Dinner #15: Keep Calm and Keep Cooking

Menu
March 9, 2019

Appetizers
Pea, Mint, and Feta Fritters with Yogurt Dipping Sauce
Caramelized Apple and Fennel, Pork, Sausage Rolls

Course One
Citrus Salad with Honey Dressing

Course Two
Potato and Leek Soup

Course Three
Pea and Ricotta Ravioli with Prosciutto, Mint, and Lemon

Course Four
Roast Leg of Lamb with Mint Sauce and Yorkshire Pudding

Course Five
Blackberry and Cinnamon Charlotte Russe

Beverages
Pimm’s Cup
raspberry and Lavender Gin Fizz
Dandelion & Burdock
Irn Bru

The spring British AJRB. Two, yes two, themed AJRBs that year. To be fair, it was British inspired and it felt like it was there in peaks - you had to be looked for it, but I think if you looked, you could see it. 

It was really fun for me to create this menu together, to think about what I had enjoyed about my time in Scotland and see what could translate. I know when John had come to visit the three times he had (once when I before I started, and we traveled together throughout Scotland, the second time was over the winter, and the last was for my gradation!), he had been really impressed with pretty much everything he had eaten - so it was about combining and bringing forward some of our favorite culinary memories of our time there. 

Appetizers started with two hot ones (lol, we never learn) but at least the Sausage rolls were mostly cooked before and didn't have to be made to order. These were definitely a must-have on the menu, and we made them bite-sized. I recently recreated them and realized how much I loved them. The pea fritters were a nice counterpoint, especially with the yogurt dipping sauce. 

Course One was one of the prettiest salads we ever made - a Citrus Salad with Honey Dressing. We used grapefruits, oranges, and blood oranges, topped with a few red onions (inspired by a dish we had had recently when we had gone to brunch in LA) and the color story was so beautiful on the backdrop of the greens. I was so enamored that I even took pictures during the prep of this course, which never ever  happens haha. Course Two's soup - Potato and Leek - is one of John's classic soups and came out perfectly. Then we had two back to back showstopper courses for him.

Course Three was a Pea and Ricotta Ravioli with Proscuitto, Mint, and Lemon. As you know by now, John makes a lot of pasta - but we have always had the issue that we had to make it fresh, significantly slowing things down. What it usually means is John has to roll out the dough, cut it, portion the ravioli, cut it again, and then boil it...and if we are making the sauce, make the sauce then. Which can be great for guests if they want a food break, but not so great if they are sitting around hungry or if sitting around makes them even fuller.

This time, however, for Course Three, we made the ravioli in advance and let them dry a bit, so it reduced the prep time down a lot between courses since all we had to do was boil them, which means we could properly crisp the proscuitto and focus on presentation. 

Course Four - Roast Leg of Lamb with Mint Sauce and Yorkshire Puddings - I feel like I barely even need to say more. My mouth is already watering. It was perfect and delicious. The only thing I will add is to say that Yorkshire pudding is like a popover, so it is like a bready thing, not like pudding, which, I think, ups the appeal of this course even more. 

We finished the meal with a Blackberry and Cinnamon Charlotte Russe. Don't know what a Charlotte Russe is? I didn't either until I wanted to make one haha. It is (or at least mine was) basically a bavarian cream set with some gelatin, topped with a layer of jelly, surrounded by lady fingers. And because it is AJRB, we made homemade lady fingers (not ideal, because they were not uniform)....and I didn't know we needed, like needed or you can't make it a springform pan until I was already making it so John had to run to the store to buy one, and I was terrified basically the whole time that I hadn't added enough gelatin so the whole thing was going to come blobbing out through the wholes from between the lady fingers. But it all worked out and it was definitely one of the hardest desserts I've ever made.