Mardi Gras

The next chapter in the cookbook is Cajun. Shrimp Remoulade, Crab Cakes, Gumbo, Boudin and a famous New Orleans sandwich called a Muffuletta are a few of the dishes from Cajun country. I spent a couple of hours at the New Orleans airport once on a long trip across the country. Long story about how and why I ended up in New Orleans on a return trip from Washington DC. Unfortunately, there was no sightseeing involved.

I have a great desire to visit New Orleans. Two annual events are on my bucket list: Mardi Gras and The New Orleans Jazz and Blues Heritage Festival (which always falls around my birthday). So far I have not made it but someday…..

I was contemplating dinner tonight and thought, what the heck I need, to recipe check the Muffuletta recipes (bread, meats, cheese, olive salad).  So I gathered the meats and cheeses, the vegetables I need for the olive salad and headed to the kitchen.

Olive Salad

Mozzarella, Genoa Salami, Mortadella, Hot Capicola & Provolone

First, I made muffuletta bread. A basic bread dough with a big dab of shortening mixed in for tenderness. While the bread was raising, mixed up the olive salad. There are many recipes for this. I have combined a couple of different recipes and came up with a satisfying mix. It should sit for a week before eating but I am hungry tonight. 

Muffuletta Bread

There is controversy on every step of this famous sandwich. The least of which is the spelling. If you look up the name it’s spelled: Muffaletta and Muffuletta. There are many different recipes. Legend has it that the sandwich was invented at the Central Grocery and Deli in New Orleans. I am choosing their spelling and general way to prepare the sandwich.

I got everything ready and then realized IT’S MARDI GRAS TODAY!!!!!!!!! So I am having a little celebration. Have Pandora set to Mardi Gras Radio and I just need a parade!

What country do you want to go to?

I decided I want to write a cookbook. That seems to be up there with gee, you’re a good cook, you should open a restaurant! Sure I want 80 hour weeks with a business that fails 90% of the time.

I know it’s unlikely to:

1. Ever get it finished or

2. Ever be professionally published.

So I decided, what the heck, I am writing it anyway and at the very least I will love it. It took a while to figure out a theme. There are millions of cookbooks and billions of recipes on the Internet. There was a time that I would buy lot and lots of cookbooks. I have almost quit the books. I have to be truly inspired by the book itself (or at least the food porn in it) to purchase a cookbook these days.

I scour the Internet when I am looking for something new to cook or am researching further a food topic. However, I always look through the cookbooks I have and usually add to my knowledge from the book source as well. Plus there is still the allure of actually touching the printed page and reading a book. So I have my big cookbook case in the

dining room and my small built in over the counter with my Julia Child & favorite books all together.

 

With all the cookbooks, food blogs and food sites out there with every topic imaginable how does one decide on a theme?

I love to have a dinner party. There doesn’t have to be a particular reason. Just a group of good friends sharing a meal. I have found the perfect number of guests to be 6-10.  Enough for a lively time and not so many that you wish you had hired a caterer. Also, I did a cookbook search on entertaining and dinner parties. There aren’t that many really. Martha Stewart did a couple (1982 & 1994).

That brought me to the title: Party of Eight. Okay so what did that mean? After more thought and discussion with a good friend, I decided on various cuisines for each chapter. My rationale being that a person knows they want Italian or Greek or Southern but they are not sure what dishes to serve. What’s the menu?

My thought is to have each section have drinks, appetizers, bread, main dish, side dish and dessert; all made from scratch. So I came up with 13 different cuisines and 170 recipes. then one has to test the recipes.

My first foray was to be a birthday party for my boyfriend. I asked him what country do you want to eat? His first choice: Scotland. Uh, what, no I am not doing that country (haggis, really, no offense to Scottish food). Then, Japan. No not doing Japan. Then, India? Yes, I am doing India. A feast was prepared for eight. Photos were taken and the food was awesome (comment by guests not my self-evaluation).

Here is the menu for a Party of Eight:

Pomegranate Cooler

Naan

Coriander Chutney    Tamarind Chutney

Apricot Chutney        Fried Chickpeas

Indian Lamb Curry     Biryani Rice

Tadka Dal                 Zucchini & Tomato Curry

Pistachio Kulfi (an Indian frozen dessert)

And here is the food porn: