Feta Cheese Salad
1 mini watermelon
1 cup of feta cheese (block not crumbled)
1 cup of chopped mint leaves

The process is very easy, all you have to do is mix the above ingredients together. For presentation sake, what I did was dice the watermelon into 1/2 inch thick slices and the feta cheese sliced thinly. Then began to stack them, watermelon, feta, mint and repeat. Sprinkle some mint on top.

Edamame Mashed Potatoes
4 Idaho Potatoes
2 cups of steamed edamame beans
6 tb spoons of butter
2 cups of soy milk

Peel the potatoes cut into big slices and place into boiling water (salted). Boil for about 10 minutes, or until potatoes are soft. Drain and return into pot and set heat medium. Stir in the butter until melted. with a masher begin to press the potatoes. Slowly stir in the soy milk, one great tip to creamy potatoes is to stir in the milk hot, so heat the milk for about 1 minute in the microwave. Then add the edamame and begin to mash together. For best results process the potatoes/edamame in a food processor for about 5 minutes or until smooth. Add more milk and butter if you want more creamy. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Seared Lamb Loins w/ Mint Cream
6 1.5 inch thick lamb loins
1 cup of chopped mint
2 cups of white wine
1/2 of heavy whipping cream
2 shallots
2 tb spoons of butter

The cream is very straight forward. Chop the shallots and place into hot sauce pan with melted butter. Cook for 2 minutes add the wine and let reduce for a 10 minutes. Transfer mixture to a food processor and add the mint and the cream. Mix until very finely shopped. Add salt and pepper to taste.
For lamb, pre heat over to 400. Salt and pepper the loins and quickly sear them, one minute on each side. Place in oven for about 10 minutes until medium.
To serve sprinkle the cream lightly over the meat. Lamb is very intense in flavor, so you do not want to drown it with too much sauce.

Ginger and Mint Crème Brûlée
2 cups of whipping cream
1/2 cup of sugar
4 tb spoons of freshly chopped ginger
1 vanilla bean
1/2 cup of chopped mint
5 large egg yolks

In a double boiler, begin to mix the first 6 ingredients. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and try to scoop out the beans and place both into the mix. Stir occasionally for about 10 minutes until mix begins to simmer. Strain into large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl mix the 5 egg yolks and begin to fold in eggs into mixture. Once you have the final mixture separate into 6 small serving dishes (small bowls) and place cooking pan. Fill pan with water until half way up dishes and bake at 350° for about 35 minutes. Remove from oven and chill in fridge until just before serving. When serving, remove from fridge and sprinkle sugar over the top. If you have a kitchen torch, begin to burn the sugar on the top to make the hard layer. If you do not have a torch, do not worry, broil all in the oven for about 3 to 4 minutes until the top gets toasty. Cool with water in the pan again and serve.