Autumn vegetarian dinner

You know, a challenge in the kitchen can be fun. No, really. I don't mean some sort of horrid, demeaning Quickfire Challenge thrown at me, no. Instead, I like the notion of having some sort of restrictions or parameters tossed my way and going ahead in respect to them.

This time, it was vegetarian cooking.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you say. Big whoop. Lots of vegetarians out there. And I agree. But Conrad and I are not vegetarian, and it's second nature for me to reach for chicken stock (to name one thing) to get some good food going. A little bacon to enhance that? You get the idea. Worse: given Conrad's need to regulate his starches, I couldn't do a pasta or risotto and thereby take an easy way out. I didn't eliminate carbs, but they were in check.

Deborah and Harry came for dinner, and a nice dinner it was. Conrad and I had all the clean up/set up well in hand by the time they arrived, so that started the night off for us on a good note. Table set, flowers out.

All was ready.

First up, with a bottle of a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, was a bowl of a white bean puree, plus some nuts, caperberries, and buttered toasted bread slices. Simple.

First course: empanadas.

Or quesadillas, I guess - perhaps I need to re-consult the Rick Bayless cookbook I took the dough recipe from. I filled the little turnovers with roasted trumpet mushrooms, sauteed with white onion, thyme, and chopped reconstituted New Mexico red chile, and mixed with grated chihuahua cheese. Fried them up, set them atop a roasted tomatillo sauce and some sour cream atop. Despite my normal aversion to mushrooms, these were rather good.

Round two (three?): salad. Water cress with roasted grapes glazed with sherry vinegar, toasted pistachios, and manchego cheese. Once again, a simple course, but decent. The grapes are my new obsession.


The "main course": savoury pumpkin souffle.
I fried sage leaves and used them for garnish along with some thin slices of Parmesan.

All in all, I'm quite pleased with the meal. Some new recipes, for starters. Tasty food. Decent plating. Easy clean up. Can't ask for more than those, not for a dinner party, and not with such enjoyable guests. Bonus: having guests means we cleaned up the place a bit. Always nice.

Also, it must be said, little is hotter than a husband who does my dishes on the rare occasion I ask him to. ROWR!