In my circle of friends I’m known as the one who “over does” it with parties and food, so I always enjoy meeting people who are even more over the top than me. Culinary Fool is just such a person so when she invited me over for her semi-annual ladies brunch a few weekends ago, I gladly accepted.

I walked into an amazing smelling house and was quickly ushered out to the sunny back deck where coffee, orange juice and champagne were waiting. After introductions and some chit-chat we were asked back inside and seated around a table overflowing with food. This was the spread:

Crab and Shrimp “Quiche” – A beautiful mix of fluffy, light eggs packed with crab and shrimp.

Oven Omelet with Vegetables – Another egg dish more geared towards the vegetarians.

Tomatoes with Shallots, Basil and Balsamic – A colorful and tasty side dish with cherry tomatoes and basil from her garden.

Homemade Orange and Cranberry Rolls – Culinary Fool said that these didn’t turn out as good as usual, but I still enjoyed them.

Chicken and Apple Sausages – Completely addictive sausage from Aidells. It almost tasted like a savory-sweet kielbasa.

Pork Roll with Apple Stuffing – A pork roast stuffed with a chunky apple filling.

Bacon Fritters РWhen I saw these, a wave of happiness came over me and I wanted to hug Culinary Fool. They were light pancakes studded with bacon, served with arugula and saut̩ed balsamic onions.

Brunch is such a lovely occasion on its own, but when done Culinary Fool Style it’s elevated to a whole new level.

Technorati Tags: bacon, brunch, fritters

For the party Nishino was serving platters of sushi, fabulous shrimp and asparagus tempura, seared tuna with chopped daikon and little foie gras/shitake/tuna nibbles. Admittedly, passed appetizers are not a huge indication of a restaurant’s capability, but I was sufficiently impressed. I will be returning very soon to try out the omakase menu.

Now for the good part. Even if you don’t live in Seattle you can still try the omakase menu—you’ll just have to cook it yourself. Hillel’s latest cookbook is filled with beautiful images and nine of Nishino’s recipes, which have been broken down into steps that seem very manageable. I can’t wait to cook the entire menu!

Download it for free at:
http://www.tastingmenu.com/autumnomakase

Congrats Hillel! Another beautiful baby…

Technorati Tags: cookbook, Nishino, Tasting Menu

So Retro: Sandwich Loaf
http://www.foodmigration.com/ 2005/08/so-retro-sandwich-loaf.html

Pineapple Upside-down Cake
http://80breakfasts.blogspot.com/ 2005/08/virtual-40s-70s-party-pineapple-upside.html

Swedish Meatballs
http://seriouslygood.kdweeks.com/ 2005/08/swedish-meatballs.html

Spiced Tomato Aspic
http://www.iheartbacon.com/index.php?id=286

Snowy Chicken Confetti Salad
http://deepfry.blogspot.com/2005/08/swell-evening_15.html

Also, don’t forget to check out the entries to the Does My Blog Look Tacky in This? contest!

For my contribution, I made a Spiced Tomato Aspic from “The ABC of Salads” cookbook. It ended up looking like congealed blood and tasting like straight tomato paste; it was so tomato-y that I could barely finish one bite. I also made a Red Hot Salad, which was even worse than the tomato aspic! Luckily the last dish I made—Pork Roast from the “Siamese Cookery” cookbook, turned out amazing. I cooked the roast in my doufeu and the pork was rendered, yet again, meltingly tender. The pork had very subtle Asian flavors, but it was delicious. I will definitely be making this recipe again!

For drinks, I served Crater Lake Vodka and Plymouth Gin martinis and boxed wine. I had a hard time deciding which boxed wine to buy, so I went with the cutest packaging. Considering it was Chardonnay AND from a box, I was pretty impressed. The wine was very drinkable and inexpensive, and the next day, I was happy there weren’t any bottles to take out to the recycling.

To round out the menu, my guests brought:
Rumaki (marinated chicken livers and water chestnuts wrapped in bacon), which were really delicious and a huge hit
Celery sticks filled with Kaukauna cheese spread and cream cheese
Tuna noodle casserole, with potato chip topping!
A delicious coffee cake
Coconut cake, with a meringue frosting
Orange Jell-O with canned mandarin oranges and cool whip topping

Even though not all the recipes turned out, we still had a great time and it was fun to test out some strange recipes. Now I’m toying with the idea of recreating TV dinner menus, like Salisbury steak, mashed potatoes and those strange and oddly delicious desserts.

Siamese Cookery Pork Roast

4 pounds pork shoulder
pineapple rind
2 teaspoons cumin
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
6 tablespoons brown sugar
6 tablespoons parsley, chopped

1. Mix together cumin, garlic, pepper and salt and rub into the roast. Place rind of pineapple over roast, cover and bake at 300 for 3.5 hours.

2. When roast is done, remove and discard pineapple rind. De-fat the liquid and return to the pot. Combine soy, vinegar, brown sugar and parsley and pour over roast. Cook, uncovered for another 30-45 minutes, basting every 15 minutes.

In case you need a little inspiration, I did a quick, online search and found some winsome recipes from the 50’s. Ack!

You don’t really even need to read the recipes to know they’re good; the title says it all. Here are a few of my faves:

Baked Corn Chex ‘N’ Cheese Custard
He-Man’s Tuna Noodle Casserole (made with Ritz!)
Lemonade Fried Chicken (uses frozen lemonade concentrate as a brine!)
Pepsi-Cola Cake With Broiled Peanut Butter Frosting (uh…)
Fresca Cake With Maraschino Frosting

I actually might have to make this one:

Red Hot “Salad” (I decided to put quotes around “salad”)
Servings: 6

6 oz Cherry Jell-O (2 Pkgs)
4 oz Red Hots Candy
3 c Boiling Water
20 oz Pineapple, crushed and undrained
2 c Applesauce

Dissolve Jell-O and red hots (also known as Cinnamon Imperials) in boiling water. When cooled to room temperature, add pineapple and applesauce. Pour into oiled 8-cup mold. Chill before serving.

Then I found a few great book excerpts from the 40’s, 60’s and 70’s. I especially love the Conway Twitty burger and the “Legal” Martini using instant chicken broth and canned mushrooms.

Those of you attending my real-time party… don’t worry. I’ll be making real martinis.

If you’d like to participate, here’s the deal:

1. Either host a real party (we’re hosting ours on August 13th) and have your guests bring dishes from the 40’s-70’s OR if you don’t want to host a party, just make a dish from the 40’s-70’s.

2. Photograph your food.

3. Post the photo(s) on your blog by August 15th and email the link to me or Deepfry. If you’re really feeling into it, please also post the recipe and/or a picture of the cookbook you used. If you don’t have a blog but would like to participate, just email us the information and we’ll post it.

Here is some inspiration:
http://www.candyboots.com/wwcards/czarina.html
http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/knudsen2/1.html

Hope you can join the party!

Update: Don’t forget about the accompanying Does My Blog Look Tacky in This? contest

• I picked up the wild boar from Don & Joe’s Meats and was shocked to find it looked nothing like the pig I roasted last year; it, uh, had no skin.
• The wild boar looked grotesque without any skin, but it was fascinating to see all the muscle groupings and how they fit together. We named him Francis Bacon.
• I decided not to marinate Francis, but instead soaked him overnight in a vinegar and brown sugar brine.
• While Francis was not very tender, he was delicious and boar-y tucked inside banh mi sandwiches filled with fresh pickled veggies.
• People brought a beautiful array of appetizers including summer rolls, chicken and mango in wonton cups, galloping horses and peanuts coated in a coconut candy shell.
• My brother made Vietnamese iced coffees, which require the cutest little coffee filter contraptions. I’m not a coffee drinker at all, but I couldn’t stop sipping these!
• The simple syrup drinks were a huge hit, except for the pandan leaf; it was a little weird in the drinks and most people thought it smelled like old gym shoes.
• The cream puffs I made for dessert were delicious tasting, but for some reason the cream never set up. I served the puffs with a bowl of the lemon-grass cream filling on the side, like a dip.

Oh yeah, and I was so exhausted that I fell asleep on top of all the guest’s coats (and purses and pokey cell phones) during the middle of the party. But maybe that’s not a highlight…

My plan is to roast the pig like last year, but then chop it up to make banh mi sandwiches. My problem is that I did a trial marinade last week and it turned out really boring—which is weird because it sounded good, but it was practically flavorless! Maybe my proportions were off?

2 stalks lemon grass
1/2 yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
2 T fish sauce (nam pla)
2 T soy sauce
1 T tablespoons rice vinegar
pinch of 5-spice

Any secret (or not so secret) family recipe for a Vietnamese-style marinade would be greatly appreciated. I’m trying to avoid anything with lots of sugar because I’m worried the pig will burn, but aside from that any ingredient is fair game. Please help if you can!

Thanks!

• Prime rib roast – My dad makes the best roasted meats ever. This one was studded with garlic cloves and slathered in a mustard and soy sauce glaze, then slow roasted until perfectly rare. (Dad, if you’re reading this, I need the recipe.)
• Salmon – Two fillets of salmon baked with dill and lemons.
• Popovers – My aunt made these amazing and beautiful popovers and I couldn’t stop eating them. I had three, slathered with butter and jam.
• Shrimp and strawberry salad – I brought this dish and it’s one of my favorite salads. It’s really sweet and delicate with the strawberries and butter lettuce, but the garlic and mint dressing gives it a great kick. Plus it’s absolutely gorgeous.
• Asparagus – Perfectly poached and served with mayonnaise mixed with lemon juice.
• Creamed corn – I forgot to try this as I already had so much on my plate, but it looked delicious.
• Garlic mashed potatoes – Creamy and garlicky. Mmmmm.
• Rice crispy treats – My aunt makes these about once a year and I can’t get enough of them.
• Marionberry pie / Strawberry & rhubarb pie – Mom brought these from Whidbey Pies Café, the makers of the best pies on the planet. I love the dense, seedy texture of the marionberry filling.
• Vanilla bean ice cream