A Rainy Day Luncheon

One of the greatest pleasures of traveling to a new place is the chance to sample the local cuisine. This past month was my parents' first visit to the Southern US. They have explored both coasts and the Midwest in past trips but the South is a region that is justifiably proud of its food traditions, which was all new to them. During their visit, my parents enjoyed cuisines that they don't have access to in their hometown in India- Thai, Ethiopian and Cuban, to name a few.We went to a diner and enjoyed cheesy grits, biscuits and gravy for breakfast. But the most memorable meals came about when friends generously opened their homes to us.

First there was the invitation from my friend, a German expat who lives in a historic home (180 years old- that's quite old by US standards) in a storied neighborhood. On a gratifyingly breezy, sunny Spring afternoon, we sat on rockers in her charming front porch and enjoyed thick slices of cherry tart with some strong coffee.

Then my quilting teacher, whose home is a veritable quilting museum with beautiful quilts adorning practically every wall, invited us for a proper Southern luncheon, with tomato aspic, dainty sandwiches of every kind, including cucumber, olive-nut and my personal favorite, pimento cheese. All served on antique trays lined with lacy paper doilies, no less. What a treat it was.

We reciprocated this unbelievable hospitality by inviting everyone for a luncheon this weekend. It turned out to be a rainy weekend of record-breaking proportions- non-stop rain that lasted over 24 hours, book-ended by days of more showers. I kept looking out of the window expecting Naoh's Ark to come rowing by any minute. But as it turned out, a rainy afternoon was the ideal time to huddle indoors and eat and socialize.

Here's a quick look at the menu. On a side note: We have this very narrow wall in our kitchen- it sits between the two doorways to the dining room and the living room- and after looking at approximately 10,562 chalkboard paint ideas on Pinterest, we took the plunge and painted it with black chalkboard paint. I love the result- the wall is a nice backdrop for the quilted clock my sister made, and we have space to scrawl menus and messages and make random drawings. There's something very satisfying about scribbling on a wall. And suddenly that narrow strip of wall is a focal point in the kitchen.

Stuffed mushrooms are my mother's favorite appetizer to make. She makes the stuffing with minced mushroom stems, green onions and grated cheese, with minced chilies and fresh pepper for heat. The mixture is held together with some cornstarch and the mushrooms are pan-fried until they are golden and crispy and altogether irresistible.

Stuffed mushrooms

The samosa puffs, meanwhile, are probably my favorite appetizer to make. The approximate recipe is here, although this time I cut the puff pastry sheets into small squares and made rectangular puffs.

The chickpea curry is the usual chana masala and the egg dish was this coconut sauce with lots of sauteed vegetables and halved boiled eggs added to it. The salad was a simple koshimbir of cucumber and cabbage with a lemon dressing, and the rice was a basic jeera rice with Basmati, ghee and cumin seeds, made in the rice cooker.

The spinach lasagna recipe came from an episode of a cooking show, Cook's Country, that I caught on PBS several months ago (Italian Favorites Revisited, Season 5, Episode 504). The recipe can be found on Cook's Country but needs a subscription; you'll also find it posted on several websites if you do a bit of searching. Well, I've made this spinach lasagna three times in recent weeks. It is a very solid, flavorful and hearty lasagna. It is the sort of dish that can feed a large, hungry crowd. True to the unique selling point of this particular show, all the ingredients can be found in a standard US supermarket.

For this lasagna, you make a simple tomato sauce, and a spinach-ricotta-egg mixture. Then you layer these with no-boil lasagna noodles and mozzarella. Bake until bubbly. If you've always wanted to make a lasagna, this is a good recipe to start with, because the directions are very precise (but it is not a quick recipe; be prepared to spend some time and energy following the recipe at least the first couple of times you make it).

Spinach lasagna

I'm always one for trying culinary experiments on unsuspecting guests, and this time for dessert, I tried Martha Stewart's recipe for tiramisu ice cream. The changes I made were to use marsala wine instead of kahlua (how many types of booze can you store in the kitchen cupboards anyway?) and to use chocolate ice cream instead of the espresso ice cream layer. The result was good and everyone quite enjoyed it, but honestly, it would have been just as fine to just set out some cake and a couple flavors of ice cream instead of going to the trouble of softening ice cream and making layers. I don't see myself making this again. But you never discover a knock-out recipe until you try a few new ones, right?

What new recipes have you been trying lately? Any hits or misses to share with us?

P.S. I'm hosting another swap on this blog next month. It will be open to non-bloggers and also to people outside the US (although I will be matching people within the same country to keep shipping costs and times down). In the right side-bar, I've placed a poll with options for three kinds of swaps- please vote for your favorite!