Shh... I Cheated, But Don't Tell- 5/7/09

On Monday, when I made the Peruvian menu from this month's Gourmet, Richard looked at the amount of food and asked how many people I had asked for dinner. I had reduced the size of the recipes when possible but there was still way too much food for only 2 and a half people. So I decided to split the other large menu, from the article "Cucina Paradiso" over several days to allow us to enjoy the flavors without having an unbelievable amount of food in one night. With thirteen recipes in this Tuscan-inspired meal, we couldn't possibly really enjoy eating anything if we had to save room for another twelve food items. After giving this tactic a try, I found I was able to taste every component of this large menu and really enjoy each part. I split the menu up into three days. For the last two days, I've made a tasting menu to go before our regular meal, using 3 appetizers from the Cucina Paradiso menu each night. Tonight, I completed the menu by making the final 7 recipes as our main meal.

The beverage that went along with this menu was a Vodka Rosemary Lemonade Fizz. The base of this drink was a syrup of sugar, lemon juice, and rosemary sprigs. I thought this drink was very well made. It had the right amount of sweet, went light on the alcohol to allow the other flavors to shine, and had just a hint of rosemary for interest.

There were six appetizer or first course recipes in this menu with four of those showcasing vegetables and the other two using meat or seafood. The Arugula and Fava-Bean Crostini was a simple dish of fava beans, arugula, parmigiano, and oil spread on baguette toasts. I tried a spoonful straight from the food processor and thought the spread was pretty bitter. Once on toast though, this spread seemed to mellow and was very good. Eyrleigh loved it, toasts or no toasts. I gave her a bowlful before dinner and she devoured it!
The Balsamic-Marinated Radicchio with Fresh Ricotta was a dish of real promise but did not deliver. I love balsamic vinegar but this dish was extreme. The amount of vinegar made my eyes water. The ricotta helped temper some of that but it was still a very strong flavored dish. I could only eat a small portion but thankfully, that's all I'd made. The radicchio lost some of its bitterness in the broiler but because of the large amount of vinegar, it was hard to really taste the subtle lettuce.

The Mushroom Carpacchio with Pecorino Toscano must have been very good in the test kitchen but I found it a bit simple. Mushrooms, shaved thin and drizzled with lemon, oil, and Parmesan shavings, isn't really a dish I would bring to a party like the description suggested. It's certainly pretty but probably wouldn't impress the host since it took me 3 minutes to make and won't fill anyone up. By the way, I have no idea why this picture keeps loading sideways. It looks fine saved on the computer but it will not save into Blogger correctly. Richard looked at it and he's equally baffled. (He's an IT manager so he is more qualified to try to fix this than me.) I'm going to go ahead and leave it in so you can see my attempt at thinly slicing mushrooms without an adjustable blade slicer. That's next on my must-have kitchen tools list.

The last vegetable appetizer from this menu was the Italian Vegetable Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing. This was my favorite of the first course recipes. The dressing was very good and I loved the addition of anchovies. All the vegetables in this salad were raw and crispy. The contrast of flavors of fennel, cauliflower, and asparagus contrasted well and the dressing was light enough to let those flavors shine.

The final two appetizers used grilled meat or seafood. The Grilled Sausage-Stuffed Calamari was pretty entertaining to make. I used ground pork sausage instead of raw ground pork. This made me feel more comfortable about using it in the squid since I didn't have to worry about it being undercooked. It was pretty tricky trying to get the small spoonfuls of sausage into the very small pocket of the squid body. As you can tell from the picture, getting the picks to look good and keep the meat in was equally tricky. The flavor was good. The contrast of the salty pork with the smoother squid was well done.

The second meat appetizer was Chicken Liver Skewers. Liver is not my favorite food. Like most people, I find the favor of liver strong and the texture gritty. Soaking the livers in milk really helped cut that really strong tang that can be so off putting. There isn't much I can do about the texture but without the strong liver taste, it was more like a pate. I have a rosemary plant that has taken over the little back garden I have and it is wonderful to be able to go back and pick rosemary sprigs for this menu and not pay a penny. I wish all the herbs I planted two years ago were as hardy as that rosemary plant.

The next dish, the pasta, actually took two recipes to make. First, I made the Fresh Semolina Pasta from the recipe and then I used the pasta in the Fresh Pasta with Crabmeat, Peas and Chile. Richard gave me the pasta making attachment for my stand mixer last year for my birthday and it is a blast to play around with. The pasta recipe was quite easy and held together well in the pasta maker. The only problem I find with homemade pasta is it is incredibly sticky. I don't know if there is a trick to keeping the strands of pasta from adhering to each other like glue in the colander. The crabmeat, peas, and chile made a great addition to the pasta. Eyrleigh liked this dish the best of the entire menu and even with the really sticky noodles, it made great leftovers.
The Grilled Lamb Chops with Porcini Mustard was also excellent. In fact, Richard thought the meat was steak, which means he really liked it. Lamb chops are also very inexpensive, I was surprised. The mushroom mustard was nothing to get very excited about, however. I found the flavor a bit indecisive. The earthy mushrooms didn't work well with the bite of the mustard.

The Tuscan Beans in Summery Tomato Ragu were a good side dish for this meal. This vegetable dish was hearty and filling, in contrast to the lighter first course recipes. The tomato flavor was strong and complimented the mild white beans. I halved the recipe but still had enough to pulse the leftovers in the food processor and make a yummy bean spread.

This menu came with two dessert recipes, Melon with Basil-Lime Granita and Cornmeal Cookies.
The Cornmeal Cookies were easy and very good. They were surprisingly moist for a cornmeal based recipe. Eyrleigh loved these cookies and ate all the leftover cookies within just a few days. The melon was simply sliced and was fresh and versatile. The basil-lime granita was a very unique flavor. Personally, I found the basil too strong, almost overwhelming. I enjoyed the recipes in this menu and felt good about the decision to split up the recipes so we could enjoy each component.

Vodka Rosemary Lemonade Fizz-A

Arugula and Fava Bean Crostini-B

Balsamic-Marinated Radiccio with Fresh Ricotta-D

Mushroom Carpaccio with Pecorino Toscano-C

Italian Vegetable Salad with Creamy Garlic Dressing-B

Grilled Sausage Stuffed Calamari-C

Chicken Liver Skewers-D

Fresh Pasta with Crabmeat, Peas, and Chile-B+

Grilled Lamb Chops with Porcini Mustard-B

Tuscan Beans in Summery Tomato Ragu-B

Melon with Basil-Lime Granita-D

Cornmeal Cookies-A