Dinner Party Number 4, Will I Ever Finish Cooking a Multi-Course Meal on My Own?

Wednesday started off with a snow day!  An apparent gift from the no school gods.   I am skeptical as I write this about what kind of gift the day off actually was.   I slept way too long, made lunch for my fiance, spent way too long at the post office, grocery shopped, hastily cleaned the house and then made a three course meal for a special dinner guest.  I was tired Wednesday night.  The question remains, was I more tired than usual on a Wednesday, I am not sure.

The Menu: Mushroom and Caper Crostini, Asparagus Mousse, Tomatoes stuffed with Romano and Roman Saltimboca.

I started off by prepping 8 tomatoes for the stuffed tomatoes.  I cut the tops off the tomatoes and scooped out the guts, then then salted and flipped them upside down to drain for 30 minutes.  Once they were draining I began making Mushroom and Caper Crostini.  The SS has taught me the secret of cooking delicious mushrooms: cook them for a long time.  Cooking the mushrooms for a long time over a relatively low heat gave them a beautiful crisp and color.  I cooked them in olive oil and slowly added a small amount of beef stock for twenty minutes.  Once I had added the six tablespoons of stock, I seasoned the mushrooms with salt, pepper, and parsley.  I also added two tablespoons of capers and that was it.  I topped the already toasted bread with the mixture and put them on the table.

Once the crostini were done it was time to stuff the tomatoes with various romano cheeses.  I must confess here that I made a mistake, I didn't realize I needed to find two kinds of romano cheese.  I only bought the sharp type when the recipe calls for the crumbly non sharp type and the sharp type.  Panicking about my impending dinner date, I looked in the fridge and found ricotta.  Alright, I thought, and mixed the ricotta with the sharp romano and slapped them in a buttered dish.

While I was baking the tomatoes, I put a large pot of salted water onto boil for the Asparagus.  Once boiling, I added the Asparagus and cooked it for only ten minutes, practically al dente.  Right then my guest arrived, a new friend from my fiance's work visiting from Japan.  Oh boy, I wasn't even close to done.  I attempted to have her sit and eat some crostini but alas she wanted to help.

I set back to work on the mousse.  After draining it, I transfered it into my food processor and pureed it.  It looked like bad baby food at this point.  I, then mixed in an 8 oz package of cream cheese and had G. start beating egg whites, she was begging to help, I swear (I am a cruel and unusual hostess).  My fiance juiced 1/2 of a lemon, we folded in the egg whites and it became a light, fluffy, fancy dish.  I portioned it off into ramekins and refrigerated the mixture.

Next, I slapped together the Saltimboca.  Roman Saltimboca recipe was voted on and approved by real Italians in Italy.   According to the Silver Spoon the following recipe is The Recipe: Simply take a huge amount of butter and melt it in a pan and top a piece of veal with a slice of prosciutto and a sage leaf.  Anchor the conglomeration with a toothpick and fry away. 

After I had seared both sides I added a "scant" amount of dry white wine and that was pretty much it.  
The tomatoes were done, the mousse was done and the Saltimboca was done all at the same time, thanks to help from G. and my fiance.  We sat down to a lovely dinner.  The Saltimboca was not only  mouthwatering, it was totally easy and quick.   I will definitely do it again!  The tomatoes were tasty, but lacking something with the cheese mixup.  The true star of the evening according to my fiance and G. was the Asparagus mousse.  Honestly, I thought that one could have gone either way.  It started out looking like baby food and finished as a fancy bowl of goodness.  Ah Silver Spoon, a veritable tome of recipes.   Some that challenge my perception of what a good recipe could be.  Sometimes you have to take a chance and blend your veggies.