Dinner With Friends

Ordinarily, I wouldn't blog about dinner with friends, but these friends, Cat & Dog, are very special - they are both chefs! It had been a long couple of days with us, with one of our friends' dog getting attacked by a pit bull and then running off. He finally re-appeared on his owner's doorstep, much worse for the wear, but back.

So, we needed time to unwind a bit after this emotional upheaval, so Cat & Dog had another neighbour and me to dinner. I had been to Trader Joe's in Pikesville earlier in the afternoon, and had gotten 10 oz. of fresh sliced mushrooms for $1.79, so I volunteered them to Dog to use in the dinner. He sauteed them in port, and then let them cook off, and then added a knob of butter to finish them. Yuuuummm!

Cat & Dog has visited the Wine Market in Locust Point to pick out a red and white that would hold up to the dinner. I know the red was a grenache, but haven't a clue what the white was. I had attended a big fundraiser the night before, so I wasn't drinking much. (More on that in a later post - suffice to say that one of the sponsors was Ketel One vodka.) Cat had put out a selection of olives and some bread and salami for starters. The olives were brilliant and so beautiful.

Cat & Dog had picked up some steaks earlier in the day, so Dog "striped" them on the grill before we all got there. He took new potatoes and sliced them and roasted them with onions and basil. Later, he added cherry and yellow tomatoes and arugula to make a sort of potato salad that was both over and under the steaks, which he had finished cooking in the oven.

For dessert, Cat had made strawberries, macerated in sugar, over a lemon curd, over langues de chat (cat's tongue) cookies that she'd made earlier in the afternoon. Did I mention that she's a pastry chef? Between the dinner and dessert, we took a break and took our three dogs for a walk, both for their benefit and ours. Dog, the chef, stayed home and smoked a cigar! Good Dog!