It's been nearly a month already

Time flies, not only when you're having fun. Time just flies. Since I last posted, I went to Santa Monica on a business trip and managed to see the inside of LAX, the inside of a hotel, the inside of an office building, and that was about it. My hotel was about two or three blocks from the ocean and the pier and I never even saw the water. So I can't even say that I ate anything particularly good on that trip either because I ate room service while I was working through dinner. Overall, the trip sucked -- although productive from a work sense, it sucked from a culinary, seeing and doing sense.

We went to The Who concert at the Verizon Center downtown. It was a fabulous show. I've never seen so many people my parents age having such a good time, screaming out the words, and just being thrilled to be there. The band performed some of their most well known hits and had some super graphics in the background. You'd never guess that Daltry and Townsend are in their 60s based on the performance they gave us that night. With classic moves from swirling the microphone to the windmill arm motion on the guitar, they delivered the whole package and gave a real crowd pleasing performance.

Saint Patrick's Day came and went. We skipped the corned beef and cabbage and green beer and Irish soda bread. In fact, I think we went out for Vietamese food that night. We live very close to Eden Center in Falls Church, which is a community of stores, services, and restaurants/cafes catering to the very dense Vietnamese population in the DC metro area. We love the grocery and several of the eateries and have made good acquaintences and friends since we started frequenting them nearly seven years ago.

Daylight Savings Time came and went. The first day of Spring came and went. I usually think of March as a long month. Wonder what happened this year.

We had the fascia, soffits, gutters and downspouts all replaced on our house this month too. Ah, the expenses of home maintenance.

All during that time, our Aerogarden was growing and we were clipping and all of a sudden we had enough to make a mixed herb pesto to coat a flank steak. I had clippings of cilantro, mint, sweet basil, purple basil, dill and chives. I put that in a food processor with almonds, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper (left out the cheese), and had just enough to slather my flank steak and broil it. Yum. About a week or so later, I had another bunch of clippings and made a stick of herb butter. We had a pat or two of that on steamed asparagus one night.

Last night we had three parents over for dinner. I made an hors d'oevres platter of 3 cheeses (brie was the most popular, an aged smoked gouda, and gruyere); almonds, walnuts, and dates; and canapes of thin pumpernickle squares smeared with a mixture of dijon mustard and cream cheese, then topped with a piece of smoked salmon, a sliver of cucumber and a frill of dill. We served a Touraine Sauvignon Blanc. For the main course, we had chicken roasted over a bed of root vegetables and a side of steamed broccoli. Wines with the meal were Tavel rose (semi-dry) and a Languedoc red (young, fruit forward, light red). For dessert, I made a chocolate panna cotta with homemade whipped cream to top it off and store-bought almond (not marzipan) biscotti (from Whole Foods, so they may as well have been homemade, they were delicious). I didn't serve any dessert beverages -- I didn't want the folks to not be able to drive home!

The chickens were not quite three and half pounds each from the Lebanese Butcher. I got two of them thinking about having left overs for another night this week. They were beautifully barely pink and super fresh (I didn't really want to know HOW fresh), not yellow like the Perdue factory ones. I stuffed them each with half a lemon and a big handful of parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (apparently I was going to Scarborough Fair). No trussing. No roasting rack. I stuck my hand under the skin of the breast and rubbed a little pat of the herb butter in there and on top, then set the two chickens atop a bed of baby carrots, fingerling potatoes, chopped parsnips, and chopped onions (all the veggies had been tossed with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper beforehand) in a roasting pan. Shoved that in the oven at 400 degrees Farenheit for approximately an hour, hour and 10 maybe. I set the chickens on a cutting board and covered them with foil while I dished up the root vegetables onto the platter and dished the broccoli up. Then I cut the chicken (leg and thigh pieces, wings, breasts) and laid the pieces on top of the root veggies and we tucked in. The chicken was juicy and the veggies just giving to the fork.

Chocolate Panna Cotta
2 C heavy cream
half a vanilla bean, split
2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder (more if you like a more choco flavor)
3 Tbsp granulated sugar
orange zest - about 2-3 pieces using a vegetable peeler (optional)
1 pkg powdered gelatin

Combine all ingredients except gelatin in a small sauce pan and bring to barely a simmer. Remove from heat and allow to cool about 7 minutes. Add gelatin (about 2 tsp of gelatin powder, not quite a whole large packet) and warm again over very low heat until gelatin dissolves. Do not boil. Strain through fine mesh into a vessel with a spout (such as a liquid measuring cup). Pour the strained liquid into 4 ramekins or espresso cups and chill in the fridge at least one hour (or up to 1 day ahead). Top with fresh whipped cream. So much better than plain old chocolate pudding! This is very rich so make sure your portion size stays small or your guests won't be able to eat it all and it's too good to go to waste.

Saturday night, not wanting leftovers because of the mini dinner party with the parents on Sunday, I dug out a package I had put in the freezer of 8 small lamb ribs. Seared those very simply seasoned with salt, pepper and rosemary and served with butternut squash (simmered and then mashed with a little finely zested orange and a drizzle of maple syrup), and braised brocoli di rape. Very satisfying and no leftovers.

Well, that's mostly what we've been eating and drinking and doing. How about you? Eat anything good lately?