No Mr. Bond, I expect you to dine

Once again, the second Friday of the month came, and that means another wacky-themed cooking club. Last month, we voted on “007” as a theme, so I was expecting tuxedos, caviar, martinis, and secret agent gadgets. I got 3 of 4.

The name James Bond came from an American ornithologist from the Caribbean. Ian Flemming, the author of the James Bond novels, often went into great detail about the women and adventures of the international man of mystery. But that wasn’t the only thing with which Bond concerned himself. The novels were written at a time of rationing in the UK, so sumptuous meals and extravagant descriptions of foods also fed the vicarious living of readers.

Sufficiently inspired by the famed spy, we hit the kitchen.  Smoke rose, not from a fired gun, but from a fired steak. Bond being the international traveler he is, our offerings were equally eccentric. The steak was used in a Turkish flatbread wrap and that was also filled with a spiced vegetable medley. Another member made a curry in a stone pot, made with whole chunks of chicken (the bird being a culinary nod to the original Bond being an ornithologist).

Meatballs, cooked in the pan, were flavored with Greek spices and sat beside tzatziki sauce and a sweet/hot chili sauce, one cooling the spice from the other. Using the British influence, someone brought a roast beef, cooked to a wonderful pinkish center and sliced thin. Of course, served with a horseradish sauce. As readers of the Bond novels know, James was fond of breakfast, so it was fitting that someone brought a breakfast pizza, topped with bacon and sun dried tomatoes.

My contribution was more a play on words than an ode to Bond. I made an “octopussy” salad. Spicy octopus was diced and mixed in with cucumber, onion, garlic, tomato, piquillo pepper, cilantro, lime, salt and pepper. The spicy salty sour was reminiscent of Thai food, or perhaps a ceviche. The salad was served on top of toasted rounds of baguette.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a James Bond themed dinner without martinis. Cucumber, mint, lime, sugar, and a bit of olive juice was muddled in a shaker before adding a splash of vermouth, gin, and topping the concoction off with seltzer. Refreshing, and delicious. For dessert, a chocolate martini was created by mixing Kettle One vodka, Kahlua, and a touch of Bailey’s (almost like a white Russian, but all alcohol). This paired nicely with the home made brownies that had been topped with a bourbon sugar. The sugar was made by adding demerara sugar to bourbon with a little vanilla, then baking the resulting slurry at 150 in a parchment-lined sheet pan. I ended up eating some of the excess sugar with a spoon it was so good.

Despite the unlucky date of Friday the 13^th, the evening went off splendidly. As ever, it was a great way to start the weekend, and a wonderful Segway to Valentine’s day.