Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review
#11
  Re: (...)
C'mon, get up, Vicci and let's get this review show on the road, sleepyhead.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#12
  Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by cjs (C'mon, get up, Vicci...)
Well, I guess I'll start this one out - Vicci got a life and left us on our own today...

I made different parts of this over the past 18 days - I started with making the cake for roy's b'day on Nov. 1st.

Vicci’s Autumn Dinner – Review 11/15/10

Pears with Goat Cheese & Fig Jam
I used these ingredients take me to an appetizer pizza and a wonderful pizza it was. I’m with Vicci, I, too love this combination of flavors. I made a fig jam, if you will, with the figs, Ruby port, balsamic, b. sugar and red pepper flakes)

On the pizza – the layers were: olive oil, fig jam, thinly slice pears, cheese, bacon, nuts, rosemary and Parmesan.

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Salad with Sautéed Apples
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We both liked the flavors in the salad very much – I’ll do the apples this way again.

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Cheese Tortellini & Butternut Squash
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Great flavors – but with 5 T. butter + 1 T. olive oil, will beg for being worked over. I don’t see why 2 T. of butter wouldn’t be able to toss with and flavor the squash and tortellini.

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Kept one section for us to taste and also made these sundaes (?) with a slice of the cake with chocolate ice cream, whipped cream and a cherry to top it all off. Great dessert.

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Also, made the cake a 2nd time last week for a tasting at the winery for a dessert do I’m doing Dec. 3rd. It wasn’t chosen, but everyone really enjoyed it - I made two sauces to choose from for drizzling if I did make this for the do. Both really went well with the cake, so here’s the recipes if anyone wants them.

Cider Sauce

2 T. sugar
2 T. cornstarch
2 cups unsweetened apple cider (I had apple juice)
1 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. minced crystallized ginger

Whisk sugar and cornstarch in heavy small saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in cider. Whisk over medium heat until sauce boils and thickens, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in lemon juice and ginger. Drizzle the plate and place cake on, or drizzle over a slice of cake on the plate.




Caramel Sauce

1 cup heavy cream
3 1/4 oz. corn syrup
4 1/2 oz. sugar
3/4 oz. butter

Bring cream to a boil and remove from heat.
Cook the scorn syrup and sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat to a golden caramel, stirring from time to time.

Stir in butter, then carefully stir in the hot cream, cooking over low heat.
As soon as the cream is blended into the sauce, set the pan in an ice-water bath to stop the cooking process.

The sauce is ready to serve now, or it may be cooled and held for a later service. Reheat the sauce over low heat or in a bain-marie if necessary. Makes 2 cups.


Roy gave all the components of this dinner a 10; I’ll give it an 8+. I’ve just been too good lately to eat this entrée without guilt pouring from my pores....
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#13
  Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by cjs (C'mon, get up, Vicci...)
Oh my, what great pictures, Jean! Every dish looks so appetizing! Sorry I could not participate in this one. It all sounded so tasty to me, but none of the dishes interested Ron in the least, so I have to pick and choose carefully when trying new recipes.
Maryann

"Drink your tea slowly and reverently..."
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#14
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by Mare749 (Oh my, what great pi...)
Okay, I didn't do the cake or the appetizer. BUT I finally got around to the other two dishes. I was pleasantly surprised, but more so that William was so happy with it. This is really a simple meal to prepare, and I would not hesitate to make it again, even on a weeknight. I had a squash that yielded twice what I needed and had planned to make Jean's Roasted Butternut Squash al Burro. But since I have everything to make this again, I've frozen the squash, (the pasta was frozen to begin with) and will make this again soon. As a matter of fact, with the cheesy pasta, I was reminded of Jean's dish while eating it.

I will say, I started to reduce the butter for the "sauce" to 3 T, but decided to use it all. I'm glad I did. We both give this a 10. Thanks Vicci!

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Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#15
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by Mare749 (Oh my, what great pi...)
This is the first time I've had the opportunity to get online today sooooo--

Jean, thanks for starting and... AWESOME PHOTOS!!!

And I mean that for two reasons; one, because they are beautiful and two, because my rechargeable camera batteries totally died before I could get even one shot...

Okay, the entire menu was so enjoyable that DH suggested I make it again for my parents when we visit them next weekend (it will be their 55th anniversary the day before Thanksgiving).


Le Review

Those apple-tinis are delicious. Almost too sweet for me, but they're so icy-cold and the apple and spices (and rum) taste so good together.

Jean, I love the app pizza idea (it looked incredible!). I made the pears, figs, and goat cheese for myself only because DH doesn't care for figs or goat cheese. I tossed him a couple of crackers... They (the pears, not the crackers) went so well with the Apple-tinis.

I used the spinach and plain cheese tortellini, too. I did reduce the butter to 2T, added some white wine and a little more olive oil to make up for the "lost" butter. I also chopped some of the "frizzled" sage and sprinkled it on the pasta before serving. Oh, and I did roast the squash while the oven was on to bake the cake. I love the flavor of roasted squash.

Loved the salad, too. Jack, well, I was surprised at how much he (the avowed salad-hater) enjoyed it too.

And dessert. I just kept picking at that darn (yummy) cake until I had to slice and freeze the darn thing. Now, if I had the cider sauce Jean posted, you can be sure that there would have been nothing left to freeze. And I can't even think about those sundaes-- Jean, you're soooo bad. I'll be dreaming of these for the next few nights!

We both gave the entire meal a solid 9.5 (we've never given a 10, wonder why...). And we shall see how my parents (especially Dad- "if there's not meat, it's not dinner") rate it.

And, Daphne, I'm glad that both you and William enjoyed it!
Vicci

my cooking adventures
www.victoriasdays.blogspot.com
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#16
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by foodfiend (This is the first ti...)
I have the squash - I was going to get the tortellini from Schwans today. We missed him... we went to town to pick up a few things and refill a prescription. Dropped of the script, did our shopping, got about a third of the way home and remembered the script and had to turn around and go back. The Schwans guy came while we were gone.

Jean don't worry about the duck - that was longer than the 20 minutes it took us to shop.
You only live once . . . but if you do it right once should be enough!
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#17
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by Harborwitch (I have the squash - ...)
I forgot to mention I also roasted my squash - couldn't wrap my mind around cooking it in water...

Good choice for your dinner, Vicci - looks like we all enjoyed it.
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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#18
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by cjs (I forgot to mention ...)
Wally and I loved this dinner! I also roasted the squash after tossing it in some EVOO, so I reduced the butter to 2 Tablespoons. Next time I will only go with one, the dish was not dry at all. I left the sage leaves in, they are delicious! I may eliminate the lemon juice, I think I liked it better before adding.
The salad was fabulous as well. We really enjoyed the addition of the sauteed apples. The only change I made was that I subbed hazelnuts for the pecans. I was so sure I had pecans, but all I had was walnuts and hazelnuts. I will use pecans next time.
I will definitely be making this dinner again.
Theresa

Everything tastes better Alfresco!
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#19
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by chef_Tab (Wally and I loved th...)
*whew!*

I am always wary of choosing a "loser menu"!
Vicci

my cooking adventures
www.victoriasdays.blogspot.com
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#20
  Re: Re: Vicci's Autumn Dinner Review by foodfiend (*whew!*[br][img]/ubb...)
would never happen, Vicci!
Retired and having fun writing cookbooks, tasting wine and sharing recipes with all my friends.
www.achefsjourney.com
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