On my birthday I hosted an aperitif party, which, being wine and hors d’oeuvres, could seem light. However, the French style foods that I chose were as full of flavor, goodness, and depth as many meals I’ve made. When all was said and done, the whole wheat puff pastry with caramelized onions I made, as well as the aioli and the pickled carrots appeared the winners of high praise.
I used the organic flour from my CSA for the puff, which I should have tempered with all purpose, yet, since it puffed and was tasty I will notch it up to birthday extravagance and feel successful. Meanwhile I cooked down thinly sliced onions with butter and wine for the topping. In this respect there was no particular recipe, just procedure of slow going.
My aioli was made with garlic from my CSA, and I probably put in far more than necessary, and certainly made more than the crowd could get through, but it was bright and strong, by far the sharpest I’ve tasted. The recipe I used was slightly French and vague, so I just put my desired ingredients in the blender and let it go!
The pickled carrots were based from a memory of a recipe I followed about 3 or 4 years ago. On top of that, I didn’t actually have the ingredients I remembered needing, so I added anise seeds. Somehow I have a lot of anise seeds in my cupboard and a dearth of recipes requiring said seeds. I chose to just add what wasn’t asked for and ended up with a great dish. When my guests then asked me for the recipe I had to shrug, because I really don’t know exactly. I brought some cider vinegar, sugar, salt, crushed garlic, and anise seeds to a boil, then poured that over julienned carrots and let it sit in the fridge for ten days. Pretty delicious!! Preciously simple.
And, to finish the evening, I didn’t bake my own cake. The cake my sister made for me was absolutely phenomenal; she’ll rank in any kitchen of mine.
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