Last night we had dinner at the home of our good friends Judy and Peter and, it was there that we met their good friends Art and George. What a wonderful evening filled with great stories, movie discussions and a lot of laughing.
And, of course…..Peter was cooking so that meant an outstanding meal was to be enjoyed by all. We made dessert, but before I give you the recipe for an easy, delicious and impressive cake (from Giada de Laurentiis, Everyday Italian cookbook) let me tell you what Peter served.
We started the cocktail portion of the evening with Brie covered in melted honey! I could have eaten that all night. I will be trying that in our home. We drank Prosecco. We then moved into the dining room where the dinner started with homemade porcini gnocchi. Our main meal was pork tenderloin stuffed with cheese and spinach, asparagus drizzled with a thick balsamic and white barley accented with sauteed onions and peppers. We drank Robert Foley, The Griffin.
Peter…..as usual, you put your all into a dinner party and as usual, it was a smashing success!
Then there was our dessert: (what you don’t see in the photo is that right before running out of the house with the cake we decided to surround it with fresh raspberries) What you also don’t see is that Sandy snuck in a couple of small brown paper sacks filled with Irish potatoes from Crossroads Bakery!

Chocolate Amaretti Cake

Butter-flavored nonstick cooking spray
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup slivered almonds
1 cup (about 2 ounces) baby amaretti cookies (we used the regular size cookies and measured out 2 ounces)
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange zest (approx. 1 orange) (we left this out)
4 large eggs
About 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder, for sifting

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-inch springform pan with nonstick spray and refrigerate.
In a small bowl, microwave the chocolate chips, stirring every 30 seconds, until melted and smooth, about 2 minutes.
In a food processor, combine the almonds and cookies, and pulse until finely ground. Transfer to a bowl. Add the butter, sugar and orange zest to the processor and blend until creamy and smooth. With the machine running, add the eggs one at a time. Add the nut mixture and the melted chocolate. Pulse until blended.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake until the center puffs and a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Transfer to a platter, sift the cocoa powder over, and serve.
(as I said above, we then surrounded it with fresh raspberries)

Yesterday was another sunny day, so what better time to cook all foods outdoors. We got a bag of 50 littleneck clams, put them into a roasting pan with a little water and steamed them on the grill. We found an herbed butter recipe in Bon Appetit, put it on the steamed clams once they opened and served it with fresh, crunchy bread.

Herb Butter

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 Tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh dill
1 Tbsp. chopped scallion
1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Mix first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl until well blended. Season herb butter to taste with salt and pepper.
When clams open, dot with herb butter; let stand until butter melts. Serve warm with lemon wedges alongside for squeezing over.

Wine served: Hacienda Dl Plata Reflejo Rose, Mendoza, Argentina

Le Bus Cornbread

1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups yellow cornmeal
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tsp. baking powder
1/2 Tsp. baking soda
1/2 Tsp. salt
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup kernel corn

Set oven to 350. Grease 9X5 loaf pan and dust with cornmeal. Mix first 6 ingredients. Whisk eggs, oil, milk, and buttermilk in medium bowl. Add egg mixture and corn to dry ingredients and stir until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake 15 minutes, then reduce temperature to 325 and continue until done. (About 45 minutes to an hour. Toothpick should come out clean and it should have a good solid “thump”). Cool in pan for 30 minutes.

Smoked Sausage Jambalaya (gourmet magazine)
serves 8

1 Lb. pork andouille sausage, sliced crosswise 1/2 inch thick
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 green bell peppers, finely chopped
2 celery ribs, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 scallions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (of course….I put in extra garlic!)
2 1/2 cups (1 Lb.) long-grain rice
1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 1/2 cups water

1. Cook sausage in oil in a wide 6-8 qt. heavy pot over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
2. Cook peppers, celery, onions, scallions, garlic, and 1/2 Tsp. salt in fat remaining in pot, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 10-12 minutes. Stir in rice, sausage, tomatoes with their juice, water, 1 Tsp. salt, and 1/2 Tsp. pepper and bring to a rolling boil.
3. Reduce heat and cook at a bare simmer, covered tightly with a lid, until rice is tender and water is absorbed, about 25 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 10 minutes. Fluff rice with fork.

Wine served: Santa Julia Magna, Mendoza Argentina

Adapted from The Silver Spoon cookbook

10 ounces homemade or dry fettuccine
2 Tbsp. butter
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups fresh shelled or frozen peas
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cooked, cured ham slice, diced
2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt to taste

Heat butter and oil in a pan, add the onion, and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the peas and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, then stir in the cream. Cook for 5 minutes, then add the ham. Salt to taste. Cook the fettuccine in a large pot of salted, boiling water until al dente, then drain, put back in the pasta pot, toss in the cream sauce, then toss in the Parmesan cheese. Put on to a serving plate and sprinkle with hot sauce.

Adapted from Wine Spectator
serves 2

1 Tbsp. minced flat leaf parsley
1 Tbsp. minced basil
1 Tbsp. minced mint
1/4 cup panko
zest from 1/2 of a lemon
2 six ounce fillets, rinsed off and patted dry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine herbs, panko and lemon zest in a bowl. Drizzle in just enough olive oil to make a paste. Brush fillets on both sides with olive oil, season both sides with salt. Press the herb mixture on to the top of the fillet and place on a non-stick baking sheet, then put in the oven. Cook until fish is done, about 10-13 minutes.

Wine served: Allegrini Soave

Recipe from Ina Garten’s Barefoot in Paris

1 1/2 Tbsp. melted butter, to grease the pans
3 extra large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, MELTED AND COOLED
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 Tsp. baking powder
1/4 Tsp. kosher salt
1/3 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Confectioners’ sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Thoroughly grease and flour the madeleine pans.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the eggs, sugar and vanilla on medium speed for 3 minutes, or until light yellow and fluffy. Add the butter and mix. Sift together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and salt, and stir into the batter with a rubber spatula. Stir in the coconut.
With a soup spoon, drop the batter into the pans, filling each shell almost full. Bake the madeleines for 10-12 minutes, until they spring back when pressed. Tap the madeleines out onto a baking pan lined with parchment paper and allow to cool. Dust with confectioners’ sugar, if desired.