tasty!

La Dolce Vita July 2, 2010

Posted by charmainec in Dessert, Italian, Pasta, Savoury, Soup.
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I feel really horrible that I haven’t had time to update this blog thanks to the mad schedule for the last few months with finals and a professional exam to prep for. I doubt I’d have time to cook or bake for the next few weeks at least. =(

Fortuitously, I managed to spend some time planning and hosting an Italian-themed dinner party at my place a few weeks back to commerate our unofficial graduation.

To surprise my guests, I told kept the food on the menu a surprise.
When my guests offered to bring the wine; I managed to resist divulging the menu.

The whole time I prayed that no one would bring red wine because I hate red wine it wouldn’t go with the food.

So the moon was out, and the weather was fine and lovely; we sat at the table in the veranda sipping on our glasses of white wine. (Yes, everyone brought white wine: we enjoyed bottles of Sauvignon Blanc and Moscato. Prayers do get answered! I’m hoarding the third bottle of sparkling white wine muahaha)

The Dinner Menu

Starters

Crostini with Italian Herbs

For the crostini I baked the baguettes and sliced them diagonally before seasoning them in olive oil, salt, black pepper and a mix of Italian herbs (I bought a mixed bottle of Italian Herbs from McCormick’s but I’m quite certain they included oregano, rosemary, basil and thyme; browse through 3~4 Italiano recipes and you’ll catch the drift.)

I also cut the ends and ugly bits into cubes and tossed them back into the oven for another 10 minutes and presto – we had croutons.

Obviously, they were gone in less than the time it took to prep. =)
[I enjoyed the last crostini with my Hoegaarden later. it was AWESOME.]

Soup

Cream of Mushroom Soup with sliced Baby Portobello Mushrooms

Okay I don’t really have much to say because I didn’t exactly add value to the cream of mushroom soup besides adding the huge chunks of baby Portobello mushrooms. Oh and the awesome croutons. =p

Mains

Ravioli stuffed with chargrilled vegetables in Tomato Cream Sauce

I am very very pleased to brag say that (besides the ravioli) I made the pasta sauce from scratch. I bought the San Remo’s ready-made packs of chilled pasta from Cold Storage; you should be able to find the pasta near the dairy section. (I made 2 trips while prepping for this party! >.<)

I added some bits of crab meat to enhance the appeal and nutritional value of the pasta. Caveat: raw crabmeat stinks to high heaven. To prep the crabmeat, I sauted small pieces of shallots and garlic in butter and tossed some ginger with the crabmeat to get rid of the fishy taste. DELISH! =)

Parmegiano cheese is definitely a must for pasta. It was simply bellisimo.

The sauce tasted so good I polished the leftovers for the breakfast, lunch and dinner the next day.

Dessert

Buttermilk Creams with Strawberries

Deviating a little bit from the Italian theme (I thought Panna Cotta was a bit boring), I decided to do this Panna Cotta-inspired Buttermilk Creams recipe with Strawberries.

I’ve learned that I should really read the recipe the day before the party and listen to that inner voice which urged me to prep and chill the dessert the night before.

The chilling time required was at least 6 hours ~ overnight.
I started making this 3 hours before my guests were to arrive. -.-
Thankfully, my guests were distracted by eclairs patient enough to wait for the buttermilk creams to set.

The end-result was light and mousse-like texture. I modified the recipe a little and the sweet vanilla flavour was contrasted by the slightly sour tang of the strawberries, soaked in lemon juice.

In the angmoh spirit, we decided to indulge in Brie and crackers. The cheese and water crackers went so well with the moscato, which had this lovely crisp green apple flavour.

The night of reverie and merry-making seemed to go by so quickly; the tealight candles lent a comfortable warmth to the table setting and sounds of mirth and laughter could be heard all the way til one in the morn. I’m glad my neighbours are so understanding despite the fact that the party was organized on a weeknight and my friends took their lots.

As always, dinner is never about the food; it’s always about the company. It was very nice to see people bond while enjoying food and wine.

In retrospect, I’m glad my hair didn’t catch fire.