Happy Birthday, "Trixie"!
Croissants with Brie & Raspberry Preserves | "Trixie" Salad with Baby Arugula, Grilled Orange-Chili Pepper Shrimp, Peanuts, and Shaved Parmesan | Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream with Icing
A COMPLIMENT ALMOST AS GREAT as having a beautiful, dynamic, young woman choose to remain very good friends with me for eleven years (and not all of them great), is when this same woman requests to have me cook for here instead of letting me treat her to any of the great restaurants in New York City, the food capital of the world.
A greater compliment still, is when, for our entire friendship, said beautiful, dynamic, young woman—we here on PHUDE call her "Trixie"—has requested pretty much the same meal I first made her eleven years ago. The meal starts with yummy, homey croissants filled with brie cheese and raspberry preserves...
... and is followed by a simple yet sexy salad of baby arugula drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and tossed with scallions and peanuts, then topped with shrimp—marinated in then grilled with a sauce of orange juice reduction, chili oil, honey, garlic, salt and pepper—and flakes of parmesan cheese.
Both of these dishes were new recipes that I made specifically for her, and we have an unspoken, standing obligation that, among other, original, Trixie-inspired dishes, I prepared these for her at least twice a year.
This being her birthday, however, she presented me the extra challenge of coming up with a homemade ice cream for the occasion of her birthday. (For the record, she's not so much a demanding eater as she is fully aware that I seek food challenges.) She had heard about my other homemade ice creams (among them Maple Brown Sugar with Popcorn, Wasabi-Honey, and Guinness Ice Cream, which I will making today for tomorrow's festivities).
Some I came up with a lush, rich, and sexy recipe for Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream—with Icing! which, although not having enough time to properly set, tasted wonderful, chocolatey, creamy, without being sugary sweet, helped along not only by the drizzle of icing (made from milk, heavy cream, powdered sugar and cream cheese) but by the cookies her mom had made for her birthday as well.
She was a big fan, as she took a full half gallon of it home with her, on her way thanking me for what she texted me was the "Best bday ever!" Kind and complimentary words indeed.
But as long as she keeps requesting that I cook for her, well, that would be the kindest compliment ever...!
Bun Apple Tea!
.kac.
Croissants with Brie & Raspberry Preserves | "Trixie" Salad with Baby Arugula, Grilled Orange-Chili Pepper Shrimp, Peanuts, and Shaved Parmesan | Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream with Icing
