October 20, 2012 Luke’s Birthday Party Dinner
 

Luke and Amy arrived from Santa Fe at around 4:00 in the afternoon and we began to cook.  Amy brought a large pot of pinto beans in a cumin and chili rich broth that we all agreed should be simmered slowly on the stove to reduce the level of liquid.

I decided that I would like polenta with the beans because I like the combination of corn and beans and we decided to start cooking around 6:00 p.m. for the expected dinner at 7:30 to 8:00 p.m.  We also decided to make a squash and Brussels Sprout medley, so we took the Guatemala Blue squash we had bought from Amayo Farms at the Farmer’s market and one of our large squashes from our garden at around 5:30 p.m. and Amy and I cubed and skinned about one-half of each which was enough squash cubes to 2/3 fill a baking dish. Then we chopped two brown onions into cubes and Amy crisscross cut and peeled about 2 cups of Brussels sprouts and Suzette threw in about ¼ cup of peeled garlic cloves tossed the medley with olive oil and we started roasting the medley at around 6:30 p.m. at around 350˚F for about one hour.

We then turned our attention to the polenta.  Luke was the last person to make polenta and he quickly found a recipe on his smart phone that said to start by pouring polenta in a 4 to one ratio of water to polenta into boiling water and stir frequently.  We had a bit more than 2 cups of polenta so I heated 12 cups of water in the microwave and sliced three portabella mushrooms and sautéed them in about 2 Tbsp. of butter in a large enameled casserole for a few minutes.   Then I poured in the hot water and lidded the casserole until the water came to a rolling boil and added the polenta and we started stirring.  The recipe said it would take about 30 minutes but we must have stirred for an hour during which time Suzette and I decided to add about 1/3 cup of heavy cream and about ¼ cup of white wine and finally we all decided to add some grated pecorino cheese for flavor, all the time adding salt and a bit of white pepper until we could taste that flavor and the polenta had thickened into a smooth heavy paste and I could stop tasting the gritty uncooked bits of corn.

While Suzette, Luke and I were messing with the polenta, Amy made a lovely caprese salad by cutting slices of fresh mozzarella cheese, some cumato tomatoes she bought at Whole Foods, some fresh tomatoes Suzette brought from her organic garden in Los Lunas and some fresh basil leaves we had picked in our garden this afternoon when Suzette and I harvested the basil and tarragon.  Suzette made a light balsamic and olive oil dressing for the salad and by 7:30 p.m. it was ready, so they dressed the salad.

At 5:30 p.m. we had also put into the oven a large French yellow pimply skinned squash and two spaghetti squashes to bake.  Then we toasted 1 cup of pinon nuts and Suzette made a fresh batch of pesto with the fresh basil w had just picked.  While I continued to stir the polenta, Suzette scooped the stringy flesh out of the baked spaghetti squash and mixed into it with large scoop of pesto, while saving the seeds.  Then she and Amy cut the large French yellow squash lengthwise and saved its seeds.  The French squash must be baked until the flesh gets very soft in order to soften the thick skin on the squash, so it yields a very soft, mushy flesh.  We have found that the best way to cook that squash’s flesh is to emulsify it in some way.   Our preferred method of cooking it is to make squash soup, but this evening Suzette put it in the mixing bowl of the Kitchenaid mixer and made creamed squash with milk and butter, like mashed potatoes.  

I had earlier selected a bottle of Concha y Toro 2004 Xplorador Cabernet Sauvignon from the Central Valley of Chile, a bottle of La Montanana Spanish Viura (Trader Joes $4.49) and a newly acquired bottle of Trimbach 2000 Pinot Gris Hommage À Jeanne ($37.50 bought at a Trimbach wine tasting).    At  7:30 p.m. we were through cooking and Willy had come home and suggested that we open gifts, so I opened the Trimbach Pinot Gris and we sat in the living room and sipped while Luke opened his cards and gifts.  Luke had expressed an interest in jewelry, so earlier in the afternoon around 5:00 p.m. before we started cooking I went to one of the drawers off the kitchen and fetched an old silver bangle incised with evil eye and sunrise symbols and polished it until the images became clear but did not lose their patina at Amy’s instructions and got my reading glass and we were able to see the marks, which said Sterling .925 and Taxco Mexico.  Luke loved the bracelet which fit him and which he pushed half way up his forearm where it stayed easily.   Willy gave Luke a gift card and a card.  I had bought a picture card at the Coop where I stopped to buy organic ice cream of a Morada in Mora bathed in yellow light of late afternoon summer sunlight with a stormy dark gray sky behind it.  We all agreed that the pinot gris was very special, not too sweet, not to metallic, not to tannic, nicely balanced with a bit of each.  Soon several of Luke’s friends arrived and we poured them glasses of the Trimbach Pinot Gris which made a lovely aperitif and we started plating our dishes from the simmering pots of food in the kitchen and began eating in the dining room.  We started at 7 persons and ended up with 10 persons sitting around the dining room table.

I thought the Chilean Xplorador was pleasantly complex and yet fruity for a cabernet sauvignon, but I preferred to drink the Spanish viura with its fruity slightly citrus edge to it.  Most others drank the red wine so I went and got another bottle of Australian red.

I loved the combination of polenta covered with Amy’s pinto bean stew and then garnished with Suzette’s creamed French squash.  With the Roasted squash and Brussels Sprout medley, one plate of food satisfied me and everyone else.  I did not see anyone go to the kitchen for seconds.  Also, no one seemed to want ice cream and cake.  Perhaps that was because I opened a bottle of Trimbach Mirabelle Brandy, a clear plum brandy and we all tasted it.  Most found it too harsh and Suzette added a squeeze of orange juice to hers and others also thought the orange juice improved it.  Amy lay down and Luke left with two friends for a concert of David Bowie music and Rachel and Chase came and when I served Rachel and Chase some of the Mirabelle brandy, Rachel started asking about other types of spirits such as cognac, so I poured those at the table a V.S. cognac and then a sip of XO Otard cognac and then Rachel asked, “What is grappa, so I poured a grappa and explained that it is the second crushing of grapes and then their fermentation and then their distillation, while cognac is the first crushing of grapes and then fermentation and then distillation.  Then we talked about Rachel’s sweater she was wearing that she had bought in Gothenburg, Sweden and she mentioned that she had had acquavit in Sweden.  When others asked about acquavit, I poured those who wished a small glass of Jubelium’s Acquavit and then I asked those who wished to try apple brandy and poured small glasses of Calvados. At that point everyone was finished with tasting and the party broke up around 1:45 after a watching a bit of Saturday Night Live, Suzette and I went to bed, while Willy stayed in the kitchen smoking his hookah with his friend Will.

Bon Appètit