Aug
30
Weekday Entertaining
So it’s after 7, you’ve had it with just about everyone and everything. You wonder, I’m going to have to repeat the same set of actions tomorrow, and just the thought of that may haunt you on your commute back home. If you are planning to have friends over for the night, that just may be the silver lining. Consumption of alcohol, fat, and cheap gossip. But can you really be bothered to entertain? Probably not… Well let that attitude be reflected in the way you serve dinner. Entertain like you don’t give a damn, like you’re trying to impress no one.
And maybe I feel like all the other painstaking set up you have to do to make things seem presentable, yes well it looks nice, but it just means you’re a little more industrious than the next person. So what? Wouldn’t you rather make an impact with very little effort? For easy cleanup you can use a crumpled up brown sheet of paper. If someone doesn’t like it, well just point to the door. There is free cheese and white wine here and it will clearly be their loss.
I love this cheese, I wanted to use Parmesan but this is less saltier and smaller. You can afford to be crude when your ingredients are high quality.
…And this Campogrande wine (great price for the taste), I like Santa Margherita, but this is a similar quality and much cheaper. How many wine bottles you have to bring out, well that depends on your friends. Are they pseudo-alcoholics, or just alcoholics?
To start off, just peel off half of the cheese on top, so you have room to play. I use this tool for leather cutting, just washed it to scrape this cheese and it works very well. You can use knives that will work too.
Let the cheese just be the centerpiece of the table, and scrape off chunks.
Casually place the chunks on a bed of basil and thyme. This will allow each person to pick up a little of each herb’s scent as they eat the cheese. Now can a plate do that? We want to minimize the blow of a party cleanup, not maximize.
When I’m with my friends, we can easily blow through wedges of hard italian cheese. No problem. We don’t even bother with cold cuts.
For the second course, just bring out arugula, lemon, and some olive oil. For the last course, we need to scrape out the cheese even more to create a slight bowl shape..so this works perfectly.
Dress the arugula with olive oil that’s been infused with red pepper and garlic.
Now to create the bowl shape for the last course, just shave thin sheets of this cheese towards the center. The cheese you are scraping off now will taste better because it’s more moist. I like both, the dry and moist parts.
Now it’s time for business. Linguine. Get some chicken broth and white wine ready, well the white wine is already out and about all you need to do is pour it into the chicken broth which we’re gonna use to flavor the pasta INSTEAD of water for extra flavor.
Oh and remember that basil bed you used for cheese instead of the dish? We need that again..
Scrape a little of the cheese off before you put the pasta in. What I like to do is add a little chicken broth to the cheese bowl to loosen up little bits, then I add the pasta to finish. Scrape a little more after the pasta, and mix.
Scrape scrape!
![]](http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8436/7896315996_94f22429bb_o.jpg)
The cheese will get soft and melt onto the pasta a little. It’s just heavenly. You might ask, well what do you do with this cheese after you’re done? Just put it into the fridge and take it out when you want to serve cheese bits and scraped pasta again. Easy. You can always use it, take it back out, etc.
Bringing out a knife and a board? Yeah, right. I’m using a weird knife here with four blades to make little basil strips to garnish the pasta. You can also add prosciutto but I really think the cheese is flavorful and salty enough.
Quite possibly one of my favorite dishes right now….If you’re one of those people that likes to just eat pasta with cheese and olive oil, this is just the heightened version.
Back to square one. Clean up, easy. Ready to throw out this brown paper.. On my last glass, and my cold pasta breakfast is ready to go tomorrow morning.
Done. Thanks for reading.
This is my favorite post I’ve read of yours. It used to be the Apple Napoleon, but this one includes such a unique presentation that its now #1. I LOVE the idea of using one element throughout the meal and then with paper as a table cloth is genius.
I happen to love eating wine and cheese… And my favorite way to eat pasta is with a simple topping of cheese and olive oil, or this butter olive oil i’ve been using a lot lately from Con’ Olio Oils & Vinegars in Austin, TX. (it actually has no butter in it, just a uniqu combination of natural flavors 100% olive oil). Basil is my favorite herb too. So, i sort of feel like this post is meant for me. ha
I also enjoyed your sarcastic humor. My friends and I are def pseudo-alcoholics. That cracked me up. And the “weird knife” comment. Really funny.
Thanks for sharing this. I really do hope i get the motivation to try it myself.
maybe my favourite. love your prose here. love the idea. and my type of food and party!
When I’m having a shitty day, I re-read your cheese and sushi posts for a pick me up. Love this one!
My fav ingredients in 1 post..awesome. Love how the different textures of the cheese are enjoyed, esp linguine in the cheese bowl. You are simply amazing!
Awesome post! Nice warmth to your usually rather dry style. Love the photos, the food, the wine, the props! I plan to recreate it once I relocate to Spain.
This would be perfect for a simple house warming party. The cleanup after those parties can be murderous!
WOW. simply amazing
This is why you’re the queen!
Not sure I’ll ever be able to afford such a huge wheel of cheese, though. Certainly not on a barista’s salary, anyway. But it’s nice to view these posts through your luxurious perspective.
fap fap fap fap
That made me so hungry, humf
Why you have to go and make food look so fabulous?
http://captivelouise.wordpress.com/
best party ever!
How do I get invited to your dinner parties? Cause damn girl, that block of cheese is going to haunt me.
“Entertain like you don’t give a damn, like you’re trying to impress no one.” with your $190 wheel of cheese.
Don’t get me wrong, I think this post is awesome. But, it’s only a weekday meal for Mitt Romney and pals.
Love all your food posts. I would like to know who makes the beautiful flatware in these photos. Also where could I shop for them? Thanks.
you used your own luxirare cuff as a knife holder…. like a boss!
you didn’t choose the thug life, the thug life chose you.
Oh yes please! The cheese is my favourite. No, the pasta is my favourite. Wait, um, no, the arugula is. Ok, ok, the garlic and hot pepper olive oil is. Never mind … can’t choose.
And the dog! <3
Loulou
Is that a Piave Vecchio? Seriously? Just looks like the Stravecchio variety. I live not very far from Busche, the town where they produce is and I know their products quite well… Mmmh, delicious! You should try their ice cream, it’s incredible! It must be quite expensive to have the whole cheese round delivered in the USA (outside Italy, anyway)…
I live in Barcelona and had a small wheel of cheese. Made this with loads of lemon juice and poured a little heavy cream over the pasta. Loads of pepper. I’m convinced all dairy is heaps cheaper in Europe than it is in the States. Gracias for the idea! Much better than Basta Pasta.
Damn, girl.
ooh, I must have that little herb slicing knife dealie! Where did you find it??
You blow my mind.
I want to see your storage space for all your fantastic little dishes! And an inventory! Although, I imagine you live in a beautiful cube where magical dishes appear and disappear into the walls, with an array of fabulous people come in and out. You don’t need to spoil that illusion to sate my curiousity!
omg more of that outfit please!! x
Wow, great shoes! I wonder if Who Brain will recommend something similar for me.
http://www.whobrain.com/
This post is PHENOMENAL! I almost want to throw a dinner party this weekend just to try this out. You really nailed this one. Thanks!
Hi!! I looked your post and all pictures it was just amazing things you people posted here!! I like it very much..Sure!! i will do these things in my week days.
tie guan yin
You have such an interesting aesthetic, and I appreciate the clever ways you approach your blog and its contents. I am inspired by what you do, and while I am a vegan (in diet only) who does not drink wine, I love these kinds of posts.
Your ideas are inspiring and can be adapted in other ways.
I like your philosophy on bulk buying as well as how one spends money on fashion. I personally don’t care for knock offs, and will wait for a sale or save up for the real thing.
Thank you for sharing your ideas!!!!