On New Year's Eve, Ross and I went to TS and Jerritt's house for a cooking extravaganza. We forgot to bring our aprons--good thing they had some loaners.
On the menu: Cambozola cheese with pears, Maggie's Mushroom-Potato Soup (Still tasty, but not quite as good as when Maggie made it), curried carrots and onions, assorted ravioli, and chocolate cupcakes iced with chocolate-ginger, or chocolate chile frosting (we ran out of time and/or forgot to make the cupcakes).
First, roll the pasta dough over and over until it is the right width and thickness, flat and smooth and without holes...
Then, press the first layer of dough into the tray, which reminds me of an ice cube tray. It also seemed a little like making cookies. Do not press hard.
Fill the cups with goodies. If you are lucky, someone like Jerritt will prepare the fillings earlier in the day: ricotta (made from scratch!), squash, chicken, spinach, hazelnuts, prosciutto. Make one special extra-large ravioli and fill it with egg yolk. When you eat this ravioli, cut into four bite-sized pieces so that each person can have a piece, the yolk will ooze across the plate. It will seem like good luck, somehow, and like you are eating some symbolic new year's sun.
Blanket the ice cube tray with the second layer of dough...then roll the mini-rolling pin over the zig-zags. You must press hard. Harder. Roll it again.
Put the sealed ravioli on a plate, where they can wait for their turn in the water. 
Have a little coffee, or whisky, to reward yourself. Check the clock.
Select some music for midnight dining...Prince is an especially good choice, of course. Thank your friends. Say Happy New Year! 
(Until December, this garage was painted with a space girl mural) Happy 2009!
No comments:
Post a Comment