Day 211: Birthday Week Marches On

I'm a big believer in stretching out a birthday for a good solid week.  My week-long celebration began last night and carried on tonight at Cafe Maritime.  Basically, my celebration is defined by eating out rather than cooking and  indulging in dessert every day.  I love birthdays.

My dinner tonight started with shrimp cocktail.  At Cafe Maritime, that means five huge shrimp, dangling from the edge of a huge glass which holds sweet cocktail sauce with huge chucks of avocado floating in it.  Yum.

Next, I had the lobster thermidor which is, hands down, my favorite dish at CM.  As you can see, chunks of lobster and veggies are stuffed back into half the lobster shell and a little bit of cheese is melted over the top.  Most of the time, restaurants make this dish way too rich - with loads of cream and cheese.  This one, though, is pretty light and really allows the flavor of the lobster to shine through.  

And, because it is birthday week, of course I needed to have dessert.  "Mark's Mom's Coconut Cream Pie" is THE thing to get at CM.  The crust is so light and flaky and the coconut and meringue are light as air.  The only thing wrong with it is that it's not bigger.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday, but I'll spend the majority of it on an airplane or in an airport, so I'm not expecting the usual high caliber birthday dinner.  But it's okay - that's why I celebrate for a whole week!

Day 210: An Early Happy Bday to ME!!

My birthday is on Sunday.  Normally, my husband would treat me to a big, fancy dinner out but we'll actually be on a plane all day (more on that later) so we celebrated tonight instead.

In recent years, my birthday has been celebrated at some freaking amazing places:  Chez Panisse, Gary Danko, Babbo!!  This year I wasn't sure what to choose and so I asked for a recommendation from a colleague who is also a big foodie.  He suggested Range.  I had never heard of it, but based on his high praise and a yummy sounding menu, I went for it.  And it was GOOD.

I started with "artichoke stuffed pasta".  Okay - that was ravioli - and I have no idea why they didn't just call it ravioli - but it really doesn't matter.  It was to die for.  Chopped almonds and fried sage leaves were sprinkled on top of the pasta and addeda ton of additional and amazing flavor.  Seriously - I could eat this dish every day.  Twice.

My entree was slow cooked pork loin with white beans, fennel, and kale.  This dish was simple, yet flavorful and delicious.

My colleague had insisted that we order dessert - and who am I to argue with advice like that?  I ordered the pink lady apple & huckleberry tarte tatin and my husband had the chocolate and espresso souffle.  I loved mine.  It came with a scoop of creme fraiche ice cream which was perfect because it wasn't too sweet while the tart itself was quite sweet.  A perfect balance.

This was a wonderful meal.  And so the birthday week begins!  We fly to Costa Rica on my actual birthday and will spend a week and a half there and in Panama.  365daysofdinner.com will go on hiatus, but check back mid next week.  I'm sure I'll have LOTS of rice and beans to tell you about!

Day 209: Zinfandel!!!

One New Year's Eve, millions of years ago, when my friends and I were in our early 20s - when Jagermeister was much more likely than wine to be the drink of choice, we all went out for a "nice" dinner.  We decided to order a bottle of wine but really, none of us had any idea how to go about that.  Then, my friend Lori chimed in..."I always drink white Zinfandel when I go out". 

At the time, we all found that declaration hilarious - and nearly 15 years later, we still laugh about that moment.  And, I now think of Lori nearly every time I drink Zinfandel - RED, not white - but still...  We are still close friends and I love that that goofy memory.

This weekend marks ZAP's annual Zinfandel Festival at Fort Mason here in San Francisco.  We attended this amazing event 2 years ago and had a fantastic time.  Last year we missed it due to a wedding and this year we'll miss it due to our upcoming vacation.  But, we managed to squeeze in one of the pre-event events - tonight's Good Eats and Zinfandel Pairing evening.  50 Zinfandel producers were in attendance, each paired with a bit of food from a restaurant or a caterer.  

We ate all kinds of things tonight:  pulled pork on a tortilla chip, braised beef over polenta, Irish cheddar cheese, braised wild boar, chicken salad with blue cheese and almonds, cupcakes, and on and on and on!  Check out the website to see what food was paired with which wines.

We left feeling stuffed, but happy.  And it's not a minor detail that tonight marked five years since my first date with my husband.  It was great to recognize that anniversary with a special event like the ZAP festival.  We've enjoyed a lot of wine together over the past 5 years, and expect to enjoy LOTS more in years to come!

Day 208: Payback is Delicious

I have owed Osha Thai a decent picture of their food and tonight I finally delivered!  

This is Osha's 4th or 5th appearance on 365daysofdinner.com and for nearly all of those, I only had my camera phone which takes pretty bad pictures of food.  Tonight I came prepared and am happy to have captured Osha's delicious food in a much better light.

The other great part of tonight's dinner was that our friends joined us, which meant that we could order more dishes than usual!  We started with two salads - one with pork and one with squid.  The pork larb is a regular order for us but the squid was a new one.  It was super spicy but a nice change.

Then we had pineapple fried rice (a favorite of ours and now of our friends'), panang curry with duck (normally we order it with chicken - we found the duck added little more than additional fat and will go back to chicken next time), and volcanic beef (pictured).

As always, everything was super fresh and packed with flavor.  I'm glad I was finally able to give Osha their due.

Day 207: Can Someone Explain Broccoli Rabe to Me?

This is a tough week at work and I can definitely use a little extra brain power so I had fish for dinner tonight.  The Balboa Cafe really knows what they're doing with a salmon fillet - crispy on the outside, soft and perfectly cooked inside.  I love it and order it anytime it's on the menu.

The salmon itself is always so good that I hardly even care what it's served with - except on nights like tonight when it's broccoli rabe.  Can someone please explain this vegetable to me?  I've tried it so many times in so many restaurants and I always find it bitter and never enjoy it.  There are few things in this world that I can't stand to eat, but broccoli rabe is on that list for sure.  I find this particularly odd considering how much I love broccoli.

What am I missing here??

Day 206: A+ for Plating!

Finally!  Plating that I can really be proud of!  And this dinner was as easy as it is beautiful!

It all started with a ham steak.  These come in packs of three at Costco and just need to be re-heated.  We usually do this on the grill, but have also chopped it up and cooked it in a skillet before adding it to an omelette or a frittata.  These steaks are perfect for work-night dinners as most of the work is done for you.  Plus, they are low in fat and therefore offer a good dose of lean protein.

Our side dish also had a good head start with a roll of polenta that we purchased at Trader Joe's.  For easy preparation, you just slice it up into discs and pan fry them in olive oil or butter.  But as much as I love polenta, I admit that it relies heavily on the flavors infused by other ingredients.  So, I made a delicious tomato-mushroom mixture to go with it.

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil

1 T butter

3 gloves garlic, pressed

1 T fresh thyme leaves

1 dozen large cremini or white button mushrooms

1/4 cup white wine

2 vine ripened tomatoes, chopped

S&P to taste

Heat olive oil and butter in a non-stick pan over medium-low heat.  Once hot, add garlic.

Saute garlic for 2 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add thyme, mushrooms, and white wine and turn heat up to medium-high.  Cook, stirring frequently, until mushrooms have softened (approx. 5 minutes).

Add tomatoes and S&P and cook for another 3-5 minutes, until tomatoes are softened and mixture is to desired consistency.  Taste to make sure you have the desired amount of S&P.  Remove mixture, separating solids from liquids and set aside.

We added a little more oil to the pan to fry the polenta cakes.  Once they were browned on both sides, I stacked the mushroom & tomato mixture with the polenta cakes in alternating layers, starting and finishing with the mushroom/tomato.  You can then drizzle the stack with the liquid you set aside - if it's thin, consider reheating it and simmering it until it's thickened up.

I was really happy with the visual effect and by the way - it isn't just pretty, but tasty too.  I will definitely make this again next time we entertain.

Day 205: Sunday Night Splurge

If you're here for lowfat, healthy recipes then don't bother with this entry!!  This one is loaded with cheese and butter and therefore, is scrumptious!!

This recipe for artichoke ravioli is one of my favorites from Epicurious.com.  You can click on that first link for the details because I followed them exactly, with only these exceptions:

1 - Rather than frozen artichokes, I used canned and was careful to squeeze out as much of the liquid as possible.

2 - Instead of making my own pasta, I used wonton wrappers.  This saves A LOT of time.

This was the second time I made this recipe and I realized that this could be done as a lasagna or as stuffed shells and it would be a lot less work.  I'll try that next time.  I had a fair amount of the artichoke mixture left and plan to use it as a stuffing for chicken breast later this week.

And no splurge is complete without dessert!  For that, I picked up some tiny fruit tarts and amaretti cookies from Emporio Rulli, our neighborhood purveyor of delicious Italian baked goods and caffeinated goodness.

Hey, diets start on Monday, right?

Day 204: All Hail California Wine Country!

After a full afternoon of wine tasting, I needed a hearty dinner tonight.  I thought about ordering a pizza but after just a couple of seconds, I was able to convince myself to find a healthier option.  We went with a grilled steak and roasted veggies.

I took a head of fennel, chopped off the top, and cut the bulb into wedges.  I did the same with a couple of bulbs of shallot, threw it all into a bowl, and tossed it with enough olive oil to coat and some S&P.  All of this was laid in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and placed in the oven for 10 minutes.  

At that point, I turned the fennel wedges over, added about a pound of haricot vert, mixed everything up, and placed the baking sheet back in the oven for another 10 minutes.  Then, I added about 1.5 cups of defrosted frozen peas and baked everything for another 10 minutes.

The steak was prepared simply - S&P and grilled just long enough for beautiful medium rare meat.

Of course, we had some wine.  I mean, why slow down the momentum of the day?  My husband pulled a bottle of Joseph Phelps 2005 Cabernet out from our wine fridge.  It was a great pairing and a lovely way to top off our day of wine consumption.  All hail California wine country!!

Day 203: Thank Goodness for the Walk Home

We live in an an awesome neighborhood with lots and lots of phenomenal restaurants.  The problem is, we rarely leave the neighborhood due to the lack of taxis in this city and our mutual refusal to act as a designated driver.  So, once in a while I start to get tired of the same old same old, no matter how delicious it is.  Such was the case tonight.  Fortunately, I remembered a neighborhood joint that we hadn't visited in 157 days (a side benefit of keeping this blog is the ability to easily recall such details!).

The Baker Street Bistro has very good food, but what I like best is the atmosphere.  Step into this restaurant and you will feel as though you've been instantly transported to France.  Who doesn't need a little mini-vacation on a Friday night?

My husband and I shared a green salad and the cheese plate to start.  The highlight for me was the disc of walnut crusted goat cheese, followed by deliciously sharp cheddar.  A big wedge of blue cheese offered the pleasant surprise of not being TOO bluey for me (I'm a bit of a blue cheese wimp).  The Emmentaler was the one we both liked least, but to fair, that mild cheese had a lot to compete against compared to the other stronger flavored wedges on the plate.

We also shared our entrees.  I opted for the lamb stew, which was just so appealing after a long, rainy SF day.  It was okay, but lacked the elusive "something".  I probably wouldn't order it again.

My husband chose something from the specials list:  quail stuffed with mushrooms (pictured).  It sat atop a bed of mushrooms, spinach, and diced potatoes - all blessed with super garlicky flavor.  The technique used to prepare the quail was really interesting.  All of the meat had been removed from the quail, minced and seasoned, and returned.  So, the quail looked whole until we cut into it.  Unfortunately, the result was kind of dry, but once it was mixed with the veggies, it was really good.

Of course, as you can imagine, I was totally stuffed after this meal.  Fortunately for us, Baker Street Bistro is a longer walk than most of our usual dinner places.  That walk was much  needed tonight!!

Day 202: Give Cheese a Chance

Tonight I had a serious craving for carbs.

Rather than pasta, I boiled up some whole grain udon noodles.  I like the Eden brand, which you can find at many supermarkets these days.  These wheat and brown rice noodles are a lot lighter than most whole wheat or whole grain Italian pasta both in texture and in flavor and are packed with protein (8 grams per serving!).  They also seem to be kinder on the old digestive system than a lot of those whole grain pastas tend to be.

The first thing I did was toss a pint of sweet orange pear tomatoes with olive oil (just enough to coat), dried oregano, and S&P.  I poured this mixture into a glass baking dish and roasted it at 400 degrees until the tomatoes burst (10-15 minutes).  If pear tomatoes aren't readily available, you can replace them with some nice vine ripened red tomatoes.  Just cut them in half and roast them cut side up.

While the tomatoes were roasting, I boiled my pasta and drained it when it was just al dente.

I also heated up 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes on low heat.  Once warm, I added five cloves of finely chopped garlic and cooked the mixture for a few minutes.  The garlic should soften up and mellow out but NOT brown.

While this was happening, I grated about 2 oz of parmesan cheese.

The final step is to combine everything in your pasta pot:  cooked noodles, roasted tomatoes and any juice that cooked out, the olive oil and garlic mixture, and the cheese.  Mix everything together gently and cook until it's at the desired temperature.  Sprinkle some more cheese over the top before serving.

You know I always need my greens, so I just steamed a bunch of broccoli to have on the side.

This was a yum meal and really satisfied my carb craving without making me feel like I had gone off the deep end nutrition-wise.  Also, if you're a meat eater, you won't miss it a bit in this vegetarian meal.  And if you do, just add more cheese.  There are no problems that more cheese cannot solve!

Day 201: Celebrating the Return of LOST!!

Oh, how I have been awaiting this day.  Finally!!  Lost has returned!!

In celebration, I made a Lost inspired dinner:  grilled shrimp skewers with pineapple salsa, sauteed bok choy, and a side of seaweed salad.  I thought this reflected Lost quite nicely - people stranded on a tropical island and the show is filmed in Hawaii.

I marinated peeled and deveined shrimp for 10 minutes in the following mixture:

Juice of 1 large lemon

2 large garlic cloves, smashed

1 T olive oil

1/8 tsp salt

Cracked black pepper to taste

Once marinated, I threaded the shrimp on skewers and my husband grilled them up.

To accompany the shrimp, I made a pineapple salsa:

1 cup chopped fresh pineapple

1/2 jalepeno, seeded, pulp removed, and finely minced

1 shallot, minced

Juice of 1 lime

I also sauteed some bok choy.  First, I heated up some olive oil on low heat.  Once hot, I added 2 minced cloves of garlic and sauteed that for a few minutes.  Then I trimmed the bottom off of 3 heads of baby bok choy, sliced them in half lengthwise, and tossed them in the pan with 2 T of white wine and a generous dose of salt.  I jacked up the heat to medium-high, stirred everything together, and threw a lid on the pan.  Make sure you check it frequently and give it a stir.  If it seems to need more liquid, throw in another splash of wine.  After 5-7 minutes, the leaves should be wilted and the stems should be softened and the bok choy is ready!

The final touch was just a bit of store-bought seaweed salad.  We're still picking it out of our teeth, but it was damn tasty.

Oh yea - and I crushed up some roasted cashews in the food processor and sprinkled them over the whole plate.  They added some more protein and a nice crunch to a plate of otherwise soft food.

This was a very good meal and of course, Lost was awesome.  Maybe I need to be inspired by TV more often!

Day 200: Bi-Centennial Entry

I guess I should have done more tonight to celebrate day #200, but I was on my own and it's hard to get motivated to cook something ornate for yourself.  So, I had a salad.

I love loading my salads with lots of different things - it makes every bite interesting.  My salad tonight included:

Baby romaine

A carrot

2 small beets

2 artichoke hearts

1/2 a yellow bell pepper

2 T sliced almonds

1 can of tuna in water

1/2 an apple

Newman's Own Sesame Soy Dressing

I love salads so even though this wasn't a fancy dinner, it made me happy.  I'll try to kick it up a notch on day #300, though!

Day 199: Ignore This Entry

Dinner today was...not good.  Well, the side dish was delicious but since it involved a seasoning packet, I don't feel that I can really take credit for that.  

Arora Creations makes delicious Indian spice blends that you can find at Whole Foods and other supermarkets.  My favorite is the Punjabi Chhole, which is added to chickpeas, fresh tomatoes, ginger, and onion for a full flavored, spicy dish that could easily be enjoyed as a main course rather than as a side.  Especially if what you prepared for your main dish tastes like crap.

I went against all of my better judgement and experience tonight and purchased fish on a holiday Monday.  This was a bad idea because it was definitely not at its freshest since the store likely had not had a delivery on Sunday or Monday.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that the fish was bad - it definitely wasn't - but the texture was just off and it tasted fishier than fresh halibut normally does.

Obviously, this was all very disappointing, but hey - not all 365 days can be winners.  Better luck tomorrow!

Day 198: Ordering by Process of Elimination

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I almost always cook on Sundays.  Today, however, we were out of town and returned too late to start thinking about making dinner and so we headed over to Bistro Aix.

BA is one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants but tonight's experience was a bit trying.  Upon sitting down, we were informed that they were out of 4 or 5 items on the menu.  Of course, one of them was the bouillabaise, which I love and which I had planned to order.  I contemplated my other options and decided on the steak, but when it was time to order, they had run out of that as well.  Grrrr.  

With few options left, I went for the chicken breast with haricot verts and mashed potatoes.  I very rarely order roasted chicken at a restaurant as this is an incredibly easy dish to make at home.  It's almost as if I feel I'm wasting a night out by having something I could make myself.  Having said that, I was very impressed by how crispy the skin was.  I normally remove the skin since it's packed with fat, but it was so crispy and peppery and delicious - I couldn't resist.

It turns out that we had a very typical Sunday experience at Bisto Aix.  Everything they serve is fresh and they are closed Monday and Tuesday so by Sunday night they are running on empty.  As annoying as it was, I really appreciate the freshness factor and so we'll definitely return - just not on Sunday!

Day 197: Thanks, Julie!

Our friend Julie hosted us for dinner tonight with a yummy and healthful meal.

Lemon slices tucked underneath the skin infused the roasted chicken with a fresh citrusy flavor and ensured the meat stayed moist.  Yum!

We had two side dishes as well:  steamed asparagus with sauteed mushrooms and corn pudding.  The corn recipe came from a recent issue of Cooking Light magazine and was really tasty.  Oyster crackers crumbled on top added some nice crunch - and it was served by spooning it out of the baking dish.  It seemed like a great dish to serve at a dinner party.

I love having dinner at other people's houses - I always learn something and add a new trick to my cooking repertoire!

Day 196: I Did What???

Tonight I did something crazy.  I went to Izzy's Steaks & Chops and ordered...swordfish??

I haven't been feeling all that slim lately and so I felt that I needed to avoid my beloved prime rib tonight and go for a healthier option.

I started with the yummy warm goat cheese salad.  A disc of gooey cheese is served on a bed of lettuce with sliced apples and chopped walnuts.  I don't care for walnuts, so I always pick those out and my husband enjoys them.

At Izzy's you get to choose two sides with your entree.  Normally I go with a double order of steamed broccoli but tonight a baked potato sounded good.  When it showed up, it was the size of my head!  I was a little intimidated by it and so concentrated on the fish (delicious!) and the broccoli and once I got through that I was super stuffed and so never touched that dinosaur egg of a potato.

This was the first time that I ever went to a steakhouse and ordered fish.  While I was very  pleasantly surprised, I wonder...will I ever do this again?  Stay tuned!

Day 195: What the...?

I had grand plans for cooking up some fish tonight, but when I got to the store, the butcher area had closed early.  I was so surprised and with no back-up plan, I left empty handed wondering, "What the...?"

By the time I got home I had gathered my thoughts and decided to cook one dish and order in the rest.  Over the weekend, I had purchased a bag of snowpeas at Trader Joe's.  I sauteed them with some other simple ingredients I had in the fridge and the outcome was yummy:

Ingredients:

1 lb snowpeas

1 T olive oil

1 heaping T of minced ginger

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 T white wine

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 scallion, thinly sliced

Add oil to a large non-stick skillet and heat up on medium-low heat.  Once hot, add ginger and garlic and saute, stirring frequently for a couple of minutes.

Add snowpeas and wine and mix everything up.  Turn heat to medium-high and cook for about 10 minutes, mixing from time to time to ensure all peas get cooked and none of them burn.  

Once the liquid has evaporated and the peas are cooked to your liking, add lemon juice and stir.  Turn the heat off, add the scallion, toss, and serve.

I supplemented my snowpeas with a take-out order of prawns and mango from the awesome and amazing Country Sky around the corner.  

Turns out, it wasn't such a bad thing that the butcher called it a day early today.  Why cook when someone can cook for you?

Day 194: One Billion Calories in Disguise

Okay - maybe not a billion, but I track my calories at Sparkpeople.com and I was shocked by how much I supposedly consumed tonight at Mezes.

We shared the vegetarian appetizer plate - which I admit is huge.  It's great though - a couple of bites of lots of delicious things:  feta cheese, tzatziki, babaganoush (which I do not care for and so my hubby gets all of it), pita bread, spanakopita, stewed giant white beans, beets & beet greens, and cheesy zucchini cakes.

Next we shared some smaller dishes:  Greek salad - so simple but so delicious.  We also shared grilled octopus and lamb meatballs (I'm sure you can see why we call them meat logs).  Finally, we shared dessert - galaktobouriko - possibly, the most delicious thing on earth not made from chocolate.  Crispy phyllo dough is wrapped around custard and the whole thing is drizzled with honey.  Words cannot describe.

To top the meal off, we had a bottle of wine.  Once that was done, the bartender finished another bottle off on us.  Then, he served up some dessert wine.  The guys at Mezes know that we love them and they often reward our repeated patronage with free booze.  Of course, that only makes us love them more.  I guess you now know the way to our hearts!

Day 193: So So

Tonight's dinner reminded me that I don't have a great appreciation for shrimp with cheese.  Of course there's an exception to every rule - but more often than not, tonight included - I really just do not care for that combination.

The dish was essentially shrimp saganaki, on Greek restaurant menus everywhere.  Here's the recipe:

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 dozen large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1 T olive oil

1/2 a jalapeno, seeded and minced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Coat a large baking dish with non-stick spray and place tomatoes, olive oil, jalapeno, and garlic inside.  Bake for 20 minutes.

Add shrimp and lemon juice and mix with tomato mixture.  Sprinkle feta across the top and bake for another 10 minutes.  Mix and if all shrimp are not fully cooked, bake for another 5 minutes.

I used a slotted spoon to move this mixture onto our plates.  I actually served it on top of a bed of fresh arugula to add extra nutrition and a different texture to the dish.

Like I said, this dish was average.  But, if shrimp and cheese is a favorite flavor combination of yours, then give it a try.  And let me know what you think!

Day 192: I'm So Sorry, Osha Thai!

This is Osha Thai's fourth appearance on this blog, and all but one of the pictures suck because I never seem to have my camera with me at the time.  This is a terrible shame because Osha's food is phenomenal and deserves much more than my camera phone can deliver.

The  latest spontaneous Osha consumption occurred during a late night at the office.  The team opted to order:

- Chicken panang

- Spicy green beans with chicken

- Chicken fried rice

- Volcanic beef

I sampled and enjoyed them all.  Sure - it would have been better to eat it at the restaurant - but Osha never disappoints.  Even when you have to eat it while sitting at your cluttered desk.

Day 191: Fennel Killer

I adore fennel - cooked, in salads - doesn't matter.  I always love it.  Tonight I cooked it myself for the first time and I nearly totally killed it - not in good, stand-up routine kind of a way.

I used an Epicurious.com recipe as a starting point but made a couple of changes.  I reduced the oil content dramatically, using only about 2 T to coat the fennel and shallots prior to roasting.  I also left out the haricot verts and added frozen peas instead.  I defrosted them and added them to the baking pan in the last 5 minutes of cooking.  Their sweetness was a perfect compliment to the fennel - but I missed the part of the recipe where it said to mix the veggies every 10 minutes.  I let them cook for a good 20 minutes before I even checked on them and so parts of the fennel were charred, as were most of the shallots.  I picked off the burnt bits and what was left was delicious. 

Our main course was also from Epicurious.com - grilled chipotle stuffed pork tenderloin.  It was fabulous.  The recipe had recommended eating the pork with store bought guacamole, but of course I made it from scratch.

Guacamole:

1 avocado

Juice of 1/2 a lime (or more if required)

1 headping tsp of lowfat sour cream

Normally, I would include a healthy dose of hot sauce as well - but since this was to be eaten with pork that had been liberally rubbed with chipotle peppers, but skipped this step tonight.

I want to give my husband credit for pairing tonight's dinner with the perfect wine:  Heitz 2005 Zinfandel.  It married wonderfully with all of the flavors of the meal.

Tonight is all about healthy cooking and we were off to an excellent start tonight.  Stay tuned for other tasty meals as the week goes on!

PS - Note my brand new food processor - purchased this weekend to replace the one that blew up while I prepared our New Years Eve dessert.  I can't wait to use it!!

Day 190: Found Via Yellow Death Machine

The phrase "yellow death machine" was coined by my husband after one too many death defying white knuckle rides in a NYC taxi.

I hopped into a yellow death machine after work a few weeks ago and the driver took me on a totally circuitous route.  Annoyance turned into appreciation when we passed by an adorable restaurant not too far from our house, but on a street I wouldn't normally use.  We gave that restaurant a try tonight.

Amarena was charming indeed and we were warmly greeted when we arrived and experienced very friendly service throughout our meal.  The atmosphere had a cozy, neighborhood feel that I liked as well.  The food, however, was good - but not great.  I think that if we lived closer, we would work Amarena into our rotation.  But because we have a stellar Italian restaurant within walking distance from our place, we don't see much of a reason to board a bus or catch a cab to get to Amarena again.

Okay - so what did I eat?  First, my husband and I shared a beet and spinach salad with ricotta dressing.  The beets were delicious, but the dressing lacked seasoning or any real flavor.  Next, I had the eggplant parmesan "small plate".  I was thrilled when it arrived and the eggplant wasn't fried.  However, a somewhat disturbing amount of olive oil oozed out of it as I cut into it.  The dish tasted good and I know that olive oil is a "healthy fat", but I just didn't really enjoy it as much as I normally do eggplant parm.  My entree was salmon with olives, capers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and potatoes.  This was very yum and I would happily order it again if I find myself at Amarena again in the future.

We hadn't tried a new restaurant in awhile and very rarely venture out of our immediate neighborhood for dinner so tonight was a nice change of pace.  What will be my next yellow death machine discovery?

Day 189: I Survived!

I had a good long break from work (almost 2 weeks!) and was worried that I wouldn't be able to survive the first 5-day work week back.  Well - I did!  And to celebrate, we had dinner at Isa, our favorite restaurant in the neighborhood.

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you may remember that Isa specialized is smallish plates that are meant to share.  There are several dishes that we always order, including the baked goat cheese, tomatoes, basil, and pine nuts pictured above.  It is SO good.

We also tried the special, which was sea bass with artichokes, olives, and fennel.  The fish was perfect - crispy on the outside and flaky inside.  Sea bass is a nice, firm, satisfying white fish and this dish was great.  Maybe it'll make it to the permanent menu one day.

And for those of you who have been on the edge of your seats waiting for the conclusion of the fish in parchment wrap saga:  there is no longer parchment wrapped fish of any kind on Isa's menu.  As disappointed as we are that our beloved butterfish with mushrooms is no longer available, we are certainly not sad to say goodbye to the terrible sablefish with tomato that replaced it.  And now that I have figured out how to cook fish in parchment myself - I know that I can have it for dinner anytime I want!

If this week marked a return to work after an extended holiday break for you, too - I hope it was successful and that you have a great weekend!

Day 188: The Best Part is What You Don't See

My husband had a work dinner tonight.  For me, that usually means dinner will be one of two things:  a can of soup and some edamame or a can of tuna with whatever fresh veggies I can drum up from the fridge.  You can see which won out tonight.

We also had a huge container of blueberries, purchased at Costco over the weekend.  We are nowhere near blueberry season, but these guys came from Chile and I couldn't resist so they were my dessert.

However, after eating all of this, I wasn't feeling quite satisfied enough so I cracked open a can of artichoke hearts.  I LOVE artichokes and can literally just eat them from the can - which is just what I did.  I know it's strange, but it makes me happy, so there!

Day 187: Three Pints Later...

Grand plans to cook dinner tonight were dashed by three rounds of drinks with friends from the office.

Instead, we went to Brazen Head, a popular restaurant in our neighborhood.  Having dined here twice now, we really aren't sure what the appeal is.  The food is average, the atmosphere is somewhat cave-like, and they only accept cash.  The primary focus of the menu is steaks, but better ones can be had a couple of blocks away at Izzy's or around the corner at Harris'.

For reasons I cannot quite identify, I ordered veal picatta.  Never in my life have I ordered this dish.  In fact, I cannot even remember ever ordering any kind of veal.  I guess I can blame that on three rounds of drinks as well.

It was okay.  Nothing to write home about.  My appetizer, on the other hand, was quite tasty.  I had it last time we went to Brazen Head and couldn't resist it tonight.  A warm dish arrives holding a head of roasted garlic, 2 wedges of melty camembert cheese, 2 slices of salty prosciutto, and 2 fat pepperocinis.  Along the side are slender slices of sourdough.  For the tastiest results, I recommend assembling it as follows:  select a large garlic clove and squeeze and spread the garlic onto a slice of sourdough.   Top that with a layer of the cheese, followed by half of a slice of prosciutto, and then pieces of the pepper.  Consume and moan with delight.

Other than that strange little piece of heaven, there really isn't much reason, in my opinion, to visit Brazen Head.  Then again, offer to buy me a couple of drinks and it appears I will give in.

Day 186: Fish is Brain Food. Bring it ON!

This is my first week back at work since before Christmas and it's HARD!!  Conference Calls?  Recommendations?  Analysis?  Points of View?  What are these foreign things that my clients want from me??

It's amazing how quickly I go soft after just a bit of vacation.  My brain needs a quick re-charge and since fish is supposedly brain food, I'll be eating a lot of it this week!!  Last night it was tuna, tonight it was red snapper, and who knows what will be for dinner tomorrow!

I created this recipe and it was pretty good, although it would have been better with a touch more salt.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 T olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 shakes of red pepper flakes

1 shallot, finely chopped

2 large vine ripened tomatoes, seeded and chopped

1/2 yellow (or orange or red) bell pepper, sliced

1/4 cup white wine

1 tsp capers, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

2 6-7 ounce red snapper filets, patted dry and seasoned on both sides with S&P

Two slices of lemon

Heat your oil in a non-stick pan on medium-low heat.  Add garlic, shallot, and red pepper flakes and saute for a few minutes until softened.

Add tomatoes through oregano and turn heat up to a boil.  Lay snapper filets across top of tomato mixture, reduce heat to a simmer, and cover the pan with a lid or with tightly fitted foil.  Allow fish to steam for about 8 minutes.  It's done once you no longer see pink spots.

Plate up your fish fillets and veggies from the pan and crank up the heat on the remaining sauce.  It should reduce rather quickly - just a minute or two - and then you can drizzle it over your fish.  Squeeze fresh lemon juice over each filet.

I cooked up some cauliflower as our veggie side dish tonight.  I preheated the oven to 375 degrees.  While it was warming up, I cored the cauliflower and sliced it into 1/2-3/4 inch slices and gently tossed the pieces in a bowl with S&P.  I then laid the slices out in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet and roasted the cauliflower for about 20 minutes.  I drizzled some olive oil over it and continued to roast it for another 10 minutes until it was golden brown.  It's so simple, but so delicious - cauliflower actually gets sweet after a good amount of roasting like this.

This is all very easy, even on a work night.  And hopefully, I'll wake up a lot smarter tomorrow and able to easily execute all of those client demands!!

Day 185: An Old Dog Learns New Tricks!

If you're a regular reader of this blog, you know that I absolutely suck at plating.  It's a bummer because normally my food is quite good but you'd never know it by looking at it.

Last week I went through my blog photo album with a friend, who offered up some keen observations about the differences between my plates from the ones eaten at restaurants:

1.  Restaurants often slice the protein into large chunks, which they then stack

2.  Sauces or other ingredients are offered drizzled or sprinkled about the plate

Tonight I incorporated both strategies into my dish and voila!  One of my best plated dishes yet!!

As you can see, our meal featured seared tuna.  All I did was pat it dry, season it on both sides with S&P, and lay it down in hot olive oil in a stainless steel pan.  After a few minutes, I used tongs to pick the steaks up and turn them over.  Remember - proteins like tuna, chicken, and pork chops will always let you know when they are ready for flipping.  They should lift easily from the pan.  If they don't they aren't ready and you shouldn't force them.  If you do, you risk losing a good chunk of them as part stays with the pan when the rest gets forced out.

Once the tuna was ready, you can see that I followed the first part of my friend's advice and cut it into two pieces, which I stacked.  Beautiful.

The bok choy side dish I prepared was based on a Gourmet recipe that I tweaked:

1 lb. bok choy, trimmed and cut horizontally into 1/2 inch slices

1 orange (or red or yellow) bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 T low sodium soy sauce

1 T fish sauce

2 T water

1 T unsalted butter

2 T canola oil

Heat canola oil on medium-high flame until hot.  Add bok choy and pepper and saute for 3 minutes.

Mix soy sauce, fish sauce, and water in a small bowl.  Add the mixture and the butter to the vegetables and saute for another 5 minutes.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the veggies and continue to fast simmer the sauce until reduced to half.  Pour sauce over veggies when it's at the desired consistency.

I'll be honest - my husband did not care for the sauce at all.  So, he doused it in hot sauce and then everything seemed to be okay.  I, on the other hand, quite liked it.  Try it and decide for yourself.

Once the side was done and plated, I followed my friend's second piece of advice and scattered toasted sesame seeds about the food and the plate.  They added some visual pizzazz and tasted great, too.  Sesame seeds are good but are even better once toasted - just sprinkle them into a pan, place over medium-low heat, and watch carefully and toss often.

As you can see, I am open to advice and can learn from my mistakes so please feel free to leave any plating or other related topics as a comment!

Day 184: It's Pronounced KEEN-wah

Quinoa has been all the rage for the past year or two.  This protein packed whole grain is totally up my nutritional alley but oddly enough, I had never given it a taste until tonight.

I get the feeling that quinoa doesn't offer up much flavor of its own but that its tastiness depends on how and with what it is prepared.  Luckily, I found a really good recipe on Epicurious.com and my quinoa dish was infused with lots of yummy fresh lime juice and tossed with black beans and tiny, sweet pear tomatoes.  If you try the recipe yourself, note that I replaced the butter with olive oil and skipped the vegetable oil.  This increased the healthfulness of the dish while not decreasing the delish factor.

Our other side dish was fresh spinach, sauteed in butter with freshly minced oregano and half a sliced shallot.

I mention our main course last because frankly, it wasn't all that.  We had purchased a whole whack of limes recently and I was looking for a way to use them and so I prepared tequila lime chicken.  What saved this recipe was that I soaked the chicken in only half of the marinade and reduced the other half into a sauce that added a ton of extra flavor when drizzled over the dish.

So that was our dinner - the highs and the lows.  And while this is not 365 Days of LUNCH, I do want to mention Michael Chiarello's new restaurant "Bottega" in Yountville.  We had an absolutely lovely and memorable lunch there today.  If you find yourself in wine country, I highly recommend you give it a try for lunch or dinner.

Well, I'm halfway through this blog project now and am looking forward to another 181 days of good food ahead!!

Day 183: Add It To The List Of Things I Want to Bathe In

Things I'd like to bathe in:

1. The black truffle honey that Nectar drizzles over chunks of parmesan cheese

2. Pacific Catch's soy wasabi vinaigrette

3. Heitz Ink Grade Port

And the newest entry:

4. Bistro Aix's tomato fennel bouillabase broth

We've been to Bistro Aix many, many times and yet somehow, I never ordered the bouillabase.  That all changed tonight and I know for sure that it'll be tough for me to ever order anything else from now on.  It was TO DIE FOR and I can't help but mourn for all of those nights that I ordered other delicious, but not quite AS delicious dishes.

After my mesclun salad appetizer, the bouillabase arrived.  A large pice of halibut sat in the center of the bowl, surrounded by clams, calamari, chunks of potato, and garlicky croutons.  All of this sat in the most amazing broth.  I couldn't help but mop it up with some focaccia from the bread basket later on in the meal.

I really have to give props to my husband for choosing the perfect wine tonight - a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon from Bartholomew Park Winery in Sonoma.  I cannot even describe the beauty I experienced by eating following up a bite of bouillabase with a sip of the wine.  I thought I might have died and gone to heaven. 

If you have a recipe for bouillabase, please share.  I think I may want to give it a shot at home.

Day 182: Third & Fourth Wheels

Friends of ours from the East Coast have been in the Bay Area this week and today was their 10th wedding anniversary.  Since I had attended that wedding so many years ago, I thought it appropriate to suggest that we all celebrate their anniversary together.

As always, our dinner at Capannina was delightful.  You may recall that my husband and I spent Christmas Eve at this restaurant.  That night, my husband and I shared two appetizers - a beet salad with goat cheese and spicy prawns stacked high with polenta cakes.  Those prawns were so good that I had to have them again tonight.

For my entree, I chose linguini with clams and zucchini.  This dish was so simple and yet so delicious.

And of course, because we were celebrating an anniversary, we just had to take advantage of Capannina's amazing dessert menu.  The four of us shared three desserts:  a warm chocolate cake with hazelnut gelato, profiteroles with chocolate and caramel dipping sauces (my personal fave), and tiramisu.  

What a meal!  We'll have to invite ourselves to help celebrate friends' events more often!

Day 181: Have Hangover. Need Beef.

On a hang over scale of 1-10, 10 being death, I woke up at a 6 today and it was a long, slow recovery.  Days like these call for hearty meals.

I had every intention of making a light and healthy meal for my first 2009 dinner entry.  But I got to the butcher and new knew that fish and chicken wouldn't do.  I needed beef!!

My husband took care of grilling up the NY strip steaks I purchased.  He simply seasoned them with S&P and grilled them to medium rare and they were juicy, tender, and so delicious.  Just what the hang over ordered tonight.

The side dish was roasted brussels sprouts and pancetta with garlic.  The recipe came from Epicurious.com and I found them tasty but not spectacular.  They did the trick, though, and went well with the steak.  I feel better already!!