A few years ago Mike was my boss. A good boss too. As long as I was doing my job, he let me operate without any interference. Since I left the company, we haven’t seen one another in about a year, so, I decided to invite he and his wife Valerie over for dinner.
I wanted to do a special dinner for Mike & Val. One with several courses and one that was leisurely. The weather cooperated and we were able to eat outside too.
Stuffing the figs
Since my figs were ripe, we started with fresh figs, stuffed with blue cheese, wrapped in proscuitto and grilled. The sweet fresh figs, warmed by the grill , filled with melting blue cheese and wrapped in salty Proscuitto were so, so good. We could have made a complete meal out of these and bread. But more courses followed.
Caprese
Wrapped in Prosciutto & Grilled
Next we had a Caprese Salad. I had gone to an Italian Deli earlier in the day and bought a ball of their house-made Mozzerella. I combined the cheese with some sliced organic Roma tomatoes and freshly picked basil. This was sprinkled with salt & pepper and drizzled with a balsamic reduction & olive oil. Ripe tomatoes, just picked basil, milky fresh Mozzerella drizzed with the dressing—-another delicious summer dish.
For our main course Alton Brown’s Shish Kabob recipe with some Pan d’Epi and soft whipped butter.
Marinating Sirloin Cubes
Ready for the Grill
Instead of dessert, I wanted a cheese course. At Whole Foods I found some Teleggio cheese that had a soft texture, a pungent aroma, and buttery flavors. I also choose a sheep’s milk Manchego that tasted nutty, sweet, and tangy and had a firm texture. My third choice was a milder Dutch Gouda, creamy and flexible with an underlying bitterness in the flavor.
The Cheeses were served with a delicious cracker called Raincoast Crisps that I bought at Whole Foods. These crackers are seriously good. The ones I got were full of toasty pecans, fresh rosemary and dark and juicy Thompson raisins. Sweet and nutty and perfect with cheese. Unfortunately too expensive at about $7 a box to buy very often.
Cheese Platter
I served a Whiskey Smash to start with. I’d heard of this cocktail (since it’s a classic), but have never tried it. I think it’s called a “Smash” because everything is smashed together before the alcohol is added. It’s simple with only a few ingredients, but when you can get fresh mint—this is the one to try. It was so good.
1/2 lemon cut in 4 pieces
5 mint leaves
1 ounce simple syrup
1 1/2 ounces Makers Mark Bourbon
Lemon wedge for garnish
1 mint sprig for garnish
Muddle the lemon pieces, mint leaves, and simple syrup in the bottom of a Boston shaker glass. Add the bourbon and shake well with ice. Strain into a rocks glass with ice. Garnish with a mint sprig and a lemon wedge.
We switched to a 2008 Bogle Chardonney with our first two courses and a 2007 Grand Pacific Vineyards heritage red with our last two courses.
Whiskey Smash Ingredients
Our wines
The evening was lovely so we sat outside, ate, drank and talked—-as we caught up with each others lives.
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