Needless to say, I survived the “Dinner Impossible”, but I did hit several hurdles and I did learn several new things.
The evening started at the grocery store with an organized grocery list. Of course, the first hurdle came with the first item on the list – puff pastry. The store was out of puff pastries, so I had to improvise on the spot. I had recently seen an episode on the Food Network that discussed phyllo dough, so I figured I would give the dough a shot. I continued through the rest of the list and headed on home.
Just as I entered my place, my old boss called me to discuss a previous customer of mine. The call was definitely unexpected and a time killer. As the clock rolled to 6:15 PM, I started. I threw the potatoes in the oven, cut the bread for the bruschetta, and began my salad. Since the evening was warm, I wanted the salad to be as cool and crisp as possible. Therefore, I cut, rinsed, and dried the spinach; mixed it with the strawberries; and threw the mix in the fridge to cool down.
The next hour consisted of making the spinach and mushroom filling, preparing the glazed carrots, and setting up the process for gnocchi. I finished with a couple minutes to spiff up the place before I started rolling the gnocchi[1].
As I rolled the dough, my first guests arrived. I threw the cut phyllo dough into a cupcake pan and placed the pan in the oven. As everyone exchanged pleasantries, the dough crisped up and I filled the phyllo bowls. I moved on to throw the bread in the oven to prepared the bruschetta.
All the time, I continued to roll the gnocchi. I tested a couple pieces in the water, but realized that in my zeal for lighter, fluffier pieces, the gnocchi lacked the correct amount of flour. I sifted another half cup of flour into the dough and quickly folded the flour in to the dough.
As the guests continued with the appetizers, the last guest called to let me know he was on his way up. Since he was late, his arrival would indicate the start of the entrees. I pulled the salad out of the fridge and mixed it with my homemade dressing. I sliced more strawberries to placed around the dish for decoration and let the group have at it.
All that was left now was to drop the gnocchi in the boiling water and sautee them. Once boiled, I added them to a pan with sage and my pesto sauce. Hands down the best aroma all week. I transfered the dish to my serving plate and put the glazed carrots on another to serve up the meal, with a nice glass of Pinot Noir.
Dessert consisted of ice cream, truffles, and port. Mona had brought the truffles and port back from her recent trip to Portugal, so needless to say the truffles was knee wobbling delicious. After help from everyone to clean up, we sat back to watch episodes of The Office.
Then I slept.
fn1. Potatoes that have been in an oven for an hour will be hot, so take caution when peeling the skin off. Suffice it to say, any nerves that remained on my fingers were subsequently gone.