Vegan, Gluten Free, Refined Sugar Free Dinner Party - take 2

Let's just go ahead and abbreviate that madness, shall we? VGF. Phew.

I know I've been a little lax in the posting department - do forgive, my dears. Let me ply you with peektures, and hopefully you'll forgive my lazy arse.

What the hell is that salmon-lox-where's-the-bagels-and-capers looking thing there, you ask? Why, its pate - smoked pepper and cashew cheese, set with agar. It seriously tasted like bacon. Seriously. Amazing.

Before I continue, here's the full spread -

I'd had, the week before, a somewhat freakish dream - about a large ship, presumably a Galleon, and a strange trip I took to find an ancient spice that tasted like smoked black pepper.

Yeah wow, food nerd dreams. I'm new to them.

But it ended up inspiring a pretty delish menu - so I'm down for another, if the food muse gods are listening. We ate well that night.

Mmmmm, Paella, I do love thee. It's hard to see what's going on in that pile, so I'll elucidate - red rice, some farro I'd picked up on an NYC trip, local purple peppers (more brown and orange than purple, but the mottling was lovely), tons of shrooms, and one, awesome, secret ingredient - Wakame. Totally a Milennium trick, sneaking seaweed into risotto. I love those guys.

In the long and arduous debate of whether vegan cuisine should mirror meat-loving nosh and recipes, I'm pretty much on the side of "whatever tastes awesome, is awesome". Paellas seem like seranades to the sea - so there needed to be something briny, sea tasting in there - and wakame fit that bill perfectly. Paired with some capers, the result was mineral, salty - behind the mushroom smokiness and paprika, it was a lovely, deep note.

Plus, seaweed is friggin' AWESOME for you. Magnesium abounds, and there's a little bit of almost every vitamin - so yep, let's just sneak that stuff into anything we can, shall we?

Topped by red pepper puree and some ancho chili cashew cream, this was a crowded plate. Next time, I'd omit the greens completely - they ended up being a side note, even odd.

We did start with some yellow tomato gazpacho that was good, but not stellar -

Just not as much bite in yellow maters as I'm used to in their angry red cousins. Still - pretty as hell, amirite?

I know it doesn't look like much, but the dessert was surprisingly decadent. Kind of a pineapple upside down cake, ala Babycake's recipe - but with a bunch of orange zest and some preserved orange peel, and shredded apples - moist and decadent. Coconut dream on the side, maple sugar and cinammon glaze, it was really, really good.

3 hours, 12 settings, and 4 courses later - everyone was stuffed to the point of napping, full of Espanola-inspired nosh.

Busy busy...

And slowly, surely, things are falling into place.

I have a spot for my coffee grinder. Lazy susans for the RIDIC amount of spices I keep. A fridge that has a friggin' ice dispenser (oh ya, movin' on up!!). Basically, I'm warning you - a flood of kitchen porn is about to hit NFP, so avert your eyes, if you're sensitive to such utterly domestic stuffs.

Meanwhile, at a gorgeous house just off Providence, my first vegan/gluten free (well, almost) dinner party was thrown with success, nervousness, and finally, relief.

Challenging, cooking, warming, plating and serving 12 people all at once, all by my lonesome, good LORDY. And I didn't, even - one of the sweet girls attending helped me bus between 1st and 2nd course - because I was slinging polenta and ragu in the kitchen and totally forgot that salad plates, once divested of greens, want to get to the sink.

Still, people seemed happy. Even the elbow I almost landed on someone's nose while pouring water - no biggie.

3 courses and an app, here's what we noshed:

If I could only do these, every day, in perpetuity, I think I'd have found my true calling. We'll see.

The dessert wasn't quite as GF as I'd originally intended - and since this was the end of a 3 week program that involved abstaining from all alcohol, refined sugar, caffiene, animal products, and wheat, and people were in the mood to indulge, I snuck some refined sugar and flour in there. Tsk tsk. Note to self - coconut whipped cream must stay chilled until the last possible moment, or it loses it's integrity. I'd have preferred mine a bit fluffier.

Salads are salads, and this group had been eating tons of greens for weeks. Pistachios were nice, soft, slightly sweet. Contrasted with the mustard rather well.

You guys have seen me pull ye old ragu trick many times before - but not quite as healthfully as this night. Ground mushrooms and fava beans formed the base of the sauce -

- along with lots of roasted cherry tomatoes -

- broth, spices, and a cup of bourbon, and we've got some happy vegans. Collarded kale shreds on the side. Pattypans overfilled with rich cashew cheese mixed with herbs and farro. They were good, but as they usually are, a bit tough. It's not often the veggies get to grab a steak knife - but they did, that night.

Got two more planned this upcoming month. Stay tuned! Cheers!