An Easy Autumn Menu

Our friends Matt and Stephanie came over for dinner last night and since I knew I’d be doing a good deal of cooking this week (with Thanksgiving and all), I was determined to come up with a meal that would be both easy and delicious. I ended up with just that thanks to a soup and salad menu and a jazzed up pre-made dessert.

Soup and salad combinations are great because they are both pretty easy to prepare (which is great when you want to actually spend time with your guests while they are over) and feel like fall to me. I ended up with my favorite curry carrot and squash soup and a tasty salad of arugula, fennel and apple.

But dessert was the real start of the meal, in my opinion. Friday night we drove over to our favorite local spot for ice cream (frozen custard, actually)—The Dairy Godmother in Alexandria—to pick up a couple pints just for this occasion.  DG is unique in that it offers three flavors of frozen custard—chocolate, vanilla, and whatever the flavor of the day is. The flavor of the day varies and can be anything from mint chocolate chip to snickerdoodle or tiramisu. In addition to custard, DG always has a variety of interesting sorbets too (one time I had sangria sorbet).  We ended up bring home sweet potato pecan custard and cranberry tangerine coriander sorbet. To go with it I made Barefoot Countessa’s Ultimate Ginger Cookies and the combination was fantastic! I love these cookies because they incorporate chopped crystallized ginger making the ginger goodness pop on multiple levels.

All in all we had a great evening full of good, simple food and fun with friends. The perfect way to kick off the holiday season!

Ginger Cookies
Adapated from Ina Garten

Ingredients:
2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
¼ cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup unsulfured molasses
1 egg
½ cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
Granulated sugar, for rolling cookies

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two sheet pans with parchment paper (or grease them if you don’t have parchment).
2.In a large bowl, mix first six ingredients (through salt) together and set aside.
3.In the bowl of an electric mixer, add brown sugar, oil, and molasses. Beat on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low and add egg and beat for 1 minute. Scrape sides down with a rubber spatula and then beat on low for another minute.
4.With the mixer on low, slowly add the flour mixture. Then mix on medium for 1-2 minutes or until the dough is well combined and it is no longer sticking to the sides of the bowl.
5.Pour some sugar into a shallow bowl or plate. Scoop dough and roll into one inch balls with your hands. Roll dough in sugar and place on baking sheets. Before putting them in the oven, lightly flatten the cookies with the back of a spatula or your fingers.
6.Bake for 11-13 minutes until the cookies are crackled on the outside but still soft on the inside. Cool for a minute or two on the baking sheets and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely. Serve by themselves or with your favorite ice cream

Jason's Birthday Fiesta, Part 2

In trying to come up with something to go with Jason’s fish taco birthday dinner,  I immediately thought of some kind of corn. Jason and I are both big fans of corn on the cob and fresh corn in general. I am not a huge canned vegetable person, and while frozen is okay, it really is hard to beat fresh vegetables when possible. Fortunately, June means fresh corn is starting to make its way into grocery stores (although I know it is not really corn season yet which means it’s been shipped in from somewhere else, going against everything Barbara Kingsolver has been trying to teach me in Animal, Vegetable, Miracle but that is a different post altogether). Rather than going with the usual corn on the cob I thought a corn salad would be a good variation on the flavor we love.

A couple of days after making this decision I ran across a recipe for just the thing on Martha Stewart’s website—Grilled Corn, Heirloom Tomato, Avocado, and Arugula Salad.  Not having a grill, I ended up boiling the corn instead and nixed the heirloom tomatoes (which were not yet available in our usual grocery store) in favor of grape tomatoes instead.  It turned out wonderfully. The perfect summery side for a summery birthday meal. I can’t wait to make it again (and again) this summer with fresh corn and tomatoes from our local Farmers Market.

Corn, Tomato, Avocado, and Arugula Salad
Adapted from MarthaStewart.com

Ingredients:
4 ears fresh corn, husks removed
¾ pint of grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
½ jalapeno, seeded and finely chopped
2 cups of arugula
Juice of 2 limes (next time I think I’d use more)
3 TBL red wine vinegar
¼ cup olive oil (I may have used slightly less)
1 avocado, pitted, peeled and diced

1.Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Add corn to boiling water and cook for about 10-12 minutes until done but still crisp. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water (you could also use an ice bath but I was using all available counter space getting the fiesta together so decided to go without).
2.Once corn has cooled enough to handle, cut kernels from cobs. Transfer to a large bowl and add tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeno, and arugula.  Season with salt and pepper.
3.In a small bowl, mix together lime juice, red wine vinegar, and olive oil. Set aside.
4.Right before serving, chop the avocado and add to bowl. Pour the lime juice mixture over the salad and toss to combine.