A Puddingstone Kitchen feast
Last month (I know, I have a lot of catching up to do) our lovely friends Melinda and Christine invited us (and Cindy G and ScurvyAnn) over for a dinner created by MaryCat Chaikin of Puddingstone Kitchen.
This was my first experience of seeing how a catered in-home dinner came together; I was excited to take a bunch of photos. But of course I FAILED to realize that my camera was on a manual low-light setting, so nothing looks nearly as flattering or delicious as it actually was.
If you squint slightly while you look at the photos, it helps. But not too much or you'll get a headache.
Puddingstone Kitchen sources locally; much of the evening's ingredients came from the Central Square farmer's market.
MaryCat started us out with an antipasti platter: hand-foraged hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, roasted veggies, cloumage from Shy Brothers, and handmade burrata.
MaryCat made the burrata herself, and explained the exacting creation process, which involves precise temperatures and a lot of kneading. It's easy to mess up, apparently, but when it all comes together, the result is creamy and soft and divine.
Here's MaryCat explaining her cheesemaking strategy. You can tell this was a long exposure because I managed to get Christine looking in two different directions.
Back in the kitchen, MaryCat and her assistant (whose name I've forgotten — sorry!) finished the salads.
The heirloom tomato was hyperlocal (from M and C's garden). The accompanying galette was rich and full of fall flavors: roasted delicata squash, carmelized onions, sage.
Next was hangar steak, tender and juicy, with mashed potatoes.
And dessert ... ohhh, dessert. Cranberry upside-down cake with brown sugar, served with honeyed yogurt. More than a month ago, and my mouth still waters when I think about it.
I owe extremely belated gratitude to Melinda and Christine for their hospitality (and for the ginormous extra tomato we came away with. Size of a baby's head, completely fabulous).
And to Puddingstone Kitchen: Wow. That was amazing. Thank you.
This was my first experience of seeing how a catered in-home dinner came together; I was excited to take a bunch of photos. But of course I FAILED to realize that my camera was on a manual low-light setting, so nothing looks nearly as flattering or delicious as it actually was.
If you squint slightly while you look at the photos, it helps. But not too much or you'll get a headache.
Puddingstone Kitchen sources locally; much of the evening's ingredients came from the Central Square farmer's market.
MaryCat started us out with an antipasti platter: hand-foraged hen-of-the-woods mushrooms, roasted veggies, cloumage from Shy Brothers, and handmade burrata.
MaryCat made the burrata herself, and explained the exacting creation process, which involves precise temperatures and a lot of kneading. It's easy to mess up, apparently, but when it all comes together, the result is creamy and soft and divine.
Here's MaryCat explaining her cheesemaking strategy. You can tell this was a long exposure because I managed to get Christine looking in two different directions.
Back in the kitchen, MaryCat and her assistant (whose name I've forgotten — sorry!) finished the salads.
The heirloom tomato was hyperlocal (from M and C's garden). The accompanying galette was rich and full of fall flavors: roasted delicata squash, carmelized onions, sage.
Next was hangar steak, tender and juicy, with mashed potatoes.
And dessert ... ohhh, dessert. Cranberry upside-down cake with brown sugar, served with honeyed yogurt. More than a month ago, and my mouth still waters when I think about it.
I owe extremely belated gratitude to Melinda and Christine for their hospitality (and for the ginormous extra tomato we came away with. Size of a baby's head, completely fabulous).
And to Puddingstone Kitchen: Wow. That was amazing. Thank you.
Labels: cheese, dining, food, puddingstone kitchen
posted by LimeyG at
8:01 AM
1 Comments:
when i think about that night i think about the phrase "sex cheese" - ha! makes me laugh every time. thanks for a nice post! hope to cook for you again
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