The Wind Attack

One of the reasons I love cooking so much is that it fills my apartment with so many wonderful smells. This was certainly the case this past week. I spent several days preparing to host a 4 course Xmas Dinner for myself and seven guests.

Upon arriving, one guest said “you can smell the food cooking from down the street.” This statement sounded almost believable to me. The smells in the apartment were so strong that I would become instantly hungry the moment I stepped foot into the kitchen.

The day before, my brother had baked Panettone while I was out at the Farmer’s Market. I returned home just as the loaves were coming out of the oven. I could smell the intoxicating aroma of caramelized sugar, yeast and fragrant lemon zest as I walked down the sidewalk towards my apartment.

When I opened the door, I was overwhelmed with what I could only describe as “the smell of magic.” The scent made it almost painful waiting for the loaves to cool before we could slice in and taste the magic.

This is a phenomenon that tends to be missing from restaurants. Sure, you get some kitchen smells into the dining room, but most of it is eliminated by industrial strength fans that send it high into the sky outdoors. But maybe we wouldn’t want to smell 14 different dishes cooking at once.

Which is another great thing about meals at home: the simplicity of a single menu, and sharing that menu with other people. Granted it’s difficult to get everyone to like everything on the table, but it’s an accomplishment to leave everyone satisfied overall.

And with that, I leave you with the menu:

First

Herb Salad with Persimmon Dressing, Baby Heirloom Tomatoes, Pear, Pomegranate and Rosemary Skewer of Grilled Figs and Brussels Sprouts.

I wanted the first course to be vegan salad, but when I wrote the menu I was feeling kind of uninspired. Salad can have a tendency to be boring. It wasn’t until I had bought all the fruits and vegetables for this dish that I really got excited about constructing this salad.

The design of the dish was actually conceived in the plating. That is to say, I kind of made it up as I went. The herb salad tossed in the subtle persimmon dressing was offset on the plate in a small pile. Off branched chopped baby heirloom tomatoes, a fan of sliced pear topped with a single raspberry, and another branch of grilled fig and brussels sprouts. Everything was finished with a sprinkling of pomegranate and another drizzle of dressing from the squeeze bottle.

The results was a light dish that was playful and fun. There was a whole range of textures and flavors: delicate greens, cool crisp pear, warm soft figs, crunchy pomegranate. The dressing added a unifying background note, but did not overwhelm the way a balsamic vinaigrette would have.

Second

Pizza with Egg, Smoked Purple Potato, Capers, Shallots, Rosemary, Thyme and Urfa Pepper Flakes

Somehow this pizza ended up looking and almost tasting like a pepperoni pizza, even though there was neither cheese nor meat on it.

After transferring the tomato sauce-topped dough to the pizza stone in the oven, I poured on egg whites, carefully trying to avoid them rolling onto the pizza stone. I then topped it with thin slices of purple potato which had been smoked with hickory chips in the stovetop smoker for 15 minutes.

As the pizza baked, the egg whites set up to simulate the cheese component, and the potatoes dried out just enough to have a meaty pepperoni texture. Upon exiting the oven, I drizzled egg yolk thinned with a bit of water over the hot pizza. The egg yolk set up into a rich and custardy topping upon the hot pizza.

Spicy urfa pepper flakes, pungent shallots and fresh thyme and rosemary worked with the other toppings to create a smokey and spicy flavor paired with a creamy base, kind of like cheese and pepperoni.

Third

Braised Grass-Fed Lamb; Smashed Sunchokes with Oil-Braised Garlic and Black Truffle Oil; Black Lentils in Mushroom-Zinfandel Sauce, Sauteed Collards and Kale with Shallots, Whole Garlic Cloves and Tamari

The third course was most responsible for the good smells in my apartment. The centerpiece of the dish was a whole leg of lamb, fresh from Healthy Family Farms at the Hollywood Farmer’s Market, smothered with garlic and rosemary and then braised for five hours with white wine. I slightly overcooked the lamb, but revitalized it on the plate by dressing it with a reduction of the pan juices and zinfandel wine.

This course was very well received, especially since half the guests had not eaten lamb before. The lentil sauce mixed well with the meat, and the umami factor from the tamari on the greens fit right in. The steamed sunchokes smashed with the garlic and truffle oil added a surprising unique flavor right in the middle of the plate.

Fourth

Panettone French Toast, Tea Poached Pear, Raspberry-Persimmon Sorbet

For dessert I decided to do something non-chocolate. I thought it would be fun to bring back the persimmons that were featured in the first course into the dessert. So I went about developing a raspberry-persimmon sorbet to top a french toast made of the homemade panettone mentioned above.

I also wanted to bring back the pear that was in the first course. I made tea poached pears to go with the sorbet and french toast. After the fact, I decided that I didn’t really need the pears. The panettone and sorbet were more than enough dessert.

The toast was warm and custardy and the sorbet cool and refreshing. Together it made for a relatively light dessert that left me satisfied, not stuffed, at the end of this epic meal.