December Charm City Cookbooking: Jamie's Italy

So lets start out with how the end of the night ended! Wonderfully- with a cup of espresso and some brown sugar. The way everrrry meal should end. Tracy was an amazing host- thinking of every little detail and cooking a delicious entree!

Jamie’s book is really fun to look at- and his stories that are interspersed are charming also. So go now and look at some pictures! Cause I don’t really feel like writing too much right now…

Here was Joanne’s first appetizer- a cheese and herb stuffed mushroom. So creamy and flavorful.

And a toast! Made from her garden’s swiss chard and some garlic and things. Reallllllly good.

And the last one was a baked squash and tomatoes mixture. Not my favorite, but still very flavorful. And we even got to use this filling for another serving of Julie’s dish!

Here was my salad- which I dressed not so successfully. The mandoline was very successful in slicing the cucucmber, red onion and fennel- didn’t even cut my hand! The oranges were sooo delicious (thank you wegmans…)  and the goat cheese was also great. Should have used red wine vinegar instead of tarragon white.. It was a very fresh salad- just needed some extra zing!

And here is Julie’s masterpiece. A feat of italian pasta making for sure! It was stuffed with ricotta, spinach and (something…) and look at that butter being drizzled atop- fantastic!

Here is the fun play by play action of making that log!

Tender hands do marvelous work…

Finished! and into the water…

After about 30 minutes? it was time to come out and wow us!

sliced up…

Here was Renee’s eggplant parmesan right out of the oven. That cheesy breadcrumb topping was great! The eggplants gave off a bit to much moisture though. Must find a better recipe!

And here’s a shot of the parm on my plate.

And the main event of the evening! Tuna meatballs! Love me some balls. They were so delicate tasting and healthy. And the red sauce was really good too. That Tracy 100% knows how to make a mean red sauce.

And for our sugar fix was this blackberry tart. It was darn good. The pastry crust was the best I have ever tasted- very light and sugary and flaky too! I have to write down that recipe before I take my book back to the library. And what a beautiful presentation too.

Can’t wait for next month! Alayne has chosen a Platter of Figs. I have seen that one many times at the library and bookstores- can’t wait to peel into it.

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