Kent and I were lucky enough to spend the first weekend of August at Lake Tahoe with our friends Mike and Alana. The promise of warm summer evenings and a view of the lake called for the Year of the Dinner Party to relocate.
So Kent and I packed the Saabaru with a metric ton of food and headed out of town. We learned an important Bay area lesson: if you leave for Tahoe at the wrong time of day it can take 7 hours to get there. Good thing we overbought ice.
THE MENU
Appetizers
- Cheese and crackers, including the addictive Angus Barn blue cheese spread
Salad
- Spring greens with warm goat cheese croutons and shallot vinaigrette dressing from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Main
- Grilled steaks (from CSA) prepared by Kent
- Spicy shrimp from the Silver Palate (intended for an appetizer, but too messy for a finger food)
- Potato and Tomato Gratin from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
- Corn on cob with herbed butter from Dinner Party #6
Dessert
- Blueberry crumb bars with vanilla ice cream from Smitten Kitchen
Wines
- Several bottles of them - both red and white. Man, i really need to find a way to remember to get the names of the wine we drink.
THE PREP
Thursday night I went to grocery store and got everything I needed except what had to be bought day of (bread & shrimp).
Friday morning, I made the blueberry crumb cake and the potato & tomato gratin. Saturday prep was the easiest yet. On our way back from lunch, we stopped at the store for last items. Around 4 pm I headed into the kitchen to prep the shrimp, corn and salad dressing. The gratin cooked for a couple of hours. When cheese and crackers went out, the grill went on and the croutons went in the oven. With all this, I still had plenty of time to read a Thomas the Train book with Owen, play with Callie and drink wine with the non-toddler crowd.
THE VERDICT
This meal with the perfect balance of simple summer with enough complexity to be interesting, which I strived for and failed at in the July dinner party.
The stand out recipe was the shrimp appetizer (see recipe below). The steaks and blueberry crumb bars were excellent (and easy to make), and I would definitely do the salad again. The gratin was a huge disappointment. Even though I doubled the cooking time, the middle layer of potatoes were undercooked. It was missing something flavor-wise. Perhaps the cheese & cream that every gratin except this one usually has.
I really liked cooking away from home. I didn't care whether the house was spotless (which I am pretty sure is impossible with toddlers), and it forced me to prep enough in advance that Saturday was super relaxing.
THE EYE CANDY
THE RECIPE
from The Silver Palate Cookbook
1 3/4 pounds large raw shrimp
2T sweet butter
1T olive oil
1T finely minced garlic
2T finely minced shallots
salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
2T lemon juice, or more to taste (I used a bit more)
2T finely chopped fresh dill
1. Peel & devein shrimp.
2. In large skillet over low heat, melt butter with olive oil. Add garlic and shallots and saute for 2 minutes without browning.
3. Add shrimp, increase heat slightly, and cook shrimp for 3 minutes, or until just done to taste. Add salt & pepper to taste and toss well. Remove to bowl, scraping in all the sauce.
4. Add lemon juice and dill; toss together well. Cover and refrigerate 3-4 hours before serving. Adjust seasonings to taste.
5. Serve as first course or on the ends of long bamboo skewers as an appetizer. (Or in a bowl for people to scoop onto their plate next to their other food.)
