Lulu Bandha's 6th Birthday Party

We gathered to sing to Lulu and eat well.
At 3:00 or so Uschi and Alana showed up and we tore up the kitchen.
Together we produced a feast. Creative spontaneous and totally inspired by the amazing vegetables that were picked for us that morning from Steve Sprinkle's honor farm and B.D.

Cocktail
Virgin Mojitos made with ginger, mint, lime, honey and sparking water.
Got the recipe from You Tube.
Jeff and Marcia put them together for everyone.

Grazing Menu
Olives baked in Wine with Garlic Herb Paste
Roasted Garlic and Sage White Bean Dip
Herb Jam
Hummus (from Betsy)
Baked Peppercorn Ricotta
Lavender Infused Feta baked and glazed with Balsamic Vinegar
Smoked Salmon with Creme Fresh Sauce
(the carrot scallion pancakes were originally meant to arrive at this stage, but they got pushed back to dinner)
Baked Pita Chips with Caraway, Fennel, and Spices
Tabbouleh (brought by Ashley and Amber)
Mushroom Vegetables Tarts made and brought by Elizabeth

Main Event
Grilled Rosemary Lemon Shrimp
Grilled Scallops with Fennel

Roasted Beets, Polenta and Greens served with a caramelized tomato Sauce (Uschi single handily pulled off the vegetarian entree)

Leeks simmered in Olive Oil

Carrot Scallion Pancakes with Shallot Yogurt Sauce

Butter Lettuce Salad with Herbs and Green Peppercorns Dressing


Desert
Olivia's Marzipan Cake with Strawberries and Mangos
Katherine's Pear Tartin
Allison's Rose Custard
Sara's Raw Chocolate Mouse
Ginger Ice Cream

White Bean Dip with Roasted Garlic and Sage

Thank you Deborah Madison for this recipe. From Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. I followed it almost exactly (only deviating in garlic roasting instructions) since I had never made white bean dip and did not know what to expect. I made this the day before the party. Wanted to have at least one thing ready when peeps arrived and did not want home to just smell of roasted garlic on Saturday.

1.5 cups cannellini beans, soaked and drained
5 garlic cloves
10 sage leaves
2 bay leaves
3 tbl. olive oil
(1 tbl. of butter. I added this for garlic roasting)
1 whole head garlic, outermost papery skin removed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Juice of 1 lemon (at least)
1 tbl. chopped thyme

1. Put beans in pot and cover with 2 inches of water. Boil for 10 minutes. Lower heat and add the 5 garlic cloves, sage leaves and bay leaves and 2 tsp. of the oil. Simmer, covered, until the beans are tender, about 1.5 hours. Remove the bay leaves. Drain and reserve the broth.

2. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place garlic head in small baking dish. Rub the head of garlic with some of remaining olive oil and dot with butter. Pour a small amount of water (about 1/3 cup) into bottom of dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake for 30 minutes more. Cool and squeeze out the garlic.

3. Puree beans, garlic, 1 tbl. or more of olive oil, 1 tsp. of salt, and enough broth to give beans a soft spreadable quality. (I did not add any broth this time and liked the consistency I got). Season to taste with lemon juice, pepper and salt. Stir in thyme and serve warm.

Notes: I made it the day before and reheated it for Saturday night. Brightening with a little extra lemon juice.

Carraway and Cumin Pita Chips

1. Using a mix of whole wheat and white pita bread, cut into triangles and separate into halves.

2. Spread your chosen fat on the inside of each of the pita chips. We used butter, but olive oil or ghee or other favorite fat would work.

3. Sprinkle with seeds or herbs of choice. We used Caraway Seed, Cumin Seed, Fennel and Salt.

4. Toast under a broiler till browned. (This does not take very long).

5. Serve with dips and spreads.

Baked Olives with Garlic Herb Paste

Thanks to Deborah Madison for this recipe. Taken from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. (This time we had the oven at 350 cuz that was a more appropriate temperature for our baked ricotta and baked feta. Seemed to work out fine).

2. Rinse 2 cups Kalamata olives if too salty.

3. Place in Pyrex or other baking dish so all one level.

4. In dish, add 1/2 cup of red or white wine, sliced garlic clove, a bay leaf and 1.5 tbl. of olive oil. (I used white wine this time. I have used red wine in the past and think I prefer it).

5. Cover and bake until olives are "fragrant and swollen," about 45 minutes.

6. Meanwhile, mince and mash garlic with 1 tsp. of dried oregano (I used Mexican), 1 tbl. minced parsley, fresh black pepper, some red pepper flakes and about 1.5 tbl olive oil.

7. When olives are done, use a fork to pierce holes in them. Mix with garlic herb paste, drain and serve.

Baked Ricotta with Pepper

Took this idea from Donna Hay's Flavors. Cross referenced her with Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone.

Deborah Madison suggested draining the ricotta if it was too runny. I used Organic Valley Ricotta and it seemed dry enough to just use.

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Oil a tin or small rectangular pyrex dish.

3. Mix ricotta with lots of freshly ground pepper and whatever herbs you would like. (I stuck with just pepper cuz there were so many other tastes already in the appetizer selection).

4. Pour some olive oil on top.

5. Place in oven. Donna estimated 45 minutes for the ricotta to "set". It took about an hour and 15 minutes. We had lots of stuff in the oven, so most likely that was a factor.

6. Once seems "set", turn out on a baking sheet. (This was super difficult. I had to engineer it a bit to not end up with Ricotta splat). Pour olive oil on top of the ricotta and place back in the oven to allow it to become golden brown. This took about 20 minutes.

7. Getting the Ricotta from the baking dish to a serving platter took me and Uschi together. Double spatula action plate sliding under kind of thing. We sprinkled some chopped parsley on top for looks and served.

Baked Feta with Lavender

B.D. picked us the most beautiful soft tender lavender. Uschi had the idea to use it on the baked Feta. Uschi was in charge of this dish and I think this is what she did, but she will have to double check to make sure I got it right.

1. Mince up the lavender and pour olive oil over it. Let sit for at least 30 minutes.

2. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

3. In a small baking tin, put 2 bricks of Feta. Pour olive oil over them. Cover with foil and put in oven. After about 30 minutes check on the Feta.

4. Pour some good balsamic vinegar on top and allow to bake another 15 minutes.

Simple Butter Lettuce Salad with Herb Lemon Green Peppercorn Dressing

It helps if you have the most beautiful heads of lettuce and herbs picked fresh for you that morning by B.D. His herbs are so tender and delicate just like him.

1. Wash and Dry Lettuce.

2. Mince a big shallot and squeeze meyer lemon juice over it. Let stand for at least 15 minutes before proceeding.

3. Chop up dill, mint, parsley and mix into lemon juice.

4. Mince up fresh green peppercorns and add to mixture.

5. If you are not feeding vegetarians, add some Worcestershire sauce and honey to the dressing. Tonight I did not do this.

6. Add salt and pepper and then whisk in olive oil.

7. Toss dressing over lettuce and serve.

Carrot Ginger Scallion Pancakes

The trick here is adding barely enough egg and flour to hold the carrots together. Uschi and I went through a few batches before it seemed to gel. Simultaneously, the pans seemed to take a little bit to find their heat.

I have never measured the ingredients and have always winged this visually and by taste.
We made enough for a party of 21. There was not one pancake left.

1. Mix together:
- Grated Carrots
- Minced or Grated Ginger
- Thinly Sliced Scallions
- Thinly Sliced Shallots
- Grated Meyer Lemon Rind

2. Add:
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Cardamon
- Cumin Seed
- Freshly Ground Pepper
- Salt
- A little sugar to taste

You will need to taste and tweak to your liking.

3. Then add:
- Lemon Juice

4. Separate 4 to 5 eggs. Beat the egg whites till stiff peaks form.

5. Turn oven to 200 degrees or so.

6. Mix egg yolks into carrot mixture and very little flour. I usually start with about 1/4 cup and then add from there. Add enough egg whites to get desired consistency.

7. Heat a non-stick skillet. Usually I use a little olive or vegetable oil, but tonight the pancakes did better without any oil, so that was new. Spoon out about a tablespoon or more of the carrot mixture onto pan and flatten out. Depending on the size of your pan, add as many pancakes as you can fit without crowding. Allow to brown on one side before flipping. If they fall apart, you will need to add more flour or egg, tweaking until you get the right balance. (One day I will write the proportions down).

8. Keep pancakes in oven till all are done. Serve with Creme Fresh and Smoked Salmon.

Uschi's Roasted Beets with Kale, Polenta and Carmelized Tomoto Sauce

We will have to convince Uschi to give up this recipe. She is a master at creating vegan yumminess. She understands flavor and texture and the resulting delight when combined just right.

Grilled Rosemary Shrimp on Suateed Spinich

1. Early in day, mix too much mined garlic, lots of olive oil, thyme, fresh rosemary, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper together. (Or whatever herbs and spices you have on hand that sound good).

2. Toss with shrimp with shells on and store in fridge till ready to use.

3. Before putting shrimp in skewers, squeeze lemon juice on shrimp and toss. Arrange on Skewers.

4. Grill like Eric does.

5. Meanwhile, while Eric is grilling, in a little olive oil, saute up Steve Sprinkle's amazing beautiful spinach. Add a little minced garlic, stirring. Just before done, add a little balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. Arrange spinach on a platter. Pile grilled shrimp on top and serve.

Grilled Scallops on Fennel Orange Salad

1. Start the grill.

2. Prep the giant diver scallops from Ric and Alicia with a little olive oil,pepper and salt. 4 to a skewer.

3. Thinly slice freshly picked fennel super thin and toss with orange zest, fresh orange juice, olive oil, fresh ground pepper and good salt. Arrange on Platter.

4. Finely chop some Tarragon.

5. Grill Scallops Perfectly like Eric does.

6. Arrange scallops on the fennel salad, sprinkle tarragon and serve.

Desperate Times

I have not been moved to cook lately. Not sure why exactly. Been super busy. Have not even been moved to have people over. Simultaneously have not been that hungry. B.D. has lovely and amazing lettuces and we have been eating the most delicious salads with his butter lettuce, fennel, herbs and daikon radish from Rainbow. But for our "real food" it's been weak at best.

Tonight, I brought home pasta and pesto sauce in a jar. Almost shameful.
Last night I could barely gather myself to roast a chicken.

My husband and I have a deal. I make dinner and he washes the dishes. While he is totally wonderful on the nights that I feel burnt and not in the mood, a month of lameness does not seem to be flying.

May the Culinary Angels have mercy on me.