Summer Starter Dinner

What a lovely dinner we have for you! It's a super light and healthy but a highly satisfying meal. I'm a pretty big fan. This dinner was sparked because Lindsay had flown in from London for the weekend... I pretty much just mentioned that because it sounds so cool... Which was fun and overshadowed the fact that our dearest third mate Kate was moving out. Off to sunnier skies and better produce. Sigh. 

It also came out that Kate had no idea Friday Dinner's blog exists which was hard for me to understand as I'm pretty sure it's the only thing Alayna I talk about, minus the cat. 

Okay, ready, set, go: 

Baked Salmon, Arugula Awesome, Mango, Strawberry & Mint Salad, AND CousCous Crazy

I know, what exciting names! And four courses! But it's so easy. What a dream. Read on.

Lauren Cook, a mango and Alayna. Whipping together the fruit/mint salad. Lauren, I have to admit, is still the winner for most enthusiastic Monday Soup fan. The competition is on-going, but Lauren is doing pretty darn well. (Example: Opening the door for Gavin and introducing herself this way: "Hi, I'm Lauren, you may recognize me from the Monday Soup's blog."

This has nothing to do with dinner. I'm just showing off my dress. 

Slicing the mangoes.

Setting the table! So many goblets!

Eating!!

Here We Go:

Baked Salmon:

Put salmon in a pyrex dish. Squeeze fresh lemon juice onto the salmon, and then sprinkle with thyme. Cook at 375 for about 30 min. When fish is cooked through, it should flake away easily with a fork and be a consistent pink color all the way through.

CousCous Crazy:

Make couscous according to instructions. Once it is cooked through, add a handful of chopped parsley, about half a red onion (chopped), 2 roma tomatoes (chopped) and chopped red pepper (about half a pepper). Stir in a big bowl and serve.

Arugula Awesome:

Cut a large gala (or other type... preferably crispy!) apple into bite size slices and put onto a bed of arugula. Shred parmesean-romano cheese on top (i like a lot). For salad dressing, mix the juice from half a lemon, about a spoonful of honey, and a tiny splash of olive oil (about 1tsp)... mix well and then toss into salad. The lemon will keep the apple slices from browning so you can make ahead.

Mango, Strawberry & Mint Salad:

Wash and cut up mangoes, strawberries and mint. Mix them in a bowl. Delicious.

For dessert we had Rhubarb Crisp, thanks to Lindsay's magic. Lindsay add the recipe as a comment to this post so we can all copy the recipe and eat that wonderful thing again. Thank you.

That is the end of Rhubarb Crisp.

I'll leave you with a series I call, "How I look when I describe the stabbing I witnessed on our street yesterday." 

Tomato Tart & Veggie Friends

Want to impress the veggie lovers in your life? Want to impress the stubborn eaters in your life who might eat red meat one too many times a month? Want to impress them all at the same time? 

This is your tart. 

This dinner party happened last week with Alayna and her lady folk and then I repeated it when my parents and extended family came over for brunch. All parties were impressed. And see that, this is both a good dinner and a good brunch. Excellent.

And it's easy to make-- even if it's 10am on a Saturday and you're a little hungover like I might have been and you're entire family is about to bust into your apartment and you are still in your pajamas-- whatever the circumstances, you will impress someone. 

Here we go: Tomato Tart*, Veggie Salad & Spinach and Mushrooms

*Tomato Tart is a slightly modified version of Meredith's tart. Thanks Meredith.

Pastry:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 stick of cold, unsalted butter cut into pieces
1/2 tspn salt
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
Zest from 1/2 lemon
1/4 c. ice water

Filling:
1 1/2 to 2 tbspn dijon mustard
2 tbspn Parmesan cheese
small handful of chopped basil
some shakes of thyme
small handful of chopped parsley
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt & pepper
6-8 plum tomatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 tbspn olive oil
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 tspn water

Pulse the butter, flour, salt, lemon zest & Parmesan together in a food processor, hand mixer or by hand.  When it has formed a coarse meal, add water slowly until the dough binds. Can either be used immediately, or made ahead and refrigerated(let it soften to room temp for 30 min if chilled).

Preheat the over to 425.  Roll the dough out on a floured surface to make a 12 inch circle.  Transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (NOTE! PARCHMENT PAPER IS NOT THE SAME AS WAX PAPER... we discovered this once the smell of burning started coming out of the oven and ended up transferring everything to a pie pan to prevent fire. Meredith says you can also just use a greased pan if you don't have parchment).  Using a pastry brush, spread the mustard over the surface, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.

Mix all the herbs and the salt & pepper in a bowl.  Arrange half of tomato slices over the mustard and sprinkle with half of the herb mixture.  Repeat.  Fold the edge of the pastry over the tomatoes, and pinch any cracks to keep juices in while baking.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Brush crust with yolk mixture.  Bake for20-25 minutes, until crust is golden brown.  Let rest for 10 minutes.  Serve warm.

Salad!

Cut up cucumber, avocado, tomato and red/yellow peppers if you have them, mix with a handful of chopped fresh basil and drizzle with balsamic

Optional addition: I added some mango and it was awesome.

Mushrooms & Spinach

Slice 4-6 cloves of garlic and saute on low heat in walnut or olive oil in a big pot. After about a minute, add in a box of sliced baby bella (or really any type) of mushrooms and saute until they start to cook through. Once the mushrooms are getting softer, add in a bag of spinach and stir to distribute oil. Cover and let cook slowly, stirring occasionally. Add rock salt to tast.

Happy Tomato Tarts.

PS I wanted to post the after pictures of this dinner party but Alayna didn't let me. But let me say, tart makes people crazzzzy.

Penne a la Vodka, Salad & Fruit & Cream

Mmm. Hmm. Scratching your head are we? Thinking to yourself, boy, does that pot of sauce sure look like that tomato soup Monday's Soup made in February of this year?

Sure does.

Sure done does.

This is how soup is so brilliant. It can be more than one thing. Watch as we impress a room full of ladies with a sauce that is actually a soup. 

Nooo you didn't.

Yes we did.

Girls had no idea. Suckers.

Who knew our apartment was so big? 

Well, Alayna and I do after she made me tape measure the whole thing. 

Anyone want to sublet a room?

Right. So here are the girls. Drinking wine, swapping stories of people peeing on the subways (other people) and the ilk.

Pasta is cooking. Sauce is simmering. Folks are relaxing.

(It's late right now. And I think I'm delirious. But I'd be too sad for Lauren Cook if I didn't post this by tomorrow.)

And it's time to eat. I do believe Kate Zimmer said something along the lines of, "How many helping can I eat and still wear a waistband tonight?"

Is that even true? I swear you said something like that.

And I had three helpings.

But I NEVER wear waistbands.

Lauren Cook, ladies and gentlemen. Monday's Soup fan of the week.

Looks like some good times.

Alayna makes whipping cream in the corner. 

That's where the blender is. When you live in Manhattan you do things like this.

And then we started playing cat in the bag.

You can't see. But there is a cat in the bag.

Hmmm. What's in that ole rain boot?

Why it's a cat!

Okay, I know, what did we make already. Here you go... 

Penne a la Vodka (or pasta with tomato soup but that does NOT sound fancy)

Ingredients

2 big cans of crushed tomatoes
6- 8 cloves of garlic chopped
red pepper (like the spice not the vegetable)
heavy cream
olive oil
a bunch of basil, chopped

Now Do This... 

Saute chopped garlic in big soup bowl. 
Add a generous portion of red pepper.
When sauteed dump in the two cans of crushed tomatoes and stir
Add the basil (a lot of basil)
Let simmer for about 30 minutes
Add as much heavy cream as desired, depending on your tomato soup cream preference and cook about five more minutes, then turn off... i like to let it cool a little before it's served so it thickens a little
serve with penne pasta

SALAD:
spinach, seedless red grapes, chopped walnuts and chopped almonds
dressing:

olive oil, a large spoonful of mustard (not yellow, but any of the other kinds), a small spoonful of sugar and 2-3 caps of white vinegar
adjust to your own taste, stir with a fork and let sit for at least 10 min before serving

DESSERT:
blackberries, blueberries and strawberries 
whipped cream:

mix heavy cream and about 1 tablespoon of vanilla either in the blender on "aerate" or by hand with a whisk. NOTE: the cream should be cold to do this! otherwise it won't foam!
once the cream is stiff, add sugar to taste (don't need much) and serve!

THANK GOODNESS FOR AIR HOLES!

Impress the Ladies with an Almost Carb-less Quiche

When Alayna's lady friends requested a low-carb dinner, Alayna had to write to me at work to ask what that meant. No bread sort of horrifies me but the idea of a dinner party challenge was pretty exciting.

Alayna decided on "Almost-No Carb Salmon Quiche, Yams and Salad." 

Alayna got home from work around 6-ish. Napped. Woke up and began cooking around 7pm. Guest arrived around 7:45pm. Carrie asked in astonishment, when she walked into our highly cozy apartment with a set table and food coming out of the oven, How long have you been cooking?

Not so long. 

Let's begin:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 F

In a large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp of butter

2 chopped leeks

1 bunch of skinny asparagus  cut into small pieces

1 or 2 caps of portabello mushrooms

While this sautes whisk, in a separate bowl, 1 and 1/2 cups of regular milk

with 1/2 cup of half and half and

4 eggs

Add 2 generous spoonfuls of pesto

Butter up a pie pan

Lightly coat it with dried bread crumbs (hence, the "Almost" No-carbs quiche. This is important though otherwise the eggs will stick to the pan)

Once your sauteing veggies are crispy but mostly cooked through pour them in the pie pan like this:

Lovely.

Now...

Cut up a 14 ounce packet of smoked salmon

Add salmon tears to the veggies

And finally pour the milk mixture on top of that.

Bake in oven for about 30 minutes or until the middle has set. 

Take out and let cool for a few minutes before serving.

Now for the salad...

Mix together whatever you want, spinach, baby tomatoes, carrots, radishes, zucchini. 

You know, whatever you have sitting around.

To impress with an easy Home Made Salad Dressing mix together (to taste):

balsamic vinegar with olive oil

Add stone ground mustard

a pinch of sugar

and a few sprinkles of fresh rosemary

Alayna also boiled yams and mixed them with Saint Andres cheese (this can be substituted for mild fresh goat cheese). 

Look how impressed they are.