Best anniversary dinner ever! Often when we splurge on an anniversary dinner, we end up feeling like it wasn't worth the cost. This time, I found myself devising ways to get more money so we can go back (Bank robbery? no. Selling blood? maybe. Climb on the roof to fix the leak around the chimney ourselves rather than hiring someone to do it? That might work).
We had a 7:00 reservation at Avenue B on Centre Ave. We started with "the raw deal", which was three beautifully plated items: three pieces of tempura-battered sushi, "Hawaiian" minced raw tuna and pineapple with wasabi aioli, and raw salmon on molded rice with black sesame salsa. I ordered the chicken breast mole with 2 potato corn hash and fried egg. The mole had cherries in it and was delicious, if not traditional. The hash was molded into a circle and topped with a perfectly fried egg. I loved the mix of corn, sweet potatoes, and potatoes with the egg. Clay ordered the wild alaskan king salmon, smoke grilled, served on caramelized fennel potato salad with bacon and balsamic dressing. My dinner was delicious, but his was ethereal. The salmon was so smoky and went perfectly with all the other flavors. The service was good, everything was plated beautifully (I wished I had brought my camera), and we really enjoyed the atmosphere.
For dessert: Clay got the cherry flan, which had more of a cheesecake texture. It was garnished with a white chocolate flower and a nasturtium. I ordered the chocolate almond mousse cake, which was a triple layered confection (cake, pudding, and mousse, I think), topped with candied almonds and minced strawberries and a white chocolate cylinder filled with strawberry coulis that dripped down the cake when I cracked it open. Browned butter icecream quenelle and a dark mocha cookie on the side. Ahhhhhh. Pure decadence.
Often when I go out to eat, I think "I should make this at home" and I'm usually successful. This time I knew it was impossible.
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Another fortuitous combination of ingredients I had in the fridge and pantry. I made this one for a potluck picnic, and again for my family reunion on Monday. I like it a lot, and I love that it's brimming with things that are so freaking good for you. I'm just estimating the amounts - they're flexible.
Mediterranean Lentil Salad
1 bag of Trader Joe's black beluga lentils, which are precooked (you could also cook some french lentils, but don't use regular green lentils because they're too mushy)
1/2 cup leftover cooked brown rice (optional)
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 chopped cucumber
2 chopped tomatoes
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat italian parsley (curly will do)
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Stir together and let it marinate in the fridge for about 1 hour before serving. I added a bit of the marinade from the artichoke hearts as well.
For the reunion, I served it with hummus, carrots, olives, cheese and salami and fresh fruit. Somehow the pita got lost, but we were fine without it.
Mediterranean Lentil Salad
1 bag of Trader Joe's black beluga lentils, which are precooked (you could also cook some french lentils, but don't use regular green lentils because they're too mushy)
1/2 cup leftover cooked brown rice (optional)
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 chopped cucumber
2 chopped tomatoes
juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat italian parsley (curly will do)
1 jar marinated artichoke hearts
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Stir together and let it marinate in the fridge for about 1 hour before serving. I added a bit of the marinade from the artichoke hearts as well.
For the reunion, I served it with hummus, carrots, olives, cheese and salami and fresh fruit. Somehow the pita got lost, but we were fine without it.
Chicken Noodle Soup
This one I make without a recipe, so it's a bit different every time, depending on what I have. I usually try to freeze some of the leftovers so we have something comforting when someone gets sick. The current incarnation was made for my dear husband, who got what we think was food poisoning from the catering at my family reunion. He was violently ill, recovered enough for us to travel home again (6 hours driving on Tuesday, then traveling from 6 am until 10:30 pm on Wednesday getting to and from airports and flying from Phoenix to Pittsburgh). At about 10 pm his fever and chills came back. And he's still not better! So anyway, I made him this chicken noodle soup.
1 small onion
2 stalks celery, with leaves
2-3 medium carrots
1 chicken breast
2 quarts chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup noodles (I had star shaped)
a small bunch of herbs: parsley, thyme, and sage (optional)
Chop the veggies and sautee them in a bit of olive oil until tender. Add some kosher salt. Add the chicken stock and the chicken breast and boil until the chicken is cooked, about 8 minutes. Pull out the chicken, shred, then return to the pot. Add the herbs and the noodles. If you tie the herbs together, they're easier to fish out at the end. I also added a few dried mushrooms to add more depth to the flavor of the broth. It was good, but entirely optional. Cook until the noodles are soft. Add more broth/stock/water until the soup has the right proportion of broth to other things. Add salt and pepper to taste.
1 small onion
2 stalks celery, with leaves
2-3 medium carrots
1 chicken breast
2 quarts chicken stock or broth
3/4 cup noodles (I had star shaped)
a small bunch of herbs: parsley, thyme, and sage (optional)
Chop the veggies and sautee them in a bit of olive oil until tender. Add some kosher salt. Add the chicken stock and the chicken breast and boil until the chicken is cooked, about 8 minutes. Pull out the chicken, shred, then return to the pot. Add the herbs and the noodles. If you tie the herbs together, they're easier to fish out at the end. I also added a few dried mushrooms to add more depth to the flavor of the broth. It was good, but entirely optional. Cook until the noodles are soft. Add more broth/stock/water until the soup has the right proportion of broth to other things. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Zucchini Soup aka Pizza Soup
Here it is. I can't even remember who recommended this to me, but it's a great way to use up zucchini and tomatoes from the garden. I'm a little more generous with the veggies and skimpy with the sausage than she recommends, and I've been known to slip in greens like swiss chard at the last minute, but we all love the many variations. We usually use mozzarella to top it. Zoe dubbed it pizza soup because that's what it tastes like and it sounds so much more appetizing than zucchini soup. Think tomatoes, italian sausage and peppers. We had it last night with some ciabatta bread from the farmer's market. Cherries for dessert.
The only drawback is eating a hot soup in the summer. I don't recommend it on the hottest days. It freezes quite well, though and is fantastically hearty in the middle of the winter.
http://marzipanmom.blogspot.com/2008/09/zucchini-soup.html
The only drawback is eating a hot soup in the summer. I don't recommend it on the hottest days. It freezes quite well, though and is fantastically hearty in the middle of the winter.
http://marzipanmom.blogspot.com/2008/09/zucchini-soup.html
Pizza Caprese on the Grill
People have been telling me I need to post again - I just keep forgetting to take those photos before we devour our food, and I'm embarrassed to keep posting without them. However, this meal was too good to not share.
Tonight we had a fantastic easy summer dinner made up on the spot. I had some pizza dough from Trader Joe's (I always walk by that and think "pizza dough is so easy to make, there's no reason to buy it", but this time I thought, "Oh! It's only 99 cents! Maybe that's worth saving the trouble of making it sometimes." And I bought a bag to try), some pesto from last summer in the freezer, a big bowl of sweet grape tomatoes from our garden, and some mozzarella, both pre-shredded and fresh balls I'd bought to go with the tomatoes, thinking ensalada caprese would be in order.
Clay rolled out the dough while I thawed the pesto in the microwave and cut the tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls in half. We threw the dough on the preheated grill on Medium heat (ours is a gas grill) and cooked until one side was golden brown and a bit scorched in spots. Zoe picked some fresh basil from the garden. Then we flipped it over, put the toppings on the cooked side (a smear of pesto (about 1/4 c), then the shredded mozzarella (about 1 cup), then 1 cup halved grape tomatoes, about 1/2 cup halved fresh mozzarella balls, and a handful of sliced fresh basil. Zoe likes to imagine storms when she cooks and made quite a mozzarella rainstorm over that pizza. Finally, we put it back on the grill until the bottom was golden and the cheese melted.
It was so good, we ate the whole thing. The crust was crispy and chewy, the tomatoes were intensely sweet, the gooey cheese and aromatic pesto were, well, . . . gooey and aromatic. Plus a simple green salad on the side. And we made italian cream sodas with seltzer, torani syrup, and a dash of half & half for a special treat. It's so much more fun when we cook together.
AND, Clay told me that if we had TJ's pizza dough in the fridge all the time, I could just call him and say, "Hey, I'm busy making pottery, can you make a pizza for dinner?" And he could do it. Now THAT sounds dreamy. And worth 99 cents!
Tonight we had a fantastic easy summer dinner made up on the spot. I had some pizza dough from Trader Joe's (I always walk by that and think "pizza dough is so easy to make, there's no reason to buy it", but this time I thought, "Oh! It's only 99 cents! Maybe that's worth saving the trouble of making it sometimes." And I bought a bag to try), some pesto from last summer in the freezer, a big bowl of sweet grape tomatoes from our garden, and some mozzarella, both pre-shredded and fresh balls I'd bought to go with the tomatoes, thinking ensalada caprese would be in order.
Clay rolled out the dough while I thawed the pesto in the microwave and cut the tomatoes and mini mozzarella balls in half. We threw the dough on the preheated grill on Medium heat (ours is a gas grill) and cooked until one side was golden brown and a bit scorched in spots. Zoe picked some fresh basil from the garden. Then we flipped it over, put the toppings on the cooked side (a smear of pesto (about 1/4 c), then the shredded mozzarella (about 1 cup), then 1 cup halved grape tomatoes, about 1/2 cup halved fresh mozzarella balls, and a handful of sliced fresh basil. Zoe likes to imagine storms when she cooks and made quite a mozzarella rainstorm over that pizza. Finally, we put it back on the grill until the bottom was golden and the cheese melted.
It was so good, we ate the whole thing. The crust was crispy and chewy, the tomatoes were intensely sweet, the gooey cheese and aromatic pesto were, well, . . . gooey and aromatic. Plus a simple green salad on the side. And we made italian cream sodas with seltzer, torani syrup, and a dash of half & half for a special treat. It's so much more fun when we cook together.
AND, Clay told me that if we had TJ's pizza dough in the fridge all the time, I could just call him and say, "Hey, I'm busy making pottery, can you make a pizza for dinner?" And he could do it. Now THAT sounds dreamy. And worth 99 cents!
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