Impromptu Two: AFMFL #2 Dinner Report

Good morning.  Hope everyone is enjoying this sunday morning as much as me:  laying on the sofa getting a tan.  :)  Back in the saddle after nearly 2 weeks without a dinner!  Clock's a ticking.  Made it to Singapore and  back in one piece, might post some seperate food pics from there later but first wanted to share with everyone how last night went.  See, this weekend is a double header with both Saturday and Sunday nights having a dinner in the hopes of catching up.  So I threw together--and I do mean threw together--a quickie last night for an intimate group of 3 and used two recipes from the book so I could "count" it as a dinner:  Pain d'Epinards (spinach loaf) and Gratin Dauphinoise (a kind of scalloped potato dish).

The potatoes started out just sliced and thrown in cold water until cream and milk and butter were used to make a thin bechamel and poured it over the pototoes (layered in my new cask iron/enamel dutch oven thank you very much!) then some grated cheese over the top before being thrown in the oven for an hour and baked until crispy goodness below.

The spinach loaf was very reminiscent of a dish my mother cooked a lot growing up called Arkansas Spinach Rockefellar from that great contribution to mid-South cooking from the one the only Junior League of Little Rock:  Little Rock Cooks.  It's basically a spinach casserole held together by some egg and cream.  My sous chef Davina and I made the executive decision to throw some leftover cheese in the bottom of the lined pan before pouring in the spinach, which left the "top" (once flipped over, to be covered in cheese).

The cheese used tonight by the way is a wonderful yellow cheese from the far north of France called Mimolette.  Highly recommended, and more delicious than cheddar.  Used it in both dishes. 

Also boiled a whole chicken.  Is this becoming a theme?  Dang that's two dinners using a boiled chicked or the meat from it.  This wasn't from the book as a recipe wasn't required:  boil the bird in broth for an hour, period, done.  However this was for a Vietnamese ceremony that I performed last night.  You see, Chinese New Year's is a week from today.  Vietnamese (and Chinese for that matter) have a superstition that 7 days before the end of the new year, your household "kitchen god", in Vietnamese "Ong Tao" will leave your house and make the long journey to heaven to report to the jade emperor the affairs of your house for the past year.  This report will be considered when the jade emperor bestows good or bad luck to you and your house in the coming new year.  So the object of the ceremony is to send him off in style.  A bunch of other things will ensure that he has all the things he needs and that he's guaranteed to make a positive report for your household.  A chicken of course and lots of fresh fruit.  Candles and incense complete the spread along with a small dish of salt, a small dish of uncooked rice, and three shots of:  strong vietnamese coffee, water, and some whiskey (yes I broke out the bottle of Makers Mark and opened it just for the occasion).  All of these things have significance to help him in his journey, with my favorite being the whiskey--so he gets drunk and only remembers the good stuff when he gives his report, forgetting any bad things that might screw up your chances for good luck next year.  He also traditionally rides a coy to heaven and many people on this day set loose live fish in to the canals and rivers.  I alas, did not go this far.  Let's hope they have enough coy for him at the nearest Avis rental outlet.  Bon voyage, Ong Tao.....  :)

 

I had planned an elaborate spread of cheese to follow the meal.  Very French, don't you think?  My dear (French) friend Fabrice tells me that his father always finishes each meal with a course of cheese.  But alas, the three guests that made it after the main meal were too full and refused.  So I guess more for this evening.  Thanks to Davina, A, and Craig for coming over at such short notice and also thanks to my lovely boyfriend X who, while unable to attend because of work, did help a lot with the preparations in getting everthing chopped up.  

  

Some kitchen sink bread that I made up earlier in the week got whipped out and baked up for the evening.  Can't really remember what is all in here.  Olives, jalepenos, capers, fried shallots, who can say...

And what's the best thing of all about all these dinners?  THE LEFTOVERS--all for me!  :)  See below.