Friday entertaining

[drscott]

We had John (without Mark, since he was in Chicago on Lambda Legal board business) and a cute young couple we know via them, Chris and Andy, over for drinks and dinner last night. I was responsible for most of the prep work, and I tried out an easy canape recipe -- slice a narrow baguette diagonally to make 1/4" thick ovals, lay them out on a baking sheet, brush with olive oil, top with a coin-sized slice of tomato and sprinkle heavily with Gorgonzola cheese crumbs, then broil for about 2 minutes. Crunchy and flavorful. They were all eaten.

The rest of the meal was more typical broiled salmon, steamed broccoli, and wild rice, with salad on the side.

Dessert was another new idea from me, low-carb Breyer's chocolate ice cream with Nonni's "decadence" biscotti crumbles mixed in and a few drizzled lines of Nutella hazelnut butter (warmed to make it runny) and a mint leaf across the top. About 300 calories and really interesting compared to the thick slices of chocolate cake (800 calories) we get at Draeger's.

None of this would impress foodpoisoningsf, but I've rarely been patient enough to play the foodie, so I'm pleased with myself.

Comments

[dakoopst.livejournal.com]

coin-sized slice of tomato

Ach, but which coin? Dime? Half-dollar? I can't handle the imprecision!

Actually that sounds like a lovely meal.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Depends on your tomatoes. Mine were about quarter-sized, but larger or smaller would be fine, or you could add mushroom or olive slices. Be creative... I just ate the few leftover for lunch. As cook, I didn't get very many!

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

That's not true!

The crostini sound yummy. When the tomatoes are finished this year, you could substitute some well-drained fresh salsa and sharp cheddar.

A variation on your grilled salmon dinners (yes, you make this a lot) would be to pile the greens in the center of big plates, top with a few baby red potatoes and the steamed broccoli, some pitted kalamata olives, maybe some roasted peppers. Drizzle with olive oil or a salad dressing and place the grilled salmon portion on top. Same basic food groups, different presentation.

You lost me on the ice cream. But then, you guys actually pay attention to what you eat. I did a little googling, and I suspect that the Breyers recipe incorporates a lot of air and stabilizers. Which depending on your goals, is fine.

An alternate dessert, very Italian: a scoop of vanilla ice cream (Ben & Jerry's organic will do) in a bowl, splashed with about a teaspoon of scotch whiskey, and quickly sprinkled with a half-teaspoon of very finely ground espresso beans.

I'm also a fan of yoghurt for dessert, especially sheep's milk yoghurt drizzled with honey, and a few sliced figs.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Crostini, you say? [Googles it] I had no idea that's what they were called; I was riffing off what the caterers did at the Lambda Legal fundraiser last week. Now I see there's a small universe of variations on that theme.

One thing I don't do very well at yet is presentation. But for a larger group, putting everything on the plate as you suggest would work well compared to passing the food around. I'll try this and see if I can make it work. It helps if you know certain people aren't big eaters of one component or other, so you can slyly apportion them less.

The dessert goal is to provide something small and tasty which has limited fats and sugars. By using the (admittedly less wonderful) low carb ice cream, which substitutes some Splenda and some sugar alcohols for the usual sugar or corn syrup, you limit the spike in blood sugar afterwards, and by adding a small amount of biscotto and hazelnut butter you liven up the flavor at low "cost." How to keep eating as if we were younger, but without threatening our health and fitness goals, is the problem. Our guests are not so compulsive, so keeping them happy is also required.

Now if it was just us, it would be the sour plain yogurt (no sugar added) with berries of some sort and enough Splenda (equivalent of 2 or three teaspoons of sugar) to make it sweet. The denatured version of your dessert, which sounds lovely. I'll look for sheep's milk yogurt, which I've never had.

Reworking a cuisine to support healthy life past 50 is an interesting technical problem. The trick is not to compromise the flavor and satisfaction too much.

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

healthy life past 50

Which is why I'm waiting until sixty.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Assuming you make it that far. :-) A lot can be done with portion control, substitutions (good fats for bad fats, sugar substitutes, whole grains for refined), and making routine meals rigorously healthy so you can enjoy special ones on occasion.

I know how you love hearing about this! But I'd rather fight my family's tendency to early male deaths by heart disease than eat withotu restraint.