Impromptu July Dinner
Thanks to boring bits of confusion and a friend who took his iPhone for a nice swim, last night’s dinner came together at the last moment.
- homemade new pickles
- crudites with Linda’s wild dip
- gougères
- one lacquered rib
- vinho verde
- absinthed salmon rillettes, buttermilk rye bread
- duck (Super 88) braised in fresh orange juice with surprising amounts of garlic, ginger, spring onions, and fresh lemongrass.
- writer’s block grenache
- cheese with balsamic cherries
- cornmeal shortcakes, blueberries cooked with honey and thyme, lemon marscapone
The big winner was the bread. I started with Ruhlman’s buttermilk dinner rolls, scaling back to 25 oz. flour. I used about 5 oz. rye flour and 20 oz. of bread flour. I also swapped in two eggs for the corresponding weight of buttermilk, and baked ot in a buttered loaf pan instead of making small rolls.
At Super 88, the fellow ahead of me in line was buying about 500 scallions. Super 88 has ducks for sale. They might not be quite as good as the ducks at Whole Foods and Savenors, but they cost $7 rather than $21. Hmmm.