Shawn & Jackie came over tonight – early, so we could prepare dinner together. Fun! Jackie and I sorted out the menu ahead of time and came up with something simple that wouldn’t take too much concentration so we could also visit while we were cooking. Everything turned out great!
Shawn and Jackie brought the fixings for the appetizer and salad. The salad was delicious and had arugula, bacon, dried cranberries, toasted walnuts, blue cheese, and apple. We made up the focaccia dough first, which is as simple as dumping the ingredients into a bowl and stirring it up. The pears were simple because once they went into the poaching liquid,we could forget about them. And the mascarpone was a nice match with the pears.
- Baguette Toasts with Goat Cheese and Black Truffle Paste
- Rosemary Focaccia (No Need to Knead, p. 40)
- Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Spinach & Goat Cheese (Fine Cooking #69, January 2005, p. 62)
- Cape Cod Chopped Salad (Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredients)
- Potatoes Fondantes (Fine Cooking #64, May 2004, p. 59)
- Pears Poached in Port with Mascarpone (Fine Cooking #23, November 1997, p. 68)
Wine:
– Kosta Browne 2005 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir (Russian River Valley, California). Delicious, but more Pinot-y than some of their other Pinots. Has that earthy nose.
– Breggo 2006 Ferrington Vineyard Pinot Noir (Anderson Valley, California). Shawn and Jackie brought this excellent Pinot – I really like young Pinots. And we’re lucky to have friends with great taste in wine!
