Or, the Perils of Dating a Food Writer/Cook.
So I met this guy, we hit it off, and I’m basically crushin’ on him really hard. To be honest, the whole dating thing is really difficult for me. I’m terrible at selling myself, especially if I like the person I’ve met. In order to mask my acute insecurities and myriad personal inadequacies, I decided to seal the deal by making him dinner. Thank god for gourmet food goggles.
The first course was a simple plate of raw Hakurei turnips sprinkled with some fennel-citrus salt. Hakureis are really sweet (for turnips, anyway) and are just perfect as a snacking vegetable. If I had a mandoline, I would have sliced them thin and served them like sashimi, but I don’t have one. And also, it’s not the ’00s anymore.
I served Smitten Kitchen‘s vegetarian mushroom bourguignon as the main course. I was kind of a cheapo and used organic white button mushrooms instead of portobellos or criminis, but it didn’t make a big difference. Since I got a cute little bag of chervil in my CSA share this week, I chopped up a bit of it and sprinkled it on top.
The pierogies are filled with a mixture of dino kale, Yukon Gold potatoes, caramelized onions, and more Hakurei turnips. Mushroom bourguignon is a nice departure from the traditional pierogi accompaniments of sour cream or applesauce, too. All I ever want is savory, savory, savory anyway. My date, who pretty much wiped his plate clean, seemed to agree. <3
Lastly, I served up Jacques Pepin’s apple tart for dessert. The crust, a pate brisée, turned out so flaky and crispy that one could probably eat the whole thing without silverware. The dessert was kind of a butter explosion, but it just tasted so good! Especially with fresh CSA apples. I’m not sure what variety they were, but they worked really well in this dish. (Sorry, I’m useless.)
Wow. Great meal. I’m certain that he’ll be back. What kind of pastry do you use for the pierogies?
It was just a basic egg dough. Kind of a departure from tradition, since it didn’t use sour cream at all. (He’s fairly lactose intolerant.)
I kind of combined Veselka’s recipe (they’re a Ukrainian restaurant in NYC) with random internet ones until I could come up with a dairy-free version. So it came down to two egg yolks, two cups of flour, water, and salt. Super basic.
O … good luck! I feel your selling-yourself pain.
Loved it.