Tickles & Papenade ~ Sheryl and Steve

Tickled by this: “I cook with wine – sometimes I even add it to the food”  -W.C. Fields

Sheryl, a fellow March Baby, and her darling husband Steve, inspired me to create this menu for them:

Asparagus Salad and Brown Rice Fusilli Pasta

Peel and blanch 20 spears of asparagus. Trim them to about 5 ” long. With a potato peeler, gently shave off the top layer of the stem. At an angle cut through a tender joint. In the same boiling water cook one egg hard. Put the egg aside to cool.  To assemble the salad, place three small leaves of butter or romaine lettuce on a dinner size plate. Line up 5 spears of tender but not over cooked colled asparagus over the lettuce. Make a dressing: Vegenaise or mayonnaise, balsalmic vinegar and cayenne pepper to taste. Should be light in color. Put a generous dollop of dressing on top of the delicious asparagus. Chop several chives or scallions and sprinkle generously over entire salad. Finely grate our egg over the center of the salad letting the green onions peek through. Add coarse black pepper lightly and garnish with three kalamata olives on the side. Be sure and have a small dish for the pits. Serve with fresh sourdough bread sliced thick with soft butter.

Pasta: Follow the directions on your bag of brown rice fusilli pasta. For 4 servings use two bags. You’ll have enough leftovers for tomorrow’s lunch. In a skillet, saute 3 cloves minced garlic and 1/4 cup pine nuts lightly in olive oil. Add pasta al dente, 1 lrg. tomato chopped, one ball of Buffalo Mozzarella cubed (save a little for garnish), 1 cup of grated parmesan cheese (reggiano) and 1/4 cup pesto sauce. Mix together moderately on a very low flame for one minute. When possible, put a fresh leaf or two of basil as garnish.

Sweet Lady Jane, a bakery in LA, provided dessert; a mixed berry cake with whipped cream. We sipped on Jered’s favorite Jasmine tea in thimble size cups from our Taiwanese tea service until just before midnight. Sheryl and Steve brought champagne which was never un-corked. I’ll save it for next time!

Cheers and Bon Appetite