Sunday Night Dinner

One of my favorite things about being home is having family dinners. Although you never know what you're going to get, or what's going to come out of Uncle A's mouth, it's still such a great time. This Sunday we all had dinner together and it was, yet again, another great meal. Along with the original five of us, Uncle A joined us for dinner, as well as Chris (Kayla's boyfriend), who fled Manhattan for the weekend, and as a result had his train cancelled on both Sunday and Monday.... thanks Irene.

For dinner we prepared stuffed veal, cauliflower gratin, beef meatballs, buttery spinach, tortellini, broccoli rabe, tomato sauce, and creme brulee. Yes, my family eats a lot - food equals love.

Although most of my mom's recipes are originals, or family recipes, the veal was inspired by a Food Network one by Catherine Scorsese "Stuffed Breast of Veal." The only difference was that we used Gruyere cheese instead of Locatelli.

I wont bother retyping the recipe, but I strongly recommend you check it out because it was amazingly delicious and super tender.

My mom and I have both made many different variations of meatballs, and this time we used just ground beef, egg, parmesan cheese, and day old Italian bread. Although these were tasty, I really prefer meatballs that are half beef and half veal - I feel that the taste and texture are much lighter and more "airy."

For the broccoli rabes we did a simple saute with garlic and evoo, and for the spinach we again did a simple saute in some garlic, cream and lots of butter. The way I prefer to cook is simple, but still great flavor. I love vegetables, and therefore I feel if you cook them correctly you don't need to mask their flavors with cheeses, etc (although I heart cheese).




Note: These two dishes can be done towards the end of the overall preparation because neither take very long to cook.


The main star of the night was, hands down, the cauliflower gratin. For this we used the following ingredients:
Cauliflower
1/2 stick of unsalted butter
3 tbsp flour
2 cups milk
1/2 cup of gruyere cheese, grated
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, grated
Breadcrumbs
Nutmeg
s + p




We began by boiling the cauliflower for 5 to 7 minutes until it was cooked, but still firm. While the cauliflower cooked, we started melting about 1/2 a stick of butter, and added flour to it to create a roux (you should add about 3 tablespoons of flour, and stir it together with the butter for about 2 - 3 minutes).

Next, add 2 cups of hot milk to the roux, and whisk the mixture until it comes to boil and becomes thick. Once thick, remove from the heat and add the cheeses (1/2 cup of each), s+p, and nutmeg (just a little for seasoning).

Using a baking dish (roughly 8 x 11) pour some of the cheese mix into the pan, add the cauliflower, and add the rest of the mixture over the cauliflower. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and more cheese and butter, if desired.

The gratin will bake at a 375 degree oven for roughly 20 - 30 minutes.

Look at how creamy and delicious is looks - I can't believe I'm going to say this, but after having cauliflower gratin, I prefer it to potato gratin. Even though it's still smothered in cheese, it just feels healthier - it's all in my head but whatever.

Obviously Rutherford family dinner is not complete without fresh tomato sauce. This time instead of using sausage my mom used some of the extra ground beef. I think I prefer having sausage in my sauce, but they are both very different flavors - it just depends if you want a more mild sauce or if you prefer the intense flavor of Italian sausage. Regardless of what you use, always cook the meat before adding it into the sauce - this ensures that you won't end up with raw meat in your sauce - not a crowd pleasure. One of these days I will dedicate a full post to my homemade sauce, but for now I'll just go through the basics - canned tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, garlic, salt, pepper, ground beef, and lots of TLC.

I should mention that as all of this wonderful cooking was happening, hurricane Irene was wreaking havoc all over the neighborhood.

We will be cleaning leaves out of pool for the rest of the week.

Well maybe not havoc... but things still got pretty messy.

Our neighbors spent the whole day today sawing this tree apart.

So one of the things we were super excited for was Jordan's (my littler brother) creme brulee. Here's something you need to know about my brother and sister.... they are both pyros. Seriously, anything fire related they get giddy over. So, when they found the creme brulee kit in the kitchen cabinet it was game, set, match.

As my brother began making the creme brulee, my mother started setting the table.

Where there's food - there's Kelly.

So for the creme brulee Jordan used:
1 c of heavy cream
1 c of milk
1/4 vanilla bean, split
3 egg yolks
1 whole egg
1/4 c sugar
brown sugar

Heat heavy cream, milk, and vanilla bean in a pot with the vanilla bean, and let the mixture come to a boil. Remove from heat and let the mixture steep for about 10 minutes, then scrape the bean seeds into the mixture.

With a mixer, combine the eggs and sugar, and gradually add the cream mixture. After everything is incorporated, strain and skim the foam off of the top.

Lay out ramekins into a big baking pan, add about 4 oz of mixture into each one, and then pour water into the baking pan so that it goes about half way up the ramekins. Bake the creme brulee for 25 - 30 minutes in a 325 degree oven.

Remove and let cool for a bit, sprinkle with brown sugar and use the blow torch to create the caramelization on top.

Something you need to know about Jordan, aside from the fact that he's a pyro, is that he has a very methodical mind, and in theory, would make a great baker because he follows directions to a T. Unfortunately there was either something wrong with this recipe, or he just didn't let it cook long enough, because the brulee never set, and it was just too watery...

Too cocky for his own good - they looked great, but they were a big watery mess underneath... jokes on you J. 

Make sure to cook the creme brulee long enough so that it is basically set before you take it out of the oven.

Kelly still wanted some...

As the wine flowed at dinner the conversation got more and more hilarious... I'm not sure what Uncle A said to Chris, but clearly it was something borderline inappropriate.... or completely inappropriate.

Chris and Uncle A enjoying some wine with their cookies... who needs milk?

For the pasta, all we did was boil some tortellini, and serve the sauce over it - quick and simple.

Also, I'm not sure why I don't have a picture of it, but my mom used the left over ingredients from the veal, put everything into a baking dish, added some more cheese on top, and baked it quick in the oven as an additional side dish. It really helped to tie everything together - even though it reminded me of eating what the dog eats - fyi, my mom makes our dog fresh chicken, brown rice, sweet potatoes and carrots for dinner. Diva dog.

I can't stress enough that my family cooks way too much food, all of the time, and a lot of the things I wrote about just now can be stand alone dishes. If you're in a rush, meatballs are quick and easy to make, and pair great with just a simple red sauce and some pasta. If you have more time I definitely recommend the veal, it was a little on the fatty side, but it was so great. 

 Kelly will literally beg until there isn't any food left on the table, and everyone has left the kitchen... gotta respect her dedication.

Until next time!