Friends for dinner

Last night I cooked dinner for ten friends and made a really good selection of menu items. They were all suitable for me as well as tasty and portion-controlled for the guests.

Two of the three antipasti were perfectly suitable for the bariatric eater. The first was a salmon crostini that I have described in an earlier blog, with spiced cream cheese spread on grilled beer bread flavored with cheese, some shredded smoked salmon and a topping of citrus (lemon and lime) marmalatta. It had a combination of the creamy cheese with chives, the silky, smoked salmon, and the slight sweetness of the marmalatta. I put a small 1/2 inch triangle of fresh lemon on top.

The second was a simple dish with oven-dried tomatoes and marinated mozzarella. The cherry tomatoes were sliced in half and placed in a bowl with some good olive oil, dried basil and some dried oregano. They were allowed to marinate for 1/2 hour and then poured out onto a baking sheet. I turned them cut side up and put them in a 350 degree F oven for about a 1/2 hour. Then I turned off the oven and left the tomatoes in the oven overnight. They should be a bit leathery but not dried out. Put them in a container and into the refrigerator. Then take a couple of fresh mozzarella and slice them into thick slices and then into segments about an inch square. Place them in bowl with some good olive oil, the herbs and a bit of salt. Cover and put in the refrigerator until ready to assemble. To serve, slice a loaf of french bread (stale) in half horizontally, take a toothpick, spear a tomato half, then a section of mozzarella. Stick the toothpick into the loaf. When you have filled up the loaf you have a neat presentation of very healthy little bites.

The third antipasto was a local Italian favorite of stuffed, deep-fried squash blossoms. The batter is a basic tempura batter, though they use a carbonated water here to make the batter lighter. The squash blossoms are stuffed with a small section of mozzarella, dipped in the batter and fried in vegetable oil (not olive oil) at 375 degrees F. They are then placed on paper towels and salted. Serve these hot. They are actually great for the bariatric diet but they will be quite filling with the batter crust so to accommodate other protein-rich foods, eat only one. That will be hard to do. They are really yummy.

We had handmade pumpkin filled ravioli in a sage butter sauce. It was topped with grated Parmesano Reggiano cheese. We will be doing this one again next week for a large group of food writers and chef visiting us here in Umbria. I hope they like it.

The main course was a scaloppini with a Marsala and lemon sauce, served on warm plates. It was topped with pickled capers and a slice of lemon. The meat was actually thinly sliced Porterhouse steak, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness, seasoned and dusted lightly in a seasoned flour. It was fried very quickly in vegetable oil and butter. When cooked, it was set aside to keep warm. I then made the sauce. Pour out the oil and start the sauce using the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. To make a quick roux, pour the oil and butter from the pan into the dish with the dusting flour and blend. Use a tablespoon or more of the created roux in your sauce. The sauce is an amagamation of butter, lemon juice, Marsala wine and some roux made in the same pan as the meat was cooked. I also added a bit of sugar to cut the sourness of the lemons, but that was a personal choice. Use the juice of 2 or 3 lemons, about a 1/2 cup of Marsala wine and about a cup or more of water . Allow the sauce to cook down by half and thicken. Taste it and adjust seasoning as required. The meat goes back into the sauce to heat through and it is then served on the warm plates. With the meat I served a mixed lettuce salad with pears and walnuts in a light vinaigrette. The meat is totally suitable for the bariatric patient, just use a bit of discretion regarding the size of the piece you select. Stay around 3-4 ounces of meat. The salad may be a bit more problematical, but a few pieces of pear which is dressed in a vinaigrette with some acacia honey can be a nice side dish to the meat.

So there is a dinner I fixed for friends with consideration for portion sizes, ingredients, and suitability to my eating habits. It also turned out the people I was serving enjoyed it as well. That is not so bad. It is important to assess these elements of your diet as you think through the menu. Particularly think about ingredients, portion size and cooking techniques. And invite some friends over for dinner.