I will never be a food blogger. Preparing dinner is a blur (whether a quick week night meal or an elaborate feast). I don't remember to stop and photograph every dish. I may or may not grab the camera and capture the results before chowing down. Even if I do, I won't spend time with the lighting and arrangement to make my food pretty. What can I say, I love to cook, love to eat, but I don't get caught up on aesthetics.
I do occasionally remind the BF that I would REALLY appreciate it if he would take a few shots while I cook. He also does dishes... have I mentioned that he is a keeper? Also, he encourages the madness.
The Menu:
Appetizers: Sweet Spiced Nuts, brie, sausage, and crackers, sliced strawberries
Breadsticks
Roasted Asparagus
Stuffed Mushrooms
Choose your own adventure salad (spinach, strawberry dressing plus additional options, pine nuts, bleu cheese, parmesan). The strawberry dressing was definitely a unique addition. It did not pair well with the bleu cheese (too sweet), but it was excellent with slightly bitter greens.
Strawberry Dressing
(from New Classics from the Moosewood Restaurant ).
Combine the following ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth.
1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned and hulled
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar (white, regular, balsamic, or cider are suggested, I had red wine vinegar on hand, so I used that)
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp water
pinch of ground black pepper
Somehow I didn't manage to photograph my favorite part of the meal. The stuffed mushrooms were incredible and here is the recipe:
Portabellos w/ Herbed Nut Butter
(This is a modification of an appetizer from The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook , the recipe itself leaves room for substitutions such as dried versus fresh herbs, but this is what I made)
6 portabellos (with stems), well cleaned
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/4 cup blanched almonds
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tbsp chopped fresh chives
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
5 tbsp butter
parmesan cheese
1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (or 400 degrees if you are roasting asparagus, but be very careful, this is not the most sensible option). Oil a large baking dish. Remove the stems from the mushrooms and chop. Saute the onions for 2-3 minutes in a small pan, add the mushrooms and cook for a few minutes until softened. Remove from heat.
2) Place the remaining ingredients expect the parmesan in a food processor (notice the multiple uses of the food processor in the same meal... poor BF!). Process until smooth.
3) Place the mushrooms in the baking dish. Distribute the mushroom mixture evenly among the caps. Cover with the herbed butter (which will be quite thick). Sprinkle with parmesan. Bake 20 minutes until the mushrooms are thoroughly heated.
Brownie Pizza! I did not make this, but I am very very grateful to the woman who did! Adding peanut butter cups to brownies is inspired!
Did I mention that this dinner party was for four people? I definitely made way too much food, and to my disbelief, we ate almost all of it! I call that a successful evening.
