Saturday, February 03, 2007

Dinner Delivery

My grandparents have been in town for a few days, attending a PAMEA conference and they very graciously agreed to keep me company last night. (It was my first lonely night sans Rob.) They had treated the two of us to dinner the night before, so it was my turn to provide the sustenance. Unfortunately, I was so caught up in serving dinner, I forgot to take pictures until dessert.
The logistics of the whole thing were challenging; they were staying in a hotel about an hour by foot and bus from my house. They had no microwave or any other cooking related device. I wanted to make a nice hot meal.
I settled on roasted chicken breast with Meyer lemon and basil, baked potato and salad. As soon as I got home from work, I cranked the oven, popped the potatoes in and filled a small cooler with boiling water. I then marinated the chicken in Meyer lemon zest and juice, fresh basil, olive oil and white wine vinegar. 20 minutes before departure time, I seared the chicken, then popped it in the oven. As it cooked, I packed a backpack with cutlery, plastic plates, sour cream and butter (in little jars), salt and pepper, salad and dressing, as well as the dessert requirements and a thermos of hot water for tea. As soon as the chicken breast were done, I wrapped them in heavy duty foil, lined with parchment. They went into the cooler with the hot potatoes, everything gut covered with a warm towel and I locked the lid down. Then I rushed out the door.
I made it to Richmond in just under an hour and the food was still piping hot!
For dessert, at home I took the Braun to a pot of ricotta cheese with honey and vanilla added. Once the grainy texture was gone, I packed it up. I also brought a can of tropical fruit (papyas, mangos, guava etc) packed in juice and some of Anna's Almond Thins. Onsite, I layered the ingredients to create the dessert below. I was pleasantly surprised by how well everything turned out!


On the bus home, I got stuck next to a drunk guy, but at least he was an entertaining one who shared his secret to Yorkshire puddings and his favourite red wine to have with roast beef dinner!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a sweet thing to do for your grandparents! Lucky them!

wheresmymind said...

Ahh...a true chef not having the time to take pix ;)