#2: A Middle Eastern feast.

Well, our second You Pick Two event occurred this past Saturday and it went even better than I expected.  It's been a couple months since our first event back in October, but between making Thanksgiving for 16 people and putting together our annual holiday party, there just wasn't time to schedule one before 2013 ended.  But, we are thankfully back on track in 2014 and plan to do them monthly.

Our feast.

I started doing these events (and writing this blog) as a way to challenge myself creatively, through my cooking, my writing, and my photography.  But I realized that I am also challenging our guests in a way - they have to pick two people and maybe try some foods they either have never had or have been to scared to try.  I think this is a good thing, I wanted to provide something different or unexpected from the normal dinner party or night out.  That being said, I am sure you could go to many restaurants  and have a wonderful meal that would make some of these dishes I made seem ordinary, but for some reason making all these dishes from scratch in my kitchen made them feel more special than getting them at a restaurant.  For this round, I wanted to do something I have never really done before: a complete middle eastern/mediterranean feast with lots of warm and cold mezze that we could share and pick at while sitting at the table.  We definitely had plenty of food, in fact the photo doesn't show the fish I cooked (which was sitting on the stove) and the big bowl of fattoush (we plated it before we sat down), since there was no room left on our dining table.  But one rule for me in terms of entertaining, it's always preferable to have too much rather than too little.  That being said, I did kind of go a little overboard.  Regardless, a little indulgence is good for the soul every now and again.

For this event, the two we picked were a couple who are really close friends of ours - Joe Kuehne and Javier Aquino.  In particular, I have known Joe for about 12 or 13 years now.  We met randomly at a party in Arlington, VA of all places.  Kevin's roommate from college played on a soccer team with Joe.  We went to a party hosted by the mutual friend and bonded over gin and tonics and really bad Girls Gone Wild videos (they are like car crashes, you can't not look).  Joe means a lot to me because he was the first person to show me around DC and to introduce me to his inner circle of gay and straight friends.  I spent a lot of time by myself in Virginia while Kevin was in law school at night and working full-time.  Joe would always invite me into DC for a night on the town on the weekend.  We spent many late nights at the now-closed (and forever missed) Chaos nightclub.  He also helped me become comfortable with who I am as a gay man and brought Kevin and I into a whole new group of people that we are still very close with.  Joe and Javi started dating a few years ago but Javi has already become a close friend of ours.  I work a lot with Joe on filming videos and documentaries and Javi has become indispensable at any of our shoots - not to mention he's a fantastic host and cook in his own right.  So, who were their pick two's?  Joe admitted it was tough to find two people we didn't already know through him, but they invited a fun and interesting couple named Subi Ram and Paddy O'Connor.

From left: Paddy, Subi, me, Joe, and Javi.

Subi and Paddy have been together for many years.  Our friend Javi met Subi (randomly) at a taping of Jeopardy back when they filmed Celebrity Jeopardy here in DC a few years ago.  They bonded and have been in touch ever since.  It's easy to see why since they are friends - both are very outgoing, social, and confident.  Subi is a manager at a retail store here in the DC area (Bethesda) while Paddy works for Virgin Atlantic.  You may have guessed that, yes, Paddy O'Connor is Irish. :)   Subi is Brazilian and speaks fluent Portuguese.  He also has a mother who is a fantastic cook.  I'm hoping to get some authentic Brazilian recipes from my new friend.  Paddy is from Dublin and, thankfully, has managed to maintain most of his charming Irish accent.  Being mostly Irish myself, it was comforting to talk about our heritage and where I grew up.  I spent most of my high school years as a bar back at an Irish restaurant in Worcester, MA, called (ironically) O'Connor's.  It frankly was one of the worst jobs I have ever had, but it made me work really hard in high school so that I could get into a good college.  Paddy lives in London now and flies all over the world for work, traveling to the east coast a lot.  In fact, he had just come off a flight that day and was flying back the next day.  It was fortunate timing and I was very happy they could come to our home and share a great meal, plenty of wine, and lots of laughs.  I look forward to seeing them again soon.

One of the more fun parts of the evening was being introduced by Subi and Paddy to the game "Head's Up!" that Paddy had on his iPhone.  It's a $100,000 pyramid-type game where the person with the phone picks a category, then places the phone on their forehead with the screen facing out towards everyone.  Different names, places, etc. pop up on the screen (depending on the category) and the person holding the phone has to guess what's on screen using the clues and gestures of the group.  Amazingly, it also records everything using the iphone's video camera to save for review (or humiliation) later.  We passed the phone around a few times but no one could beat Subi's record of 11 correct answers for "Brand Names".  Much like shooting pool, there's a point where everyone gets really good for a round or two, but then quickly falls off as the drinks add up.

I also wanted to mention our friend Chuck, who took a chance by starting his own floral arrangement venture called Lush Arrangements.  He does beautiful work and I highly recommend him for any event you may have.  Here is a fantastic photo taken by Subi of the centerpiece.  There were actually three of these beautiful arrangements but frankly we ran out of space on the table.  I used petals from one of the roses in the arrangement to add some color to the silver dipping bowls you see at the ends.  They were there to clean your fingers throughout the meal since this food was meant to be eaten with your hands.

Great shot Subi!

Here, finally, is the menu from the evening.  I will be posting the recipes, photos, etc. over the next few weeks.  I hope you give one of them a shot in your kitchen.

MENU

A Middle Eastern Feast

January 25, 2014

Cocktail

Pomegranate Punch

Pomegranate juice, pear nectar, Grand Marnier, champagne

Mezze

Labneh

Greek yogurt, extra virgin olive oil, sumac

Stuffed fillo triangles

Ground beef, onions, pine nuts

Hummus bi Tahina

Stuffed grape leaves

Falafel

Fattoush

Romaine lettuce, sumac, pita chips, lemon dressing

Sweet and spicy eggplant salad

Ginger, chile, honey

Artichoke salad

Preserved lemons, turmeric, extra virgin olive oil

Ras el-hanout roasted leg of lamb

Halibut in warm tomato, saffron sauce

Homemade pita bread

Dessert

Turkish delight syllabub

Whipped cream, Cointreau, rosewater, pistachios

It's bananas.

Wrapping up our first You Pick Two event I wanted to post our dessert, which was a huge hit.  Keeping the updated Americana theme, I decided to update the traditional banana creme pie.  Turns out, a lot of people out there have done something similar.  My research took me to the one linked below.  I have never been to Momofuku Milk Bar in New York (or Toronto), but I have heard glowing reviews about it.  After making this, I can understand why.  It takes some time and has a few steps but is totally worth it.  In fact, this chocolate crumb crust could be used with any filling.  The recipe is very versatile and good to have your in arsenal.

The chocolate crumb crust could be used for any pie.

Here is a link to the recipe I used for the pie:


http://www.hummingbirdhigh.com/2013/07/momofuku-milk-bar-banana-cream-pie.html


To make it my own, I topped the slices of pie with whipped cream and salted caramel sauce.  The salted caramel sauce is easy and can be used in a lot of ways, it's perfect over cold vanilla ice cream in particular.  I used the "wet sand" method for the caramel, which adds a little water to the sugar to help it dissolve.

Salted Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon Maldon sea salt (or kosher salt)

Directions
1. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan (I used a 3-quart pan), combine the sugar and water and heat over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Once it dissolves, turn the heat up to medium high so that the sugar begins to boil.  DO NOT STIR.

2. If you find sugar crystals are sticking to the sides of the pan you can use a wet pastry brush to re-dissolve the crystals.  I did not have to do this.

3. Boil until sugar becomes amber in color.  I didn't let it get it too dark since it becomes bitter at that point.  In the photo below, you can see it's staring to turn amber.  I turned the flame off right after I took this picture.

4. Once you turn the heat off, pour in the cream slowly, making sure to whisk the whole time.  It will sputter and bubble.  Just make sure to keep whisking.  Once it's mixed, add the butter and salt and stir them in to the sauce.  Let it cool and serve.