Sunday Dinner

Well, only part of the Sunday dinner is pictured. I got inspired by Chris's post about grilled bread, and put together a rosemary rye bread:





Rye, because I'm almost out of whole wheat flour. But it worked great and tasted even better. (Bonus: there is more fiber in rye flour than whole wheat. Who knew...) The gas grill is the key for control, and making the 'loaves' not too thin or large. This stuff is best eaten hot off the grill (I was ripping off pieces while I was grilling the rest, and stirring the grilled veggie medley to go with our steaks). Plenty of olive oil on both sides of the dough, and a sprinkling of sea salt before they go on the grill. I think I got the necessary practice (8 loaves later) to be confident about doing this in the future, and trying the grilled pizza again.

Large pieces worked really well to enclose the grilled red peppers, zucchini, squash, portobella 'shrooms and sweet onions and slices of balsamic-marinated steak in a juicy, smoky wrap. To go with this, we had something Tim bought from a now out-of-business gourmet grocery, a 2004 blend from Chateau St. Julien, Moulin Riche. A blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Cabernet Franc. He wished he'd have bought more of this if he'd known the place was going to close up that fast. Everything was deeply discounted. Oh well, if that's the worst thing we've got to endure in these times, then we are still doing almighty well. We've had to say goodbye to a few of our favorite food places in the last few months.

For dessert, I made something I remember from childhood, a layered chocolate dessert that Grandma Zucker made ages ago. Except I don't think she topped hers with a bittersweet chocolate ganache, and put as little sugar in the whole thing as possible. I remember a rich cream-cheesy chocolate filling, and a chocolate cookie crumb crust. I basically mixed cream cheese, sour cream, whipped topping, powdered sugar (barely enough to sweeten it) and melted chocolate together and spread it over an Oreo crust. Then I poured ganache on top and swirled it in and froze it. Testing it before dinner, of course, to make sure it would be OK. And it was. Not quite the way I remember but still damn good. Like chocolate cheesecake, with a dark chocolate shell on top. No pics, because I couldn't quite see an attractive shot. One thing I've learned from Cake Wrecks is there are occasions when chocolate things just don't make very pretty or appetizing photos.