Day 4: The First Three Course Meal

It's round two, and after leading the project into a false sense of security with a couple of days of rest, I decided to hit it hard today with a three-course meal for guests. More correctly, I was the guest in my sponsor family's home and we had the pleasure of working together to fix a salad, main course, and dessert from the book. Patrick doesn't have any kind of guide for which courses to pick with which other courses, but that's okay because I think he means that to be part of the adventure of a meal. I tried to choose something I thought wouldn't be too much trouble to get for my sponsors, but that would still be agreeable (and still unique) to taste, and that the dessert wrapped together at the end. I realized that I am not to be in the business of meal planning, but I think it turned out well. Anyway, this evening was:

Orange-Onion Salad

Boneless Rack of Lamb in a Pecan Crust with Barbecue Sauce and Shoestring Sweet Potatoes

Grapefruit Tart with Chocolate-Pecan Crust

I don't mean to give a play-by-play, but let me recommend first

and foremost the shoestring sweet potatoes. They were the surprising key to the lamb main dish. And, as is always to my liking, they were not hard to make at all. Laura had this clever little mandolin that easily julienned the potatoes and then it

was simple to toss them into hot oil for a brief time and fish them out. They crisped right up and really added something to the lamb. Laura was also surprised that the barbecue sauce was really more of a red-wine reduction with barbecue added. Red onion and orange actually work really well together (with some cinnamon added), and the tart made me realize again (like the lemon cream) the beauty of the citrus/sweet combination. That, I think, is Patrick's true genius in writing this book--the clever combinations of things I wouldn't normally think to put together.

Of course there were mistakes, as there will be with any dis

h I make (I still haven't managed to get the hang of cooking lamb perfectly), but I think everyone really enjoyed the "living theater" of the Riddle kitchen and spending some good time together over food as a family.

Also, this was the first dish I've made where I really focused on the presentation when serving (probably because I wasn't just serving myself). I've always been one to scoff at the idea of spending excessive amounts of time on the presentation of a dish, but I really do think Patrick has something in telling me how to serve it. It preserves some of the character of the dish and allows some connection to its creator, but also allows some of my own personality to come out. I think I've been sold on presentation.

"This custard tart is at once startling and refreshing."

BigKip's First Tasting

I brought my asparagus puree to work today in two, two-cup Tupperware (and, of course, one for the lemon cream). I think I must have looked a curious sight in the morning opening the refrigerator I never use and pulling some mysterious green goo out of my bag to put in there, but I didn't care. I was eager for the taste test.

Lunchtime rolled around, and BigKip had conveniently forgotten to make his lunch because of early appointments. As he came out of a long painting session, he smelled my soup heating up and bounded into the kitchen area saying that something smelled really good. We heated up the bowls, BigKip tasted the lemon cream (doubted at first, just as I did), dolloped it on and retired to the ops office.

My puree was really hot, so I let it cool off a bit, turned around, and saw that BigKip had already demolished half his bowl. Somewhere in the middle of it, he asked if there were potatoes in it and commented that the lemon cream really did make it--can you tell that I'm tremendously impressed with Patrick's seemingly odd choices so far?--and then continued to eat.

He decided it was good.

Success tastes sweet (though slightly lemony).

Bring it on, Patrick!

Cleanup

Another quick note about cleaning up:

My dishwasher was caught completely off guard tonight. I'm certain I'm using more dishes and utensils than I need to, but until I get on my feet and running, I think the dishwasher is going to have to be strong. My sink was full and there were still pans and spoons and things on the counter, but I somehow managed to fit everything in one load through some kind of physics-bending packing effort! I don't know if I'll be able to get everything out again in the morning. My mother would be proud.

The Asparagus Aftermath

At some point between pureeing the boiling hot mixture on my stove, pouring it into the strainer, deciding not to strain it because I like little vegetable chunks in my soup (plus, it was pretty liquidy already), and moving some of the kitchen implements into the already overflowing sink; I realized that the state of my stove area would probably make Linda Blair have some flashbacks. It wasn't horrible, but there was a lot of green.

However, the soup did turn out soupy, and asparagusy (even if I didn't have quite the right amount of asparagus in it). After the pureeing, when I had it on low heat and was attempting to season it with salt and pepper (I don't yet have the taste for how much and what seasoning to use), I was really worried that this project was going to stop right where it started. That is to say, it really didn't taste good at all. However, I think I reached some kind of tipping point with the salt and pepper where the soup became at least edible.

Then, I whipped up the lemon cream.

Since discovering how to whip cream a couple months ago for KK's birthday, I have been looking for an excuse to do it. I just think it's really cool.

This lemon cream is really cool. All you do is take some whipping cream, add some lemon juice (1 Tblsp) and some lemon zest, and a pinch of sugar; then whip away. It isn't sweet, but it isn't sour. On it's own, it tastes very interesting, and I had to control myself from sucking it down just to experience the lemon taste with the creamy texture. With the soup, it makes the dish.

Patrick said to serve the soup warm in an individual bowl (I suppose not everyone has the little sipping cups) with a dallop of lemon cream. The cream melted into the soup, though I could still see the separation. And it was one of those things where I couldn't taste either separate ingredient, but their hybrid was pretty good--not perfect, and not great, but pretty good for a first try and much better than what I was expecting earlier in the process.

We'll see what BigKip has to say about it. He's my co-worker who is unwittingly being voluntold to be my taster and critic to some of the things I bring in for lunch. Pray for him.

Day 1: Puree of Fresh Asparagus Soup with Lemon Cream

Okay, the stage is set.

Knives sharpened, counter tops cleaned, pantry full, and my "King of the Hill" apron in place. My kitchen looks peaceful, unaware that the chicken stock mess and banana bread explosions of last night (Day 0) were merely softening blows preparing it for tonight's culinary warfare.

I have a loaf of banana bread baking just in case this turns into disaster. I know the banana bread will turn out right, my mom taught me years ago...hopefully.

Tonight, we look at a creative solution to asparagus. It's served in a small sipping glass before meals at The Inn at Little Washington and I thought it would be an appropriate dish with which to start this experiment. Also, it tastes really good.

Here goes nothing...