Diwali dinner party at my GF’s house last night, the first since the pandemic, and the first since her mother died. This was my friend’s first time making the celebratory food of her country totally on her own, without her mom by her side. She did an amazing job, and we toasted the memory of her mama.
Menu: red dal coconut soup to start, mattar paneer w/tomato onion gravy; aloo gobi, a dish called kadhi to eat w/rice; rice w/ghee, caramelized onions and cashews. Dessert was a thick, slightly sweetened yogurt dish with saffron, and sweets I picked up at the Indian grocery.
I planned a couple of treats for our Saturday night meal. Avert your eyes if you don’t like mushrooms, though.
First up is fresh mushroom ravioli from Valicenti Pasta Farm. Sauced with Fat Moon Farm lion’s mane, oyster, and shiitake mushrooms that I spiked with preserved truffle butter.
Not pictured is a salad of baby greens and the very last plum tomato of the season.
For dessert I made a plum torte inspired by the popular The New York Times recipe. I needed to use overripe end-of-season plums from our fall CSA share. For me this cake is the only answer. My husband wanted ice cream to go with, though the cake is lovely on its own.
Thank you for the link to the curried collards recipe! Collards have an assertive flavor profile to me so I’m interested in preparations where that taste won’t overwhelm the dish.
Booster’s been a bitch, for some reason.
Combined with the DST change, I was knocked back on my ass almost all weekend.
I awoke wicked early today.
Resulting in 2 daytime naps.
(This is why I do all vaxxes on a Thursday or Friday…weekend recovery.)
Afternoon rally and decided WWFD.
Baked Macaroni and Ham and Cheese, along with roasted broccoli with s/p and Penzeys Mural of Flavor seasoning mix.
That’s what freezers are for. Hope you are recovered. I didn’t have any problems after my Pfizer booster a few weeks ago but went for my first Shingrix vax today and am feeling a bit on the lousy spectrum…hopefully just a blip.
I had the Pfizer full shot booster on Friday. For my Shingrix shots late 2020 and early 2021, the 2nd one was killer for me. First Shingrix was mostly a sore arm with a bit of tiredness.
@LindaWhit and @emglow101, do not let any singular Shingrix reactions detract you from both shots. I had the previous shingles shot but still contracted shingles. I am sure that my experience was very minor to real shingles, but, trust me, you don’t want the real thing.
We enjoyed another great dinner at Corso 98 in Montclair, NJ. Besides the always awesome eggplant piccata and baked oysters, we enjoyed an excellent roasted beet tartare, with beet chips, pumpkinseed brittle, golden beet ‘yolk’, labneh, mustard seeds, and microgreens. I also enjoyed an awesome crispy wild coho salmon, with red miso glaze, black garlic hummus, roasted shishito peppers, and spicy cucumber salad. We also had stuffed calamari with nduja tomato sauce and fried capers. It all went great with an excellent Washington State cabernet.
Meatloaf with bacon, jalapeno, Slap Ya Mama seasoning, and a Mike’s Hot Honey/ketchup glaze, cheesy cauli mash, pioppini mushrooms in a BTB roasted garlic gravy, and steamed buttered/lemony asparagus.
