In the Mood for Food

Forgive the meager postings as of late. Besides a couple more attempts at making gnocchi (with some pretty good results, I might add!), I haven't been too creative in the kitchen lately. Since I've recently gone on the debt diet, I've been eating a lot more steamed vegetables, beans & rice. It's not so bad, in fact I'm still eating very, very well. But between being strapped for cash and short on time, there hasn't been a lot of room for fabulous dinner parties in recent months.

That being said, I did get to partake in someone else's fabulous dinner party recently. There was a memorial celebration dinner honoring the aforementioned Matthew Sperry, and I was fortunate to be able to assist the chef, Phil Gelb. Phil's personal chef business is called In the Mood for Food, and he makes the most delicious and beautifully presented vegetarian and vegan food, and it was my pleasure to spend the day with him chopping and slicing and dicing, helping to create a scrumptious, gorgeous meal for a small group of Matthew's family and friends.



The menu featured homemade fettuccine, and would you believe that I've never really made fresh pasta before (I can just hear my Dad scolding me from afar!!!)?

Well I didn't actually make it; I merely did my part to help it dry, but it sure was fun.

Some day, I'll get back to my Italian roots and get obsessed with making fresh pasta.  For now, I'm content to be the one who sprinkles the flour.

       

There was so much good food that night, including a salad of arugula and radicchio with roasted apricots, with a dressing of roasted apricot, basil and miso.
  

I could go on and on, but I have to head straight for dessert: a totally decadent, smooth as silk, dreamy chocolate ice cream - all vegan! I make a lot of ice cream myself and so far have had very limited success with the vegan varieties, but clearly I just hadn't met the right ice cream maker yet, and now I have. I'm still dreaming of this chocolate cupcake with chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce, made with nary a dairy product in sight.

See, I told you I was still eating well!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Phil's business name is inspired by the movie In the Mood for Love by Wong Kar Wai, which incidentally, I just saw over the weekend.  What a beautiful film - every set, every scene, just so perfectly perfectly presented and lovely to behold.  Definitely worth checking out.

Thanks for tuning in, folks.   More to come before too long.  I've been working on revising my Second Best Chili You Will Ever Taste to be both vegetarian and made in the pressure cooker, so I hope to be posting about that in the next month or so.   Until next time, cheers!