M invited me over for dinner the other night, and how could I refuse. She always makes the bestest and fanciest meals! I wanted to bring her something, so I brought her some chestnuts. M had never made chestnuts before, so she quickly looked up some info online, and ended up roasting them in the oven. After scoring them, she drizzled some oil over them and then let them bake. To make sure they would get cooked all the way through, while they were cooking, we added some water to help them steam. They ended up great! While some of them were a pain in the butt to peel, they tasted delicious.

We started off with a citrus and beet salad. She also made the dressing. Who makes dressing?  Delicious, as usual.

For the main entree, we had seared scallops with a buerre blanc. The buerre blanc included shallots and fennel and white wine vinegar, so it was extremely tangy. The scallops were cooked really well, still somewhat rare on the inside, and the buerre blanc was perfect with them. We also had a side of parmesan polenta and wilted spinach. I have a weird attitude towards spinach. I love raw spinach in salads, but I’ve always disliked cooked spinach. That’s why I was so surprised to enjoy this wilted spinach. I wouldn’t necessarily want to eat this all the time, but it was good! See that, I’m still growing.

For dessert, F brought a beautiful little square layered cake. I don’t know what all the layers were, but the cake was incredibly rich and delicious. It was another great dinner with great friends. Thanks M!

2009 new year’s eve was a lovely affair with a five course meal generously provided by M and E.  I have trouble making one course meals, but M always goes all out providing course after course of fanciness. Starting off, we had various appetizers, such as these adorable salmon and cream cheeses with caper eyes. These were brought by a guest and were quite adorable and delicious. The older daughter put these eyes on.

There were also cocktails, cheese logs topped with sunflower seeds, and a red pepper dip w/crudites. I loved these pretzel chips.

Next up was a red lentil soup with firey black pepper oil. The soup was delicious! The black pepper totally gets you in the throat in the first spoonful or two, but then lets up nicely.

The entree was dark meat chicken wrapped around chicken mousse and some more white meat chicken, topped with a heavy cream sauce and fennel, and served with leeks, carrots, and green beans. Everything was excellent! Chicken mousse? Too fancy for words! The cream sauce is lick-the-plate worthy!

Next up a was a super heavy cheese plate (roquefort, brie, gouda) along with candied walnuts with a port wine reduction. I couldn’t get enough of these nuts! So damn good! We had a couple of french natives dining with us. The proper way to cut brie is to cut it vertically. To cut it horizontally is sacrilegious. So take heed! When cutting brie, cut it lengthwise!

Remember the flambeed bananas? E made them again for this party. Here’s what they look like before we lit them on fire.

There’s something about cooked bananas that I just love. It brings out the sweetness even more and after the cognac burns off with the flames, it just leaves a nice caramel taste. The ice cream is the perfect contrast. And the bacon… well, who doesn’t love bacon?

We also got to nibble on some homemade cookies that M made. Yes, she actually made these. From scratch. With her bare hands. Unbelievable! They tasted like thin mints on crack and looked professionally made! Thanks again!

You may not recognize a ginkgo tree, but you would definitely recognize the leaves. They’re really unique because they’re sort of half moons, like open hand-held fans. In late fall / early winter, if you’ve ever been outside near ginkgo trees, then you would definitely know them from the stench. Apparently, the female trees produce a stinky fruit when fertilized. Basically, to me, it smells like rotten trash. It’s awful. But it’s a helpful little tree, in that many people take ginkgo biloba supplements regularly for health benefits. Also, you can eat the seeds. I had no idea!

The seeds look like this. They are covered in a hard shell which you have to crack. These are what’s in the fruit thsat smell like rancid death. Man, smell your hands after you crack these shells… foul! It’s gross. Then you can roast them with a little bit of oil. Then pop them in your mouth and enjoy! What do they taste like? I can’t really describe it, but it’s quite mild. While we were eating them, they kept saying you can’t eat too many, only 5 at a time. I kept asking why and they kept saying just because. So then I looked it up. According to wikipedia, children should not eat large quantities over large periods of time because they could be poisoned. Oye. This did not make me feel better. I am not a child, nor do I readily have access to ginkgo nuts, but I don’t really like to eat anything that can cause poisoning in children. If something can poison a kid, it can poison me too. So I’ve experience my ginkgo nut tasting, and I’m happy to say I’ve gotten that out of my life!