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End of Week Zen
To the power of possibility. Happy weekend.
Artwork by James Curran
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And to Julia Child, who would have been 103 today (Saturday). I’m hosting a dinner party in honor and memory! To culinary possibility!
She’s the queen. What are you cooking in her honor?
Drinks (the Petra: Absolute Vanille, orange juice, sparkling wine) with local/regional cheeses (an aged and a bloomy rind from Prairie Fruits Farm–a goat creamery), local lamb summer sausage, and homemade olive-almond crisps.
Meal: grilled pork tenderloin marinated in a red wine-soy marinade, local heirloom tomatoes with a vinaigrette, baked zucchini with parmesan, and some bread I bought at the market that morning.
Dessert: Cake and ice cream! It’s a birthday party! I made vanilla pound cake (a tad too dry–still learning to use the new oven) and an orange sponge cake (from Julia’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking). And homemade chocolate-hazelnut ice cream.
Petra you are a cooking and entertaining goddess. What a meal from start to finish. I’m particularly interested in your olive- almond crisps and baked zucchini with parmesan. Are you up for sharing the recipes?
Love pork tenderloin and chocolate-hazelnut ice-cream is a fav. Julia would be proud and thrilled to sit at your table.
I’d love the recipe, too!
Well, if I lived closer to you (and Wendy) you’d have been on the guest list. This is from David Lebovitz’s My Paris Kitchen)
Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp sea or kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 cup buttermilk
1/3 cup skinned and raw almonds, chopped
1/3 cup packed coarsely chopped pitted olives (I like Kalamata)
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan and line bottom with parchment paper.
Put dry ingredients in bowl and whisk together
Stir in buttermilk with a spatula, then mix in almonds and olives, incorporating throughout the mixture
Spread batter in pan and bake in center of oven for about 30 min (top should feel set)
Remove from oven, let cool for 5 min. and then run a knife around pan to loosen.
Remove loaf from pan and cool completely on a rack. Important to cool thoroughly! I write from experience here.
Decrease oven temp to 325. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper or a silicone mat.
Using a bread knife, slice the loaf into 1/4″ slices (or thereabouts)
Lay them flat onto the baking sheets.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Flip the crisps over to bake the other sides and rotate the baking sheet.
Bake for 10 more minutes.
Take out the sheets and put any golden brown ones on the rack to cool.
If some are still a bit spongy, return to oven for 3-5 minutes, until they too are golden.
Cool completely and store in airtight (important!) container for up to a week.
Makes about 36 crisps. Nice plain or with cream cheese. And wine and cocktail!
Did you skin the almonds, and if yes, how?
Oops, forgot about the zucchini. I just slice them into rounds, drizzle with olive oil, add salt, pepper and dried oregano. Then I top with shredded or grated parmesan. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes (you can run them under the broiler for a few minutes if you want them to brown). Serve.
What a divine feast. I’m drooling here.
CORRECTION!!!!
should be
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
(although I have made it with all white flour)
I’ve heard that My Paris Kitchen is a great cookbook. Do you use it a lot?
Who were the unbelievably lucky guests?
A mix: retired colleague and his wife, a friend from a meetup and her boyfriend, another meetup friend (solo) and a friend I met through Slow Food (also solo).
Lots of wonderful conversation. I’m very grateful for my wonderfully thoughtful and intelligent friends–and THEY did ME the favor of coming over!
Such lucky friends, really.
I buy the almonds already skinned.
And I love My Paris Kitchen–not only are the recipes wonderful, the book itself is a delight to read.
I know that you’re a kitchen goddess, but I’m actually comforted to hear you buy the almonds already skinned.
Thanks Petra,
The crisps sound divine. I like that you bake the zucchini instead of saute as I usually do.
Love the variety in your guest list and that good conversation complemented your delicious meal. It feels as if your generous spirit permeated the evening.
I’m getting inspired.