Dinner Party Menus

[jay-ell]

Three couples, three kids under 3.  The guys are work associates of Pedro's.  Meal needs to be vegetarian (eggs and dairy OK).  Here's what I'm thinking:

Main dish: Penne pasta with sugar snap peas in a snap pea pesto sauce.  Recipe here; I'm going to add fresh basil to the sauce to give it a little more depth, and use whole wheat pasta as recommended by one of the reviewers. 

Appetizer/side: Frittata rolls stuffed with ricotta and basil.  Recipe here; I'm planning to sub a blend of basil and parsley for the mint. 

Now I'm just deciding on dessert.  I want something simple and do-ahead, but a little more sophisticated than cookies or ice cream.  I'm thinking granita?  Check out these recipes and tell me which you think would go better with the menu above:

Root Beer Granita Float

or 

Strawberry Granita with whipped cream (I'd sub cool whip; I don't have time to make my own.) 

[wombat]

Are you sure you want basil as the primary flavoring in both courses?

Choose the dessert that does not require Cool Whip. It is nasty stuff.

[jay-ell]

I'm thinking the basil will fade into the background of the sugar snap pesto.  Should I leave it out?

[AugustWest]

It really does not take long to whip cream.

[wombat]

Basil in pesto-like quantities does not fade into the background. Why not stick with mint in the frittata?

As for whipped cream - true that it's not that big a deal to make. But the other thing is, the kind in the squirty can is not only fun, it's made of real cream. And it's light cream so it's not too unhealthy. I don't understand the existence of Cool Whip when you can get real cream in the canned kind.

[littlefallsmets]

I personally would enjoy the flavour-nostalgia of the root-beer-based dessert, regardless of the meal it is paired with, m'self. Just me, tho.

[jay-ell]

Basil in pesto-like quantities does not fade into the background. Why not stick with mint in the frittata?

I feel like the mint will make it too grassy, especially when paired with the sweet flavor of the sugar snaps in the main course.  I want a savory frittata to balance the relatively light, sweet pasta dish. 

As for the pesto, I wasn't considering adding much.  Just a couple of sprigs along with the sugar snaps that get pureed into the sauce.  If you think, however, that even a couple of sprigs of basil will make the sugar snap puree too pesto-y, I will defer to your wisdom.  I was sort of uncertain about it myself to begin with. 

As for whipped cream - true that it's not that big a deal to make. But the other thing is, the kind in the squirty can is not only fun, it's made of real cream. And it's light cream so it's not too unhealthy. I don't understand the existence of Cool Whip when you can get real cream in the canned kind.

Really?  I like cool whip, personally.  Much better than Reddi Whip.  I thought most people preferred Cool Whip to canned stuff.  Hm.  Hm.  I will have to look into this. 

My mom suggests the root beer granita because it's more seasonal.  She thinks it's not quite warm enough for something quite so fruity.  That would eliminate the cool whip/reddi whip debate altogether, I suppose. 

[littlefallsmets]

Yeah, I, uh...

Yeah, you're like the one person who prefers Cool Whip.

The convenience factor is nice but it is like non-dairy-cremer-with-gelatin-mixed in.

Also: basil can be pretty overpowering, especially if you're using the fresh stuff and especially if all the other flavours involved are delicate... garlic can hold its own against basil, that's why basil works well in heavy southern Italian cooking but...

When it's the main note, yeah, I'd agree, less is more.

[jay-ell]

Crap!  Gelatin! 

Not vegetarian-friendly, anyway.  Thanks for that.  Mark doesn't eat gelatin, so cool whip is anathema anyway. 

Correction: there is actually no gelatin.  But the fact that I believed there might be is probably an indication of what's wrong with America. 

[AugustWest]

I like Cool-Whip.  I like real whipped cream too.  In my mind they're two entirely different things.  Sort of like the difference between a Whopper and an actual burger made at home on the grill.  Sure, the real thing is much much better, but sometimes you just have a taste for the fake.

[theinevitable]

straight up. That is my attitude towards Kraft Macaroni and Cheese. My sister is like "it tastes better if you cook it on the stove." fuck that! I don't want it to taste like it's trying really hard to be legit macaroni and cheese... I want it microwaved and I want the chemical-cheese to be like crack in my mouth.

[littlefallsmets]

I dunno, though... everything tastes worse microwaved.

Even a mostly-ready-made food like Spaghettios or canned soup, you gotta at least reheat it on the stove and add some fresh herbs and stuff.

[theinevitable]

no, no. Because when you cook Kraft on the stove, it tastes like shitty velveeta.

If I want that, I'll eat velveeta. Kraft cooked in the microwave... I don't know. Something doesn't break down or does break down or something, it tastes much more chemical or something. Maybe I over-microwave it and so there isn't enough water to dissolve the cheese powder? Whatever it is, it is very different.

[jay-ell]

I am with LFM.  I boil water for instant coffee on the stove because it tastes better than microwaved-to-near-boiling water. 

Pedro thinks I am nuts. 

[littlefallsmets]

There are several keys to the proper Kraft Dinner:

One, use the minimum amount of milk possible.

Two, use real fuck*ng butter, people, margarine tastes like canola oil with batteries ground up in it.

Three, garlic powder. Four, garlic powder. Five, garlic powder.

Six, cracked black pepper. Seven, top with ketchup.

Eight, do not microwave that shit. The Malliard Effect is go.