Dinner with Morgan Russo

Dinner with Morgan Russo (fellow Penn Appetit blogger)

Morgan and I "food met" just a few weeks ago, when she interviewed me for a food and culture class. (Anyone else think that sounds like the greatest class ever?) I say "food met" because we are on the club swim team together and neither one of us knew about our mutual interest in food. Anyway, we did the interview questions and soon moved into a less formal conversation. We talked about our own personal eating habits and what kind of foods we liked. She also let me see her books from the food class, which I want to start on as soon as those pesky exams are over! We had a lot to say to one another, so we decided to continue the conversation over a dinner the following week.

Morgan loves to cook, and she made LOTS of pasta and vegetables for us! She used whole grain pasta, which went really well with the herbs, cheese and zucchini. We soon discovered that the pasta tasted better as we added more olive oil and garlic. Morgan cooked two vegetable dishes as well, one of which was a spicy Indian dish (we also have a taste for spice in common) and the other a more traditional zucchini and pepper dish, heavy on the butter. We added more spice and improved the curry as the meal progressed. The buttered vegetables were perfect as they started, Morgan and I agreed. Basically, butter, cheese, and garlic were the star seasonings of the night.

Dinner with Morgan was a nice venture back into home cooking for me; my love for restaurant food and microwave dinners is no big secret. However, I now see it as an experience that highlights the experimentation involved in cooking. We played around with cheeses and spices; I had a heavy hand with her garlic. The food fit our tastes more as we moved through the dinner, showing the progressive art behind cooking. Chefs have a lot of freedom in their dishes, although maybe less if they bake. Even just on our Thursday evening together, we created new things as we went along, which is one of the best powers possessed by those who prepare food.

And thanks again for the food, Morgan! It was truly delicious.