A Mesa Grill Menu

As I mentioned the other day, we threw a bit of a dinner for some friends from out of town. Here's a few pictures (not clickable - it's a sneak peak).

Jalepeño Pretzels (straight, not curly)

Black Bean Soup with Tomato/Serrano Relish,  Toasted Cumin Crema and Avocado/Tomatillo Relish (dropping the planned Grllled Red Onion Relish 'cause there was no room in the bowl)

Frisee Salad with Chorizo and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette (and some tomatoes)

Spice Crusted New York Strip, Twice Baked Horseradish Potatoes, Corn with Roasted Chiles, Mesa Grill Steak Sauce

The 8-hour bread was a normal looking country loaf, the Red Chile Pesto Mussels looked like mussels and the Vanilla/Lime Crème Brulee looked like custard in a dish so no real impressive pictures of those are included here.

Quite the Dinner

The pretzels:

This is just a quick post to mention how nice the dinner was; as were the guests.

The menu, to remind us, was:

A few deviations from plan were; beer & wine instead of Margaritas; some crackers, liverwurst and BrieOka cheese were added; the 18 hour bread was only an 8 hour version.

It turned out to be way too much to eat; we'll be enjoying leftovers for the next couple of days. I probably should have left out the mussels - that course was overdoing it (although they were very good). All in all a great time ; I love cooking for people and appreciate having new victims - - so, thanks.

Every item on the above menu is a separate recipe or preparation (some are two) so the next few days the blog ought to be full of details galore of the fun of going through all this; with some recipe ideas and some hints and tips - - what went right and what went less well.

Dinner Plans

With all the social websites out there there's more opportunity than ever to reconnect with the past; a good thing I think - it enriches ones' life.

So, what with Facebook linking old high school colleagues together I've got a friend coming over for dinner on Saturday. Someone who I haven't seen since attending her wedding oh these many many years ago (about 30). And she's bring that same guy along that she married back then! That's incredible (well, it's unusual these days - congratulations you two). They've crossed from the other side of the country to go to a wedding out here in our neck of the woods - - here's hoping that maybe their good example will rub off on the wedding couple.

Anyway, it's an opportunity to reminisce; chat about the past, what everyone's experienced in the last nn years. And, it's a chance to throw together a dinner (which I always enjoy having an excuse for). Now that the Cordon Bleu French cuisine cookbook is "done" for the season (at least, the first semester of it [we'll resume after the summer]) we need a new theme - which is to be "southwestern" - as epitomized by the Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill Cookbook: Explosive Flavors from the Southwestern Kitchen cookbook (that's quite a too long name for a book).

So, we've put together some ideas for a little menu for Saturday:

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Mesa Grill Margarita
Jalapeño Pretzels

Black Bean Soup
Tomato – Serrano Relish Grilled Red Onion Relish
Avocado – Tomatillo Relish Toasted Cumin Crema
18 Hour Bread

Frisee Salad
with Chorizo and Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

Red Chile Pesto Mussels

Spice Crusted New York Strip
Twice Baked Horseradish Potatoes
Corn with Roasted Chiles

Vanilla – Lime Crème Brulee

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All from the book (except the 18 hour bread). And amazingly simple to prepare once you get some prep-work done.

I love the casualness of this style of food. It maybe looks like a lot; or a lot of work - but it's not. It's closer to being like a barbeque than a dinner party.

Done - The Dinner

This is a corner of someone else's kitchen; which I did not destroy. And, below, a close up of one of the appetizer trays. No other photos 'cause I was working and actually forgot about pictures.

The client was happy - and the guests seemed to be ; everything on every single plate was thoroughly and completely eaten (and drunk-up for that matter). And these weren't little nouveau cuisine sized meals. There was a load of food: 7 ounce entrecote steaks (+ sauce), a similar amount of rice&mushrooms, a whole mess of 3 different vegetables. That was on top of appetizers, a spanish tortilla, salad with foie - and later, dessert.So, that's a good sign. Oh, and a couple of folks made inquiries about doing private dinners for them (not serious inquiries at this point, just casual interest/curiosity).Way too much time spent planning and prepping; due to my nervous energy no doubt. I've got to figure out how to do one of these with less time&effort investment on my part on the front end. Now, I have to go and tidy up the mess in my kitchen.

The Dinner - Today

The nerves have settled somewhat; especially since I started prepping food this morning. I find time in the kitchen to be zen-ish; soothing (albeit stressful getting everything done & remembering not to forget anything).
Looking at the $/time-investment ratio this doesn't really pay all that well. But hey - it's great fun.

Incidentally - this was the week that the hot water heater decides to go on the blink (dead). I've been doing the hand-washing for dishes using hot water from the electric kettle. The repairman showed up today and the (repaired) tank will have heated up at just about the time I leave the house this afternoon to go to the gig. Ya gotta smile.

Too Many Posts in One Day

I'm frantically messing around in the kitchen and taking breaks to write posts about it. Oddly enough it seems more productive to be blogging and cooking at the same time. Blogging gives me breaks from cooking and cooking gives me something to blog about.
Synergy.
That, and nervous energy.
It's midnight:30 and I'm in the kitchen peeling vegetables. I should go to bed instead.
Actually, a wee whisky would go down okay right about now.

Kitchen Explosion

No, not really. It only looks like the kitchen exploded. In mid recipe-testing / hacking around (and making dinner too) I thought I'd commemorate The Dinner preparation with this photo.

Butterflies in the stomach; tomorrow's the big day. But I figure I'm ready.
Well... I hope I'm ready.