Party Food

Canada Day also happens to be one of my good friend's birthday, so this year, my sister and I decided to host a backyard barbecue party to celebrate both occasions. As per usual, I quickly signed up for some tasks in the kitchen, agreeing to produce two salads, my ever-popular guacamole and the pièce de résistance: an irresistible chocolate dessert. I am not the best of cooks–I am the kind who improvises and makes a mess–but the food was well appreciated, and upon request, I decided to share my recipes with you, so you can cook up catastrophes in your own homesteads.

My first choice for a salad to make was my orzo salad, from a recipe I found a few years ago on epicurious. It is the perfect summer salad, with juicy olives and tomatoes and just the right amount of tang from the marjoram and the Dijon. Besides, who doesn't like spooning huge quantities of orzo into their mouths? This salad is best made in advance, to give the flavours a chance to develop. This is one of the few recipes that I follow to the letter (OK–maybe not to the letter–I like to throw in extra tomatoes. a tad more Dijon and marjoram doesn't hurt either. To hell with it – let's put in some more olives in as well).

For my second salad, I wanted as much as possible to use the ingredients that I already had in my fridge and pantry, which that day included spinach, apples and pecans. I foodgawkered it (hey–people are always tweetin' and googlin'; why can't I be foodgawkerin'? And yes, the verb is to foodgawker, not to foodgawk, as might seem logical. To hell with logic). So anyways, I foodgawkered my three ingredients and came up with a recipe for a salad using blue cheese and a maple vinaigrette (perfect for Canada Day!).

Guacamole I've been making it the same way since I was about seven years old. The recipe is top-secret so I will not be revealing it here. You'll just have to come to my next dinner party and taste it for yourself.

Other than that, the party was BYOSTB (Bring Your Own Something-To-Barbecue), and we had some chips and my sister's homemade salsa. Guests also brought their own drinks, although my sister had also prepared a platter of Canada-themed vodka jello shots (red jello, with cute little flags sticking out).

For the cake, I wanted something fun yet sophisticated, so I opted for a childhood favourite (and hey–adulthood as well) as the key ingredient: Nutella.

I followed the same architecture and assembling strategy as we used in the bakery where I worked for about a year: sponge cake moistened with boozy syrup and layered with buttercreams and ganaches. I started by baking a chocolate spongecake, which I divided into four and layered with a rich Nutella ganache. I topped the whole mess (hey–I said I worked in a bakery. I never said I was a baker) with Nutella buttercream. For the record, I used up an entire jumbo-sized jar of Nutella (750g) as well as an unfathomable number of eggs, but the cake turned out quite well.

All in all, getting this event organized reminded me of the pleasures of hosting a dinner party, of cooking for a crowd, so perhaps this won't be the summer's last dinner party. I just the right excuses to motivate their organization.

Happy Birthday Suzanne! I'm glad you enjoyed your party.

Orzo, Feta and Tomato Salad with Marjoram Vinaigrette
(recipe from Epicurious)

1 pound orzo
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
6 teaspoons finely chopped fresh marjoram
4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, quartered
24 ounces cherry tomatoes, stemmed, halved

Cook orzo in pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Rinse under cold water until cool. Drain well. Transfer to large bowl.

Whisk lemon juice, 5 teaspoons marjoram, mustard, and lemon peel in small bowl. Whisk in olive oil. Set aside 2 tablespoons vinaigrette. Add remaining vinaigrette, cheese, onions, and olives to orzo; toss to coat. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and let stand 2 hours to allow flavors to develop. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and refrigerate salad and remaining vinaigrette separately.)

Toss tomatoes with reserved vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix tomatoes into orzo. Sprinkle orzo with remaining 1 teaspoon marjoram and serve.

Spinach Salad with Curried Pecans, Blue Cheese and Apples
(Recipe from bakedbree)

For the curried pecans:
6 ounces pecan halves
2 Tablespoons melted butter
3 Tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
a pinch of cayenne pepper

For the vinaigrette:
1/3 cup cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons maple syrup
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup olive oil

For the salad:
1 (10 ounce) package baby spinach
1 Fuji apple thinly sliced
1 small red onion thinly sliced
1/2 cup blue cheese, crumbled

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Toss the pecan in all the melted butter with the remaining ingredients. Toss to coat the pecans completely. Spread the nuts on a foil lined cookie sheet. Bake 10 to 13 minutes. Cool and set aside.
Put all of the vinaigrette ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake until combined.
Put everything into the bowl and season with salt and fresh black pepper.

Nutella Ganache
(recipe from Somewhere Splendid)

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup Nutella

In a saucepan over medium heat, warm the heavy cream. Slowly add in the Nutella, small measured spoonfuls at a time, and stir in between additions until it is combined. When all of the Nutella has been added, set the saucepan aside to cool and thicken slightly.

Nutella Buttercream
(also from Somewhere Splendid)

1 jar (13 ounces) Nutella
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 pound (half a bag) of icing sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
8 tablespoons heavy cream

In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter and Nutella until combined. Add in the confectioner’s sugar in one cup increments, allowing each addition to combine before the next is put in. Continue creaming the mixture until it is all well blended. Adjust your mixer to a low speed and add the salt and vanilla extract to the mixture. Add the heavy cream, one tablespoon at a time, until your buttercream consistency is right.

Just Another Day in Florence...

Another view of the Duomo

Sunday, I had no specific plans for the day except to buy a pair of underwear (I decided to stay longer in Florence than I had originally intended), so I threw the sands into the wind, so to speak – I set off wandering after my blue-cheese-and-an-apple breakfast, see if anything interesting would come my way.

I started my wanderings by visiting a jeweler's workshop, where some of his past collections where displayed. There was some seriously cool stuff, most of it more sculptural than functional, centred around great themes like time, castles, music and alchemy.

After walking around and across the Ponte Vecchio, I headed for Florence's shopping district to get my undies (and perhaps a few things from H&M as well...). Just when I was getting tired of shopping, I came across the Palazzo Strozzi, which was holding an exhibition on Picasso, Miró and Dalí – how the first had influenced the latter two. Modern art being my favourite art period, I couldn't resist taking a look. I wasn't disappointed. Although the exhibition was rather small, it was really well organized, with panels explaining each painting in both Italian and English. The coolest part, though, was that they gave out free "design kits," comprising of a sketchpad and a graphite pencil, so that you could "sketch" your way through the exhibition.

Venus and Sailor (Homage to Salvat-Papasseit), 1925, Salvador Dali

I spent a few hours in the Palazzo, then walked until I found an internet cafe, so I could do some skyping with people back at home.

The highlight of my day, though, was finding a food shop that sold all kinds of ethnic goodies, including, to my surprise, many different brands of Argentinian yerba mate. I happily bought a bag, and was considering going back for more, mate being one of the things I regret not bringing with me from Canada.

 

 Yerba mate, yummmm...

Anywho, it wasn't a bad day, and for dinner, I made myself a yummy vegetable salad with a big ball of soft and juicy mozzarella di bufala.

A Love Affair with Mozzarella

Sunday morning, I woke up early, and went out again to fare la spesa (do the groceries) for our collazione (breakfast). Gorgonzola, goat cheese and an apple for me, and cornetti, jam and peaches for my dad.

It was our last day in Rome together, and although we had a beautiful sunny morning, by the afternoon it was stormy and pouring rain. Good thing we had no plans after lunch except napping and reorganizing our suitcases. And we had done well in the morning, braving the crowds to visit St. Peter's Basilica.

 

I had an Inca-nerd moment when I saw a trapezoidal door inside St Peter's Basilica. Inca influence at the Vatican! Funny thing was, seeing that I was posing in front of the door, other people started queuing up to have their own picture taken, thinking that the door was something special.

The sky cleared in time for an evening stroll through Trastevere, where we took a look around shops, bars and restaurants. I cracked the bank when I found a lovely purple leather wallet at an artisan fair. It's a good, useful souvenir, I told myself, and my current wallet was falling apart.

 

My dad with the giant salami

For our last dinner in Rome, we chose a busy restaurant called Obika, which was advertised as a 'Mozzarella Bar'. The mozzarella bar turned out to be an excellent choice for our last dinner in Rome. The food was delicious, and we couldn't have asked for a better ambiance, facing the lively Campo de Fiori. I opted for their mozzarella special (how could I not?), which consisted of choosing between one of four kinds of mozzarella, and a contorni to go with it. I took the grilled seasonal vegetables (eggplant and zucchini) served with a yummy pesto dressing, and to drink, I had another spritz and then a glass of sauvignon bianco. The mozzarella di bufala itself was out of this world – a delicious blob of meaty, juicy and flavourful cheese.

After dinner, it was time to bid Rome farewell, because we would be both be leaving early the next morning, each on our own path.

When in Rome...

Saturday morning, we took advantage of the kitchen and the table in our sweet to prepare our own breakfast. I set out to buy fruits, tea and jam at a little supermarket I had spotted during my walk the day before, and two cornetti at a bar. I had an apple with the creamy gorgonzola I had leftover from Naples.

After breakfast, we headed out, passing by the Campo di Fiori market on our way to the Colosseum, to ogle at food.

Food!

More Food!

Say 'cheese'!

We walked by the forum and the palatine, and ate a late lunch in a little street a few blocks behind the Colisseum (I had another caprese salad... how boring am I?) After lunch we visited the Basilica di San Clemente, a church built on top of a church built on top of a Roman villa where a pagan cult was practiced – your typical European mash-up. We wandered some more afterwards, trying to stay away from the traffic as we made our way back to Piazza Navona.

Area Sacra di Largo Argentina

Poppies among the ruins

At lunch – my caprese salad and me being artsy fartsy with my camera

For dinner, we opted for another trattoria near our hotel, which I chose because they had artichokes on the menu. Unfortunately, our server notified us that there were no artichokes as the season was over, but we had an excellent meal all the same. We started with a round of aperol spritz, my favourite aperitivo before moving to wine. I had a tomato salad with black olives as my antipasto, and an absolutely exquisite dish of sautéed mussels and clams with parsley as my main dish. All in all, despite the lack of artichokes, it was one of my best meals in Italy so far.

After dinner, I was once again wined-out, and it took me no time to fall asleep.

All Roads Lead to...

 Friday was my last day in Naples. After breakfast, I went to visit the National Archeological Museum of Naples, which holds many mosaics and artifacts recovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum. I met my dad back at the hotel at midday, and we went to the train station to catch the train to Rome.

A mosaic from Pompeii

Arriving in Rome made me realize how unsettling Naples had been in comparison. The little streets of Rome's historic centre are much more charming and welcoming, lined with cafés and restaurants, bars and boutiques. The weather in Rome was also much warmer, lacking the cold sea breeze that was blowing in Naples. I might have enjoyed my time there, but I wasn't particularly sad to leave it.

It took us a while to find our hotel, conveniently located, but well-hidden, just off of Piazza Navona, in the centre of Rome. In fact, it wasn't a hotel, but a sweet, on the fourth floor of a little appartment. It was quite the exercise to bring our luggage up the little winding staircase.

Piazza Navona

I was itching to do a little bit of exploration from the moment we arrived, so as soon as we had settled in, I went back down the four flights of stairs and went for a nice walk, loosing myself in the twisting little streets, in and out of the throngs of tourists who fill up the area.

I came back to our room to wake up my dad, who had been taking a nap, and we set out again, this time, to do a bit of sightseeing in our neighbourhood. Our wanderings took us first to the Pantheon, where once again I gazed agape at the gigantic 2000-year-old dome. After a short gelato break, we went to throw our coins into the Trevi fountain*, and climbed up the Spanish Steps to enjoy a panorama of Rome.

 In front of the Pantheon...

...at the Trevi Fountain...

...and on the Spanish Steps.

For dinner, we lost ourselves again in the little streets of Rome's historic centre, until we found a restaurant that was bustling, not only with tourists but also with locals. My dad had pasta with gorgonzola and I had a caprese salad and a porcini mushroom salad with copious amounts of parmigiano sprinkled on top. With that, we had some vino bianco and acqua con gas. Everything was delicious and the ambiance was wonderful, full of laughter and talk coming from inside and outside of the restaurant, and always with people waiting for a table.

Back at the hotel, I was so exhausted that I was out the moment I closed my eyes.

*Myth had it that those who throw a coin into the Trevi Fountain are guaranteed another visit to Rome.

Island-Hopping in Italy

The sun finally made an appearance today, and after an all-too-pleasant breakfast on the quayside, I went to Naples' main port to catch a ferry to Procida, a little island off of the Bay of Naples.

Procida looks like a painting or a postcard-picture at every glance. The people were extremely friendly (which helped, because I went extremely off-track–in a few instances). Between ambling down the narrow streets and walking along the beaches and marinas; between pastel-coloured houses, dizzyingly pretty views and nice old ladies who don't speak a word of English (but who insist on giving you information anyways), I had a very enjoyable day.

Even apples are under DOP (denominazione d'Origine Protetta – Protected Designation of Origin)

For dinner, as recommended by our good friend Umberto Neon, we went to the Pizzeria Attori e Spettatori. Honestly, it wasn't the best pizza I've had in Italy, but the wine and the conversation made up for it (and it was still a lot better than anything you could get at home).

I am still struggling to speak confidently in Italian, and to get used to hearing it spoken. I know it will take a few more days (or even weeks), but for now, every time I open my mouth, the Spanish words come to me first.

Tomorrow, I am going on a tour of Herculaneum, Pompeii's lesser-known little sister. I've been reading a little about it, and I'm very excited!