Politics and Peppercorns: Family

There's really nothing like cooking for family. Friends are great. Dates are cool. But then there's cooking for the people that knew you before the food. WAY before the food. The people that are proud of your culinary development, bewildered at how you went from your first job flipping burgers at Wendy's to being a chef wannabe, and most appreciate the food that you put on the table when all is said and done. So the cooking I've done for the little brother, my parents, and my grandparents is by far the most rewarding that I can do.

Last night's guests weren't...TECHNICALLY...family. But we've all got relationships with folks that are so deep and go back so far they might as well be. So when my man David and his wife came over and joined Roommate Nirmal and Former Intern Monica for a Saturday evening dinner, I knew that only my best was to be on display. The particular challenge? David and his wife are vegetarians, and most of my best work involves meat of some sort. Hm.

I decided I wanted to give a bit of Indian flavor to some classically non-Indian cuisine, so we started with a Spinach Souffle: the time-honored bechamel sauce, spinach, eggs, cumin, garam masala, and turmeric. I thought the dish could use both some acidic and some earthy tones, so I put together a wild mushroom vinaigrette....that really ended up more like a wild mushroom paste. I sauteed oyster mushrooms in olive oil with a little bit of salt and pepper, pureed them with some balsamic vinegar, and pushed the whole thing through a chinois. While the texture didn't end up as....saucy?...as I wanted it to be, the flavor was completely spot on: an earthy punch and a little bit of acid that really enhanced the souffle. I could have included a bit more garam masala, but overall this dish really worked. It does seem the souffle didn't puff QUITE as much as I wanted (the picture is a bit misleading, as I only filled the ramekins about 2/3 of the way), so I've got to continue to work on getting enough air whipped into these before Restaurant Weekend in a couple of weeks.

Second course was a chile relleno. I roasted some poblano peppers, peeled and seeded them, and stuffed them with rice, feta, cheddar, and gruyere cheeses. The stuffing also got a seasoning of cumin and garam masala as well as turmeric. After running them through a dredging station where they got a coat of corn meal, salt, pepper, and cayenne, I deep fried the chilis and served them on a plate with a simple chili oil (olive oil and thai bird chilis pureed and strained) and a delightfully pungent roasted garlic sauce (just white wine, salt, and roasted garlic). Topped with a bit of fried oregano for garnish andddd boom goes the dynamite. Spicy and rich, with a variety of flavor profiles, this one really came together.