food, logic, and my ocd

do you ever think about food as a puzzle? because sometimes i do. i don't know if it's because it's some subconscious need to elevate cooking to some other level as a justification for doing it so frequently, or if it's just because that's the way my mind works; probably some combination. i mean, let's face it: normal people don't plan things out as thoroughly as i often do. i'm not a total nutcase, but i definitely have above average oc disorder.

problematizing (to use a fake archispeak word, sorry) food and cooking is basically the selfish part of why i like having dinner parties: getting to set a menu. i like this part of planning a dinner party so much that i probably derive a little too much pleasure from it. first you think about when you will be eating: is it going to be nice weather? what would you want to eat in that weather? how will people be eating, at a table or standing around, or just sitting on couches? because certainly you wouldn't want your guests to have to cut anything while standing up unless they were all four-handed people, right? i've definitely never made that mistake before...er, moving on.

and then you get into what's in season right now and available at the supermarket, which helps constrain your choices more. you have to balance the meal, so you start with something and it's actually good for you, rather than being likely to set off heart attacks. if you do have something rich in one course, then you'd balance it with something lighter in another course.

i'm making up a menu right now, for dinner on tuesday with my roommates. in fact i kind of need to prep some things tonight. i think i'm going to make a risotto, because it won't take too long (um, hopefully). i was thinking of doing a sausage risotto with morels in it, but that seems a bit rich, so i'm going to add in some oven-dried tomatoes for acidity. it occurred to me that i could make the tomatoes, so i need to do that tonight. oops, i just looked at the recipe (search this blog for "oven-roasted tomatoes") and it says 200F for 6-8 hours. i guess i remembered that time wrong. gotta get on that then. maybe i'll try 4 hours at 300F, that's still pretty low...

so anyway, i went to whole foods today and bought some of the ingredients. i was intrigued by the prospect of using fresh morels (i've already got dried morels from balducci's), so i bought a few for comparison. i also got a chicken because it costs the same amount to make your own chicken stock as it does to buy 3 packages of it. and then you also get the chicken meat, so i guess i may actually bring my lunch a couple days this week. i suppose i could also make chicken pot pie. at any rate, i'm going to roast the chicken, pull all the meat off, and make stock out of the bones. it'll be good. while i was at whole foods, i also bought a few pork chops; i actually haven't decided if it will be a sausage risotto plus some roasted veg, or just risotto with pork chops and roasted veg. i suppose it would be easier to do just a risotto, and less cleanup too. perhaps i'll freeze the pork chops in that case; as i think about this more, it seems to be the appropriate thing to do. regarding herbs, i'm thinking sage, to go with the pork; i saw some cheap and good-quality sage at citarella this afternoon.

i was also going to make a cheesecake because i just bought some nice and cheap springform pans at sur la table, but i think that may have to wait - the thought of using the oven so much tomorrow is kind of daunting. i might do just berries and whipped cream, which i can do with a whisk and a good bowl. i could also do a pudding, since i've been wanting to make pudding forever and now have the chocolate pudding recipe in hand. hmm. i should think more about dessert. i don't think i'm doing a first course, since this is just a simple weekday dinner; if it were friday, maybe. i had been thinking about making these parmesan basil zucchini muffins i made a while back, but that might be a bit too much work for just a weekday dinner, right?

i've also been thinking about what to make next for the office. i really like having an office where i can bring stuff in and people will eat it (i mean, nothing gross or ugly or anything, just the successful things...). i remember being really frustrated the summer i was in seattle, because i didn't know enough people at work to bring stuff in (and there was nowhere to put it, anyway) and my roommates were allergic to gluten. i've been meaning to make the buckwheat cocoa nib cookies again, but i have yet to find a source for cocoa nibs. actually, this is really pissing me off, because citarella doesn't have them, i didn't see them at the tribeca whole foods, and fairway is really far away (also, i don't know if they have them, though egullet reports that they do). and that's the only exotic ingredient in these cookies (the other ingredients being flour, buckwheat flour, butter and sugar)! hmph. i've also been toying with the idea of making the chocolate cupcakes again. they're so good, and would be great cold from the fridge, but really, where does one put 50 cupcakes anyway? are there really that many people in the office? 50 cupcakes is also a lot to transport, and i'd have to make up a special box to put them in, even. i've thought about making tiny cupcakes, but that would require a special pan, which i don't have here. i guess rocco is coming this weekend and i could ask him to bring my mini muffin tins...but anyway, it would be hard to find a place for these cupcakes in the office kitchen. it would be fun, though. i could bring in a half gallon of milk, too, as a whimsical, fun accompaniment for those who wanted it. i wanted to bring in milk for the chocolate chip cookies, but i didn't know if people would think it was stupid or just not want it. anyway, the most likely thing for work this week will be the buckwheat butter cookies, as soon as i can get my hands on cocoa nibs.