Due to a rotator cuff injury and subsequent surgery, my cooking has been pretty simple of late. However, physical therapy and exercise have resulted in much less pain and much better range of motion, so I have recently undertaken two dinner parties for friends.
Our first party, for our friends John and Peter, commenced with three hors d'oeuvres: smoked duck that I buy from a farm at the farmers market on the Upper West Side on baguette toasts with hot mango chutney,
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| Smoked duck breast with chutney |
Israeli style super creamy hummus tahini from
Zahav, a great cookbook by Michael Solomonov,
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| Israeli style hummus |
and my new favorite thing: toasted halloumi cheese served with olive oil mixed with copious amounts of za'atar (sorry, no photo).
For a starter, I made a salad of unripe peaches soaked in a little salt and sugar, with mint, black pepper and olive oil, from
Food52 Genius Recipes, a simple but delicious go-to recipe.
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| Minted peach salad |
The main course was a chicken tagine with two lemons -- regular and preserved -- from Elizabeth Bard's charming
Lunch in Paris (this is a recipe from her husband's Tunisian brother-in-law),
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| Tagine of chicken with two types of lemon |
accompanied by whole wheat couscous with dried cranberries and toasted slivered almonds.
Dessert was mini blueberry pistachio galettes made with dough containing pistachio nuts, and with pistachios added on top (recipe from Stephanie Le at iamafoodblog.com), which I served with homemade lemon verbena ice cream.
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| Mini blueberry and pistachio galettes |
All went according to plan: I'm back!
Bobby Jay
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