January 2: Slow-Roasted Citrus Salmon

At the end of December, I felt relieved to be done with my resolution and to take a break from dinner parties for a bit. However, Nick's Uncle, JB, makes dinner for his mother (Nick's grandmother) every Sunday night, and ever since the first of these I attended I've offered to step in as the back-up chef. After many failed attempts at scheduling my guest appearance in the kitchen, JB mentioned that he'd have trouble getting back to the city in time to make dinner a few weeks ago, and I signed up for the shift. 

Sunday dinner when JB cooks is almost always fish; however, there is frequently a second main course for Nick (who has been different levels of fish-phobic throughout the time we’ve been dating). Knowing I was not about to cook two proteins, I decided that this was my time to force Nick to eat my salmon. Practically everyone who was at my all girls dinner party last March has since asked me for the recipe for the foolproof salmon I served that evening, so I felt confident that even Nick would like it. 

I decided to pair it with roasted brussels sprouts and gnocchi with kale pesto. With so much green, I ordered purple brussels sprouts and made a hot pink hummus to start. This would be my first dinner party on the road, and I wasn't totally sure how I'd do in someone else's kitchen. Particularly since just a day before dinner Nick told me he didn’t think the oven at his grandmother's house worked…(JB confirmed that it did). 

Before leaving, I decided that I would do as much prep work as I could at our house — cutting and cleaning my brussels sprouts, making the hummus and the pesto, and making dessert. The only instructions I was given were to go light on salt and cholesterol, so I wanted to try an Ina Garten recipe for a lemon yogurt cake that didn't have any butter in it. I ordered a loaf pan for the cake set to arrive on Saturday, but I totally missed the package in the sea of Amazon boxes in our lobby and I ended up buying another one. When I got home with the new pan, I realized I now had two and that the one I'd ordered was actually the wrong size (even though it looked more loaf-like to me). With two pans, I decided to make two cakes — that way we could test one to make sure it was okay. Unfortunately, I tasted the one from the wrong size pan and had no idea if it wasn't great because it had been baked in the wrong size pan or if the recipe just wasn't that good. 

The hummus on the other hand was amazing (and looked incredible), and the pesto seemed pretty good for a pesto light on salt. I didn't feel like I had enough brussels sprouts after I cut them (they were also basically green after I cut the outer leaves off), so I also decided to quickly make some broccoli in a new way I've been making for my lunch (more green, but I didn't want anyone to go hungry). Last minute, inspired by a Smitten recipe for olive oil cake, I also decided to make a honey-blood orange compote to put on top of the cake (since the tester had been pretty dry.) I put everything into Chinese takeout soup containers of various sizes, packed my nicer shirt for dinner (JB always changes his shirt for dinner), and threw everything into my backpack for the road. I headed to the fish store, while Nick went to get gnocchi and meet me uptown. 

Is this hummus not stunning? Plus Nick got chastised for only putting out one knife

Another fun twist for you, my mom is always wanting to visit Nick's grandmother, so she dropped by once I started to cook (in an unfamiliar kitchen, for my boyfriend's incredibly elegant and refined grandmother) and then kept everyone chatting in the kitchen while I tried to seem elegant and refined and not zany and disheveled — despite the fact that I'd put hummus and cheese out in the living room — far away from the kitchen.

But all's well that ends well, and I found everything that I needed. For the very first time, I did have to plate everything (instead of serving family style) which just takes soooo much longer, so dinner wasn't right on time, but I think everything came out really well.

Highlights were that Nick CLEANED his plate and loved the salmon and JB actually got to relax at a Sunday dinner! Nick ended up leaving right after dessert to get to a concert, but I stayed and hung out with his grandmother and uncle, and the three of us had a great time. And I told JB I'd be up for cooking dinner again sometime soon.

PROOF

The Rundown:

Beet and Ricotta Hummus with crackers, endive, and truffle cheddar

Slow-Roasted Citrus Salmon with Herb Salad (I just didn’t salt the part of the fish I knew I’d serve to Nick’s grandmother)

Kale Pesto with spinach tagliorini

Roasted brussels sprouts (halve brussels sprouts, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast at 425 for 20-30 minutes…until soft — my dad’s recipe)

Simple and Satisfying Broccoli

Lemon Yogurt Cake with Honey-Blood Orange Compote (I should also note that I didn’t pour allll of the syrup over the cakes because I was worried they’d be too sweet, but I think they might have been dry as a result…the compote liquid took care of that)

JB suggested we warm up the cake before serving — definitely the right call