Goodbye Summer

My past few weeks have been spent mainly in the kitchen, almost always forgetting to use my camera (bad blogger!!).  But cooking for pleasure, with no distractions, led to some discoveries.  1.  Fresh shelling beans are most certainly not overrated.  All of my favorite cookbooks gush about the amazingness of summer cranberry, limas & cannellinis when sourced right from the market.  I've never gotten the big deal.  But with a little shallot & thyme, I tasted the special creaminess that comes from these lightly cooked beans.  I'm already looking forward to them next summer.  2.  Greg is wrong!  Homemade ice cream sandwiches are totally worth it!!  I can drive him crazy with my messes and big projects, so he officially banned me from ever making these time consuming labors of love.  But, in a moment of complete obsessiveness, I broke the rule and made nine varieties of ice cream sandwiches for a huge party (sugar cookies with vanilla bean, peanut butter with chocolate, malt chocolate with coffee, chocolate chip with cookie dough, and more).  Each round of baking cookies, and each sampling of the finished product, made me so, so happy.  In the end, even Greg agreed: worth it.  3.  Everyone loves hamburgers and hot dogs!  For Labor Day, we did a super traditional bbq and it was just right.  You're not always going to reinvent the wheel with a meal.  That's not the point.  The point is to make tasty food that people will enjoy eating.  Which brings me to last night's dinner.  I've prepared this exact same menu before but that doesn't change the fact that it's delicious.  Traditional is good.  It can be just perfect.

The Menu

sips

champagne

snacks

grilled peach, burrata & arugula bruschetta

to start

heirloom tomatos, lemon cucumbers, torn basil, butter lettuces & vinaigrette

savory

steamed maine lobster

peewee potatoes & haricot verts 

corn on the cob

drawn butter, lemon

sweet

chocolate layer cake

Fancy. Fun.

It started with lobster tails. What would someone order as a side with lobster at a steak house? Creamed spinach. How do you divide creamed spinach into two dishes? How about mac & cheese and tomatoes stuffed with spinach? Done. For this 'Dinner at the Boss' House' menu we started with some classic passed hors d'oeuvres and ended with a whimsical ice cream sundae bar. In the middle, a classic lobster tail with retro sides. My mom suggested the tomatoes stuffed with bacon and spinach. Like most of her mom's "recipes", there is a combination of cheese, breadcrumbs and mayo. I embellish with some fresh herbs and feel like I've reinvented the epicurean wheel. Guess what never needs reinventing: bacon!!

The Menu

passed

lemon herbed goat cheese on endive spears

wild mushroom crostini with pecorino romano

roasted shrimp with spicy horseradish cocktail sauce

to sit

little gems, romaine and radicchio with blood oranges, pink navels, tangerines, pomegranate seeds, candied pistachios and parmegiano reggiano

broiled lobster tails and claws with drawn butter

3 cheese macaroni and cheese

baked bacon and spinach stuffed tomatoes

sourdough with garlic herbed butter

to finish

ice cream sundae bar

hot fudge, fleur de sel caramel sauce, strawberry, mint chip, vanilla bean and chocolate ice creams, malt balls, peanut butter cups, chocolate chip cookie crumbles, roasted peanuts, slivered almonds, rainbow sprinkles, strawberries, cherries and whipped cream