Nouveau Retro Cocktail Dinner: Italian Meatloaf

Italian Meatloaf

Adapted from the Seattle Times

Ingredients

2 pounds lean ground beef
1 pound sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
5 small garlic cloves, minced
3 cups fresh bread crumbs
1 cup chopped Italian (flat-leaf) parsley
2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon salt
Several grindings of black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup tomato juice
½ cup dry red wine
2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 ounces sun-dried tomatoes (packed in oil), drained
1 pound smoked mozzarella, thinly sliced

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Combine ground beef, sausage, onion, garlic, bread crumbs, parsley, Italian seasonings, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add eggs, tomato juice and wine. Mix thoroughly.

Lay out a large sheet of waxed paper. Spread the meatloaf mixture into a 12-by-15-inch rectangle on the paper. Arrange the basil leaves over the surface. Scatter the sun-dried tomatoes over the basil and arrange ¾ of the cheese on top.

Using the waxed paper as an aid and starting from one short side, roll up the meat like a jelly roll. Peel back the paper as you roll. Press on the meatloaf lightly to seal and place in a jelly-roll pan (a baking sheet with 1-inch sides) or on the bottom of a broiler pan that has been lined with foil.

Bake 1 hour. Place remaining slices of cheese on top and bake 10 more minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Makes 12 to 15 servings.

Notes:

Though the recipe doesn’t specify it, I recommend chopping the sun-dried tomatoes before putting them in the meatloaf as they can be a bit too chewy when whole.

Tom made a few changes in the meatloaf he shared with me. He used Neese’s hot sausage in place of the Italian sausage because he likes it. He was short on mozzarella, so he supplemented what he said with a bit of Swiss. And because he didn’t have any red wine or tomato juice on hand, he creatively substituted a combination of ¼ cup ketchup and ¾ cup champagne.

Note that this recipe calls for fresh bread crumbs, not the dry ones sold in stores. To make fresh bread crumbs, tear up a few slices of bread and process in food processor.

Nouveau Retro Cocktail Dinner

Hosted by: Jean and Dale

Nouveau Retro

1950 ð 2009

1950		March 14, 2009
Pigs in a Blanket ANYTHING wrapped in Bacon Dried Beef Rolls	Appetizers	Bourbon Sausage in Puffed Pastry Shrimp in Prosciutto with Rosemary and Blue Cheese Salumi Sausage with Goat Cheese and Basil
Jello	Palate Cleanser	Rainbow Delight
Frosted Meatloaf Green Bean Casserole Mashed Potatoes	Entrée	Hinterberger’s Meatloaf Broccoli/Cauliflower Casserole with mushroom cream sauce and Trader Joe’s Fried Onions Orange mashed Sweet Potatoes with HerbFarm Toasted Coriander Yams “ala mode”
Milk Chocolate Cake with White Icing (we tested tomato soup carrot cake and other tasty items, but just could not ignore the timelessness of chocolate!)	Dessert	Dark Chocolate Cake with Dark Chocolate Ganache and White Chocolate Whipped Cream

Beverage Assignments

Appetizers: Doug and Peg, John and Monique

          Martinis, Manhattens or other classic cocktail – you 4 talk and decide (we have cocktail glasses, 4 martini glasses, toothpicks, vermouth, ice) Can we borrow 4 martini glasses from you?  If you don’t have any, I will pick up 4 more.

Palate Cleanser: Mark and Dorte

Suggestions: Campari, Campari and club soda or another “fruity” appertif

Entrée: John and Monique, Doug and Peg

Dessert: Mark and Dorte


Drinks:
Seabreeze
White Port with Tonic
Pink Peggy

Pie and Tart Dinner

Hosts: Doug and Peggy

Pie and Tart Dinner

Appetizers:

Oysters on the Half Shell (aha, you say, these are neither a pie nor a tart....but it's January, the oysters are great and what the heck!)

     Wine:  Jean and Dale

Trio of Pizza Pies--Pissaladiere (French tart with carmelized onions, anchovies and olives), Pizza with spicy Coppa, blue cheese and roasted peppers, and Pizza with figs, Taleggio cheese and honey

    Wine: Mark and Dorte, Monique and John

Salad:

Green Salad 

Main Course:

Dungeness Crab Shepherd's Pie

    Wine Note: (from Union Square Cafe cookbook--"Calls for an opulent, buttery Chardonnay.  Look for a rich example from the Napa Valley or celebrate with a luscious Meursault or Puligny-Montrachet.)  Monique and John

Steak and Kidney Pie

     Wine: Mark and Dorte

Dessert:

Cranberry Chocolate Pecan Tart (with vanilla ice cream)

    Wine: Dale and Jean

Cake Dinner

Hosts: John and Monique

Appetizers:

            Pate Cake with Black Mission Figs and Walnuts

            Sun Dried Tomato Pesto and Fresh Chevre Torte

            Wines: Jean and Dale

                        Dorte and Mark

Salad:

            Salad with Mini-Blue Cheese Cake and Port Reduction

            Wines: Peggy and Doug

Main Course:

            Trio of ‘cakes’

*Smoked Shrimp Cakes with Roasted Corn and Poblano Relish and Cilantro Vinaigrette

*Etta’s Dungeness Crab Cakes with Spicy Remoulade Sauce and Green Cocktail Sauce

*Chayote Succotash Cakes

Sweet Potato Gratin

            Wines: Jean and Dale

                        Peggy and Doug

Dessert:

            Individual Lady Baltimore Toasted Coconut Layer Cakes

            Wines: Dorte and Mark

Below is the recipe….some notes:

1.       I used Madeira for the wine to soak the figs in; I quartered them before putting them in the wine (I see I was supposed to do that after – ooops); also I didn’t bother draining them after.

2.       The first time we made this we used the full amount of butter – it was extremely buttery – almost too much so (for us)…when we made it the second time (for Sat) we cut down to 1 ¼ sticks of butter.

Chicken Liver Pâté with Figs and Walnuts

 Bon Appétit | September 1999

Yield: Makes 10 to 12 servings Nonstick vegetable oil spray 1 pound chicken livers, trimmed 1 cup canned low-salt chicken broth 1 small onion, thinly sliced cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature 1 tablespoon Cognac 1 1/4 teaspoons salt 1 cup dry red wine 3/4 cup dried black Mission figs 1/2 cup chopped toasted walnuts Fresh chives (for garnish) Red leaf lettuce (for garnish) 1 French-bread baguette, sliced, toasted

Spray 3-cup soufflé dish or terrine with vegetable oil spray. Line dish with plastic wrap; spray plastic. Combine chicken livers, broth and onion in medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer until livers are cooked through, stirring occasionally, about 12 minutes. Drain cooking liquid; transfer chicken livers and onion to processor. Add butter, Cognac and salt to processor. Puree until smooth. Transfer to prepared dish. Cover and refrigerate until firm, at least 4 hours.

Bring wine to simmer in small saucepan. Remove from heat. Add figs. Let stand until figs soften, about 15 minutes. Drain wine. Quarter figs. (Pâté and figs can be prepared 1 day ahead. Keep pâté refrigerated. Transfer figs to small bowl; cover and refrigerate.)

Unmold pâté onto platter. Press walnuts onto sides of pâté. Garnish top with chives and some figs. Arrange lettuce on platter with pâté. Place remaining figs atop lettuce. Serve with toasts.

Lavender Dinner

Hosts: Mark and Dorte

Lavender Dinner

Friday, August 22^nd

Appetizers

Dried Apricots with Lavender Goat Cheese and Pistachios

Ligurian Focaccia with Caramelized Onions and Olive Tapenade

Wine Request

2006 Steele Mendocino Chardonnay DuPratt Vineyard, Susan & Joe

Foss Marai Cuvee, Mark & Dorte

Soup

Butternut Squash Bisque with Lavender Cider Cream

Wine Request

2006 P Ferraud & Fils, Saint-Veran, John & Monique

2006 Smasne Cellars Bunkhouse White, Yakima Valley, Doug & Peggy

Main Course

Roast Boneless Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Lavender

Herbed Rice Pilaf

Lavender Lemon Buttered Carrots

Wine Request

2003 Lowden Hills Cabernet Sauvignon, Walla Walla Valley, Pepper Bridge Vineyard.

Doug & Peggy

2003 Isenhower Wild Alfalfa Syrah, Columbia Valley, Dale & Jean

2005 Waters Forgotten Hills Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, Susan & Joe

Dessert

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Topped with Chocolate Lavender Brownies

Wine Requests

2006 Trio Vintners Zinfandel, Semi-Sweet Dessert Wine, Wahluke Slope, Dale & Jean

2000 Cockburns Vintage Port, John & Monique

Malbec Tasting

Host: Dale and Jean

Malbec Before:

Malbec After: 

Malbec: An Evening to Taste, Compare and Enjoy

We will compare six Malbecs (with six glasses each) in a side by side, blind tasting: two each from Cahors, Argentina and Washington State.  Glassware trinkets will match stocking-covered bottle trinkets to help avoid confusion.  Scoring cards will help us compare color, general appearance, bouquet, flavor, weight and overall impression. 

To “enliven our palates,” we will start the evening with a Torrontes accompanied by a light appetizer.  Torrontes is described as the “symbolic white grape of Argentina.”  I was told that an evening of Malbec tasting simply had to include a Torrontes. 

Although we plan to sit around the dinner table during this event, we will complement the Malbecs with “finger foods” allowing everyone (including the hosts) to concentrate on the wines distinct personalities.  We have chosen more robustly flavored foods to complement the full-flavored Malbecs. 

The menu will include the following:

Ceasar Salad Spring Rolls

Proscuitto Rolls with Arugula, Goat Cheese and Figs

Polenta “Pizzas”

Picadillo Empanadas with Mango/Pineapple Salsa

Chorizo/Sweet Potato WonTon Cups

Macrina’s Almond Cake with Light Chocolate Cream and Raspberries

Fondue Dinner

Hosts: Doug and Peggy

Classic Swiss Fondue with a Twist—Emmentaler and gruyere cheeses with carmelized shallots. 

Wine:  A dry crisp white perhaps?  As background, the Swiss used to use Neuchatel wine in the fondue, which is described as dry, pale gold, light-bodied, lively, crisp.  These days they use the most available local wine.  I assume this also goes for wine to drink with the fondue.

(Monique and John) 

Cilantro Clam Broth with Seafood—

Wine:   Dry white again suggested…

(Jean and Dale)

Roasted Pear and Radicchio Salad with Gorgonzola Cream and Toasted Hazelnuts

Wine:   Who in the heck knows…

(Monique and John)

Mixed Grill Fondue—Hot oil fondue—lamb, beef tenderloin and one other as yet to be determined meat.  Side dish—potato gratin.

Wine:  Something like a Burgundy—at least that’s the traditional choice—it’s open though—let’s say “red.”

(Jean and Dale--Dorte and Mark)

Fondue Chocolat-Noisette—Bittersweet chocolate fondue with hazelnuts.

            Wine:  You’re the experts.

             (Dorte and Mark) 

Japanese Dinner

Hosts: John and Monique

Appetizers:
Sushi Plate
.          Spicy Tuna and Cucumber Sushi Roll
        Food network - Emeril's Inside Out Spicy Tuna Roll with Special
Sauce
        We sprinkled with flying fish roe once cut.
.          Smoked Salmon and Jicama Maki Sushi Roll (no raw fish)
        This wound up not really being the recipe but instead smoked
salmon, cream cheese, scallions, and cucumber. Once cut we sprinkled
with white and black sesame seeds.
.          California Sushi Roll (crab meat, avocado, cucumber - no raw
fish)
        Not really a recipe either, just the cooked crab, avocado,
cucumber, and scallions. Sprinkled with black sesame seeds once cut.
.          Salmon Nigiri

        Served with pickled ginger and a mix of soy sauce and wasabi.

            Wine: Dale and Jean
                Ohyama "Ginsuika" Sake Junmai Ginjo
                2006 Singing Gruner Veltliner Laurenz and Sophie
Salad:
     Tempura Shrimp and Vegetables with Yuzu-Sweet Onion Salad
             Wine: Doug and Peggy
                2006 Coteaux du Languedoc    Hugues Beaulieu
Soup
 
Food network - Hearty Shiitake Mushroom and Miso Soup

        Wine: Mark and Dorte
                2006 Gisborne Unoaked Chardonnay  Coopers Creek
(I
was very impressed with this one - first time trying an unoaked
chardonnay for me)

Main Course:
     Rice Paper Wrapped Halibut with Shallot and Soy Sauce
     Braised Baby Bok Choy
     Wine: Dale and Jean
               Doug and Peggy
 2005 McLaren Vale The Hermit Crab Viognier
Marsanne (cold wet pebbles anyone?)
                        2205 Pinot Noir Bourgogne Louis Jadot

Dessert:
     Assorted Tropical Sorbets (Lychee and Mango)
     Coconut Rice Pudding
     Wine: Mark and Dorte
  2004 Schramsbert Cremant Sparkling Wine        (the "champagne"
with the good pedigree)

Haddock Steaks in Rice Paper with Shallot-and-Soy Sauce

Fish packages

4 Vietnamese rice paper disks (each 8 ½ inches in diameter)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh tarragon

4 haddock steaks, each 3-4 inches across and 1 inch thick (about 7 ounces each)

            (note – we have used halibut and sea bass instead)

Shallot and Soy Sauce

            3 tablespoons peeled and finely chopped shallots

            2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

            1 large garlic clove, peeled, crushed and finely chopped

            3 tablespoons rice vinegar

            4 tablespoons soy sauce

            1 teaspoon sugar

            ¼ teaspoon Tabasco

1 tablespoon canola oil

1.       Brush the rice paper disks generously on both sides with water, and set them aside to soften for about 5 minutes. (Note – I just soak them in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes). In a small bowl, mix the salt, pepper, and tarragon, and sprinkle on both sides of the fish.

2.       Place a piece of the fish in the center of the softened rice paper disk, then fold the rice paper around the fish to enclose it securely inside. Repeat with remaining fish and rice paper. Place the fish packages in a single layer seam side down on a plate, cover, and refrigerate until cooking time. The fish can be wrapped up to 4 hours ahead.

3.       Mix all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl, cover, and set aside until serving time.

4.       At cooking time, heat the canola oil in a nonstick skillet (IMPORTANT – do use non stick). When oil is hot, place the fish packages seam side down in the skillet and cook them, uncovered, over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Turn, cover, and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat, and set aside, covered for 3 to 4 minutes.

5.       Serve one package per person, with some of the sauce drizzled over and around the fish packages.

Chocolate Indulgence Dinner: Spiced Cocoa Dry Rub on Lamb Kabobs

Wines: Wines: Rulo Syrah 2005 (Washington)

                VaPiano Syrah 2005 (Washington)

This cocoa spice rub works especially well with lamb. Although the smell of this rub is quite chocolate-y, the flavor on the grilled meat is very subtle. A whole butterflied leg of lamb can be used.

Makes 1 1/2 cups, enough for 5 pounds of lamb

Ingredients

1 cup Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)

1/4 cup Kosher salt

2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes, chopped fine

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 pounds lamb shoulder and/or leg, cut into 1-1/2 inch cubes

2 red onions

Directions

Combine all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor, spice grinder, or mortar and pestle. Grind until the pepper flakes are crushed into a fine powder. Store leftovers in a tightly covered jar for up to one month.

Generously coat the lamb cubes with the dry rub. Using metal skewers, alter the lamb cubes with pieces of red onion. Let the lamb marinate for up to 12 hours or overnight in the refrigerator.

Light the grill. Remove the lamb from the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before grilling. Grill over direct coals, turning once after 5 minutes. If grill has a lid, cover the meat while it is grilling. Using an instant read thermometer, check the internal temperature of the lamb cubes and remove when the temperature reaches 125 degrees F for medium-rare meat.

Chocolate Indulgence Dinner: Mixed Green Salad with Whole Citrus Vinaigrette and Cocoa Nibs

 Wine: Kestrel Estate Viognier 2005 (Washington)


Ingredients

2 lemons
1/2 navel orange or 1 small orange
1 shallot
1 1/2 cups pure olive oil
1 teaspoon gray salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
8 cups mixed young green lettuces
Cocoa Nibs (available at specialty and gourmet food stores)

Directions

Juice the lemons, orange, and shallot in a juice extractor. Put the juices in a bowl and whisk in the olive oil in a slow stream to form an emulsion. Season with the salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Whisk again, cover, and refrigerate for up to 3 days. You should have about 2 cups.

Just before serving, place the greens in a salad bowl, add about 1/2 cup vinaigrette, and toss well. Add more to taste and adjust the seasoning. Finish the salad with a sprinkling of cocoa nibs to taste.

Variation for Blender: Use 3 lemons, 2 small oranges, 1 shallot, 1 teaspoon gray salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 1/2 cups pure olive oil. Cut off and discard the stem ends of 2 lemons and 1 orange. Cut into quarters, cut out the core, and remove seed. Place in a blender. Squeeze the juice from the remaining lemon and orange; add to the blender with the shallot, salt, and pepper. Pulse and then blend the fruit until as smooth as possible. With the machine running, add the olive oil in a thin, steady stream. The vinaigrette will be thick like a mayonnaise. If it is too thick, with the machine still on, thin with a little hot water. Taste for seasoning. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days. If the vinaigrette separates, return it to the blender and blend until smooth again.

Makes about 3 cups.

Notes:

I added sliced bananas to the salad.

Dressing: I pureed one lemon and one whole orange and I reamed the juices from one lemon and one orange (and otherwise followed the recipe)