Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Sunday Dinner, October 17, 2010

We've been traveling or taking Sundays off for awhile. So, this week was our first Sunday dinner in some time, and we decided to go "gasp" vegetarian. Well, almost... Jason just couldn't resist adding bacon to the first course. It was nice to be back dining again with good company, and the challenge of creating a meal out of what we happen to have on hand.

 Course One
Roasted Beet and Jonagold Apple Salad
Applewood Bacon, Citrus Viniagrette


Course Two
Polenta Lasagna
Collard Greens, Rosemary Early Girl Tomato Sauce

Course Three
Macadamia Nut Mousse
Ginger Plum Compote
Toasted Coconut Tuille

Recipe

Macadamia Nut Mousse
  • 10 oz. roasted unsalted macadamia nuts
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup buttermilk
  • 3 T unsalted butter
  • 1 t kosher salt (or to taste)
  • 1 cup whipping cream
  • ½ t coconut extract (optional)


  1. Place sugar in a large heavy skillet. Spread evenly over the bottom, and heat over medium until the bottom layer of sugar is melted, then stir gently until the caramel is amber and transparent. 
  2. Remove from heat, add nuts and salt and stir. 
  3. Add the butter and buttermilk, and place over medium heat until the caramel dissolves. The buttermilk will break.   Remove from heat to cool.
  4. Place the mixture in a strong blender and puree until smooth. If you have a weaker blender, you may wish to allow the nuts to soak to become soft. 
  5. Place in a container and chill in fridge several hours until cool. 
  6. Whip cream to stiff peaks. Add coconut extract.
  7. Mix a half cup of the whipping cream in the macadamia nut mixture.
  8. Fold in the remaining whipping cream. 
  9. Place in serving containers and chill.
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3 comments:

  1. WOW lady, I love love the polenta lasagna - great idea and the mousse looks killer.

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  2. where are the recipes for the polenta lasagna and the Roasted Beet and Jonagold Apple Salad?

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  3. Snejana, we don't post all recipes on our Sunday Dinner posts mainly because we don't tend to cook by recipe. we think of it as inspiration. But to make polenta lasagna, you just make up polenta according to the package recipe and pour it into a jelly roll in a thin layer. Allow to cool and solidify. Make the fillings you would like and sauce you would like and cut the polenta like lasagna noodles. Layer and bake. For this, Jason used roasted tomatoes with herbs for the sauce, sauteed collard greens and of course mozzarella cheese and even some feta.

    The beet salad is just slices of roasted beets, slices of apples, and a simple orange vinaigrette.

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