Dinner Party Menu and Recipes

Last night, I hosted a celebratory dinner and came up with a rather well-received menu. Below, I provide the menu and the recipes I used (or modified) to put it together. Soon, I will post some meditations on the night as a whole, but I wanted to provide something tasty first. I have also made pumpkin spice quick bread, which I will post soon-ish as well. I have been baking regularly for my mother's co-workers, to the delight of many. I have also been gravely procrastinating on more graduate school forms and essays, generally ignoring the unfinished essays that taunt me from my computer.

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Sherried Mushroom Soup (from Southern Living Magazine, or something similar)

I substituted mushroom blends for both the dried and fresh mushrooms, and used only half the dried amount because dried mushrooms are expensive! It was pretty darn good all the same.

Broth

2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp fresh thyme (I used 1/2 Tbsp dried)
1 pound shallots, coarsely chopped (I used 3/4 pound)
6 cans, low sodium broth (I used 5 1/2 cups veggie broth because I used boxes, but this may have been too little)
2 oz dried procini mushrooms

Melt butter in a medium or large pot, add thyme and shallots; cook for 10 minutes. Stir in broth and dried mushrooms (I let the dried mushrooms sit in 1 c of the broth before cooking) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour

Spinach, Pomegranate, and Goat Cheese Salad

My mom made this. It had mostly spinach and lettuce, with pomegranate, goat cheese, cranberries, and bell peppers mixed in. I liked it with olive oil and vinegar.

Butternut Squash and Pumpkin Lasagna (Also from a Southern Living type magazine)

3 & 1/2 pounds butternut squash, seeded, peeled, and chopped into small pieces
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 F, toss squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and bake for 25-30 minutes, until tender. I was one pound short so I also used some creamed pumpkin I had already made later on. Allow to cool. When you are done baking the squash, reduce temperature to 375.

1 pound ricotta
1/2 c cream
2 egg yolks
1/2 pound mozzarella
a pinch of nutmeg
a pinch of salt

Mix together in a large bowl.

2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 c fresh sage

Saute sage leaves in butter for 3 or 4 minutes, remove from heat.

1 & 1/4 c low sodium (veggie) stock

In a medium bowl, mash about half of the squash (which I didn't do because I had the creamed pumpkin), stir in the sauteed sage and veggie stock.

About ten Fresh lasagna leaves
4 oz Parmesan cheese

I made these from scratch, by gradually combining two eggs & two tsp olive oil with one cup white flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour and rolling them out on a counter, cutting them, and boiling the leaves for 3-5 minutes before baking them in the lasagna. I needed a bit more than this so would probably add a few spoons more of olive oil and flour.

In a 9 cup baking dish, spread 3/4 c ricotta mixture, top with noodles, spread half of the squash mixture, then noodle layer, and 1 cup ricotta mixture; repeat with the remaining ingredients. Sprinkle with 4 oz shredded Parmesan cheese and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes, allow to cool 10-15 minutes before serving. Serves 8-10.

Baked Pear Crumble a la Mode

5 pears; peeled, seeded, de-stemmed, and halved
1 c white flour
1/2 c sliced almonds
1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground, dried ginger
1 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4 Tbsp butter, soft
about 1/2 c cream (or something lighter, like half & half or milk)

Preheat oven to 350. Place the pears on parchment paper on a pan. In a medium bowl, combine flour, almonds, and sugar, then, cut in the soft butter and mix with your fingers. Gradually add cream until you have a crumbly consistency. Spoon or pinch crumble over pears and bake for 15-25 minutes until browned and cooked through. Serve immediately with a scoop of ice cream. (Use Ivanna Cone's vanilla bean for best results!)