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Foods from Chile Underground Dinner Party

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Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

I just hosted my first Underground Dinner Party! Sounds so illicit doesn’t it? Bootleg whiskey and gangsters (more on them later) is what comes to mind when I think underground.  But that wasn’t really the case at all!

This Underground Dinner Party was hosted by Foods From Chile, and took place in five cities across the United State at the same time. Along with my little soiree in Pasadena, there were other dinners in Los Angeles, as well as New York, Washington DC, Miami and Chicago. The best part was getting to invite some of my blogger friends to enjoy some of the fantastic foods grown by the Chilean people.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

Jackie from Domestic Fits, Greg from Sippity Sup, Chef Louise from Geez Louise, Lana of Bibberche, Cathy the ShowFood Chef and Allison, who has one of the coolest new food porn sites Fridgg came to enjoy the food. And last but certainly not least Phu Son Nguyen, Allison’s boyfriend, who tirelessly took incredible photographs of the entire party.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

I love this picture of Greg because he has a glass of wine in one hand and a spoon in the other. Why? Because he’s a food blogger! We do that kind of thing! And no, I am not wearing shoes.  I am not a big shoe wearer at home, even when I am hosting a party!

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

I love Allison’s smile. So open and beautiful. She is a gem. Unless she is flashing gang signs. . .

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

That’s actually Cathy flashing the gang signs, the Fridgg gang that is!  If you love to look at pictures of food, which I assume you do since you read food blogs, head over to Fridgg. You’ll find lots of food porn over there!

 

Chile is located at the bottom of South America, in the Southern Hemisphere. While we are enjoying our winters here in North America, Chile is experiencing their summer. That is why they are able to import fresh summer fruits and vegetables, so we can enjoy them year round.  Our dinners featured fresh raspberries, clementines, blueberries, cherries, avocados, almonds, walnuts and Chilean olive oil.  All these items are now being harvested in Chile.  The salmon fillets I cooked for dinner were flown overnight from Chile right to my doorstep. Talk about fresh!

The Endive Salad, made by my sous chef for the evening, Chef Louise, was so pretty, with endive leaves filled with fresh clementine pieces, raspberries, Chilean goat cheese and micro kale. It was then drizzled with Chilean olive oil.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

That’s Chef Louise serving her lovely salad to Lana and Cathy below.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

The Chilled Avocado Soup was one of the favorite dishes of the evening.  Avocados are always in my fridge, though I usually just slice, salt and eat them. Now, I will be making this chilled soup with them.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

 

The fresh fruit salsa was colorful and bright with flavor, the perfect compliment to the rich salmon.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

 

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

 

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

The salmon was served on top of the black rice, which made for a beautiful presentation! Almond accented bread crumbs covered the intense pinkness of the salmon covering the intense blackness of the rice. And it was good.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

My guests enjoyed Chilean wines along with their dinners.  I am a casual kind of hostess, so I made the dinner buffet style, instead of a formal sit down dinner. Everyone served themselves, and we ate, drank and were merry as could be!

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

 

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

See the lovely lady in the cool skirt above? That’s my friend Michelle, who I have known since we were 12. We met a music camp, were I played violin and she played clarinet. Yes, I embrace my geekiness, and wear my nerdette hat proudly! She doesn’t write a food blog, but is a very talented interior designer. Next to Michelle, in the lovely rose blouse is Jackie, who has this recipe for candied bacon on her blog that makes me cry tears of joy. Seriously.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

We even had entertainment during dinner. She isn’t exactly Alicia Keys, but my baby girl played a piano composition for us! She was so proud of herself when she heard the applause! She even took a bow!

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

We enjoyed our sweetly juicy Cherry Berry Crisp along with more Chilean wine and conversation. The good people at Food From Chile provided my guests with lovely parting gifts stuffed with Chilean goodies, including wine, olive oil and Chilean Merken spice.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son NguyenPhoto courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

A good time was had by all, though that could have been all the Chilean wine.

Photo courtesy of Phu Son Nguyen

If you would like the recipe for the Avocado Soup, Endive Salad or Cherry Berry Crisp, please visit the Foods From Chile website.  I’ll give you the salmon recipe in my next blog post, so stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

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Tri-Color Potatoes, Japanese Eggplant and Fennel in Wine Sauce

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Tri-Color Potatoes, Japanese Eggplant and Fennel in Wine Sauce

Sometimes vegetables get the short end of the stick. They are an after thought, if even thought of at all. Many vegetables are not familiar to people, so they will not buy them and cook them. I count eggplant and fennel among those.

See those lovely Japanese eggplants in the photo above. I am proud to say I grew them all by myself! My little backyard garden has been providing my family and I with fresh herbs, Tuscan kale, cucumbers, sugar snap peas and eggplant this summer.  There really is nothing better than picking something, rinsing it and eating it all within moments. And I know there are no dangerous pesticides on my vegetables, so I can feel good giving them to my family.

I recently planted some yams which had sprouted in my kitchen. I was a bit slow cooking them, so when they started growing some nice roots, I figured I may as well plant them and see what I get! I may plant some other potatoes too, since I can eat potatoes daily. Must be the Irish ancestors influence. . .

Speaking of potatoes, I received a sample bag of potatoes from The Little Potato Company, called the Terrific Trio. There were red, yellow and blue varieties mixed together. I had just picked some of the ripe eggplant, and wanted to cook them as soon as possible. Potatoes and eggplants together sounded tasty.

And then this arrived at my door. . .

Is this not the most gorgeous pot? It’s a Martha Stewart Collection Enameled Cast Iron 6 quart Dutch oven. Seriously, I have been dreaming of an enameled cast iron pot forever. Mind you, I have enough pots and pans to open a cook’s store, but I still coveted this particular piece of cookware.  Like some people dream of a red sports car, I dreamed of a red Dutch oven. Oh, and I’ll take a red sports car too.

Now I could cook my eggplant in style, with the additional of the fancy potatoes and some fennel. And wine. Lots of wine. As I always say, don’t cook with a wine you will not drink. I would recommend a lighter, fruity wine for this dish, one that is not too acidic.

Once the vegetables are cut, most of the work in done. The shallots are slightly caramelized, the fennel is softened, then everything else goes in to simmer.

Cover the pot, set the timer and walk away.And then you get this. . .

A colorful, flavorful and fabulous vegetarian main dish or side dish. Don’t be afraid to use vegetables with different textures and different colors. They will hopefully become staples on your dinner table.

Recipe: Tri-Color Potatoes, Japanese Eggplant and Fennel in Wine Sauce

Ingredients

  • 4 tablespoons butter, divided
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
  • 2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 pound Japanese eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
  • 1 1/2 pounds small potatoes
  • 2 cups white wine

Instructions

  1. Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and the olive oil over medium low heat in a large, deep pot.
  2. Cook the shallots for 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until lightly caramelized.
  3. Add the fennel, salt, thyme and pepper.
  4. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the fennel is softened.
  5. Add the eggplant, potatoes and wine, stirring to mix well.
  6. Cover the pot with a tight fitting lid.
  7. Cook over medium heat for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and cooked through.
  8. Remove the pot from heat and stir in the remaining butter.
  9. Adjust the seasoning if needed.

Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 40 minute(s)

 

Cheryl D Lee on Foodista

 

* I received my dream enameled cast iron pot as part of a promotion sponsored by GigaSavvy Marketing

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A Budget Friendly Valentine’s Day Dinner

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Valentine’s Day is here. Have you gotten something for a loved one? Is it the same old thing you always get your loved one?  Why not try something new, and maybe get a little spice and romance out of it?

I saw a news report recently stating that the average amount spent for Valentine’s Day is around $80.  If you are on a strict budget you may not have that much to spend, but still want to do something special.  Here is a great idea for Valentine’s Day on a budget, or anytime for that matter. I went to my local Smart & Final store, and with a budget of $25 I started shopping.

Cooking a meal with someone, then sharing that meal can be so romantic. Stirring the pot, licking the spoon, feeding each other the lovingly created meal by candle light while gazing deep into each other eyes.  Ah, romance.

But not everyone is comfortable in the kitchen, or may have very limited culinary skills.  Those with skills sometimes get overambitious and get in way over their heads in the kitchen.  Keeping it simple is the way to go. And one of the simplest, but most loved meals is pasta.

While cruising the aisles of the store, I saw a promotion that was perfect for this meal. Buy a bottle of wine, and get a free bag of pasta. Into my cart went a bottle of merlot and a bag of penne. To save time I then grabbed a bottle of tomato- basil marinara, so there would be more time for the romance part. No need to simmer the marinara for hours, just open the jar. I headed over to the cheese section and got a  very nice three cheese blend, to garnish the pasta.

Now for dessert. Since it is Valentine’s Day, I had to buy the traditional heart shaped box of chocolates!  Come on, it really is not Valentines Day without one!

And those beautiful red roses pictured on the box made me feel like I got flowers too!

And the grand total for all my purchases? $18.31.  I LOVE THAT! That is a Valentine’s Day gift that will not break anyone’s budget.

Remember, cooking together shouldn’t just be for a holiday or special occasion.  It can be done anytime.  And if you have children, get them involved and make it a family affair!

*I received a gift card from Smart & Final to buy these items, because I am a member of Collective Bias.  In full disclosure I am being compensated for this post, but my opinions are my own and cannot be bought.

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