My lazy butt actually pulled out all the stops last night for dinner. We had a fun crew that included Emilie and Geoffroy, our French friends- and since last time I ate dinner at their house they served foie gras that their parents had brought from France, I felt I had to bring it a bit more than usual.

So. To start? Not the usual cheese and crackers action. I made tuna confit based on a recipe I saw in the NY Times. Sasha and I loved it and we kind of both wished there were a big bathtub full of it. It took advance planning in terms of time, but wasn't very hard to make.

Since we had such a hearty appetizer, I went with a red pepper and feta pasta dish my mom gave me a recipe for, and a hearty salad of arugula, corn, and a whole bunch of bacon- with a dressing made out of a whole avocado, some yogurt, and some other stuff. I have no idea what inspired me to put the avocado IN the dressing but it worked out great!

For dessert I actually made chilled tangerine souffles with whipped cream and fresh cherries. It's a lovely light dessert we used to make at Rose Pistola, and at Azie we made the same thing but a lime version. It's a good make-ahead dessert and nice and fluffy and fresh.

I'm going to put up all the recipes in the next few days or so- but for the time being I'm putting up the salad, which was a crowd favorite.