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(click for larger image)
Photograph by Amanda Stevenson
Why don't you write about one of your great dinner parties for the next
issue of the magazine?" Christina asked. "Well, ok," I replied, "but I'd
rather write about something that is fresh in my mind, so I think that I
will have a new great dinner party. Would you and Bob like to be the
guests of honor?"
All right, way
to go, Ruth Ann… you have done it again… why do you keep forgetting how
much work it is to have company for dinner? Don't you remember that in
the army, they say never, ever to volunteer?
The above
dialogue, with varying ruminations, goes through my mind every time I
decide to entertain. I love the sophistication and sparkle of a
beautiful dinner party. It is my way of showering my friends with the
special love and attention that they deserve. However, invariably, I
feel overwhelmed at the prospect of pulling it all together.
Two people
always come to mind on dinner party days when I am running around hither
and yon. The first, and this will definitely date me, is Samantha, who
was the star of the old television show Bewitched. I just loved that
show. All Samantha had to do was twitch her nose and bingo, a great
dinner would appear on the table. Another twitch and the house was
suddenly immaculate, and she would be coiffed and dressed to perfection.
I thought that was just great!
The other person
is Martha Stewart. I must say that I find her somewhat irritating. First
of all, she has a decidedly snooty demeanor. And secondly, and more
relevant to my subject, she tries to convey the idea that entertaining
is just loads of fun and easy as can be. She whips up the most
complicated dishes and sets the most divinely beautiful table and never
bothers to mention that these feats are not humanly possible unless
you have loads of domestic help or have nothing else at all to do but
entertain. Get real, Martha, stop giving other women a complex!
Anyway, enough
of my grousing… it's time to knuckle down and start to plan a great
dinner party. First and foremost, of course, is the menu. Party food
should be richer and more extravagant than everyday food. Think about
your guest list. Are the guests all familiar with macrobiotic food? Is
there anyone who is on a restricted diet? If you happen to know that one
of the guests has a particular liking for a certain dish, it's a nice
gesture to make that dish.
My party was
planned for Saturday night. On Thursday I did the grocery shopping. The
first item on my menu was squash soup. At the produce section of Essene,
I examined the different squash choices. There were three choices:
kabocha, sweet mama, and buttercup. Hmmm… which of these would be the
sweetest? I asked the produce man for advice. "Christina likes sweet
mama the best," he said.
I chose the
three largest sweet mama squash that they had. Bigger is definitely
better when it comes to squash. The bigger they are, the sweeter they
are. Next, I started eyeing the escarole. To my delight, it was just
beautiful. My main course was to be deep-fried tempeh with escarole, sea
palm, and olives. Deep-fried food is satisfying to men. My husband likes
this dish. Hopefully, Mark, my daughter's new beau will enjoy it too.
Mark has never had a macrobiotic dinner before. I want him to enjoy the
meal and see that this type of food can be sensational.
There were to be
eight guests, including myself and my husband Jeffrey; Christina and
Bob, Sheryl Forte, the assistant editor of Christina Cooks, and her
husband Jim, my daughter Amanda and the about-to-be converted Mark. By
Friday night, the good china was washed and the silver was polished and
standing at attention on the credenza. Everything was in shipshape
order, and the smell of the fresh flowers permeated the house.
Saturday morning
I wake up with a feeling of dread. "I wish that I were going to bed
right now, instead of just getting up," I said moodily. "What's wrong,
dear?" asked Jeffrey. "Oh, I am just not in the mood to cook for eight
people tonight; why do I always get myself into these dinner parties?"
"Shall we just take everyone out to a restaurant?" he suggested, being
the real gem of a husband that he is. "No, that's the coward's way out;
I'll cook, but first I'm going to get an adjustment from Tony Vincent."
Tony Vincent is
not just a regular run-of-the-mill chiropractor; he's a healer, a born
psychologist, and a true friend. "You seem a little uptight today;
what's the problem, is something bothering you?" asked Tony. "Well, I'm
cooking for eight tonight, Christina is coming, and I want everything to
be delicious. I hope the meal is not a big flop," I replied.
Tony gave me his
familiar warm laugh and, with a twinkle in his blue eyes, assured me
that I was more than capable of performing the task at hand. "If you
were cooking for eighty, then maybe you would have something to worry
about," he said as he eased my body back into perfect balance.
Feeling
rejuvenated and in control of my negative emotions, I returned home to
begin the cooking. The way that you feel when you cook affects the
energetic quality of the food, so it is important to clear your head and
cook with a joyful heart. If you are in a good frame of mind when you
prepare food, you will feel refreshed rather than tired from the
process.
The afternoon of
cooking went by with surprising ease, except for the few inevitable
glitches. I got annoyed with the squash for being so hard to cut. Also,
when I attempted to blend the almonds into flour, I was a bit
overzealous and turned them into almond butter, so it made the blending
of the dry ingredients a little tricky. The cauliflower dish, the carrot
dish, and the lotus root are all very simple to prepare. Remember that I
am not Martha Stewart!
But Saturday
night was perfect. All the guests were in high spirits. I had set the
stage, and now my guests could relax and have a good time. The table
twinkled with the china and silver. The flowers spoke of love. Diana
Kroll's singing "Let's Fall in Love" from her new CD lent an air of
romance.
The conversation
was lively, and in an impromptu moment, Sheryl, who has a beautiful
voice, sang a song for us in Italian.
Everyone enjoyed themselves, including Mark, who said that he had really
liked the food. After everyone had left, I sat and reflected on the
evening. It was a great dinner party. I promised myself that I won't do
it again, until the next time.
Originally
published in Christina Cooks Holiday 2000
THE MENU
Squash Soup
(serves 8)
1 1/2 large sweet mama, kabocha, or buttercup squash, peeled and
cubed
3 medium onions, diced
parsley for garnish
Cook the onions with a pinch of salt in a small amount of water until
the aroma of the onion disappears; add the peeled, cubed squash and more
water; and cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until the squash is tender.
Puree in a blender until smooth. Return the soup to the pot and add more
salt if needed.
NOTE: the squash is a real chore to peel and cube, but the soup will be
so worth effort. When pureeing the soup in the blender, be careful not
to add too much of the soup liquid at one time, as you do not want the
soup to be watery. I puree the squash and add the soup liquid, as
needed, to get the right consistency.
TEMPEH WITH
ESCAROLE, SEA PALM AND OLIVES
3 pkgs. tempeh
2 bunches escarole, washed and chopped
1 cp sea palm, rinsed and chopped
1 cp olives, pitted and chopped
safflower oil
shoyu
grain mustard
ginger
Cook the tempeh in a broth of shoyu and sliced ginger for 10 minutes.
Remove and spread mustard on one side of the tempeh. Cube the tempeh and
deep fry in the safflower oil unit it is golden brown. In a large pot
put a small amount of water for steaming. Layer the tempeh on the
bottom, add the escarole, olives, and sea palm. Season each layer with
shoyu to taste. Steam for just a few minutes until the escarole is
cooked.
BASMATI RICE
WITH GARLIC AND ONION
3 cps. basmati rice
4 1/2 cps. water
3 cloves sliced garlic
1 sm. onion, finely chopped
olive oil for sauteing
Saute the garlic and onion. Add the washed rice and saute until well
covered with the oil. Add three pinches of salt, the water, cover and
cook for 45 minutes.
NOTE: It is nice to cook this dish in an iron skillet as it seems to
give the rice a good taste. You can very lightly season with shoyu, for
a little extra richness, if you like.
CARROTS WITH
KUZU SAUCE
10 carrots
kuzu
shitake mushroom
kombu
parsley, for garnish
Boil the carrots until tender. In a saucepan, make a broth of water, a
dried shitake mushroom, and a postage size piece of kombu. Cook this for
about 20 minutes.
Mix one tsp. of kuzu per cup of water with a small amount of cold water.
Add this to the broth and cook until it thickens.. If after about 10
minutes, it does not thicken, add a little more kuzu to a small amount
of water and add to the mixture. Glaze the carrots with this and garnish
with parsley.
CAULIFLOWER
WITH MISO DRESSING
1 lg. cauliflower
1/3 tsp.barley or sweet brown rice miso
1 lg.spoon tahini
grated ginger
dash of rice vinegar
water
Wash the cauliflower very well, leaving it whole. If the green leaves
which are on the base of the cauliflower are in good shape leave them
on, as they will look very nice on the serving dish. If they are wilted
or brown remove them. Steam the whole cauliflower in a large pot, with
the lid on for about 25 minutes or until it is tender. During the last
few minutes pour the miso dressing over the top.
MISO DRESSING
In a suribachi combine the tahini, miso, grated ginger and mix with a
little water to create the desired consistency. The amount of miso,
tahini and ginger can vary according to your taste. I kept adding and
tasting until it tasted good!
PICKLED LOTUS
ROOT
1lg. lotus root, sliced very thin
uneboshi vinegar
dash shoyu
Bring about 3 cps. of water to a boil, add enough uneboshi vinegar to
make the water turn a pink color, add a dash of shoyu. Cook this for
just a few minutes. Add the lotus root and cook for about 2 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and allow the lotus root to pickle while
you cook dinner.
RASPBERRY
TORTE
1 cp. roasted almonds
1 cp. roasted oak flakes
1 1/2 cps. roasted whole-wheat pastry flour
pinch sea salt
1 tp. almond essence
1 tp. vanilla essence
1/2 cp corn oil
1/2 cp maple syrup or rice syrup
Jam
Place the almonds and oats on separate trays and roast in a 350 degree
oven for ten or fifteen minutes. Blend the almonds to a flour in a
blender, repeat with the oat flakes.
Mix the nut flour, flour, oat flour and salt together and make a well in
the center. Whip the oil, syrup, vanilla and almond essence using a
fork. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Form a dough and press two
thirds into a nine inch pie dish..Spread the jam over the top. Crumble
the remaining dough over the top of the jam. Bake in the oven at 350 for
fifteen to twenty minutes.
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