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I had friends for dinner again Saturday night, and wanted to do something simple.  Simple for me translates to one-dish meals (or at least one dish main courses).  So, Saturday night we had a big, green salad, Mario Batali’s Ragu Bolognese (with a couple of slight alterations), and a dessert I made up and don’t know what to call it yet.  I filled Pepperidge Farm Pastry Shells with Almond Pastry Cream.  Then I made a Strawberry Sauce.  I sauced the plate, and topped the cream filled shells with fresh strawberries drizzled with more sauce.  They were really good.

Here’s Mario Batali’s recipe for Ragu Bolognese:

Mario Batali’s Ragu Bolognese

¼ cup e-v olive oil

2 medium onions, finely chopped

4 ribs celery, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb. ground veal

1 lb. ground pork

4 oz. pancetta or slab bacon, finely chopped

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 cup whole milk

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Salt & pepper

In a 5 to 8 quart pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot.  Add the aromatics and cook until translucent but not browned.  Add the veal, pork, and pancetta, increase heat to high and brown stirring frequently.  Add the tomato paste, milk, wine, and thyme and bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low and simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours.  Season with salt and pepper.  (Ragu can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen up to one month.

Toss the ragu with green tagliatelle and serve with Parmesan Reggiano.

The things I did differently, were 1) I let it simmer for more like 2 1/2 hours, and 2) about an hour before serving I added about 1/4 cup of cream.  It was a real hit!

Enjoy!

It’s my birthday, and once again LJ has pulled off an event weekend that made it so special.  We had a mini staycation in Dallas.  The best way to describe it would be to say we ate our way through the weekend.

It started with lunch on Saturday at Jasper’s, Kent Rathbun’s incredible restaurant featuring, as he describes it, gourmet backyard cuisine.  It is a lovely place with a warmly modern decor.  The ceilings are incredibly high, and the tables are dark wood but the lighting and accessories are all metal and glass.  I wanted to eat something light considering I had an idea that much more was to come that day, but, alas, Mr. Rathbun is not known for light.  I had the Smoked Salmon Cobb Salad, and it was delicious.  I expected thin slices of lox-like salmon arranged in a Cobb Salad, but instead was treated to a generous portion of perfectly cooked salmon filet.  The salad had the expected boiled egg, apple smoked bacon, tomato and avacado with a rich creamy dressing over all.  What utter decadence!  LJ had what was called Grilled Chicken Breast, California Avocado.  It was a lightly grilled breast of chicken over a lovely sauce of avocado puree with avocado chunks and grape tomatoes accompanied by Paula Lambert’s specially made creamy cottage cheese.  LJ said it was perfectly cooked and delicious.

Later in the afternoon, we checked into the lovely Warwick Melrose Hotel.  The old, stately Melrose is where my parents spent their wedding night 63 years ago.  It has been lovingly restored, and it retains its old charm while being perfectly comfortable.  Our room was a mini suite on the 8th floor with windows all along the side facing downtown.  It had a homey little sitting area and luxurious draperies and bed linens.  The bathroom floor was marble and it had all the amenities you would expect from a hotel of high caliber.  The Library Bar is still warm and inviting with its dark wood walls and high ceilings.

The highlight of the evening was dinner at Rise No. 1.  It’s a tiny little place with antique French googaws filling the room, wooden tables with mismatched chairs, a circle of stone in the center, and an exposed kitchen.  The restaurant specializes in souffles, and they are remarkable.  But first, the salad.  LJ and I started with a Rise No. 1 house salad with baby lettuce, bleu cheese, toothpicks of granny smith apple, pecans, and the most amazing “Pecan Vinaigrette.”  It is like nothing I have ever had anywhere.  It’s made with fragrant walnut oil that almost makes you think of chocolate when you take the first bite.  We were overwhelmed with the salad, but Rise was just getting started.  Oh, and the bread!!!  It was without a doubt the best bread I have had since I was in France.  It made me understand why, when Jacques Pepin was asked what his favorite food is, he answered, “really good bread and really good butter.  What better can you get than that!”  This bread was perfectly crunchy on the outside and slightly chewy on the inside.  I could have made a meal of it.

My entree was Truffle Infused Mushroom Souffle and LJ had Jambon & Gruyere Souffle.  We kept going back and forth trying to decide who had the best.  Each one was intensely flavored and light as a feather, a feat I don’t believe is easily accomplished.  Whe the waiter asked me at one point how the meal was going, I believe I teared up!  Then came dessert.  I could not resist my all-time favorite, Grand Marnier Souffle, and LJ had Bread Pudding Souffle.  He insisted his was best, but for me you can’t beat Grand Marnier.  Anyway, both were flawless.

After dinner we went back to the hotel and went into the Library Bar for an after dinner drink and a little entertainment.  They had a lovely female singer who wasn’t bad, but it was glorified karioki with prerecorded background instruments.  I wonder how good she could have been if she had been accompanied by live piano and drums or bass which would have allowed her some room to express herself instead of following a pre-set arrangement.

Anyway, what a lovely birthday.  Great food, beautiful surroundings, lovely music - it doesn’t get any better.  How lucky I am to be married to someone who loves these things like I do, and generously lavishes me with them.

I had another dinner party that I thought went really well.  It was lots of fun and the menu was quite easy.

Insalata Caprese

Pork Medallions with Mustard Caper Sauce

Soft Polenta

Asparagus with Lemon Butter

Red Wine & Pear Sorbet

Pecan Wafers

I varied the Insalata Caprese just a little by fanning out the beautiful tomato slices (from a fresh farm stand in East Texas) and scattering bocconcini (little mozzarella balls) on top with chiffonade of basil sprinkled over all then drizzled generously with fruity extra virgin olive oil.  I placed the pork medallions over the polenta and napped them with the sauce.  With the bright green asparagus, it made a really pretty plate.  And the Red Wine & Pear Sorbet (thanks Everday Food) was beautifully rose colored with a little Pecan Wafer (thanks, Nick Malgieri) nestled next to the scoops of sorbet.  After we finished dinner, LJ went into the kitchen and retreived the container with the rest of the cookies, and my guests sat at the table and proceeded to eat every single one of them.  It made me laugh.

The recipe for the Pork Medallions with Mustard Caper Sauce is my own.  The recipe below serves 2, but it can be easily multiplied for larger parties.

Pork Medallions with Mustard Caper Sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

½ lb. pork tenderloin, cut into 1” medallions and slightly flattened

Salt and pepper

1 shallot, finely minced

½ cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 tablespoons capers

2 tablespoons cream

Heat olive oil in a 12” skillet over medium high heat.  Sprinkle medallions with salt and pepper.  Cook for 3 minutes on each side until golden brown.  Remove to plate and cover with foil.

Add shallots to pan and sauté until soft.  Deglaze pan with white wine, scraping up fond.  Reduce wine by half and add chicken stock.  Add juices that have accumulated on the plate from the resting medallions.  Reduce slightly and add mustard, capers and cream.  Cook, simmering until slightly thickened and bubbly.    Serve sauce over medallions.