A birthday and another Christmas Dinner

Tonight, I had the pleasure of hosting three co-workers and good friends of mine - Pika, Dawg-D, and Tam-Tam. The Djinni wasn't available due to a travelling commitment.

The arrivals were late, but that was fortuitous as final preparation took longer than expected. By the time everyone arrived, the main course was ready and the sides were only minutes off, and the desert was going into the oven.

Today's menu:

5 pound sirloin tip roast, done in the slow cooker with 2 onions, some celery, some shredded carrots, a couple of garlic cloves, rosemary, 2 cups of beef broth, a can and a half of Guinness stout (16 oz cans), some pepper, a litle browning liquid, some salt, and some Otima Port (note to self - get some cooking port!). The whole was slow cooked for 8-9 hours after being quickly seared in a pan beforehand.

Fresh Asparagus, steamed (a bit too much, but there was a lot going on at the time) with a hint of lemon.

French bread and butter. Didn't have time to make Irish Soda bread.

Roast potatoes done in olive oil, rosemary, 4 garlic cloves plus some garlic powder, thyme, a wee bit of salt, and some chopped onions (both green and yellow). The potatos themselves were a mix of red and yellow skinned with white flesh. Peel them, chop them into fair sized chunks, throw them in a bag with the seasoning, shake vigorously, lay out on a cookie tray, bake for 40 minutes at 400 F, though I should have done it at 375 as the bottom got a bit done. I should probably have turned at the 20m mark, but I didn't have a lot of spare cycles.

Salad made with mixed spinach and field greens, chopped celery, cherry tomatos, chopped red pepper, alfalfa and radish sprouts, and shredded carrots. I forgot the raisins. The dressing consisted of some olive oil, some guiness, a bit of mustard, some salt and pepper, a bit of garlic, and a hit of balsamic vinegar for some zing.

Desert was a white cake (from a mix) with coconut flakes added, as well as with a couple of good glugs of #1 maple syrup and a bit of pure almond extract baked in the fluted tube pan. This time I think I either didn't put enough non-stick starch on the pan (particularly on the middle pillar) or I put too much (I forget if I did the first one with or without). I also probably didn't let the cake sit long enough after coming out of the oven due to time constraints. So when I flipped it, it came in two parts. Repairs were very much jury rig, but I didn't feel duct tape or pop rivets would be a good plan. The cake was iced with french chocolate premade Betty Crocker icing. The still hot cake turned the icing into a kind of warm, gooey goodness. Add some French Vanilla ice cream and you have the makings of a portion of heaven.

For drinks, there was Westmalle Trappist ale, Sir Percy Perry (Pear Cider), Strongbow Apple Cider, and later I broke out the new fun - 70% ginger beer, 30% ginger ale, with an additional 15% dark rum. Spicy, with the gingery warmth, fizzy, and good. A big shout-out to my friend Kevin for that one!

Everyone left stuffed (although trying to avoid the confessions, each and every one eventually confessed to going off to a date, although one called it 'a group of friends at a South African musical event (including the girl who gave him the ticket)', another called it 'meeting my study partner', and a third was very evasive until he admitted hooking up with his ex. I hauled out the old "sour milk put back in the fridge to see if it got better the following week" joke, but it was in jest. I'm happy for all of them.

Everyone agreed I could cook. Happy birthday was sung to Dawg-D, and Djinni was missed. Missed among other reasons by me because the conversation devolved into topics I'm sure would never have come up with a lovely young lady present. *grin*

I did discover that Pika and Tam-Tam like Kate Beckinsale and that Dawg-D like Brigitte Fonda. My admitted preference was a classy (as acknowledged by all) Aishwarya Rai. I later admitted to liking Tea Leoni as well, although unlike the others who all appear to have characteristic tastes, I like the variety of beauty in humans. I compared their tastes to people who only ever drink their beer - Budweiser for instance - whereas I prefer to sample the world's many great brews.

And in case you are dead and buried and don't know Aishwarya Rai, let me help you:



I'm blessed to have such good friends. We toasted the birthday boy and the Queen (though being an Acadian that was a stretch for him - family history is not forgotten so easily).

I'm working all weekend, but I'm feeling properly seasonal after 3 good hosted dinners and 3 successful productions of food. Apparently, I can cook. I just need to find a girl who likes to eat well. :)

Pre-Christmas Dinner

Tonight saw a pre-Christmas dinner with my parents and with the Forsythes, my second family in Ottawa. Toni Forsythe brought some lovely Irish Soda Bread (great stuff) and a lovely bottle of Inniskillin Riesling. I already had a bottle of Inniskillin Pinot Grigio open (man, is that ever a nice wine!), so the Riesling will be for the next event.

Appetizers were light this time as everyone had to get moving. I got them started off with a nice drink (some Black Bush, an egg-nog with spiced rum, some of the wine, or a lovely Winter Ale from Great Lakes Brewery that included hints of orange and cinnamon) and then some melba toast with brie (either pepper brie or brie with a cranberry-pine nut compote), warned up to melt the brie slightly in the microwave.

Then I worked on preparing and serving the main course: A 3.75 pound slow cooked pork loin roast, done in a sauce consisting of two cans of whole-cranberry sauce, 1 sliced apple, 1 cup chopped dried apricots, 1 chopped onion, 1/2 cup sugar (and we could have omitted that) and 8 ounces of apricot nectar, plus I think a pinch of salt, garlic, pepper, and a wee bit of crushed red pepper. The recipe called for less, but it was also for a small crock pot and a 2.5 pound roast. It cooked on low in the cooker from 8:00 am until 4:15 pm and then let sit for a few minutes (very important, you should always let meat, even BBQ'd steak, cool for 5-10 mins before cutting as the fat re-disburses and makes the meat much easier to cut and much better tasting) before carving.

We a couple of cups of the warm liquid (and the bits of fruit), put it in a small saucepan with some Knorr Veloutine (non-clumping thickener) and boiled it for a minute or two until it thickened up into an excellent gravy/fruit topping.

That was accompanied by steamed asparagus (steamed with lemon juice in the water and drizzled with more lemon before serving), the aforementioned Irish Soda Bread, some Bombay Chicken Salad from Loeb (pasta, chicken, raisins, maybe some broccoli, a curry-mayo type sauce), and a Caesar salad with extra bacon.

Dessert was another creation of mine: A raisin-date-coconut rum cake. The constituents were 2/3 cup chopped honey dates, 2/3 cup chopped raisins, about 1/3 to 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut shredded, 1 package of yellow cake mix, 1/2 cup canola oil, 1/2 cup coconut rum, 1/2 cup spiced rum, some cinnamon, a wee pinch of salt, and 3 eggs. Into the ring-pan, cook for 43 minutes at 325. The glaze was made of 2 tbsp spiced rum (probably dark would have been good), 2 tbsp pineapple juice, 2 tbsp butter, 2 cups of fine/confectioner's sugar, and I added some coconut. The glaze you beat until it is sort of homogenous, but I think you should probably warm it up too (recipe didn't say to, but it would have decrystalized the sugar).

Made some Irish Breakfast tea to wash it down and everyone left well fed and well stuffed. Some Christmas music was enjoyed, good companions shared their stories and their warm regards, and the cleanup will only be a small scale emergency. :)

A job well done, even when I did forget to peel potatos to roast (discovered too late to address, but we had enough food otherwise).

It is moments like this eveing that remind me why I put up with some of the other moments life throws at me.

Warmth of the season to one and all!