Feeding Umi

The lovely Sarah from Sweet Pepper hosted a holiday dinner party on the Upper West Side. I brought some wine and rum, since she said she had all the cooking under control. Ryan has been touting that she’s an amazing cook for a while, so I hauled ass there and spend couple of minutes circling the neighborhood. I had a hard time finding the place. (WHERE’S THE FRICKEN BUILDING NUMBER)

There were six other dinner guests and everyone brought a lot of booze. There was lots of wine that everyone brought and some mixed drinks concocted by Warren (he brought some brandy and pear liquor). Danny made the table origami arrangements, as well as, the tree ornaments. I also sat on a large pot. Look!

We started off with a glass of wine, fried kale chips, homemade candied nuts, and smoked salmon (pickled? Sarah did it herself) w/ creme fraiche on rye. She told me that she basically pickled the salmon with white wine and lots of dill over night, with weights on top of them. The taste was slightly tinged, but mostly subtle. Danny made a refreshing salad with a lemon oil dressing.

Sitting down, she served us these homemade rolls, which were divine. Loved them. I could eat them ALL DAY. Remember at the Laundromat dinner, I made some garlic butter, well, I should have just went for the herb butter that Sarah made. Delicious. I was afraid to make the garlic butter too salty or too herb-y. I need to get this herb butter recipe, G.

Sarah is Buddhist, I believe, and Danny is Jewish. So, this was basically a Christmas/Hanukkah holiday party with food inspirations from both Christmas and Hanukkah. The smoked salmon appetizer was the Jewish portion of this meal, as well as the matza ball soup. Making matza ball always puzzled me. Googling it, I guess there isn’t much to it, but as a child I always wondered, “what is that?” I used to think they were bland things, but with the right stock, they are yummy and comforting.

I will say that I enjoyed the entree the most. It was so satisfying. I haven’t really made lamb, but I should start. It is so delicious. I think Sarah rubbed herbs and the usual suspects on this… over night? Then she roasted/broiled them? The dog there was all over it. She could smell it from the very beginning and we had to keep an eye on her so that she didn’t devour it as Sarah served the other dishes. To accompany the lamb, she made some carrots and onions, soft broccoli, and pan roasted grape tomatoes. The roasted tomatoes were perfect with the lamb. Actually, Sarah’s tomatoes set off this cooked tomato thing in me. The following week, in Portland, I poached some tomatoes as instructed in David Chang’s Momofuku cookbook. (watch out for a post next week)

Finally, the dinner ended with a poached pear (I think) w/ Eggnog Créme Anglaise and Babka bread filled with chocolate. The babka bread… I couldn’t stay away… despite the fact that I was so STUFFED. Seriously stuffed. Ever the great host, Sarah and Danny even bought us presents and we had an impromptu white elephant/Yankee swap.

My New Year’s resolution is to pull off a dinner JUST LIKE THAT.