Posole for other people, and Dinner at the Phoenix

Saturday December 22

Holt made posole in advance, for the arriving multitudes. It's a good luck dish for a New Mexico New Year. We used over 6 lbs. of pork tenderloin, a bagful of fresh poblanos (roasted) as well as a giant can of green chiles, 6 or 7 cans of yellow and white hominy, and a basketful of fresh cilantro picked from the garden.

But we were taking our nieces Joanna and Laura out to the Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival, to see a non-seasonal (but none the worse for that) production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

We chose to have our pre-theater dinner at the Phoenix restaurant, which is not only beautiful and friendly, but also just a block from the theater.

Our appetizers were Crabcakes with Thai Chili Mayonnaise (okay—too much cake not enough crab), and
Grilled Balsamic Prawns on a Crispy Risotto Cake on a plate decorated with Red Pepper Puree - a lovely presentation and tasty risotto cake, but underdone prawns.

For dinner, we had Tournedos of Beef Tenderloin with Chipotle Cream, Gorgonzola, and Shiitake Mushrooms, on a bed of Mashed Potatoes - very beefy and good.
Also delicious was the Rack of New Zealand Lamb, Rosemary & Grain Mustard.

And of course, the girls had to have Phoenix's classic dessert: Graeter's double chocolate chip ice cream in a dark chocolate bag. We've been dreaming about giving them this ever since we first had it. And we can't deny that we had a spoonful or two as well.

Our magical evening ended with a walk down to Fountain Square to see the tree and the ice-skaters. Thanks, Mr. Shakespeare!