La Notte Delle Ragazze

That's right - it was girl's night tonight. A group of my wife's girlfriends were over and I was the cook. I had a fun time planning the menu during the weekend, and executing it tonight. A few errors occured, but overall it went quite well. Here was the lineup:

Insalata con le pere, il feta, e le noci candite
1 pound romaine lettuce, washed and chopped
1/2 pound spinach, washed
1/4 head of red cabbage, chopped
1 bunch green onions, finely chopped
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup feta cheese
2 bartlett pears, halved and cored
1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp onion powder
fresh ground black pepper
fresh ground sea salt

First off, always wash the veg well. Next, combine in a very large bowl the washed and cut lettuce, spinach, cabbage, green onions, and grape tomatoes in a bowl. In a skillet, heat the chopped walnuts and sugar until the sugar starts to melt, then add the cinnamon and toss the walnuts in the sugar syrup. Pour coated walnuts onto a piece of wax paper, and allow to cool.

Slice the pear halves thinly, about 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, and place in the bowl with the lettuce, cabbage spinach, onions and tomatoes. Add the olive oil, vinegar, onion powder, salt, and pepper and toss together. Divide the salad into bowls, then add the feta and candied walnuts on top.

Linguine con pollo, rosmarino, aglio, aceto e pecorino
2 large cloves garlic, minced
2 tbps olive oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tsp fresh rosemary
sea salt
black pepper
1 tbsp butter
4 oz dry linguine
2 tbsp olive oil
3 roma tomatoes, diced
2 tsp dried basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
Pecorino Romano cheese (Pecorino Toscano would be even better, but is hard to find in the US)

I will describe both the chicken portion and the pasta portion separately, thought they have to come together at about the same time for proper plating.

In a skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat, just until they begin to brown. Remove from pan and cool.

With a rolling pin, pound chicken breasts until they are an even thickness. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil and garlic until garlic starts to brown. Add chicken breasts and cook 3-5 minutes on each side. Then add vinegar, stock, rosemary, salt, and pepper and cook a further 5 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove chicken from liquid and keep warm between two plates. Bring liquid to a rolling boil and cook until thick. Whisk in butter.

Cook linguine in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain. Return to pot, and add olive oil, basil, tomatoes, toasted pine nuts, pepper, and garlic. Toss until coated and tomatoes and garlic are warm.

Plate linguine and put chicken on top. Ladel a small amount of rosemary vinegar sauce over chicken, then grate Pecorino cheese over top. Serve.

I also served a slice of cherry pie with 'zested' dark chocolate on top for dessert, along with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. The dark chocolate didn't zest as well as I'd have hoped - it tended make small flakes rather than the longer ribbons that I was hoping for. Still, it went over pretty well.

No one left hungry, and a hearty game of scrabble ensued after the meal. All in all it was a successful night, but I am starting to really wonder about my obsession with balsamic, rosemary, and garlic. I really must move on!

-C