If anyone remembers the post that started this blog, I started writing about food because I missed having people at my table sharing food, wine, and stories. Since I have been able to cook for guests again, I have been writing less. I am trying to catch up with writing about some actual gatherings.
Recently, I invited friends over for a simple meal after a particularly long week. The food wasn’t anything fancy – some charcuterie, the bread that I can make in my sleep after all the pandemic bread-making, and steaks and sides. We did break out some nice wines. After the extended time of not being able to have guests, we have some older wines that have been in storage for a while.
There is one friend with whom I have shared many meals over too many years to count who used to comment on the number of glasses lined up on the table and anticipate the variety of wines based on glassware. In more recent years, when I think about providing a fresh glass for every wine, I start thinking about the many hours that I have spent washing those glasses after the guests leave. So….I don’t set the table like that anymore. Another friend, someone who was also often a guest at those same multi-course, multi-wine meals, recently sent me this article about how recipes never warn you about the dishes you will generate:
https://slate.com/human-interest/2023/10/dishwashing-rules-habits-cookbooks-advice.html
There was a time when I was much like the person described in the article with the almost militant cleaning strategy. I do clean as I go, and I like to prepare as much as possible before guests arrive, so the after-dinner cleaning usually isn’t too bad – as long as I don’t put six glasses in front of every plate, that is.
Thinking cleaning dishes after dinner parties got me thinking about the nostalgia associated with dishes. There are any number of articles out there about how my generation (Gen X) does not want our boomer parents’ china. Unfortunately for my spouse, that is not true of me. Years ago my mother gave me two sets of pre-WWII china that she had been given by my father’s mother. My spouse absolutely loathes the pattern in the pictures below, but I think it is perfect for fall.
Fortunately for marital harmony, I use the other set much more often:
Still on the subject of dishes, a friend recently had the sad task of cleaning out a relative’s home, and she asked me whether I would like anything. She very kindly gave me a charming set of multiple pieces of bakeware. For me, the beauty in these older dishes is not just their appearance, but that every time you use them, your friends/family are with you.
She also gave me absolutely fabulous copper molds that I think are fun and nostalgic, and I promptly put them on the wall in in my kitchen. We won’t get into my spouse’s opinion on these.
So, what about the food? For this recent gathering I prepared a modified frico as a side dish for the steaks. I typically rice the potatoes, but I have somehow misplaced my potato ricer, so I mashed them this time. The texture is better, and the cheese mixes in better, if you rice the potatoes. To make make my modified frico, cook yukon gold potatoes until tender in salted water, drain well, then rice or mash them without any added butter or cream. Mix the prepared potatoes with as much grated parmesan cheese as you are willing to put in there, at least 1/2 cup to 3 medium sized potatoes. This needs to be fresh, real grated parmesan cheese. The dry “cheese products” that will last forever on a shelf, and even some of the pre-grated that claim to be real, will not work properly. Form the potato/cheese mixture into patties and cook in a lightly greased frying pan (non-stick will make your life easier) until melted and browned. That’s it. That’s all it takes. They are always a big hit.
And, if you make enough frico, you can make yourself breakfast with the leftovers. I also had some leftover speck from the charcuterie, so I reheated a couple of the frico patties, layered on some crisped up speck, and topped it all with runny eggs. There are far worse ways to start a Sunday morning, particularly when there isn’t still a counter full of dirty glasses still to clean from the night before.
If you’re wondering, but what about dessert for that simple dinner, I served some freshly baked sables. The beauty of these is that I do the simplified roll and freeze method for the dough, and as Iong as I have a log of dough in the freezer, it take just a minute to cut it up and 15 minute to cook to have fresh cookies. This particular batch was a modified version of the recipe in Dorie Greenspans’s Dorie’s Cookies.
Great blog. Loved it. So nice to see the beautiful china all set out.