Week 2 - Cheeses, Quince, and Peach Balsamic Fruit Condiment.

It's been a long-standing tradition to watch the Sopranos on Sunday night with dinner before the West Coast version (at 9 pm) or after the East Coast one (6 pm). We've had some fun ones - it's easy to theme around the plot lines. This time, I turned to my Shannon food for inspiration, and decided to have Middle Eastern food a la Sopranos.

I realize that this is a stretch - it's based on the fact that they now have a couple of Middle Eastern guys in one of the subplots, though the meal was actually more Mediterranean. They are the guys that steal credit card numbers, which is close enough to my job to make the theme work for me. They are also obsessed with strip clubs, which has nothing to do with my work.

While putting many many things into bags for me, Shannon gave me instructions and suggestions for using the various condiments. I only remember one - to use the Peach Balsamic Fruit Condiment on pork. It is fortunate that my pork surplus happened simultaneously with the length of my short-term memory.

I also decided that this was the perfect time to start with Shannon's cheese and quince paste; I added crackers and apples. Erin volunteered to make a salad, and I found a really good recipe for couscous on Epicurious:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/232567

I also made roasted green beans as recommended by my friend Laura (roasted with salt and pepper for about 10 minutes - addictive). Kemp provided dessert, and Jay and Charlie added color commentary.

Once again, the pork was really yummy and so not worthy of a photo - it looked exactly like the last one, so just imagine it (and insert your own Caddyshack image)...