appetizer angst

it is no secret that i absolutely love ina garten

i have blogged about my obsession before

and told anyone who will listen

how i wish to be her friend

and have contemplated taking up bridge just to increase my chances

for a dinner invitation

while i have never actually owned one of her cookbooks

nor

made any of her recipes

i am in awe of her style

particularly her entertaining style

i could never only serve a hearty salad and crusty bread for dinner

with a dessert of chocolate bark

i'm not the sort

but i envy it in her

and every time i have guests for dinner

i try and imitate her unapologetic rule

of

only making 2 items for dinner and then buying the extras

but i never get there

i'm just not the sort

last evening we had guests for dinner

2 couples we have come to know over the years and have become good friends with

and i made a dinner of homemade pasta, chicken saltimboca, 4 veg and dessert

I thought maybe I shouldn't serve appetizers

Ina wouldn't

she would serve nuts or something

so that is where i stood

until about five o'clock

when i began to panic

i couldn't give it up

i had to have some sort of nibble for my guests

and i wanted it to be really simple

to go with my very french aperitif

kir royale

i turned to what i had on hand

and made this a simple yet absolutely delicious

start to our evening

Walnut Stuffed Figs

(printable recipe)

dried figs

toasted walnuts

mascarpone cheese

finely diced bits of well-cooked bacon

stem and split the figs, stuff with toasted walnuts, top with a small dot of mascarpone, and then sprinkle the bits of bacon on top.  These are also lovely with a bit of blue cheese in place of the mascarpone.

Impromptu Dinner Party

Last night my husband and I hosted an impromptu dinner party. I had been planning a roasted chicken dinner as a test run for our Thanksgiving turkey. I figured it would be a good foil for the roasted potatoes and stuffing I am planning to make. Yes, I know....2 starches...but what's a girl to do? So, sue me...I didn't serve bread. I rounded it out with a sensible green salad and sauteed broccoli. Oh...and my husband's favorite--cranberry fluff.

Well....as I started preparing, I realized that I was making a lot of food for just the 2 of us. So I invited our neighbor who was bachin' it for the night. Once I invited an outside guest, the tables were turned. I had to have a dessert. My husband and I don't normally have dessert with dinner. It's a special occasion thing. Maybe because we eat stuffing and potatoes at the same sitting...maybe because we don't need it...maybe because life isn't fair. But, an outsider was entering our midst, and I had to have something.

I'm a trained pastry chef so you'd think this wouldn't be an issue with me. But it was. I didn't have a lot of time, I needed to clean my latest craft project off the dining room table, tidy the dining room from my general lack of attention to tidiness, clean the silver, dust off the crystal....
Did I mention that I wanted to use our wedding china, silver and crystal? I figured it was time...oh...and I broke out the Christmas china...maybe a bit early for that...but if I was cleaning, I was pulling all the stops.

Back to dessert.
I went with what I had on hand and it turned out great. I thought I would pass it on to you.
I buttered some ramekins...the big ones, about 8 ounces each...I then peeled and sliced about 1 1/2 apples per person, into a bowl. I used a combination of granny smith and fuji. Use a majority of granny smith...if you are mixing. You need to use a good baking apple for this. I sliced the apples pretty thin, probaby 1/8 of an inch thick. I then sprinkled some granulated sugar...use your judgement, just to lightly dust. I then added a dusting of cinnamon, more or less depending on if you love cinnamon...and about a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. Tossed it all together and crammed it into the ramekins. And when I say cram, I mean it. They cook and shrink and you need to pack them in. For the topping, I took about 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, a pinch of salt a small handful of toasted slivered almonds and mixed together. I then mixed in, by hand, about 1/2 stick of room temperature butter. The mixture was soft and gooey and I placed a dollop on top of each ramekin. I had a bit of granola on hand, so I sprinkled a bit on each one for a little crunch factor. When we sat down to dinner I placed them in a 400 degree oven and let them bake until they were nice and bubbly...about 30 minutes.

After pulling from the oven I let them sit until the proper dessert wine was poured (hey it was a party!). I topped them with vanilla ice cream and waited for the applause...still waiting...
Really, they were wonderful and so easy and a great last minute dessert. They maybe took 15 minutes to prepare and then they sat in the fridge until heading to the oven.

Dinner parties are fun. Sitting at a beautifully laid table is my favorite part. Cleaning up afterward is not.