Last Monday, we had a four top up in the house, featuring the fantastic guests Jenah Thornborrow and Ned Evett.Obviously, with these peeps, there is no other way to put it than Awesomeness, the Dinner. As usual, the menu and most of the heavy kitchen labor are by Dan.

MACCHIATO BEEF TENDERLOIN STEAKS

Beef tenderloin fillets from Jenah’s family’s farm-raised cattle in Buhl, Idaho, cleaned, cut, then wet-rubbed (Jessica aside: hubba) with molasses, finely ground coffee, brown sugar, cumin, fresh garlic, paprika, Pico Pica hot sauce (Dan’s new favorite), and dried chili flakes.

Seared on cast iron shallow skillet (and so smokey we turned on all the fans, and Dan had to step outside).

CHAMELEON CARROTS PASTA

Multicolored carrots, peeled (with a few peels tied together and used for fresh garnish to highlight different hues pre-cooking), fresh onions, and small eggplants from Create Common Good farm share, sauteed in butter, soy sauce, and olive oil with half of sauteed mixture blended to smooth out sauce (and sauciness).

The chameleon concept was twofold: 1) The multicolored carrots changed color while cooking, and 2) this sauce simulated the texture and flavor of a tomato-based sauce, but no tomatoes were used. Do you believe in magic? Mostly when Dan is cooking.

GREEN SALAD with APPLE GINGER DRESSING

Mixed greens from Albertson’s and thinly sliced purple carrots from Create Common Good farm share.

Apple Ginger Dressing:
1 sm thumb of ginger, peeled / diced
3 sm apples, peeled / cored / sliced (harvested from our tree outside by Ned, who is tall)
4 blops vanilla yogurt
1 long drizzle honey
1 short drizzle olive oil
2 sm splashes of white wine vinegar
salt & pepper to taste

Throw everything in a blender, and do as the appliance name suggests.

Ned Evett is a fretless glass and steel guitar real-hero (we are particularly obsessed with his last release, Treehouse). He’s also happily our house guest for a time. We are thrilled to have him here, and Dan really knows how to show it. With a merengue guitar. Rockstar.

STRAWBERRY-VANILLA MERENGUES

Merengues are more of a process than an ingredient list. Egg whites (save the yolks for sabayon sauce later), sugar, and skill, baby. (Or Google.) Dan used a ziploc bag with the corner snipped as the pastry gun to create the shapes.

Scoop of vanilla bean frozen yogurt from Cloverleaf Creamery in Buhl, Idaho, brought by the lovely Jenah.

Topped with strawberries, cut up with a sprinkle of sugar and chilled until they create their own syrup, and sabayon sauce made with egg yolks, sugar, the last swig of gifted (as in given to Dan by awesome friend Jason Gilmore, not as in  “special”) Woodford Reserve bourbon, orange curaçao, and patience over a double boiler.

Bon appetit, Cheep.