Dining with the enemy

Lately I find myself in quite a peculiar situation to be in; what does one do when the people one finds worthy to cook for do not share your gastronomic inclinations? Whose enjoyment of the meal should you then sacrifice? It is a vexing question indeed, but perhaps one that – from time to time – yields quite pleasant answers.

I had people over for dinner last night and made an entirely vegetarian dinner - because my friend Laura is, sadly, one of the enemy. Yet there is perhaps nothing I will begrudge her – least of all a home-cooked meal prepared to the best of my ability, for she makes me laugh easily and readily and is good people. She once told me a story once about her friend Steve, the movie "So I Married an Axe Murderer" and the size of the human head that had me in stitches for days. She could have had class. She could have been a contender. By the time the year is through I promise I will stuff a sausage in her mouth. (That didn't come out quite right, I fear.)

Saffron Couscous with Pinenuts and Raisins
1.5 cups couscous
2.5 cups chicken broth
pinch of saffron threads
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
1 red pepper, coarsely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
some chives, coarsely chopped
handful of pinenuts
handful of raisins
big pinch of paprika
pinch of cayenne
pinch of tamarind
.25 stick butter
salt and pepper

Warm the broth and throw in saffron threads; let sit on low heat for at least 15 minutes. Be careful not to let this boil. Meanwhile, toast the pinenuts in a small amount of olive oil, in a large pot till browned. Remove and set aside. Using the same pot and adding more oil, saute the garlic, red onion and red pepper with spices. Cover the pot and let sit for a couple of minutes. Add the saffron broth and bring to a boil. Once mixture is boiling, remove from heat and stir in couscous. Keep fluffing couscous while stirring in butter, then the pinenuts, raisins and chives. Ready to serve once couscous reaches desired consistency. Serves 4.

Tamarind is available in many forms. If you get the dried powder (which I did), this is not as strong as say, the pulp concentrate. Depending on how much saffron you use – for the money you pay for it nobody wants to overpower the saffron - adjust accordingly)

Slow-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with Spinach
8 medium-to-large cluster tomatoes
balsamic vinegar
1 bag spinach
1 onion, well chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
breadcrumbs
some heavy cream (not too much)
pinch of thyme
s/p

Preheat oven at 350F. Remove tops from tomatoes, scoop out the pulp and reserve; turning tomatoes upside down on a paper towel to dry. Lay tomatoes out on roasting pan, salt heavily and season with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Separately, saute garlic and onion, adding thyme and later, the tomato pulp and breadcrumbs. Meanwhile, cook spinach in saucepan of salted, almost-boiling water for 3 minutes until almost wilted. Drain and add spinach to garlic and onion mix. saute for a while more, add cream and cook down a little before removing from heat. Spoon this spinach-cream mixture into the tomatoes and roast uncovered at 250 for two hours. Serves 4.

As tomatoes go out of season, slow-roasting becomes an easy method to extract the fullest flavour from even the most disappointing of tomatoes. Plus, I'm a huge fan of roasting stuff because of the minimal workload - you just stuff it in the oven and go check your email. Do not hold back on the balsamic vinegar for this one. For aesthetic purposes, you can save the tomato tops and replace when serving, for presentation. Or, you can melt some cheese (mozzarella if you're classy, Kraft singles if you're not) on top of the roasted tomatoes, it all sounds good to me. I just served them as is – they looked pretty damn delicious to me, and did not disappoint.