whine & dine

I’m starting work soon, and as such I doubt there’ll be very much going on here. No, I’m not killing my blog off, but just warning you all of the changes to come. The main reason why I’m so sad about work starting is that I doubt I’ll have the time (nor inclination) to entertain as much as I have been for the past 8 months or so. Anyhoo, I also just threw what will probably be my last two dinner parties of the year.

The first was for one of the bunny’s very good friends’ belated birthday dinner/present, and I let her choose her menu for the evening, which was pretty fun. The dinner was started off with a bite-sized take on the Insalata Caprese, which is one of my favourite salads of all times (pictured at the start of the post). Following which, I made (much smaller versions of the) roast chicken caesar salad.

The two things that the birthday girl requested for were my burger, and my chocolate fondant (served with homemade vanilla bean ice cream). I attempted to make my own burger buns, and while they tasted pretty nice, the shape came out a little warped. I’m determined to crack the secret to burger buns before I start work! The homemade buns housed a doublecheese mini burger, which was served with a (not so) secret sauce made of japanese mayo, hot sauce, maggi chilli sauce, and some other things which I don’t really remember anymore. Oops.

Tonight, my favourite cat and S.B. came over for dinner. They had been badgering me to let on what I was preparing for the past few days, but I managed to hold out even when they arrived a couple of hours before dinner to play Wii and xbox while I finished up the preparations. The main course was a duck ragout pasta (which turned out a little watery, but still yummy), and I made double chocolate cakes for S.B. and myself, and apple crumble for the cat and the bunny; both served with my vanilla bean ice cream on the side.

So what was the big secret? Having recently watched Pixar’s Ratatouille, I’d been feeling a bit itchy finger to try out the titular dish. Otherwise known as Confit Byaldi, Thomas Keller’s rather fussy version of the hearty vegetable stew was the one solely vegetarian dish that really had me itching to try it out. Further, I hadn’t really seen any posts on the food blogs I lurk around on any successful (or otherwise) attempts.

As you can see, my plating skills still leave something to be desired, but other than that, it was successful! And pretty darned tasty too. All 4 of us gobbled it down, gawking at how flavourful a “plain vegetable dish” had turned out to be. (We all shy away from vegetarianism, if you haven’t guessed by now.) I can’t really be bothered to type out the recipe since it’s so bloody long, but it’s easy enough to find online. In fact, I’m gonna be really generous and provide you with a couple of links (more than one in case one stops working) so I hope you try it too! It was really, really fun to make, and the reaction on our guests’ faces when they saw me coming out of the kitchen was just insanely satisfying.

Recipes for Confit Byaldi by Thomas Keller, available on dailybulletin.com, NYTimes, LA Daily News, and one extra link to Smitten Kitchen’s interpretation. Enjoy!