"The Last Supper" / Iron Chef Part Two - 5.7.10

Six dinners and four months after that fateful night in January when we first opened our (Jared's) doors to both friends and random people, we arrived at our last dinner. Ever.

Jared's graduating and moving to Atlanta; Luke's going abroad to Morocco and then coming back and maybe starting a new dinner series in the spring in a new house with a new co-chef.

Either way, Dinners at 76 as you know it is, sadly, gone.

Since the internet never dies, this blog will live on as a testament to delicious dinners, new friends, and seriously great times. The two of us grew unbelievably as cooks, as hosts, and as pals and are so happy to have had the chance to share our food with so many of you. In the coming weeks we will make more of the recipes from past dinners available, but feel free to e-mail us if there's any recipe you want that isn't there. Or just to say hi.

Anyways, gushy stuff aside, here are the photos from "The Last Supper". As always, click on them for a much bigger food-porn-esque closeup.

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THE INGREDIENTS:

Avocado

Chipotles in adobo

Peanuts (or Seaweed)

Cashews

Almonds

Dark chocolate

Beets

Hibiscus

Pomegranate

Basil

Pomegranate-hibiscus martinis with bitter chocolate shavings

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Avocado-basil gazpacho* with fresh mozzarella, fresh fava beans, and nigella seeds

PHASE ONE:

PHASE TWO:

PHASE THREE:

*traditional Spanish "white gazpacho" is made with a base of bread and almonds. we used almond milk as the base for this, so it's sort of a take on white gazpacho. let's call it 'puke-green gazpacho.' the avocado oxidized :(

Cashew-crusted avocado maki with homemade chipotle-in-adobo aioli.
Red beet and cilantro fresh roll with fig-pomegranate horseradish sauce.

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Homemade chickpea burger with mole, guacamole, fried farm egg, plantain fries, and Negra Modelo

CROSS-SECTION:

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Beet salad sundae: Red beet ice cream (L) , golden beet ice cream (R), basil ice cream (TOP), and candied balsamic almonds

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Happy Guests. They applauded when we introduced the burger course. That's lipstick on Jared's cheek.

Photos courtesy of Catherine Nakajima.

4.23.10 -- Vegan Iron Chef

Click on pictures for closeups and on names for recipes

The Ingredients:
Mango
Jasmine
Ginger
Artichoke
Coconut
Pea Tendrils
Pomegranate
Coffee
Mushroom

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Local pumpernickel with coffee-date-almond spread
Pea tendril mojitos



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Artichoke hummus with pomegranate tahini. Fried baby artichoke "alla giudea".





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Jasmine miso soup



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6-c* braised portabella mushroom. Mashed parsnips and purple carrots with coconut. Sauteed pea tendrils. Mango pickle**.



*coffee, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cloves, cayenne
**refers to an indian quick-pickling method based on salt, spices, and oil; not acids like in other "pickles"

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Sticky rice with sweetened pomegranate-coconut milk and mango. Ginger-jasmine ice cream.




Photos courtesy of Catherine Nakajima and Jesse Kornbluth

4.16.10 -- Iron Chef

The List of Requested Ingredients:
Lime
Honey
Lemongrass
Green Tea
Seasonal Fruit (Rhubarb)
Jalapeno
Goat Cheese
Eggplant

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Coconut Patties with Cilantro-Lime chutney. Blood orange & cara cara orange salad. Shot of rhubarb & meyer lemon infused vodka.



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Napa cabbage, mung bean sprouts, enoki mushrooms, asian pear, avocado, cashews. Honey-lime-ginger dressing.



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Green tea spaghetti with lemongrass/basil pesto and sauteed eggplant.



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Lemongrass-lime cupcakes with green tea frosting. Honey-glazed eggplant "cannoli" with goat cheese and gjetost filling. Jalapeno chocolate chip ice cream.

Luke+ guests enjoying the meal

Photos courtesy of Jesse Kornbluth and Catherine Nakajima

3.13.10 -- Indian

(click on pictures for great close-ups and on the underlined names to jump to the recipe)

Chili-garlic naan with cucumber raita





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Curried deviled eggplants



hard-boiled egg filled with curried eggplant & topped with poppy seeds.
thai & indian eggplants hollowed, roasted, and filled with curried egg yolk, topped with brown mustard seeds.

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Coconut soup with fresh turmeric, ground pistachios, and cilantro



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Coriander-chickpea pancakes with tamarind-date syrup. Fenugreek homefries with ginger ketchup.



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Homemade cardamom ice cream, garam masala blondie, caramel peanuts, mango-turmeric coulis.



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Guests (minus one), hosts





Photographs courtesy of Quin Childs.
Special thanks to Vanya for her post-dinner assistance.

3.06.10 -- Italian

Click on pictures for closeups, and names to jump to the recipe.


Homemade crostini with rosemary-grape jam

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Radicchio, arugula, wine-soaked raisins, almonds, ricotta salata, sherry-balsamic vinaigrette



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Baked stuffed lemons & chive arancini with chili-infused olive oil



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Homemade beet & ricotta ravioli with swiss chard pesto

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Homemade dark nutella and caramelized banana panini. Shot of espresso-amaretto milkshake.



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Before the salad course, Luke briefly died, appeared in the dining room to serve the salad as a ghost, then came back to life and continued the dinner as a living, breathing, human. This stunning photograph captures that part of the dinner. Look closely.

The evening's guests with the chefs

Photos courtesy of Catherine Nakajima and Shaheen Lavie-Rouse.

2.20.10 -- Mexican

Click on the pictures for close-ups and on the names for recipes.

fritas de tortilla cortadas por mano con salsas caseras

hand-cut tortilla chips with homemade salsas

Left: Chile de Arbol

Right: Pineapple Habanero

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"sopa de tortilla"

"tortilla soup"

semi hollowed-out avocado dredged in crushed roasted pumpkin seeds and tortilla, filled with a mixture of toasted guajillo chile, diced tomato, queso fresco, and tortilla strips

presentation idea inspired by luxirare

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enchiladas de huitlacoche, hongos, y cebolla caramelizada con frijoles negros y salsa de tomatillo. crema de achiote.

huitlacoche, mushroom, and caramelized onion enchiladas with refried black beans and tomatillo salsa. annatto seed sour cream.

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flan margarita, chocolate mexicano con crema de coco hervido

"margarita" flan, mexican hot chocolate with whipped coconut cream

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"chile relleno" con chocolate, trago de horchata congelada

chile relleno with chocolate, shot of horchata "slushie."

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los chef borrachos con huespedes contentos

chefs and their content guests

photos courtesy of Kristen Collins and Jessica Bal

1.30.10 -- Middle Eastern

Homemade farmer's pita with za'atar and olive oil



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Trio of mezze: muhammara, baba ghannouj with smoked salt, carrot puree with nigella seeds. Homemade pita chip.



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Mixed baby greens with feta, awesome nuts*, and fuji apple. toasted orange-pomegranate vinaigrette.



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Deconstructed stuffed zucchini with cumin-lemon chickpeas and mushrooms. persian rice. yogurt.







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Hot, spiced date on a pita tuile, turmeric-yogurt, and sauteed pears. shot of turkish coffee.





*this dish was inspired by Ana Sortun's fried haloumi cheese with spiced dates and sauteed pears, found in her excellent cookbook Spice.

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Satisfied guests





Photos courtesy of Catherine Nakajima