Woman! Get back to the kitchen

And back to the kitchen I went as my roommates roped me into cooking for them. It was to celebrate the finale of Top Chef, which I'm personally not very invested in. They suggested the meal in jest but I took 'em up on it because it's been so long since I've been able to play in my own the kitchen. The debut was quite satisfying, here's what I made:

Citrus salad with avocado:
Grapefruit, orange, avocado, salted cashew pieces, lemon juice and a bit of sunflower oil on a a few well-chosen leaves of butter lettuce.

Stuffed mushrooms:
I went to the Fancy Food Expo yesterday and walked away with about twelve kinds of cheese (I'm actually serious). I'll name them just so you believe me. Two types of aged Gouda, dill Havarti, Dubliner, Emmentaler, Saint Andre, Brie, Feta, Jarlsberg...what else is currently crowding my fridge? I've lost track, that's how obscene it is. Needless to say, mushrooms were stuffed with Gouda, breadcrumbs, mint, basil, salt, pepper, and olive oil. They enjoyed 30 minutes in the oven at 375 degrees.

Popovers:
I usually make popovers from the Joy Of but got inspired to poach a new recipe and elected one from a site with recipes from different Bed & Breakfast joints around the country. This one called for: eggs, milk, flour, melted butter, salt, sugar. The key, they said, is having all the ingredients at room temperature then kicking their asses in the cuisinart for a few seconds, before quickly dumping the batter into well greased muffin tins. They bake, first for 15 minutes at 425 and then turn down the oven to 350 to finish them off for the next 15. These popovers were less like the inflated mounds my mother made in my childhood and slightly more shortcake looking (in a dense way)but had great flavor and offset the polenta well (see below).

Gorgonzola polenta:
Emily made for a tremendous souz chef and man-handled this dish quite nicely. She boiled three and a half cups of water, added 1 cup of yellow cornmeal (whisking it in slowly as the water boiled) turned the heat down, simmered, stirred frequently until the polenta began coming away from the sides of the pan. She cooked it for about twenty minutes then removed it from the heat and added 1.5 ounces of blue cheese (cut into cubes), a bit of heavy cream, a crack of butter, and then stirred until the whole mess melted together. I kept it warm over a double boiler while the popovers finished.

Asparagus:
The double boiler actually served as the stage on which I blanched some pieces of asparagus. They were in the rolling boil for 1.5 minutes before getting doused with cold water.

When the popovers came out, I spooned a circle of polenta onto each plate, nested a popover in it, hollowed out the middle of the popover, arranged a few of the pieces of asparagus inside and then filled the rest of the center with more polenta. The whole thing was well received, although I'll admit to overcooking the polenta. I had to take it off the heat before the popovers were done, and it began to set up. It was regrettable. If it had been hot and creamy, I really would have applauded myself. Instead it was kind of amateur. But live and learn, live and learn. And Emily, I apologize for tainting your very well done part of the meal.

It was great to be back in the kitchen again. It's so refreshing not to have to look at a menu to see what I might eat.