Deliciously Successful

Last night's dinner was oh so yummy!

We started with a round of Bing cherry mojitos and a bowl of pistachios. (I planned to make spiced nuts, but something had to give.) I need to thank my friend Michael for introducing me to these luscious libations and Martha Stewart for creating the recipe. With plenty of fresh cherries and lime juice and topped with sparkling water, this is more like cherry limeade with a splash of vodka.

Next was homemade ravioli stuffed with mushrooms, which were sautéed with onions, garlic, and a splash of Sherry, and mixed with fresh ricotta. I served the ravioli simply dressed with olive oil, parsley, and shaved Parmesan. I used a biscuit cutter to for the ravioli, which helped to create a good seal around the filling and I didn't have one "blow out." (That's a first for me and my homemade ravioli.)

The main course was pan seared steaks with garlic and chive compound butter, tomato salad with shallots, and burnt green beans, which deserve a post all their own.

For dessert, what else could be the job, but a rich and dense chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and fresh raspberries? The cake was good, but it didn't rise as much as it usually does. I need to figure out if this was a result of cutting the recipe in half and miscalculating the measurements or the fact that this is the first time that I used German baking powder instead of the U.S. variety. Apparently the American kind is double acting, which the German version is single acting.

It will take me a few days to post all of the recipes, but I'll get them up as soon as I can.