Cousins, Cousines et Nos Chers Amis

Ineke, Jack's darling cousin from Paris, was here visiting for the month of August and we had a lot of fun, mostly centered around cooking and eating (wow, big surprise, huh?) We started off the evening of her arrival, with a large block of fois gras, which Ineke had brought from France. I am just a huge fan of fois gras, which Ineke knows, so she very generously treated us to some of the best, procured from a chef friend of hers. When she unveiled it, I knew we were in for a fattening month.

Melt-in-your-mouth divine!

We planned a feast with friends for the following Saturday night. Giles, Mia and Taylor were coming from New York, so we would have a full house chez nous.

On Saturday, our kitchen was crowded with busy cooks, preparing various parts of the evening's meal. It never ceases to amaze me how many cooks we can fit in our kitchen, all doing different things at once: opening the refrigerator and the ovens, stirring pots on two stovetops, chopping and slicing on all the countertops, and generally making a huge mess. I mean, our kitchen is not that big, but it can host a lot of activity! Somehow it always works, with no one getting a paring knife in the ribs, or a black eye from bending down at the wrong moment.

My three iron chefs: Drake, Jack and Giles

Jack made bread, which he does frequently. He never measures anything, just goes by instinct. I will write a future post on his bread making, with step-by-step photos (and measurements).

The rising dough always emits a tantalizingly yeasty aroma!

Two loaves, dusted with fennel powder, ready for the oven

Giles and Mia had brought their Old Smokey meat smoker with them from New York (along with the baby, her stroller, portable crib, numerous bags, a guitar, and the dog.) About mid-day, Giles began preparing a dry rub for the ribs. The colors of this mixture, before the ingredients were mixed together, reminded me forcibly of the earth in Provence, especially in the area of Rousillon, where the soil is every shade of ochre - reds, oranges and yellows - spectacularly gorgeous.

GILES'S DRY RUB for SMOKED RIBS

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Ground Cumin

Sweet Paprika

Hot Paprika

Oregano

Kosher Salt

Cracked Black Pepper

(All amounts are to taste.)

Removing the membrane from the bone side of the rack eliminates the bitter flavor the membrane can have.

Step One - Rub the ribs.

Step Two - Put wood chips in the bottom of the smoker and start to heat.

These are Hickory chips.

Step Three - Ineke and Giles load the hot smoker.

You can smoke different kinds of meat on different tiers within the smoker. Of course, this alters the flavors of all of them.

Drake assembled fresh cut, juicy chunks of pineapple, wrapped in apple wood smoked, maple sugar cured bacon.

Drake's hors d'oeuvres ready for the grill

Ineke prepared dessert, a fruit soup invented by her son Brian, who is a pastry chef in Paris and Brusssels.

Preparing the fresh strawberries from the Hingham Farmers Market

Ineke simmering spices in simple syrup

INEKE'S STRAWBERRY SOUP

Simmer in equal parts sugar and water (simple syrup):

Star Anis Pods

Seeds scraped from Half a Vanilla Bean

Cardamon Seeds

Whole cloves

Small Cinnamon Stick

Whole Black Peppercorns

After the spices have imparted their flavors to the simple syrup, strain well, through several layers of cheesecloth, so that the liquid is clear. Let cool.

When cool, add the syrup to Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice. Stir to blend. Then add sliced Strawberries. We also added halved Blueberries and chopped fresh Mint from our herb garden. (Every time we use this mint we think of our friend Renato, who brought the seeds back from one of his trips home to Italy, and gave us some - real Menta Triestina. I made a mental (no pun intended!) note to let Renato know later that evening, that we had used his mint, since he and Dolores would be joining us for the feast.

The finished soup would chill until later.

Meanwhile, as Giles's ribs smoked outside, he was back in the kitchen, stirring the makings for his barbeque sauce. He then let it simmer for several hours over low heat.

GILES'S BARBEQUE "MOP SAUCE"

Ketchup

Honey

Cider Vinegar

Full Grain French Mustard

Worcestershire Sauce

Ground Cinnamon

Ground Cumin

Chile Powder

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Ground Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

(All amounts are to taste.)

It's worth making a lot of this sauce, as it keeps well in the refrigerator, and can be used to complement a variety of meats.

Hours later, the smoked ribs are ready for a dousing of barbeque sauce.

Just out of the smoker

Giles coating the ribs with sauce, as Ineke, Mia and Taylor look on.

Ready for presentation to the assembled party

Meanwhile, in the upper garden.....

Lisa looked happy, as Drake did some last minute assembly with toothpicks.

...then grilled his pineapple/bacon hors d'oeuvres, which were so incredibly juicy, they dripped profusely when we ate them. They were the perfect combination of sweet, salty, crispy, chewy and juicy.

A variety of sausages were grilling, topped with rosemary leaves.

Jack's bread had been baked, sliced and then toasted on the grill with garlic, olive oil and parmesan cheese.

Yee haw!

Madeleine and Matt (I call them Maddie and Mattie)

Lisa, Drake, Ineke and Dan

Austin, Sam, Alec and Drake anticipating dinner

As the Italians say, a tavola.

Dolores and Renato

Ineke serving her dessert soup

After a feast that included roasted, marinated beets, and grilled eggplant, as well as various other veggies, olives and cheeses, we tasted Ineke's dessert, which was light and fruity with an almost elusive hint of spice. Both tangy and sweet, it was a perfect way to top off our meal.

And then the music started. We had four guitars going, with various singers entertaining us. Madeleine sang a lilting rendition of the Beatles' "Blackbird"; Cindy put in a superb imitation of Norah Jones; and the piece de resistance was Alec, rapping and ad lib-ing about all of us there - in both Spanish and English. I was laughing so hard, I barely got any photos of that.

Madeleine singing

The incredibly talented Joe, who plays numerous instruments

Alec the rapper, accompanied by Jack, Joe, Austin and Giles

Jack playing lone flamenco

Madeleine and Ineke share a hug

Suddenly, Ron has picked up a new talent... "Baby, I'm the guitar man."

End of a terrific evening. My three Iron Chefs, slightly looser than in the previous photo.

Ah...breakfast the next morning. What better way to start the day than with a slice of fois gras?

Ineke and Jack's sister, Anne

Delightful Meals with Family & Friends

One of my favorite things in life is a protracted meal enjoyed with family and friends. I especially love this on a warm summer evening under the stars. Sunday afternoon meals are also great, as they can go on for hours. Interesting food, easy-drinking wine, multiple generations and an international component amongst the assembled company tend to increase the probability of good conversation, and the more the wine flows, the more the laughter grows as the hours progress. At our home in Massachusetts, two such meals - one Saturday evening barbeque and one Sunday lunch that stretched into dinner - stand out in my memory as being pretty much as good as it gets.

The Sunday lunch was several years ago with our now dear friends, Ayca and Scott, when we were just getting newly acquainted with each other. Ayca (with her heavy Turkish accent and buoyant attitude) and I had gotten to know each other slightly, but I'm not sure the guys had ever met. Our lunch was a long affair with their son, Orhan, and our kids, Madeleine and Drake. As we sat and ate in the sunroom at our old French farmhouse table, it became clear that we were meant to be friends. We had so much in common, so many of the same passions, and we all talked with such easy camaraderie, that the day passed by unnoticed.

The kids had long since tired of sitting at the table and had moved to the backyard where they were running through the hose, as it was a steamy day. Their laughter was matched by the excitement with which Jack, Scott, Ayca and I talked of many subjects all at once. Languid from several bottles of wine, and yet lively at the same time, we couldn't get over how close we felt - as if we had known each other for years.

So much time passed that eventually, we all decided it was time to eat again and prepared a dinner together since cooking was one of the passions we had just discovered we shared. Finally, darkness was complete and we were dining again, but now by candlelight. By the time our friends left, they had been at our house for nearly ten hours! And what an all-encompassing warmth was felt by all!

One impomptu barbeque began last summer when our oldest son, Giles, his wife Mia, and their daughter Taylor, visited us for the weekend and brought with them their new meat smoker.

Mia and Taylor

Never being shy when it comes to varieties and quantities of food, Giles bought several kinds of meat to smoke and began inviting friends to join us later in the day. We also invited some of our best friends who we know are always game for a last-minute invitation.

The preparation began around Noon, as smoking the various meats can take several hours. Naturally, once we all begin creating a good meal, we tend to start thinking of more and more items we'd like to prepare, either new experiments or tried and true favorites. Add to that the fact that most everyone in our family likes to cook, and you can imagine the pervasive air of pandemonium in the kitchen. However, in situations like this, we all agree that "the more the merrier" so on this day, as usual, the mood was festive.

We have a lovely spot in our upper garden, with a table, umbrella, lots of comfortable chairs, and a charming antique gazebo which serves these days as the site for our buffet spreads. The old garden also has a fountain gurgling into a small fish pool. The sound of the water splashing on the rocks in the pool is so soothing and always makes us feel miles away from civilization, since it drowns out any noise from the street on the other side of our house. What used to be a formal parterre has been turned into Jack's organic vegetable garden, so the whole little enclosed area has a kind of European feel to it.

Jack planned to grill his famous chicken with herbs, garlicky Italian sausage and corn on the cob. Salads and marinated olives, cheeses and desserts were concocted and carried to the upper garden.

Jack with his homemade charette de pique-nique

Throughout the afternoon, Giles smoked baby back ribs and big beef ribs with hickory chips. The pungent, smoky aroma was a mouth watering harbinger of delights in store for dinner. And we were not disappointed. When the meat was done, it literally melted in your mouth, juicy and falling off the bone, with incredible flavor - not overwhelming in smokiness, and really meaty.

Giles's smoked baby back ribs and beef ribs

Wines and beers were set in the fountain to chill. Friends started arriving around 5:30 and soon our backyard as well as our kitchen were humming with activity and happy chatter.

(Incidentally, the humming did not include many mosquitos, since Jack had mixed a strong solution of garlic tea and sprayed it around the garden earlier in the day. This is a terrific and chemical free way to keep pesky bugs away.)

Brett and Giles

Our ages ranged from 7 months old (our little granddaughter, Taylor) to 66 years old. I am a big believer in mixing all age groups. It brings so many more perspectives to the table than just one general age group can share. Our daughter, Madeleine, arrived with several old high school friends. Our son, Drake, was there with several friends who, frankly, consider our gazebo their home away from home.

Drake with Taylor

Several nationalities were represented, which is always more fun than not. Giles's friend, Brett, brought two adorable girls he had recently met in Tokyo, one of whom, Liz, from Brazil, took most of the photos seen here. I had a really terrific conversation about art with Shantell, an illustrator from London, who creates large-scale experiential multi-media presentations.

Liz and Shantell

There is a spontaneity that seems to make these kinds of gatherings come alive and this evening was no exception. I can't remember who first brought out a guitar, but eventually, Jack was playing his flamenco guitar, and Giles had brought out his own guitar (or maybe Drake's buddy, Austin, had his with him).

Jack and me

Drake, Jack and Giles

Eventually, both instruments were being passed around and informal jamming was a backdrop to our conversations. Jack, Giles and Drake played along with Austin and Brett.

Things really got lively when Renato, our Italian pal, decided that we should be dancing flamenco to Jack's accompaniment.

Renato and Dolores

Renato and his wife Dolores are superb dancers who fell in love with the tango in Argentina, and now have joined a group who dances the tango on a footbridge over the Charles River in Cambridge, whenever there is a full moon! In any case, Renato was not shy about trying the flamenco in our backyard. Soon, everyone was clapping and cheering.

Brett and Jack playing flamenco (as Renato tries to teach me some dance moves)

Candlelight

One of my favorite parts of evenings like this one is that as the clock advances into the wee hours, what was a rowdy party tends to mellow slowly, and there is much reflection along with sighs of contentment.

Austin and Giles

Lisa and Dan

Our friend Lisa will invariably state "We love you guys!" and by the time people are leaving to get home and crawl into their beds, a soft aura surrounds us all.