My meal fell far short of perfection. First, in direct opposition to my mothers' and husbands' instructions (thus, the "I tried to tell you") I made a venison stew without cooking the venison in the pressure cooker to tenderize it. Being the stubborn one that I am, I browned the meat then threw everything in a pot to simmer. Two hours later the vegetables were pretty much disintegrated and the meat was still like small tennis balls. So...I scooped each piece of venison out and fired up the pressure cooker. Twenty minutes later, problem solved.
Lemon bars, which never fail me, actually did fail. The crust is pressed into the pan and baked prior to adding the filling. You're supposed to wait for the crust to cool a bit...oh no, not me...I poured the lemon filling in and the crust promptly floated to the top! Not much I could do at that point but throw them in the oven to bake. Honestly, the taste was good, they were just a little jumbled looking. If I had vanilla ice cream, I would have scooped the lemon bar (still hot) into a pretty goblet and plopped a spoonful of ice cream on top.
One saving grace of the meal was the cornbread, and the other was the Reuben appetizer which was delicious and seemed to turn out as promised. The appetizer recipe came from Cousin Dot and the sauerkraut came from an excellent homemade batch from one of our guests:
Reuben Appetizer
1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 1/2 cups shredded Swiss cheese (6 oz)
1/2 cup Thousand Island dressing
4 oz deli sliced corned beef, chopped
1/2 cup well-drained sauerkraut
whiff of garlic, to taste
Pretzel crackers or rye toast rounds
Chopped fresh chives and chopped radishes, if desired
1) Heat oven to 400 degrees
2) Mix cream cheese, 1 cup of Swiss cheese, the dressing and corned beef. Spread in pie plate or 9" quiche dish. Top with sauerkraut and remaining 1/4 cup Swiss cheese. Cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours, if desired.
3) Bake about 15 minutes or until bubbly around edges. Serve hot with pretzel crackers or cocktail bread. Garnish with chives and radishes.
Keeping to the simple theme, I made a white Sangria:
1 bottle of Barefoot Riesling (any inexpensive white wine will do)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup peach schnapps
1/2 cup brandy
1 orange, sliced
1 lemon, sliced
Stir all ingredients together in a crystal pitcher and refrigerate. Serve in pretty goblets or wine glasses with lots of ice.
Cornbread
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place 3 Tbl butter in a medium cast iron skillet and heat in oven until butter just begins to turn golden brown.
Meanwhile prepare cornbread:
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
3 Tbl butter, melted
1 can whole kernel corn, drained
1 can (4 oz) pickled jalapenos, drained and diced (diced green chilies will work)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 whole eggs
1/2 cup shredded habenaro cheddar (regular shredded cheddar is fine)
Combine all ingredients by hand. Pour into buttered, preheated cast iron skillet and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
This recipe is excellent. The original came from Southern Living Magazine, but I made some serious changes to it...opting for whole eggs, pickled jalapenos, shredded habenaro cheese and the piping hot skillet with melted butter. The result is a delightful combination of moist cornbread, sweet corn, the slight zing of habenaro cheddar and the earthy flavor of pickled jalapenos or chilies.
The best part of the night was sitting on the porch, listening to the frogs in the rain, planning our next get-together and savoring some down-time.
