Scott, Steve and Chad, Pacific Realty - real estate deal going sideways, only thing to do is cook

Steve Oldfield is my realtor; we have been through some nutty situations on deals before and guess what; here we go again. Shared meals and road trips in my opinion are one of the best ways to get to know people better and take the pressure off what could be a tough situation. So let's do this well.

Set the table with large plates.
Lemongrass tea in tea mugs, served cool.
For the wine, I am breaking out the magnum of 2005 Provenance Rutherford I have been saving. Scott handled the decanting and did a masterful job with an aged cork while I put the last touches on the meal.

Mushroom soup, they are plain ol button mushrooms, eight big ones. A bit of chicken stock, from the Costco organic, skinless, low fat chicken thighs, smoked rosemary and a tough of salt and we are off to the races. All I will do is bring them to warm. Cut the tops off the best looking mushroomss, will use those as garnish. Maybe toss in a curly slice of corn tortilla with a light red pepper dusting. I will serve these in the oversized saki cups we normally serve tea in.

For the salad I want to play with spinach and tart granny smith apple. However, at the Bruce, Janet and Harry dinner, the pineapple and apple fell to the bottom of the salad bowl. I am ditching the pineapple and serving long slices of apples. Tossed in some pecans as well.

Afterwards, pull the small plates.

As we shift towards the mains, let's do something fun. Kathy found a bag of organic, no sugar added, unsulphured figs at Costco. Let's blend them up, put them in a small cup, with a small ball of Beecher's Flagship cheese inside. Only spices are two cloves and a pinch of raw cacao.

For the first main, nothing says it better than long rice cordon bleu. I made them tonight. Another lesson from a previous run, if I serve them shaped in a big bowl, the presentation is stupendous . . . UNTIL the first person digs into the dish. When we made the Costco run there was a blister pack of glorious Washington state granny smith apples. I used the blister pack as the mold. So every guest gets their own and they all get to be the first one to attack/destroy. Not going to serve them with a vegetable or starch because the long rice/cellophane noodle, (mung bean), is both already. This is served to the large plates at just a warm temperature.

Fire roasted chicken, another repeat is up next. Costco sells organic, skinless, 95% lean chicken thighs. I cut off the fat I can find and sear them over an open rosemary flame so more fat falls down into the chimera and then slow cook them in my kitchen where I can monitor the internal temp. It is served over a spiced quarter of corn tortilla, with tumeric rice on top and a chunk of Beecher's flag ship cheese to connect the thigh to the rice. I will serve this with baby squash cooked in a lemongrass reduction. We will also break out the potato bowl, so this is the big service.

If any of my guests are up for a third main, I think a turkey slice with an aronia, (chokeberry), BBQ sauce and a slice of spiced yellow zucchini will round out the meal.
NOTE: We did dig into the third main. Without my iPad on island, I forgot the aronia sauce, so I substituted the last of the mushroom with the last of the lemon grass reduction. I tried the aronia BBQ sauce on turkey with Rudy, Harry, Keely Friday night and it seem to work and will be taking the last of the turkey meat, (I have stock from the bones to play with next week), on the boat tomorrow.

Pull the large plates. Check on the drinks.

Dessert tell, started with almond flour, oatmeal and ginger cake as the crust. Put a row of almond on top. First layer was dried fruits. On top of that chia/hemp/buckwheat, next a second layer of dried fruits, light dusting of oatmeal, tart apples and cinnamon, almond slices, topped with strawberries, chocolate chips, a couple chopped mixed nuts.

On the main, I think our guests were happy. Chad suggests: "If I may be so bold, daring, and caring to offer an opportunity to improve anything from last night's dinner, would be for you to consider making your corn tortillas from scratch.  Buy the Maseca brand from any grocery store, follow the directions (but add a shot of fresh lime juice in the masa) and you'll be set.  Its so easy to make the tortillas and there is nothing better than fresh tortillas!"

Ooh la la, that has me thinking. To be honest it has been 30 years since I created a tortilla from masa harina. But maybe Chad and I can team, be both daring and caring and do something for a good cause event that features tortillas. If you have read my blog you know I love to plan to cook something outside of my comfort zone, so maybe there is something truly novel we can do; especially if Chad can help anchor the tortilla side of the equation. A tortilla station in a soup kitchen would not be the worst idea I have ever heard of. Who knows where we could take it from there?