Day 270: Don't Read a Book by Its Cover

If you look at my last several blog entries, it seems like I'm on a health kick or that I've gone all pescatarian on you.  Fish for dinner four nights in a row!!  

But if you knew what else went into my pie hole these past few days, you would be horrified!!  Mac & cheese!  BBQ!  Salami!  

It should have come as no surprise tonight when I could barely muster up an appetite, even after a visit to the gym.  Never one to skip a meal, I decided to saute a bunch of veggies from my fridge:  a bunch of asparagus, a handful of snowpeas, and half a red bell pepper.  For flavor, I added a few cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 of an onion, a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes, and S&P.  After the veggies were cooked (I like mine rather al dente), I added about a tablespoon of minced fresh parsley, a few sprinkled of toasted sesame seeds, and a couple of sprinkles of balsamic vinegar.

Veggie mania will need to continue throughout the rest of this week to help me out of this "I'm such a whale syndrome".  If you have a favorite healthy veggie recipe, please share it!

Day 269: You Haven't Lived Until You Eat This

Picture this:  perfect mac & cheese, formed into large cubes, breaded, and deep fried.  What would one call something like that?  If you were the chef at Town Hall, you would call it mac & cheese croquettes and you would rock the world of anyone who gave into their crunchy, savory goodness.  I'm telling you that you have not lived until you try this stuff.

We hosted some new clients at Town Hall tonight and wooed them with said croquettes, many bottles of fine wine, and amazing desserts.  Oh - and there were entrees, too, but speaking for my own experience, the actual food paled in comparison to the aforementioned mac & cheese magnificence, booze, and sugary treats.

I began my meal with the soup of the day:  pureed asparagus.  As my colleague said, it was fine.  It didn't burst with fresh asparagus flavor.  It just tasted green.

Next, I had a salmon filet over mashed potatoes, leeks, and fava beans.  If you are into crispy fish skin, this was the dish for you.  I'm not so much into fish skin though and once I peeled it away, I was left with salmon that was fine but didn't blow me away.

However, the meal ended on a very positive note as I enjoyed the butterscotch and chocolate pot de creme with crunchy slices of something that reminded me of Heath Bar Crunch.  Way too good.

I'd like to thank our lovely waitress for her wonderful, friendly, and patient service.  It can't be easy to wait on 13 business people who get increasingly loud as the evening goes on.  And a big thanks to our new clients for a great evening.  I'm looking forward to enjoying a great many more wonderful meals with you in the future!

Day 268: Balancing Act

We had a killer lunch today.  We ventured down to Pacifica and had loads of yummy eats at Gorilla BBQ, recently featured on the Food Network show Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives.  After pulled pork, BBQ chicken, mac & cheese, cole slaw and cornbread I just knew that the system was going to demand some light, healthy fare tonight.

Fortunately, our friend Julie invited us to her place for dinner and she made a delicious, low fat meal.  She pan fried tilapia filets and served them over steamed spinach with some baby heirloom tomatoes that she had sauteed in olive oil and garlic.

We finished the meal with some tiny assorted fruit tarts and mini eclairs from Emporio Rulli, which has become my de facto source for beautiful and tasty sweet treats.

So the name of the game today was balance.  It's okay to splurge and have some fun - hell, when it's BBQ, it's a must!  

Day 267: Bored? Branch Out!

If you've been reading this blog for awhile, you know that when we eat out we almost always choose a restaurant within walking distance of our house.  There are a ton of great places to choose from, no driving means we can enjoy a bottle of wine, and we don't have to deal with the challenge of finding a taxi.

But...once in awhile I get bored and this was one of those weeks.  I felt the need to branch out and so tonight we decided to try a new place in another neighborhood.  Crazy kids!  We decided to to try Chiaroscuro, a charming looking Italian restaurant that we had walked by over a year ago in the financial district.  

We started with two appetizers:  the meat and cheese plate (an irresistible dish for us at Italian restaurants) and the bruchetta plate which had 6 tiny discs of toasted bread, each with a different topping.  Both dishes were great.  In fact, with 4 very different cheeses and 4 generously cut types of salami, that was probably one of the best meat and cheese plates we've had outside of Italy.  

I followed that up with monkfish, which was the evening special.  Monkfish is often referred to as "a poor man's lobster" because it offers a lobster-like texture at a fraction of the cost.  Of course, lobster is far more delicious and well worth the price but monkfish is a tasty (and very ugly) creature as well.

I found this particular preparation okay, but not great.  The fish seemed a bit tough to me.  But the artichokes and olives served with it really made the dish and I cleaned my plate.

We had begun the evening at Nectar, our favorite neighborhood wine bar, so after all this food and lots of wine, there was no way I could squeeze in dessert.

But I did feel that we accomplished what I had hoped to tonight.  We got out of the 'hood, enjoyed a change of scenery, and discovered another good restaurant.  Here's to branching out!

Day 266: Mark Rocks. And So Does Cafe Maritime!

After last night's dinner of chips and pizza (oy vey!), I knew tonight's meal needed to be a little bit lighter and a hell of a lot healthier.  So, off we went to Cafe Maritime.

We've had many amazing meals at CM.  They introduced me to Lobster Thermador which is SO  delish.  I've also had salmon, swordfish, and tuna there and all have been delightful.

Tonight I started with a vodka oyster shooter.  As I mentioned in a previous post (entry #226 "Slimy and Snotlike"), I really want to like oysters and I'm looking for non-intimidating ways to try them.  What's more welcoming than vodka?

Next, I had swordfish with ancho chile sauce and green beans & broccoli.  Cafe Maritime is always really nice about letting me swap out the carby side (potatoes or rice) with a green veggie.

Finally, my husband and I shared an order of Mark's Mom's Coconut Cream Pie.  Mark is CM's owner and his mom is apparently kept in the basement and forced to crank out amazingly light and perfectly sweet pies all day long.  I say, keep her down there and keep those pies coming!  They are perfect!

Everything was delicious tonight but the best part was that Mark, the owner, recognized me from this blog and comped our meal!  That was the most pleasant surprise I've had in ages!  Thanks for another great meal, Mark.  We will definitely be back!