Once we set a date, Tami and I discussed the menu. I told her I had a pasta maker and an ice cream machine and that was all she needed to hear. Tami's menu included a huge salad, homemade pasta with pesto and mint ice cream, all made with greens and herbs she'd grown in her garden. She also planned a special cocktail to go with appetizers and chose grilled steak to serve along side the pasta. The mint ice cream would be served with angel food cake and berry compote. It was a fabulous herb-based menu featuring simple yet stunning food and we had our work cut out for us.
Tami arrived at my house at about 2 pm, our guests were set to arrive at 6:30 and dinner would be served at 7. Knowing it needed time to chill, churn and set, we started with the ice cream.
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
About a cup of mint leaves (basil would also be nice)
6 egg yolks
a pinch of salt
Tami's Double Garden Pesto
A lot of fresh basil, enough to pack the bowl of your food processor to the rim
Two or three cloves of garlic
about half a cup of pine nuts
1 1/2 cups of good quality olive oil
a good handful of grated Parmesan and Romano cheeses
Salt and pepper
We both had basil in our gardens, so Tami combined them into her "double garden" pesto. I've made pesto before but I usually overdo it in the food processor and it tends to be smooth and runny instead of thick and chunky. Her technique is to barely pulse the food processor, starting with the basil, pine nuts and garlic, then adding the olive oil and cheeses making sure not to blend them all too finely. The texture of Tami's pesto was perfect. She added salt and pepper and put it in the fridge while I strained the thickened ice cream base and cooled it down in a bowl over ice.
With the ice cream base cooling, Tami made a quick marinade and got the steaks into the fridge, then turned her attention to her bountiful salad, brimming with kale and peppery arugula she'd grown in her garden. By 3:30 pm, the ice cream base was cooling, the pesto and salad were done, the steaks were marinating and we were able to sit down and take a break. It was so pleasant and relaxing to sit in the living room on that hot afternoon in August, watching the thunderstorms roll in and enjoying an easy and comfortable conversation with a new friend.
By this time, it was about 5:15 pm and things started to move really quickly. Jason got home from work and jumped into the kitchen to take care of the appetizers. Jeffrey arrived at about 6 pm and jumped into the kitchen to make cocktails. I started the charcoal for the steaks and somewhere in there I churned the ice cream and put it in the freezer to set. It was a whirlwind of activity! And of course, there was the cocktail.
The Dirty Shirley
1 jigger vodka
squeeze of lime
Splash of Izzy cherry soda
Serve over ice
Lime wedge and maraschino cherry in the glass
Our guests, whom I'd never met before, arrived right on time. They were delightful, intelligent, passionate supporters of theater and the arts. While Jeffrey mixed cocktails for everyone in the kitchen, I grilled the steaks and by the time they were done, everyone had settled into the living room for an assortment of cheeses, sausage, olives, crackers and other tasty nibbles. The last thing to cook was the pasta, which we did just before we sat down at the table. I dropped the pasta into a big pot of boiling salted water, cooked it until it was al dente and dropped it into a big bowl with pesto in the bottom. Using tongs I rolled the pasta around in the pesto until it was all fully coated, Tami topped the bowl with chopped tomatoes and dinner was served.
Jeffrey, Margie, Abby and Linda in the front, Alan, Jay, Tami and Jason in the back. |
FANTASTIC!
ReplyDeleteSo you don't have to dry the pasta?
ReplyDeleteNot unless you want to. Its delicious when you cook it fresh. But it can be dried an stored for later use.
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