Eating, Drinking and being Merry

Friends don't let friends leave without food.

We had some of our best friends for a long weekend of eating, drinking and being merry. They actually helped us get caught up by power washing the deck and helping us transplant tomatoes. YEH!!!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Now for the food. Thursday night we had Moroccan Tuna skewers with couscous and grilled vegetables.

Friday night, we started with poached garlic soup.







We smoked some rib and grilled pork chops along with grilled vegetables including grilled sweet potatoes and wonderful wilted spinach salad with raisins and homemade garlic croûtons.


Saturday night we had an Indian inspired evening with dal in a spicy tomato butter (palak moong), curried chicken with yogurt, basmati rice, samosas, cilantro chutney, raita, garlic relish, roasted eggplant in yogurt, lots of beer. On Sunday, we went to a pot luck to support the orchid society's spring orchid auction for lunch. We didn't have much time, so we used what we had in the freezer and made mini-turkey burgers on dill rolls with cheddar cheese and succotash with butter beans and corn. Sunday night was a Mexican/Greek combination. I had been dying to try this Diana Kennedy recipe for angel air soup and it turned out divine. The huz thought it was better than spagetti, which is awesome. It's a recipe that everyone who likes pasta and heat will love! After that, the main dinner was

souvlaki, tzatkiki (leftover raita), pita, a Greek salad with lots of olives and feta, and spanikopita.

Oh, and we took the eggplant and yogurt and added sesame tahini and made a pseudo babaganosh. We picked grape leaves for dolmas but ran out of time! Another yummy weekend, over and done, but with great friends who love to eat!

For recipes, check out the website!

Garlic in Everything

Having received a local magazine that had recipes from local restaurants, I saw a recipe for garlic soup from Restaurant Starlu in Durham. I have eaten there and the food is quite good and the recipe was really different than the one I have made before and that is on the website. I (kind of) tried this new recipe and liked it very much too. If you haven't had garlic soup before, it is really very subtle and delicious; very much like French onion soup.



I used a lot more garlic than the original recipe called for and made several other revisions as well. I used a mess of garlic, already peeled, about a pound. I them in an oven proof container and added between 1/4 and 1/2 cup olive oil. I covered the container and baked them for about an hour at 325. Then I drained off the oil, reserving it to use to sauté croûtons to serve with the soup. Add about 4 cups chicken stock and simmer about 30 minutes until the garlic is really starting to fall apart. Puree with an immersion blender and season with salt and pepper. Top with halved grape tomatoes, sliced avocado, the croûtons and squeeze in a dash of lime. You're in for a treat.



We've been on a roll, actually. I haven't eaten rabbit in years, mainly because it isn't widely available but I saw a recipe in Michael Chiarello’s The Tra Vigne Cookbook for Braised Rabbit with Winter Root Vegetables (and garlic) and gave it a try with risotto and braised leeks. Yummy. Have you had braised leeks? They are very easy and a delicious side. The recipe is already on the website.




Then last night we tried the recipe for the salmon roulade from Mustards Grill Cookbook by Cindy Pawlcyn. Beautiful and really not difficult, just a bit time consuming. It is stuffed with parsley and (you guessed it) garlic. We served it with the Kalamata Olive, Orange and Celery Relish, roasted potatoes and green beans.

Eating well in Carolina!

Note: No Entree Vous update yet. I'm still working on finding the right place!

Cheers!