Dinner Chez Grapeshot

Photos of the food from last night's dinner party.  We had a delicious lunch of the leftovers from the Mezze platter.  Tonight we're doing vegetarian--stuffed escarole.  Can't remember if I already made it.  Ye gods, the gray cells are dying off in droves.

We have photos of the Mezze platter, shrimp scampi, an easy ratatouille, and the orange mascarpone tart with hazelnuts.  This was actually a very simple dinner.  The appetizers were accompanied by pita bread and that hard-to-spell yogurt and cucumber dish.  I used full fat Greek yogurt and it was to-die-for. 

Bon Appetit!

Grapeshot

The Mediterranean Diet

An impromptu dinner party tomorrow night coming in the middle of a hugely busy week.  And also in mid-diet week which has been sabotaged by an unexpected trip out of town and the size of the Cuban sandwich at the Met Bar in Legacy place.  Think gargantuan.

So what am I serving tomorrow night?  I pulled out a recipe we recently tried and loved:  shrimp scampi. It was so tasty I asked myself why don't we have this once a month?   I'm serving it with a crusty Italian loaf from Whole Foods instead of pasta.  The guests  can eat the bread or not.    I made a ratatouille to accompany the shrimp, a dish that benefits from sitting in the fridge overnight.  It contains a  goodly number  of colorful veggies and only a little olive oil.   For an appetizer, we're having a mezze platter with Greek specialties including cucumbers in yogurt, olives, feta, vegetarian grape leaves, caper berries, etc.  Good stuff.  Dessert is an orange tart with a base of mascarpone , and the  whole affair is sprinkled with pistachios.  And wine, of course, always wine.  

No writing lately, due to life interfering.  Back to Maxine and her many troubles in a few days.   Have some plants to set out in the garden.  Whither winter and those long (or short) days?  Ye gods.

Grapeshot