The Main Course

My plan to take Saturday's meal and stretch it out to a week of posts proved to be fortuitous. Last night's dinner consisted of cheddar and sour cream Ruffles in the ER due to the appearance of a kidney stone in my husband, so I guess I don't need to tell you much more about that. (Except that those chips are damn good.)

Continuing from Saturday's dinner, the main course was lamb shanks over polenta. Shanks are one of those things that seem to have been "Starbucks-ized": something that used to be cheap and plentiful (coffee, 50 cents a cup) that has now been deemed fancy (grande latte, $4.50). Shanks are all over restaurant menus, so they are harder to find, and sometimes kind of expensive. They are such a tasty treat, though, if you see some, buy them immediatly. Mine came in at $5.99 a pound, which is not bad for lamb (especially from Whole Foods). I cooked them slow in the oven with this recipe, then made some polenta with the directions right off the bag. The lamb falls right off the bone, you don't have to watch it, you can't overcook it, and it's amazing. Remember what my ol' granpappy used to say: "If a shank crosses your path, don't let it run away".


He never really said that.


But you knew that.

How one meal can do your work for a week!

Travel has made cooking a little rare at the ol' household lately, but I did cook a hell of a meal for friends on Saturday. I've decided to spread out the love and give you the courses over the course of the week, since this is shaping up to be a lentil skillet kind of week, and I'm sure all my thousands of readers don't need to hear about that again. So today I bring you:

THE APPETIZER

I'm pretty pleased with myself on this one. Two little apps, both fried, and perfect for cocktails. I know, I know what you're thinking: "Emily, if I'm having people over for dinner and already in my dressy apron (you do have a dressy apron, don't you?), then why would I take the time to fry?" Answer: It's delicious, it's a special treat, and it's actually not that messy.
The two things I made were blue cheese olives and prociutto wrapped turnips. Stay with me- you're going to like where this is going. The olives are large olives jammed with your favorite blue cheese. If you're a martini drinker, you may already have this motion down. Take each olive and dip, in order, in flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs.
The turnips you cut into sticks, and parboil them. (Bring a small pot of water to boil, and cook the turnips about 10min. or until they're slightly soft. You can do this ahead of time). After they're cool, take a little piece of prociutto and wrap it around the turnip. Dip each piece into the egg from the olive recipe, then roll in sesame seeds (if you don't have them, you can use poppy seeds. If you don't have that, just use the egg wash).

Take a small saucepan and fill it with about an inch of vegetable oil. You'll know it's hot enough when you throw a tiny pinch of flour in and it sizzles, but don't let it get so hot it smokes. Fry the turnips first, a couple at a time, until they look crispy and brown, probably about 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels. The olives will go in next, and they only take 30 seconds or so to come out crispy and delicious.

This was a really fun way to start a party because you can either assemble them ahead of time and have your cocktails in the kitchen while you fry, or make your guests do some of the stuffing and wrapping for an interactive experience. It's just enough fry to feel like a treat, but not so much that you're stuffed for the main course and it's delicious with martinis or champagne.

Swimming Upstream

In the continuing quest to detox from a couple of stressful weeks, we tried to go with super foods last night: salmon and broccoli. The salmon was done on the George Foreman grill, an appliance that I haven't seen or used for quite some time, but it did a fantastic job- the salmon (1 inch thick steaks, not fillets) was cooked absolutely perfectly after about 6 min. Melted butter with chopped garlic and lime juice went on top after cooking. The broccoli was oven roasted at 425 for about 20 min, then tossed with olive oil and Parmesan. I'm a big fan of roasting just about any vegetable- the heat makes the outside crunchy and brings out the sugars on the inside.
Now if I can only remember what kind of salmon I'm supposed to buy. Farm-raised? Not farmed raised? Alaskan? Lake Ontario?

Soytastic

"What I Made for Dinner" has morphed into "What I Ordered for Dinner", as I had to work late most nights last week. But, no worry readers (reader): we're coming back. I'm on a soy kick after reading about the benefits and also trying to purge all the Chinese take out from my system, so I'm going with a dessert that I've had, oddly enough, at a French restaurant. Silken tofu sits quivering in a bowl, surrounded by a simple syrup flavored with ginger. The silken tofu is like a fancy panna cotta, but better for your estrogen levels. The syrup is equal parts sugar and water boiled until the sugar dissolves, with some fresh or powdered ginger thrown in. Take that, Frances Moore Lappe.

The $20 dinner party

Being cheap is stylish now, right? Everything seems to be "recession-busting" or "recession-proof". It almost makes you want to go out and spend your money on lobster tails and blow just prove them all wrong!
I didn't make lobster tails and blow for dinner, so don't get too excited. What I did do was have 4 people for dinner and accidentally made it for under $20 (not including booze and staple items). Here's the menu:

Appetizer: White bean dip. Canned beans are cheap. Dried beans are even cheaper, so if you have the time, soak them and cook. If you don't, spring for the .89 cent can of white beans. Puree in a food processor with a clove of garlic, enough olive oil to make it the consistency you want, salt, and some spices if you choose (thyme and cayenne work well). Buy a bag of pitas for $2.79, brush them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, and toast. Serve with the dip.

Main Course: Mussels. These briny little devil are cheap, but look fancy. Plus shellfish makes people think you spent a fortune, but a bag of mussels that can feed 4 will set you back about $5. There are a million variations on how to cook them, but basically you steam them in an aromatic broth until they open. Serve with crusty bread ($3). Here's a basic recipe to start.

Salad: Watercress and spiced nuts. This is a bit of the cheat, as I had already bought the nuts in bulk, and that allowed me to get the more expensive watercress ($4 for 2 bunches). The nuts you saute in a pan with a little butter and any sweet/spicy blend you like- I used a curry powder. Melt the butter, add the nuts and spice, throw in a small amount of sweet (maple syrup, brown sugar, white sugar), and cook until they look toasty and good. Toss with the watercress and dress with olive oil and a light colored vinegar.

Dessert: We stopped at the Italian bakery on the way home and bought cannolis. This set us back $7.

And our grand total? Around $20. Plenty of money left over for your lobster tail and blow fund.