my friend tom is moving back to his home state on monday. i am torn about this move. on the one hand, i am very sad that he won’t be a subway ride away. but on the other, i am thrilled for him because this is definitely the best thing for him, a step in the right direction. tom is not the only friend i have lost to the midwest/south this year.  my friend elizabeth also moved outside of new york city this year.  i have to figure out a way to visit them and/or make new friends.

since tom is a fellow food lover, i invited him to a nice homemade dinner before his trip to the midwest/south.  for this dinner i decided i wanted to bring out all the stops and make sure it was as summery as possible. i guess i was being extra nostalgic and wanted to capture the last few days of summer and last few days of having tom a short subway ride away.  the menu was mostly seafood, which i purchased from my neighborhood’s fish monger. this was my first time visiting them and will not be my last. everything was fresh and the man behind the counter was very knowledgable and nice.  

here is the menu for the night and below is my white sangria recipe. 

dinner started with mini crab cakes over fried green plantains. i wanted to have the crab cakes as appetizers but instead of making crostinis with bread i decided to lay them over fried green plantains. i have to admit, a great move on my part. 

next we had a mildly spicy, cold gazpacho. gazpacho is a cold tomato soup, similar to a bloody mary.  being full of tomatoes, gazpacho is another summertime staple. 

i cut my finger really badly on the mandolin right before tom got in.  when we were chatting in the kitchen he saw me struggle with the mussels and kindly took over cleaning duty.  what an awesome dinner guest is he?!

after the mussels were cleaned, i steamed them with thyme, parsley, leeks (yay leeks), butter and white wine. 

our side dishes were: corn, tomato and basil salad.

some homemade potato chips. 

and toasted garlic bread.

and to wash everything down, we had some yummy white sangria.  i love sangria! i always associate white sangria with summertime. i have tried a few sangria recipes and the one below is my favorite.  

to start, you will need:

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 pineapple (cut into cubes)
1 mango (cut into cubes)
1 orange 
1 bunch of mint
1 cup of seedless green grapes
1 bottle of white wine 
1/4 cup of triple sec
4 tablespoons of brandy
2 tablespoons of dark rum
honey or sugar to taste
1 can of seltzer water 

INSTRUCTIONS:
start by chopping up all the fruit into cubes. for example, the way i cut up the oranges is by first slicing them in half and then slicing each half so you have about 5 slices.

and then i cut the across the slices until i have 4 rows of cubes:

i also like cutting the grapes in half, i like to think they absorb more of the wine that way. 

wash and take the mint leaves off the stems before using them. i like adding mint to my sangria for an extra burst of freshness.  sangria purists will gasp at me adding mint to sangria, and to them i say… come over and try a glass of my sangria, you will see it is not so bad :)

pineapple, mango, orange, mint and grapes! it is like summer in a bowl:

combine all the ingredients in a pitcher. wine:

triple sec:

brandy, orange juice, rum and fruit. 

place the pitcher in the fridge for about 2 hours to overnight to let all the flavors mix together.  

add the seltzer water right before serving. serve over ice. 

sangria is definitely the way to go to could down on a hot summer day.  it is actually perfect for those late summer days when you want to hold onto summer weather for as long as possible.  

i will post the recipes for mini crab cakes, gazpacho and the mussels next week. 

also, for next week: there will be a nice announcement. i am looking forward to sharing with you.  

oh, have you heard? there is a hurricane heading to the eastern seaboard of the US. hope those of you on irene’s path are all safe.  i will be spending my day at home snacking and drinking wine. are you on hurricane irene’s path? what will you be doing? be safe!

thanks for stopping by!!