poblanos rellenos

One small reason why I haven't blogged cookie much lately is because, frankly, it's been a series of mediocre efforts from me as of late. Not horrible food, but not food I'm especially proud of or care to post photos of. Perfunctory food.

That, sadly, is kind of what some friends got from me a couple of weekend back when I cooked a small dinner party while Conrad was out of town.

We haven't entertained much at all lately. Weird travel schedules, cozying up in the domesticity of home without others. We've been bad about seeing people. A couple of weeks ago we were going to finally - FINALLY! - see Allan, Paul, and Bryan. Weird struck again, though, and Conrad ended up being in Hawaii instead. Poor him.

I was pleased with the warm chips and guacamole I made - I've been on a Mexican kick lately, I admit. I also rather liked the simple mango sorbet that I served for dessert: fruity, light, refreshing.

The main course? Meh. The refried black beans were fine. The simple red cabbage slaw was colourful and fine. The chiles?

Well, at least one was decent enough to photograph.
I had made a turkey filling, poaching thigh meat and shredding it for sauteeing with some seasoning. Tasty, really. But the chiles were fragile, the filling heavy for the fragility, and the batter was a nightmare to work with.

I was not entirely happy.

Good company made a real difference that night as it all turned out very happily. So nice to see the guys again.

The other thing is, I was rocking the four-way apron. Totally adorable, if I do say so myself. ;-)