It snowed just enough this morning in the "hills" of Rhode Island to put the Wednesday Lunch Group in the mood for some serious comfort food. We were seven cooks today; we lost Lora to a one-hour school delay while the town sanded the roads.
No matter that the sun didn't shine – our menu featured three sun-colored dishes:
- curried squash and apple soup;
- a polenta dome adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates; and
- Pie-Ella, a one-dish wonder that combines the best features of paella, jambalaya and risotto.
We chose to make one large polenta dome, though we considered making individual "domelets" in small ramekins. (I've served this giant polenta dome, which serves 10-12 people, surrounded by a sea of black bean/sweet potato/red pepper chili. Can you visualize the color combo?) The polenta had shredded butternut squash, cheese and parsley mixed in, and we adjusted the spices in the recipe by adding cumin (the original calls for fennel) to compliment the curry in the soup. Each person put a piece of the polenta in a bowl, and surrounded it with smooth, golden squash soup. Wow.
At the end of our three-hour cooking session, we combined all of the leftovers from the three dishes into one great mega-soup – a fourth bonus dish that was absolutely fabulous.
This is wonderful!
Posted by: Ted | January 25, 2006 at 06:07 PM
This meal sounds wonderful. Do I need to buy the Moosehead Restaurant book to get the polenta dome recipe? Candy
Posted by: Candy | January 27, 2006 at 11:08 AM
I remember thinking, "We're making yellow food?". I was curious, not excited, but curious. But what amazing yellow food it was! It was all so delicious, separate and combined. I polished off all my leftovers that evening and was glad that no one was home to have to share with.
Posted by: Kate | February 08, 2006 at 08:27 PM
Kate, I'm so glad you enjoyed our cooking!
Posted by: Lydia | February 08, 2006 at 11:27 PM