I had a friend over for lunch the other day. It was overcast and cold outside in the garden, but I made our retreat to the house as comfortable as possible.
My house is an old Victorian with 12 foot high ceilings which is very cooling in the summer heat, but chilly in these waning days of Wintertide. In the parlor, we sat with wool blankets and pillows as we sorted through old photos and gardening magazines anticipating the heirloom vegetable season. When hunger set in, I thought what better way to stave off the grumbles than with Chili!
Now, feel free to send in your email about "which chili is the 'real' chili". I love to read the debates, but for now, I confess, I'm talking about opening a can of STAGG CHILI and making a nice presentation of it. Here's how it went...
I spooned chili into two chili bowls and set each on its own salad plate. On the plate next to the bowl I placed three trimmed radishes (gives a nice bite while still cooling the heat of chili) and two quartered pieces of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich toothpick speared with a black grape (a sweet treat to round out the meal).
Simple and compact, lunches presented this way offer a nice treat for the eyes as well as offering a little something extra. Other examples are: chicken soup - bowl on salad plate, with peppercinis, olives, pickle spear, and edge with a piece of graham cracker; salmon salad sandwich with a carrot stick and fan of apple slices; small walnut topped salad with celery stick laid across top and small ramkin of peanut butter on the side. It's about taking the extra couple of minutes to pull it together.
Keys to this presentation are: Keep the bowls and plates free from drips, less bulk is more appetizing, add a slight separation to like foods, and finish with a little something sweet.
I couldn't help but smile when my friend said, "Geez. I feel so special!" And that's really the point.
'Til next time...
B.
