Birthday Party!

All week I thought about the menu for my birthday party. I knew I just wanted to have a BBQ, but I felt like I had to make it special. I worried about the vegetarians; I considered fish tacos; I toyed with making extra dessert (i.e. in addition to birthday cake). Then I realized that as much joy as I get over preparing food and sharing it with friends, I really needed to focus my energy on enjoying my birthday and not stressing out. So I (eventually) relaxed.

There were no culinary masterpieces...at least not made by me. The baked brie was made by a dear friend upon my special request, and it was greatly admired and appreciated!

Here's the brie before the oven:
And after being attacked by revelers:

Here are some photos from the spread, regrettably absent: my spectacular (half carrot-half chocolate torte) birthday cake and the bison burgers. Take my word for it, Yum! In their place, a photo documenting my boyfriend's sense of humor. You'll know it when you see it...it's also the last photo. Oh, ethnic grocery stores.

Cookbook Birthday Presents

Do my friends know me well, or what?!

I am so excited to get in the kitchen with my two new cookbooks, The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham (today's Fannie Farmer) and Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert.

My mom has a shiny gold copy of The Fannie Farmer cookbook. It always seemed slightly magical in its shimmeriness. I imagine my mom's copy used to have a dust cover on it, but it was long gone by the time I ever saw it. (Its chocolate chip cookie recipe is our family go-to.) Marion Cunningham is responsible for editing the Fannie Farmer cookbook in 1979...so maybe my mom's copy predates Cunningham's contributions. Several Christmases ago my mom gave me my own copy of The Fannie Farmer Cookbook (the Cunningham edition) along with Joy of Cooking.

I'm particularly looking forward to having friends over for brunch so that I can try Cunningham's Shirred Eggs with Mixed Herbs (eggs cooked in the oven in little ramekins or a muffin tin), Bridge Creek Fresh Ginger Muffins, Rhubarb with English Custard, and Chocolate Walnut Butter Bread French Toast, and everything else!

Simply in Season is organized by season with straightforward, one-page recipes that highlight produce that is...ahem...in season. So basically, its title is incredibly descriptive. I can't wait to make its Rhubarb Muffins (I'm really pining for rhubarb these days.), Velvety Vegetable Soup, Shiitake Mushroom Pasta, and Sesame Chicken Couscous Salad (peas!). I haven't even peeked at the Summer section. Patience is a virtue.

Food Friday: "Going Green" - for Dinner?

Here's a thought-provoking blog post from a good friend of mine working on nutrition and food safety issues...
Food Friday: "Going Green" - for Dinner?

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Buttery Risotto with Portobello and Parmesan

In an effort to make some comfort food on Sunday night and also clean out the cabinets a bit, I found this recipe on Epicurious. I adapted it to use Arborio rice because I discovered that the barley I have in the cabinet is not pearl barley, and would likely have taken to my 30th birthday to cook.

While trying to discern if I had pearl barley or not, I learned more about barley than I suspect many health food store employees know. (That's not to disparage very knowledgeable and helpful health food store employees!) Now I am 75% sure that the Goya barley in my cabinet is hulled barley (aka barley groats), but of course the package only says "barley," hence my uncertainty. Hulled barley is more nutritious than pearl barley because it is less processed/refined (not sure of the correct term here); only its outermost hull has been polished off. However, pretty much the only use for hulled barley is in stews and soups. And I like stew...but Sunday I wanted to throw some grains, butter and cheese in a pot and call it dinner.

This was the first time I've ever scraped the gills out of a mushroom. My initial reaction was that this sounded really fussy, but I figured out pretty quickly that the gills would have discolored the risotto, probably making it an unappetizing gray color. Point taken.

I would use more portobello next time (this was about 6 oz). Since I cut the amount of grain ingredient in half, I sort of made a half recipe, but I kept the portobello at full force. There are just never enough mushrooms. I'm frequently disappointed by the shrinkage of mushrooms.