Comfort food

Hey, there is a party going on out there in the WWW - a blog party. Isn't that great?!
Okay it's "only" virtual, but the result on our table (and the mess in my kitchen) are were real. Because I joined this blog party #19 which has the theme "Take Comfort". This party is virtually hosted by Stephanie from Dispensing Happiness.

There is no doubt our comfort food is an Italian pasta with a hearty bite, like gemelli or gnocchetti sardi, pan fried together with boiled, diced potatoes accompanied from a simple leaf salad. So all I have to do to throw a party with it, is to present it in an unusual style.

Here it is, my party version:

Dressed up pan fried pasta and potatoes with salad

As you can see our appetizers were

screwed Japanese cucumber en nature

followed by a shot

cock mock vinegretail

of aged balsamic vinegar traditionale shipped from Germany, shaked, not stirred, together with an airflown Toscana grove and a dash of lemon juice from Sicily.
I served this vinegretail next to some

hearts of butter lettuce layered in a glass

and garnished with

cocktail tomatoes,

capsicum juliennes, and some

dill sprigstails,

sprinkled with freshly ground pepper and flaky sea salt.
Our next course was

conchiglioni filled with crisp fried Kipferl cubes,

decorated with sautéed red sweet pepper strips, served as a spoon food.

And even if actually (!) nobody wanted to eat it, I thought I had to have several cock mock tails. Hence I decorated my platters with

chives tails.

Since we usually drink only sparkling water, this was my choice of drink - down-sized to a

tiny bottle of San Pellegrino

with a straw, like they serve those mini Champagne bottles at some "real" events.



Ingredients:
(I had 3 "guests" this evening, so this "recipe" serves four)

1bunch chives, seperated into 4 packages and tied together like a cock mock vinegre pony tail.


1 kgKipferl potatoes, cooked and diced into 1 cm cubes
500 gconchiglioni (Italian shell shaped pasta), cooked and drained
5 Tbspgoose fat
fresh ground black peppercorns
sea salt flakes

3 - 4hearts of butter lettuce, washed and dried with a salad spinner
1red capsicum, julienned
8cherry tomatoes, cut into small wedges
1bunch dill
fresh ground black peppercorns
sea salt flakes



2Japanese cucumbers, peeled and cut into strips with a knife or a peeler







about
1 Tbspbalsamic vinegar
1 Tbspnative olive oil
1-2dash(es) lemon juice
per person/salad/portion


1-2200 ml bottles sparkling water per person



Preparation:

Heat 1 tablespoon goose fat in a pan over medium high. Add the noodles and sautée them for about 2 minutes, set aside.











Put the remaining goose fat in a pan over high heat. Stir fry the potato cubes in it until crispy and golden brown. Add salt and pepper to your taste.









Add some strips of the julienned bell pepper for about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.











Meanwhile spear the cucumber slices on a bamboo or metal screwer.







Arrange the salad leaves together with the capsicum juliennes and the tomato wedges in a glass or serving bowl. Sprinkle with pepper and salt. Garnish with dill.

For the vinaigrette mix the vinegar, oil and juice together in a cocktail shaker without ice. Serve it in a shot glass beside the salad.

Fill the pasta shells with potatoes, garnish them with the sautéed capsicums and place them on a party spoon.

Arrange everything on a underplate, a tray, or a platter.

Open the bottles, insert a straw and serve immediately.

Cheers!


I had a lot of work fun and was surprised how wonderful this simple dish could look like. Even if it takes my longer to prepare the meal (and to clear everything, and to clean the kitchen, and to wash the dishes, and to...), my "guests" applauded me, and it was well worth to run the extra mile.