Livin' La Vida Loca at the Lundquist's!

Once again our hosts, Karen and David, did a tremendous job with a rainy summer evening.  Their indoor Fiesta Nite was a riotous success!

Everyone was greeted with a beautifully set table and bar as well as a cool, crisp margarita!  To accompany that was a fresh, homemade salsa and guacamole with blue corn chips.  Now, what's not to love about that?

Our first course was from the Bayons... who brought their own equipment in which to prepare the dish.  Oooooooh that's right folks:  a deep fryer!  There's not much that could have come outta there that wouldn't have been fantastic, really.  As it was, what did emerge on a lovely platter was just deliciousness:  deep fried empanadas stuffed with plantains and black beans served with a fresh salsa verde.  Crispy on the outside and just a touch of sweetness from the plantains.  They left me wanting six more, but with more dinner to go one must pace a bit.

Karen and I shared the main plate.  She & David with an entree of blackened shrimp tacos (chicken tacos for our land lovin' folk) and all the fixin's, and Josh and I with a grilled corn salad.  The shrimp was perfectly done and just spicy enough to get the tongue tinglin'.  The corn salad was a nice cool-down from the spicy shrimp.  Lime-cilantro dressing, cucumber, fresh tomatoes and green onion were tossed with the grilled corn.  I thought they paired wonderfully, and it was one of the few times throughout the evening where the conversation lulled... a good sign!

Jen & Andrew came through once again with a phenomenal dessert, and probably the most unique of the evening:  blueberry hand pies with sweet corn ice cream.  The hand pies were just delectably sweet and stuffed with fruit, and just big enough to pleasantly top off the meal.  The ice cream had a very delicate but true sweet corn flavor.  It was such a pleasant surprise to see just how well it paired with the blueberries!

Throughout the evening there were margaritas, rum cocktails, wine and sparkling wine and LOTS of laughter.  My head and my cheeks hurt on Sunday morning for reasons not unrelated.

It was a spectacular meal and only marred by the absence The Rhodes.  Thank you again and again, Karen & David, for such a beautiful evening!!  

Oooh, Aaaah, Ooooh - Small plates, big flavor!

I'm gonna start off with what I usually wind up with because it needs to be stated in advance:  Thank you Bayons!!  The idea for the night was to bring our usual sit-down formal dinners down a notch and keep it casual with appetizers, wine and roving conversations.  

Everyone did at least one, if not two, appetizers or small plates of a dish.  Some were put out immediately while others rolled out as the evening went on, making for something new and delicious to try all night long.  Chris & Chris put out a gorgeous, gooey cheese platter with a truffle triple cream and a plain triple cream both oozing out of their rinds, a true German Munster (quite stinky but very yummy) and a blue cheese & mascarpone terrine.  An antipasto platter complimented all the cheeses beautifully, and their Spanish white wine was paired very well!  They would have a whole other dish to serve, but for now all we could do was revel in the smokey flavors wafting in from the grill.

Karen & David put some very tasty combinations together for us as well.  Both platters had a Mediterranean flare, the first with kalamata and green olives, salami, marinated bocconcini and marinated tortellini - all skewered together; the second was roast beef crostini w/ a horseradish cream sauce and arugula.  The latter I was still thinking about the next day, wishing I'd had just one or two more - delish!

Josh and I had originally planned on a meatball of some sort, but on a recent trip to the Peach Tree Tea House in Fredericksburg, Texas we quickly changed our minds.  There we had a delicious chilled avocado soup that just blew me away... and I said, "We have to share this with the gang!"  The soup has a little bite from pickled jalapenos so we served it with a drizzle of sour cream sauce in its little shot glass.  The other dish we brought is one of my favorite appetizers:  chicken liver pate.  It did not look appetizing, I'll admit, but I was quite proud of my first attempt at this recipe (also my first Julia Child recipe, Mu-haaa!) - perfectly cooked, good texture and great flavor.  

G-BALLS!!  Now, I think this was the quietest moment of the evening, when everyone was tucked into a little bowl containing three unassuming looking meatballs from Gerald & Jillian.  These tasty little orbs, later dubbed G-Balls by a certain Texan lady, were wolves in sheep's clothing, for inside each lamb & kobe beef ball was a creamy potato-cheese center.  To top it all off was a homemade pesto coating each one.  Everyone was too busy Oooooh'ing and Aaaaah'ing to chat much just then.  But wait, there's more!  Later these two rolled out fresh pasta raviolis in a simple tomato-oregano sauce.  Again, rather unassuming in appearance but heaven to the taste buds!  

Okay... second course from the Bayon grill is ready: ribs.  Ooooooh yeah.  Smoked 9 hours and sauced to perfection.  Now, the best part about the ribs was Jen.  She'd never eaten ribs before.  How that could be I don't know, but the issue was remedied this night, and with ribs that raised the bar pretty high!  

It was Jen and Andrew who capped off our epicurean adventure with beautifully packaged  individual panna cottas topped with a strawberry-rhubarb compote and pistachio shortbread.  The cream set very well, great texture and so creamy and sweet.  Just what our palates needed!

Once again, everyone brought amazing, wonderful food & wine, and lots of smiles and laughter to share.  Thank you to the Bayons again for an marvelous night!  

Happy New Year!

It was Chinese New Year at the Rhodes' house!  Gerald and Jillian hosted a marvelous Asian feast to ring in the Year of the Snake.  It was all about good food and good fortune.

Jillian, true to form, put thought and effort into every detail of the table.  Gorgeous shades of red, orange and gold draped the table, the sideboard, even hung from the ceiling!  Mandarin oranges, flowers and tea lights dotted the length of a long, low table that was surrounded by multitudes of throw pillows as seating.

Josh (and Alyssa) started off the evening with a course of two pressed sushis.  One was a salmon & tuna square, the other was a Spam musubi.    The Spam had been pan fried in teryaki sauce and was sandwiched between small layers of rice with a hint of furikake (nori sprinkles).  The fish had been cut to criss-cross the square, giving the recipient about two bites of each delicious fish.

Karen & David brought on course number two with a rich and spicy tom yum soup with shrimp & mushrooms, accompanied with beautiful little handmade dumplings.   The unassuming presentation of the course belied the complexities of the flavors.  The layers within the soup were just delightful - each bite brought a new flavor forward... followed by a swift kick of spice.  The lemongrass was my particular favorite note.  The dumplings were little bites of heaven - delicate to the tooth, but a good punch of flavor!

The next dish was as close to a salad course as we came.  Jen and Andrew passed two plates - one of bright green butter lettuce leaves and then one of a ground chicken and peanut filling.  Following those was a sweet red pepper sauce.  Lettuce wraps done right!  So much better than the super salty, goopy PF Changs wraps.

After a brief interlude of more drinking (which happened to be white wine for the night, with a shot of sake here and there), gabbing and a leg stretch, Gerald and Jillian brought out the very traditional whole chickens for the main course.  Chickens.  Plural.  Each couple was presented with their own game hen, smoked and coated in an orange glaze.  It is very bad luck to cut the bird before it's presented at the table, so they were brought to the table whole and cut there!  Accompanying the chickens was a side of peanut noodles, again for good luck.  The noodles were delicious, perfectly sauced, and the chickens were just outrageously good!  Perfectly done, juicy and very, very flavorful.

Finally, to round out our Asian feast, Chris and Chris made traditional mooncakes for dessert.  Not excessively sweet, these delicious little pastries were filled with a smooth bean paste, and baked to perfection with a lovely golden sheen on top.  They were just three or four bites but it was the perfect amount.  And because no Chinese dinner would be complete without them, fortune cookies were passed for everyone as well!  While were enjoying our cakes and cookies, Jillian pointed out a little red bag next to each place.  A red envelope with money is traditionally given to kids at New Years, but since we aren't kids we got chocolate and lotto tickets!  Better in my book.

The Rhodes' hosted a really wonderful night with food that was out of this world brought by all.  I for one feel extremely lucky already to have such fabulous friends to share these nights with.     

nián nián yǒu yú