Dinner party

We had friends over for dinner on Saturday night, here's a recap of the evening:

Centerpiece - my flower arranging skills are slowly improving over time.

Antipasto - prosciutto di parma, calabrese salame, olives, piquillo peppers, fresh mozzarella marinated with chives and olive oil, and artichokes marinated with lemon and parsley. Served with homemade focaccia

Baby arugula, blood oranges, marcona almonds, dates and shaved parmesan. Adapted from Sunday Suppers at Lucques.

Porter ale braised short ribs with rosemary and maple glaze from All About Braising, served with celery root and potato puree and rainbow chard with shallots.

White chocolate mousse with passionfruit gelee, garnished with white chocolate curls - from The New Spanish Table.

The good thing about this menu was that almost everything could be made in advance, so I spent very little time in the kitchen when our friends were here. I was pretty happy with the way everything came out, although there's always room for improvement - I tend to be my own worst critic. But it was fun, and that's what matters, right?

Braised endive with prosciutto

Belgian endive is often used raw in salads, but I think it taste even better when cooked. This recipe from All About Braising combines endive with prosciutto and a touch of cream to make a really unique and delicious side dish. The endives lose most of their bitter flavor through the cooking process, and the prosciutto gets crispy when baked. To turn this into a meal, top each serving with a fried egg.

Braised endive with prosciutto
Adapted from All About Braising
Serves 3-4 as a side, 2 as a main course
4 heads of belgian endive, cut in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chicken stock
3 slices of prosciutto
1 tablespoon of heavy cream
salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Melt the butter over medium heat; add the endives, cut side down. Cook the endives until browned, about 4-5 minutes. Transfer the endives to a greased baking dish; arrange in a single layer, cut side up. Season the endives with salt and pepper. Tear the prosciutto slices into small pieces; arrange the prosciutto over the top of the endives. Pour the chicken stock into the dish. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and pour the cream over the endives. Return the dish to the oven and bake, uncovered, for another 10 minutes. Spoon the sauce from the bottom of the dish over the endives. Taste for seasoning and serve.

Braised radishes

I happen to really like radishes, especially french breakfast radishes. I had a pound of radishes in the house and wanted to do something a little different, so I turned to my All About Braising cookbook. This recipe for braised radishes is pretty simple. Whole or halved radishes are combined with butter, a little bit of water or chicken stock, a pinch of sugar, salt and pepper. The radishes are spread in a single layer in a covered pot and braised over medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. The pot is uncovered and the liquid left over boils away to create a sweet buttery glaze. I finished the radishes with a sprinkling of maldon sea salt. Cooked radishes lose a lot of their sharp flavor and mellow out to taste almost like a turnip. This is a great side dish - it's unique without being complicated and very attractive too!

Porter ale braised short ribs with maple rosemary glaze

This recipe is from All About Braising by Molly Stevens. I just got a brand new Le Creuset pot specifically for the purpose of braising, and I've been waiting for the weather to cool down a little before I started back up again with this cookbook. These short ribs were fantastic. I browned them in the pot and then sauteed some carrot and onion in a small amount of the fat rendered from the ribs. The ribs went back into the pot with some vegetables and rosemary, and porter ale and chicken stock were added. I put the pot in the oven at 285 degrees and braised the ribs for about 3 and a half hours, turning the ribs every 45 minutes. The braising liquid is skimmed down and reduced to make a sauce. Right before serving, the ribs are glazed with maple syrup that's been infused with rosemary sprigs and horseradish. The ribs are then broiled for a few minutes to get a nice shiny top. This dish had tons of flavor, and the meat was "fall-off-the-bone" tender. I served the ribs with mashed potatoes and broccoli. Pure comfort food at its best!

World's best braised cabbage

This recipe is from All About Braising. The author of the book calls it the world's best braised cabbage, and says that after you make it once, you won't need to look up the recipe again. She's right on both counts! It's such a simple recipe. A head of cabbage is cut into eighths, and the wedges are laid flat in a baking dish. The cabbage is topped with sliced onions and carrots, drizzled with chicken stock and olive oil, and seasoned with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes. The dish is covered with foil and bakes in the oven at 325 for 2 hours - the cabbage wedges are turned over once at the halfway point. When the cabbage is tender, the foil comes off and the dish is finished at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. If you like, you can sprinkle some fleur de sel over the top before serving.

The cabbage developed a sweet flavor, with a little bit of spice from the crushed red pepper. I never have time on a weekday to spend 2+ hours on a vegetable dish, but this dish can be made in advance and reheated when you're ready to serve it. That makes the longer cooking time much more manageable.

Moroccan braised chicken legs with olives and preserved lemon

This recipe is from All About Braising by Molly Stevens. I know, summer isn't exactly the best time of year to braise. I mean, who wants to have their stove going for hours on end when it's already hot outside? But I've wanted this cookbook for a long time, and I just found it for cheap, so I'm braising in the summertime. We'll see how long I keep this up, the weather is still pretty moderate here. Anyways, this dish is chicken legs that are braised for about an hour with onions, garlic and a spice blend of ground ginger, paprika, toasted cumin, red pepper flakes and saffron. Towards the end of the braise, green olives and preserved lemon are added. This was my first time cooking with preserved lemons. The cookbook has a recipe to make your own, but that takes three weeks. So I bought a jar of whole preserved lemons at the grocery store. For this recipe, one preserved lemon is rinsed thoroughly, and the flesh is removed and discarded. The peel is cut into small strips and added to the chicken mixture. I have to admit, my husband and I thought the preserved lemons smelled a little like a lemon cleaning product, but they tasted fine in the end. The chicken is finished with chopped parsley and cilantro.