First, dinner was served: a lovely plate of Fresh Ham with Rosemary, Garlic, and Lemon; Wild Rice with Pears, Sausage, and Candied Pecans; and Mushroom Salad with Lemon, Thyme, and Parmigiano. I must say, the Fresh Ham seemed to be not much more than just another pork roast. This isn't to say that it wasn't good; on the contrary it was quite tasty. However, I am not sure I understand the article's author raving about the fantastic quality of the cut. See, a fresh ham is basically the cut of meat which would become the ham we all purchase, except it has not been smoked. It is the hind quarter of a pig, preferably the shank half. And it definitely was delicious... it just wasn't Knock-Your-Socks-Off, Oh-My-Goodness-I'm-Never-Smoking-Pork-Again good. However, it was served alongside a pan sauce made with some cherry jam, which definitely added a great kick to it.
The rice was also fantastic. This dish called for the use of comice pears, which fortunately were not too difficult to find (thank you, Whole Foods!). The rice ended up taking a LOT longer to cook than it said, and it never did absorb all of that water. Oh well, we were hungry. And the mushroom salad that it was served up with? Wow, what another winner! Such a light, tasty dish. This is definitely something to consider taking to a picnic, next time you're not sure what to make.
Fresh Ham, Wild Rice, and Mushroom Salad
After we wrapped up dinner, we cleaned the kitchen a little and moved on to dessert. Let me point out though, this entire time, Dave and Michelle were making those Apple Fennel Cheddar Cheese Straws. Now, they were FINALLY in the oven. Those things had to go in and out of the fridge about six million times during the preparation process. I was quite excited for this recipe, as I love cheese straws, but after seeing the toil they require, I am not really interested in adding this recipe to my repertoire. Anyway, we kept inquiring, "are they done yet?" "are they done yet?" and kept hearing, "NO! They have to stay in there until 10:20!" It was a tough existence, really.
Apple, Fennel, and Cheddar Cheese Straws, FINALLY!
Also while we were cooking dinner, Kate was taking care of the Double Dark Chocolate Thumbprints and the Dried Cherry and Almond Biscotti with White Chocolate. Seriously, this woman is a baking machine. I cannot believe the precision and speed she can assemble ingredients, whip up a dough, and get it into the oven. Plus, she exhibits fantastic modification skills. Let me say, its amazing what a dash of cinnamon does in the Chocolate Thumbprints, and after there was leftover white chocolate from the Biscotti, they became gorgeous swirls!
Kate's Bad-Ass Improv Skills on the Double-Chocolate Thumbprints
Dried Cherry Biscotti that Won't Make it Until Morning
Anyway, we moved on to dessert. Dessert tonight was a Molten Spiced Chocolate Cabernet Cake. This recipe was actually a toss-up on whether or not we were supposed to do it. See, its a recipe that comes in an advertisement for McCormic Gourmet Collection Roasted Saigon Cinnamon. But hey, its a recipe, and its in the magazine, so we had to make it. Don't think that the fact that it was a molten chocolate cake had anything to do with that decision! At any rate, this cake definitely turned out quite well.
Molten Spiced Chocolate Cakes
We were about to wrap up for the evening, when a perusal of the remaining dishes commenced, and I entered a state of sheer terror. I had not thought to properly allocate oven time. Fortunately, we have two ovens here (a definite necessity for this sort of undertaking!), but have you seen the recipes we have to bake? So, I figured we'd take care of the remaining cookies, just to get them off of our plate (and into our bellies).
Orange Butter Cookies with Grand Marnier Glaze (left) and Burnt Sugar Vanilla Cookies (right)
The only hiccup to our cookie-baking plan was that the dough for the Apricot Sandwich Cookies was way too dry to roll. So, we let it soften, mixed in a bunch more butter, and popped it back into the fridge. Folks, I do hope this recipe isn't a total failure!
Oh Fudge! This Dough Just Didn't Work!
Now, I must say, it pains me to tell you that we didn't complete today's schedule. The Pear Fritters were not made, nor the Cranberry, Pear, and Blood Orange Mostarda. We'll have to pick those up tomorrow.
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