Text 32785, 86 rader
Skriven 2009-12-28 13:19:00 av Glen Jamieson
     Kommentar till en text av Jim Weller
Ärende: TALE OF TWO DINNERS 91228
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 -=> Quoting Jim Weller to All <=-

 JW> I hope that everyone had as pleasant a Christmas as we did...

 JW> A tale of two meals:

 JW> Christmas Eve:

 JW> This year we continued our tradition of an all night long open house
 JW> buffet on Christmas Eve. It's our one really big dinner party of the
 JW> year. This year's theme centred around Spanish food. I had to work
 JW> right through to the afternoon of the 24th, so Roslind carried it
 JW> all off on her own, starting with the menu the week before and the
 JW> shopping the day before.

Looks like a truly wonderful and memorable Christmas spread.  Thanks
for sharing it with us.

Please pass on my congrats to Roslind for what must have been a
herculean effort, even with able assistants.

 JW> We considered but skipped, after considering the limits of our oven
 JW> and our time, several fiddley tapas, empanadas, a chickpea stew (as
 JW> we already had one legume dish) and any formal desserts such as
 JW> crumble pie or flan.

Good idea.  For that sort of spread, desserts would have not been
effort-cost-effective.

 JW> What we did have:

 JW> At an appetizer station by the bar: bowls of almonds, many kinds of
 JW> olives (black, green, variously stuffed with almonds, cheese,
 JW> pickled garlic, pimentos and jalapenos), a shrimp ring with the
 JW> standard horseradish-tomato sauce and a Spanish dipping sauce of
 JW> tomatoes, red wine vinegar, garlic and red pepper, hummus and
 JW> flatbreads (it's Moorish as well as Middle Eastern, so I figured we
 JW> could sneak it in), baked Brie with apricot preserves (OK so that's
 JW> French but we had some on hand and we like it) and Albondigas (pork
 JW> meatballs in a garlicky, spicy (cumin and coriander seed) tomato
 JW> sauce.

These days dishes like those can be found fairly generally all around
the Mediterranean.

 JW> At the main table we had a pork loin with brandy soaked almond
 JW> chorizo and ham stuffing, potatoes with Moro sauce, kale, Vasca
 JW> squash, a lima bean hot pot and fresh hot breads. The kale, my sole
 JW> last minute contribution was steamed lightly and then dressed with
 JW> olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. 

 JW> Much garlic was consumed!

As long as it was eaten by everyone.  :)

 JW> All three stores were sold out of chorizo but Roslind managed to
 JW> fake it nicely with regular sausage meat, garlic, red wine vinegar,
 JW> cumin and coriander. The "chorizo" was used in the meatballs, the
 JW> pork stuffing, the potatoes and the squash.

A bit of chili added in would help.

 JW> Rather than baked desserts we set out cookies, chocolates and fresh
 JW> fruit on the living room coffee table.

They would keep.

 JW> At the bar: a choice of 6 white wines...

 JW> Vina Esmeralda by Torres: a blend of Moscatel and Gewurtztraminer
 JW> Torres Vina Sol: fruity, hint of spice, made good Sangria.
 JW> St. Ursula: a favourite Mosel of mine, just slightly sweet in the
 JW> Dr. Zenzen: another fine Mosel
 JW> Les Ormeaux Sauvion: a wonderful Loire Muscadet.
 JW> Rodrigues blueberry wine from Newfoundland: finally a well crafted

 JW> Also 2 sherries: a Fino and some Walnut Brown 

 JW> And Spanish brandy: Fundador Brandy de Jerez, somewhat sweet in

They look fine, but where is the red?  A nice, strong Rioja would have
been in keeping.
___ Blue Wave/DOS v2.30 [NR]

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 * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Australia (3:800/449)