Rosh Hashannah and Fall Celebration Dinner

Rosh Hashannah (Head of the Year) begins on Friday, the 22, this year. Rosh Hashannah also marks for me the beginning of fall. I love this time of year, not only does it include my two most favorite holidays, Thanksgiving and Halloween, but it is the world's last burst of energy before it goes to sleep for winter. I've always felt that fall is a much more reasonable time to begin a new year. People go back to school, the season is changing and we are embracing the riches that earth has to give us. It makes way more sense to me than starting over in the middle of winter. My pagan friends will tell you that the new year in winter marks welcoming the return of the sun. Reading about fall is making me very excited particularly when it is that eloquent.

A tradition for Rosh Hashannah is to eat apples with honey for a sweet new year. One is also encouraged to combine the sweet with savory for the same reason. I like including typical autumn fare to celebrate the harvest. Without further ado, here is my menu plan for my Autumnal appreciation meal:

Caramelized Onion Challah (recipe soon here)
Apples and Honey
Three Beet Caviar with Endive and Goat Cheese, from Local Flavors
Poulet au Normandy, from Chez Panisse Fruit
Chard with Lemon Oil, from Zuni Cafe
Flageolet Gratin (really cannellini beans because flageolets are bloody
expensive) from Sunday Suppers at Lucques
Buckwheat-Walnut Cake with Poached Apples and Caramel Sauce
adapted from Ripe for Dessert

P.S Other celebrations are also in order for the engagement of my Hebrew school partner in crime, A, and his lovely fiance, P. And for my brand spanking new cousin A and her newly minted parents G and E. I'm so happy for all of you, I could just burst!

RECIPE: Nouveau Salade Nicoise

Procure:
3/4 lb baby potatoes
3/4 lb green beans
1 shallot, minced
red wine vinegar
good quality olive oil
Dijon mustard
25 Nicoise olives
2 TB capers
1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
3 eggs, hard boiled, quartered
1 head butter lettuce
1 lb good quality Ahi, in one piece, if possible
6 anchovies packed in oil, chopped

1. Fill a large heavy pot with salted water. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes. Cook until you can easily slide a knife into a potato, about 10-15 minutes, depending on size. Fish potatoes out of water and place in a bowl to cool.

2. Wash and trim beans. Snap the long ones in half. Add beans to the boiling water. Let cook 3-4 minutes until bright green but still firm. Drain in a colander. Run cold water over beans until they reach room temperature.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together 5 TB olive oil, 5 TB red wine vinegar and 1-1/2 TB of mustard. Salt and pepper to taste. I like my dressings tart, so you might want to add more oil or vinegar as well.

4. Quarter potatoes while still warm. Toss potatoes, green beans, olives, capers and half of dressing. Toss to combine well. Set aside. The longer this mixture sits, the better the flavors will meld.

5. Toss the lettuce with the remaining dressing. Line 4 large plates with lettuce. In one quadrant, place a quarter of the tomatoes. In another, place 3 quarters of the hard boiled egg. In the third, add a mound of the potato salad.

6. Salt and pepper the Ahi very well. Heat 1 TB olive oil in a large saute pan. When hot, add the fish. Let cook 5 minutes on each side. The fish will be mostly rare. Take off the heat and place fish on a cutting board. You may let it sit on the board for a bit, but the residual heat will cook the fish more.

7. Cut fish into 16 slices. Line the slices on the last quadrant of the plates. Sprinkle each plate with the chopped anchovies. Serve immediately.

NOTE: You could add fresh herbs, parsley would be nice or if you enjoy it, tarragon. I've also seen the salade served with tiny quail eggs instead of chicken.

MENU: Mothers' Day Supper *****UPDATED*****

Have I mentioned how much I love making lists? And by relation, menus too? I do. I believe that if I have a list, I can do anything. It is so very satisfying to cross something off a list, even if it is just for the grocery. Am I revealing too much of my slightly obsessive nature? Says the woman who posts her plans for dinner every week.

Moving on...

The partner's mum and dad are coming over next weekend for an early Mothers' Day celebration. K, the mum, wants to take us out for her day(!) and we have insisted that we make dinner ourselves. They haven't seen our new digs yet, so we can show off our garden and cute-as-pie neighborhood.

I am rapidly becoming very interested in simple French-ish food, so our menu so far is this:

Minted Butter and Thinly Sliced Radishes on Baugette Slices with Sea Salt adapted from Local Flavors
Beet "Caviar" with Goat Cheese(?) from Local Flavors or Trio of Salads (too many salads, how about soup?)
Elixir of Fresh Peas from Local Flavors
Nouveau Salade Nicoise (with seared Ahi, not canned tuna)
Almond-Lemon Curd Tart on a Shortbread Crust with Fresh Strawberries

I'm thinking that I might want another munchy thing or a different first course. First, I thought of a mini-souffle, but then I came back down to earth and realized that I do not want to make myself crazier than necessary. If it is chilly, do I want to make a simple soup instead? (*****Yes, I do*****) Also the Boy's dad, M, cannot ingest too much acid, so I am concerned that a salad with little dressing will be boring and that the lemon curd might be too much for him to handle. Any thoughts?