Late Summer Dinner with Friends
Although I'm always down for a great dinner party, there's something about the lingering warm Indian summer days and the encroaching scheduling madness of autumn that seems a good time to sit down and catch up with friends. Eating up the last of the tomatoes, recounting vacation stories, and outlining the exciting endeavors of the near future. It's especially nice when the friends help with the food!
On the menu:
Cherry tomato, marinated feta, kalamata olive amuse bouche
Tuscan kale caesar salad
Warm farro salad with early girl tomatoes, cigliene mozzarella and basil
Roasted chicken with tomato butter
Mixed berry crisp
And the pictures, with recipes for my creations:
Cherry tomato amuse bouche
The farro is a-cookin'. Farro is an ancient form of wheat similar to spelt or barley. It has a wonderful hearty chewy texture that stands up well to cooking. I love it substituted for arborio rice in a risotto recipe, and decided to cook it in a similar manner for my salad recipe:
1. sauté chopped onion in butter
2. add 2 cups farro, stir in with onions for a few minutes
3. slowly add hot chicken broth, a little at a time, adding more when liquid has been absorbed - about 1 qt broth total, but I think I used about 1.5 qts total.
4. towards end of cooking time add about 1 tablespoon each minced oregano and rosemary
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. you can also add a generous splash of white wine early in the process
Finished product - let the farro cool slightly (I left it covered on the porch for about 20 min), stir in chunks of tomatoes, generous handful of chiffonaded basil, and cigliene (small ball-shaped) mozzarella, cut in half. Sprinkle a bit more salt & pepper, and give the whole thing a good squeeze of lemon. If you have chopped parsley, that makes a nice addition as well.
Roasted chicken with tomato butter:
1. mince 3-5 cloves garlic and combine with 2 tablespoons melted butter, a little salt & pepper
2. coat the bird with butter/garlic mixture, and get plenty of it under the skin of the back, breasts, and try to work it down under the legs. You have to gently pull the skin away from the meat but just enough to work some butter in there, don't pull it off!
3. 375 oven, roast breast down for 50 min, turn up to 500 and flip the bird breast up for an additional 10 min.
4. let rest for 10 min, then carve. I usually make someone else carve my chicken, but it was up to me this time! The chicken was so succulent is was pretty easy and I came out with 2 beautiful breasts, 2 legs, and chunks of fine meat.
This is delicious as is (with a squeeze of lemon), but I decided to step it up with the following tomato butter:
This recipe is from the beautiful Canal House Cooking series, a collection of small seasonal cookbooks.
1. simmer 3/4 cup sherry with 2 anchovy fillets and 6 sprigs of fresh thyme for 15 min
2. strain and discard solids
3. return sherry to pan, whisk in 2 tablespoons tomato paste
4. slowly whisk in 8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into six pieces, adding one piece at a time
5. spoon over the chicken, top with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon, and a litte salt & pepper
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of my guests' contribution of Tuscan Kale Caesar, but I think kale is delicious with a classic caesar dressing!
I do have photographic evidence of their glorious Mixed Berry Crisp though!
Served warm with vanilla ice cream and a mint sprig, this was a divine ending to our little meal.
Bye-bye, summertime.
On the menu:
Cherry tomato, marinated feta, kalamata olive amuse bouche
Tuscan kale caesar salad
Warm farro salad with early girl tomatoes, cigliene mozzarella and basil
Roasted chicken with tomato butter
Mixed berry crisp
And the pictures, with recipes for my creations:
Cherry tomato amuse bouche
The farro is a-cookin'. Farro is an ancient form of wheat similar to spelt or barley. It has a wonderful hearty chewy texture that stands up well to cooking. I love it substituted for arborio rice in a risotto recipe, and decided to cook it in a similar manner for my salad recipe:
1. sauté chopped onion in butter
2. add 2 cups farro, stir in with onions for a few minutes
3. slowly add hot chicken broth, a little at a time, adding more when liquid has been absorbed - about 1 qt broth total, but I think I used about 1.5 qts total.
4. towards end of cooking time add about 1 tablespoon each minced oregano and rosemary
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. you can also add a generous splash of white wine early in the process
Finished product - let the farro cool slightly (I left it covered on the porch for about 20 min), stir in chunks of tomatoes, generous handful of chiffonaded basil, and cigliene (small ball-shaped) mozzarella, cut in half. Sprinkle a bit more salt & pepper, and give the whole thing a good squeeze of lemon. If you have chopped parsley, that makes a nice addition as well.
Roasted chicken with tomato butter:
1. mince 3-5 cloves garlic and combine with 2 tablespoons melted butter, a little salt & pepper
2. coat the bird with butter/garlic mixture, and get plenty of it under the skin of the back, breasts, and try to work it down under the legs. You have to gently pull the skin away from the meat but just enough to work some butter in there, don't pull it off!
3. 375 oven, roast breast down for 50 min, turn up to 500 and flip the bird breast up for an additional 10 min.
4. let rest for 10 min, then carve. I usually make someone else carve my chicken, but it was up to me this time! The chicken was so succulent is was pretty easy and I came out with 2 beautiful breasts, 2 legs, and chunks of fine meat.
This is delicious as is (with a squeeze of lemon), but I decided to step it up with the following tomato butter:
This recipe is from the beautiful Canal House Cooking series, a collection of small seasonal cookbooks.
1. simmer 3/4 cup sherry with 2 anchovy fillets and 6 sprigs of fresh thyme for 15 min
2. strain and discard solids
3. return sherry to pan, whisk in 2 tablespoons tomato paste
4. slowly whisk in 8 tablespoons cold butter, cut into six pieces, adding one piece at a time
5. spoon over the chicken, top with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon, and a litte salt & pepper
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of my guests' contribution of Tuscan Kale Caesar, but I think kale is delicious with a classic caesar dressing!
I do have photographic evidence of their glorious Mixed Berry Crisp though!
Served warm with vanilla ice cream and a mint sprig, this was a divine ending to our little meal.
Bye-bye, summertime.
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