Party Down

Woke up to a happy family, birthday wishes and nice presents. Despite some stresses, B let me cook all morning and afternoon -- got a lot of precooking prep & mise en place for the multi dish dinner party this evening: a retro TV dinner from scratch, for watching the season premiere of Mad Men. Got martini glasses from Ikea ($3 for 6!), compartmentalized Styrofoam trays from school (served with tin foil over the top, with the pudding exposed....

TODAY'S COOKING:
Pancakes: Woke up, leveraged my birthday into permission to go pancake crazy on top of the other cooking today. Used the usual recipe, through in a pint of the creme fraiche developing on the counter top since Friday. One thing I should keep in mind -- the more fat I put into the pancake, the more it's going to retard gluten development, hence a tenderer pancake. The flour was a bit lumpy, and I lost a few to dry clumps -- being so fatty, I could have beaten the batter a little harder and not worry about toughness.

"French Onion Dip": Took a cup of caramelized onions used in my knish cooking, sauteed it for another hour to make them browner and smaller. Tossed in a tablespoon of curry powder, cooled, chopped finely. Tossed in to a pint of freshly made creme fraiche, seasoned with a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoons of MSG (y'know, for that authentic soup mix taste!) Tossed in a little onion powder for that authentic taste.

Pita Chips: 8 whole wheat pitas, split and cut into wedges of 6. Half cup of cold olive oil and 4 crushed garlic cloves put on the fire. When started to sizzle, turned off heat and tossed in chopped heat of cilantro. Sat for 10 minutes, strained. Bread tossed with oil, baked at 350 for 10 minutes. Nice and crispy, no salt as to be a good match for the salty dip.


Salisbury Steak: Followed this recipe, replaced bread crumbs with panko, canned mushrooms with fresh, water with boxed beef stock, beef bullion with a teaspoon of MSG. Too out the caste iron skillets to brown the meat patties in Crisco, then made a simple pan sauce with the listed ingredients, though I swapped out flour for cornstarch for a more satisfying thickness. Tasted a bit too ketchupy to me, but the guests seemed to dig it.


Mashed Potatoes, Roasted Brussels, Lemon String Beans: The three vegetable dishes to go with the meat. The potatoes were simple, 5 lbs of boiled then baked (to dry) potatoes, run through a mill, a pint of hot cream, a cup of hot milk, a stick of melted butter, mixed lightly and salted. Brussels were cut in half, dressed in a little olive oil, salt & pepper, roasted for 20 at 450. String beans boiled for 5 minutes, shocked, cake back to room temp and dressed in olive oil, lemon juice and a little salt.

AM SNACK: 8:45am, iced green tea


BREAKFAST: 10am, handful of pancakes, 1 bowl, hunger 4/5


AM SNACK: 11am, dip and chips to taste


LUNCH: 1:30pm, PB&J on wholegrain toast, a spoonful of chocolate pudding, quart of water, .75 bowl, hunger 4/5


PM SNACK: 3:30pm, slice of Sicilian pizza, a few mini black & white cookies, small piece of cake, .5 bowl, hunger 4/5
At a 3 yr old's birthday party with Edie. Thought I was gonna drink beer, ended up just eating.


DINNER: 8pm, half a martini, Salisbury steak & gravy with potato, brussel sprouts and string beans, pudding & whipped cream, 7oz can of Sprite, 1.25 bowl, hunger 4/5
Glad my guests gobbled up all the meat and all the pudding and ice cream!