Sunday Brunch and The Season's First Grill

While Melissa thrills to the next-to-finale episode of Hell's Kitchen, I thought I'd catch up with a quick post to Foodie Calls. We had a spectacular weekend of warm, sunny weather (and absolutely minimal lab work), so we made the most of it. Saturday we took a nice long walk around the South End with Amanda to check out some galleries and studios, then enjoyed a late lunch and drinks at the Gaslight Brasserie. On the way home we mustered all our remaining energy to shop for the brunch we planned to host at our place on Sunday...




We got up early Sunday to start the preparations. Melissa prepped in the kitchen while I made the courtyard and gardens presentable. Then I ran to Whole Foods to get some last-minute items before the guests arrived -- avocados, blood oranges and the bouquet of spring daisies pictured above. On the menu for ten people were prosciutto-wrapped asparagus bunches, potatoes with red peppers, avocado and onions, and eggs Benedict. We had some variations on the standard Benny by offering a choice of salmon or prosciutto and conventional or orange-chipotle holladaise sauces. I believe the prosciutto/chipotle combination was the most popular by a fair margin, but all were fantastic.




In order to serve everyone at the same time and still have time to enjoy a glass of bubbly with our guests before the meal, Melissa made a few strategic preparations early that morning. The asparagus were blanched and wrapped, and since we planned to serve them cold they could sit to the side until needed. The potatoes took some time to cook but were left warming gently on the stove top while people arrived. Most importantly, Melissa half-poached a dozen eggs for the Benedicts way ahead of time and plunged them into ice-water to stop the cooking. This is a great trick, because a brief dip in boiling water from the kettle finished them off and allowed her to serve them hot at the last minute. She made one large batch of regular hollandaise sauce and added in the orange and chipotle peppers after assembling the dishes that required the conventional stuff. (I don't know how she thinks of all this when she has never served brunch for ten before.) A little help with assembly and delivery from Amanda and me made the perfect service. Our guests brought fresh fruit and wines, and we enjoyed some bubbly, some fresh summery whites, and a sparkling shiraz from Australia (made by Paranga) that was really stellar. That was a new one for us.

Tuesday night we decided to initiate the grill for the new season. We had actually used it already to blacken some bell peppers for use in the Sunday brunch potatoes, but that doesn't really count. We made a very simple favorite of ours: pork loin medallions marinated in equal parts Worcestershire sauce and smoked chipotle Tabasco sauce. Melissa whipped together a great salad of arugula, blood orange and avocado -- all left over from Sunday brunch. Spicy, smokey goodness in about half an hour.




Here's looking forward to a lot more outdoor dining now that the big thaw is complete!

Shrimp Alfredo; Beef Couscous Salad; Chicken Curry; Beef Stew with Lima Beans

We're trying to settle into a rhythm of posting two to three times a month, and I'm even having trouble keeping up with that. Of course, Melissa is cooking as much as ever, but getting the photos and descriptions up is my responsibility...

Here are some recent highlights:

First up is a shrimp Alfredo pasta Melissa whipped together last week as a last-minute dinner decision (the way she usually cooks for just the two of us). This was a really nice meal, and the tomatoes lent a special richness to the dish because Melissa reduced them in the oven before adding them to the pasta. This concentrates the sweet and tart flavors, and it's a nice touch if you've got a little extra time and some olive oil handy. We already had the shrimp and peas in the freezer, so no extra trips to the store were required. A creamy Alfredo sauce was made with cream, egg, Parmesan cheese (a staple item we always have in the fridge) and plenty of garlic. With this dish, we finally opened a bottle of Pouilly-Fuisse (white Burgundy) that Etienne and Angelique had given us some time ago, and it was perfect with the shrimp and pasta.




Melissa loves to make couscous salads with all manner of ingredients that need to be used up. This one was made with shredded beef, tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and plenty of cilantro. The beef was cooked in a stew of canned tomatoes that Melissa often uses: she reduces a whole can of diced tomatoes in a large saucepan and lets them burn just a little to caramelize the sugars and bring out a smoky flavor for the sauce. Then she adds back the volume of water that was boiled off along with garlic, onions, salt and pepper, and stews the large chunks of beef (chuck or some other inexpensive cut) in this mixture. This time she threw in some smoked chipotle peppers in adobo sauce that we had in the freezer (originally from a can -- we didn't smoke them), then shredded the cooked beef before mixing it in with the couscous salad. This was fantastic. I may be biased since I love chipotle peppers -- Tabasco makes a thick, rich smoked chipotle sauce that we often use as a marinade for chicken and pork on the grill, which I'm sure will make an appearance soon now that the weather is beginning to warm up...




Melissa's curries are always a welcome treat, and this simple red curry uses the same tomato base described above. After reducing and caramelizing the canned tomatoes, she adds back the water, onions, a curry spice mix, and some whole peppercorns and coriander seeds. This is simmered down again while the chicken cooks through (in the same pan). Melissa served the curry with raita on a couple of homemade scallion pancakes from dough that she wisely froze down the last time she made some for a snack. She makes the raita from a plain yogurt base with a little cumin and lemon juice, some chopped cucumber, and finely chopped cilantro or mint, whatever is on hand. The curry is really quite easy, and Evan recently added this dish to his growing repertoire in his cooking lessons with Melissa. His curry was served on store-bought naans that are great when warmed in the oven and brushed with oil and garlic.




Finally, we have a simple beef stew with parmesan-tossed lima beans. The beef was stewed in a sauce of chardonnay, Dijon mustard, onions, sliced button mushrooms, salt and pepper. The lima beans were boiled and then tossed in grated parmesan cheese while still very hot. It was all topped with chopped cilantro, which we quite like, but it was really just for garnish and parsley would be great if cilantro is too strong a flavor for you.




There is material for another post that should go up as soon as we get our camera back from Amanda...


Eat well!