The Birthday Dinner Menu

Today has been all about one thing: The Birthday.

On Wednesday, Mr. Food Musings will turn 44. To celebrate, we're spending next weekend in Napa, swimming in the shadow of vineyards with the aroma of hot soil and lush grapes wafting through the air. People will come to our hotel room to massage our tired muscles, and we will eat meals that are simple yet satisfying.

But before we go, I thought it would be fun to turn myself into a maniac (or a monster, depending on your point of view) by cooking a birthday feast for Mr. FM and his mom, whose birthday is only one day away from his. The menu was inspired by the Spanish cooking class I took not too long ago:

* fried pimientos de padron sprinkled with sea salt *
* white gazpacho *
* chicken and sweet pepper empanadas *
* little gem lettuces with roasted beets, blue cheese, and toasted walnuts *
* spring peas with butter and salt *
* orange cornmeal almond cake with whipped cream and honeyed cherries *

Because I am smart, lazy, and bossy (and also because I worked 5 days this week -- whew, how do you people do it?) I asked Mr. FM to help with the dinner. We went to the market this morning where I piled my basket high with lemons and oranges, almonds and cherries, beets and a chicken with the head and feet dangling off either end. Then we came home, ate lunch, and proceeded to bake the cakes, make the gazpacho, roast the beets, and make the dough for the empanadas. I rewarded myself with a gingersnap and vanilla ice cream sandwich, and now I'm off to wash the flour off my aching arms.

Orange Cornmeal Almond Cake
Adapted (ever so slightly) from El Farol: Tapas and Spanish Cuisine by James Campbell Caruso
Makes 2 cakes

2 whole oranges, with peel on
1 cup flour
1 cup polenta or cornmeal
2 TBSP cornstarch
1 1/2 cups roasted Marcona almonds
1 1/2 cups butter
2 cups sugar
6 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream
1 jar Happy Girl Kitchen Co. cherries jubilee

Preheat oven to 325ºF.

Bring a stock pot full of water to a boil. Add the whole oranges and simmer 30 minutes. Remove and let cool.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, polenta, and cornstarch in a large bowl. In a food processor, pulse the almonds until smooth being careful not to turn it to nut butter. Add to the dry ingredients, mix well, and set aside.

Process the oranges in a food processor. In a standing mixer or in a large bowl with an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together. With the mixer running, add the eggs one at a time. Add the orange puree and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients and beat well until combined. Butter two 8-inch cake pans and divide the batter between them. Bake for 40 minutes. Serve with freshly whipped cream, cherries, and plenty of birthday candles.

Comments

[sam]

:( I missed you at the market this morning otherwise I would surely have raided your baskets. Sounds heavenly. I bought loads of stuff but have had a splitting headache and been feeling down all afternoon so haven't found the gumption to cook any of it. I have been leafing listlessly through recipe books for hours trying to find the wherewithall to put my ideas into action. The chicken with its head and feet, the padrons, the rhubarb, the fresh garbanzos, the everything else all lying forlorn in my fridge waiting for me to work my magic, but I just can't find the right spell right now.

Jeff and his mum are set to have a fabulous time by the sounds of things. Have a great time in Napa too. All sounds very wonderful. Maybe we can go out for that dinner we have been promising ourselves when you get back.

Love to Jeff

-Sam x

[Cynthia]

Wednesday is my birthday too :) Happy Birthday in advance to Mr. FM. I hope that you both have a great weekend.

[Catherine]

I ALWAYS miss you at the market, missie. You are an early bird and I am a lazy bird. I'm sorry you're in the doldrums, I hate moods like those. Maybe the thing to do is call out for a ridiculously cheesy pizza and leave all those ingredients right where they are for another day. Or make something silly, like brownies, and have brownie sundaes for dinner.

We must definitely finally plan that dinner, and it must be soon as it is getting dangerously too far from your birthday and thus so long since I've seen you!

xoxo

[Catherine]

Cynthia -- happy early birthday to you! What a coinkydink.

[sam]

I was actually there late at 10.30 meeting the really lovely Kalyn sans Kitchen

I am a bit happier now since my frisse fatted calf lardons aved MSF poached egg followed by CN strawberry ice cream and 'after eights' all washed down by a little cremant de limoux. I even prepped leeks a la grecque puportedly to go with that chicken tomorrow. fred asked for me to make sure he is not around at the point of head severation.

Mwah, mwah, plus I just said to Fred over dinner its about time yous and us-es should go out as a foursome too. Cos I don't think we ever did that yet.
XXXX

[sam]

shit the cremant is all gone

[Tea]

Hope you have a lovely feast--it sounds spectacular. And Napa is sure to be wonderful. Enjoy!

[The TriniGourmet]

these cakes sounds very unique :) do they taste like a sweeter cornbread?

[The Cooking Ninja]

Sounds like a delicious weekend getaway. Have a great time. Your cake recipe sounds delicious.

[kristina]

Yum that sounds so good! Would this work if I replaced the Happy Girl Kitchen Co with some cherry jam (or what would you recommend)? Thank you very much.

[Catherine]

Sam -- your drunken comments are my favorite. I'm glad that your mad cooking skillz returned, and yes, we must all go out. Nua is my new favorite place so that would be one idea!

Tea -- I am sooo looking forward to the real summer weather! If only I can get through today...

TriniGourmet -- I didn't say anything about those cakes did I? Shame on me! They're very moist and moderately sweet, but I wouldn't compare them to cornbread because the corn flavor/texture is not that strong. It's more like a hearty breakfast cake (and in fact, it's great plain with coffee or tea in the morning).

Cooking Ninja -- thank you, I only wish it was this weekend!

Kristina -- You know what? I would use anything you want. Sure, some cherry jam would be lovely. So would some dark chocolate shavings, or fresh figs, or a few slices of oranges and some toasted walnuts. It's the sort of cake that you can eat plain, or with any number of delicious toppings.

[Jeff]

DAMAGE REPORT: As I was approaching a moon near Saturn on my mission to root out a possible terrorist threat and locate a key ingredient for today's dinner, my craft was 'bumped' by a piece of drifting orbital rock. I dispatched Bert, my special ops rollie pollie, and he has just radioed me that the outside of the craft appears to be fine, save for a bit of a dent on the engine manifold. I'm about the test fire the rocket now, and if it fails, I could very well miss dinner, which would be a tragedy on three levels: 1) I would miss seeing my folks and 2) the key ingredient I referenced earlier would be missing from the meal, and 3) Ms. FM would have to eat all the foodstuffs I cooked up without me. Wish my godspeed!

[Tiffany]

Happiest of happy birthday wishes. The menu sounds amazing. I hope you enjoy all the glorious Napa-style relaxation you have coming!