Catching Up

My menu plans for last week kind of fell apart. It happens. I go to the grocery store, I buy food for the week, but then things happen and for whatever reason we end up eating out.

Tuesday I made Italian Wedding Soup from Cooks Illustrated. It was ok. I am convinced if I make enough different kinds of soup, I will eventually find one I like (Cooks Illustrated does have an excellent cream of tomato soup recipe). I also made an arugula salad. I love arugula. This salad was delicious, I will definitely make it again: Pear, Arugula and Pancetta Salad from Epicurious.

Wednesday I needed to use the leftover meat (a combination of ground pork and ground beef) from the meatballs in the Italian Wedding soup. So I made burgers, with sauteed mushrooms (which I had bought for a meal the previous week that we never made) and some left over provolone cheese. They were quite delicious actually.

Thursday I went to an auction, where dinner consisted of several glasses of wine.

Friday we ate at the local taco truck. I love the taco truck.

Saturday we had BBQ at a friends’ house after spending the afternoon helping them lay sod. There are now three BBQ places in Ballard. This one was pretty good. They did have good greens.

Sunday was Easter dinner at another friends’ house. I brought gougeres.

Tonight I made roasted salmon, which was supposed to be on the menu last week but never seemed to happen. It was really good, and super fast and easy. Best of all (from Adam’s perspective) only two dishes to clean! I’ve experimented with a lot of different ways of cooking salmon, and I have concluded that roasting is really the best.

Fried Fish and Raw Fish

I tried a new salmon recipe this week. I usually broil it or poach it or if we have a whole fish, grill it. This time I fried it. A little olive oil heated to high, throw in the fish and sprinkle with salt, turn the heat down a bit and fry for 3-5 minutes per side depending on thickness. It was really tasty. I made a lemon cream sauce to go along with it, but it didn’t quite turn out. It tasted fine, but I don’t think I simmered it enough because it never thickened. We also had a kale salad. Have I mentioned how much I love kale? It was delicious. Especially delicious for lunch the next day with some cold salmon thrown on top. Yum.

Last night we had dinner with mom and friends at the Dragonfish Cafe. It was fun, not the best sushi I’ve even had (lots of rice, no a lot of fish), but it was more about the company than the food last night. Tonight there are rumors of pizza (“American” pizza, per mom’s request. Not “Italian” pizza.)

And I’m Back…

A busy week in Rochester, MN and I’m back. The first few nights were busy, trying to get life back in order, so we ate out. First night at India Bistro in Ballard. Pretty typical Indian food, which in all honesty, all kind of tastes the same to me. Last night we were at Costco, and decided to try Slim’s Last Chance, a chili place Adam’s brother had been encouraging us to try. It was excellent.

I did my weekly menu planning last night, and did my grocery shopping so we should have a good collection of meals this week. Tonight it is slow roasted pork with savory apple gravy, roasted broccoli and cauliflower and probably mashed potatoes. The pork smells *amazing*. It was supposed to marinate overnight, but I failed to realize that until this morning, so it just marinated 7 hours. We’ll see how it turns out.

“Easy” Spaghetti and Mexican

Tuesday we decided to stay in, and I would make something quick and easy: spaghetti. Ha. Have we learned nothing when it comes to how I cook? I am incapable of making a meal in less than an hour. Especially if we have guests over. I made my favorite, super easy tomato sauce:

one can whole tomatoes

one onion, halved and peeled

1/2 a stick of butter

Put in pot. Simmer for 45 minutes. Remove onions. Mash up tomatoes. Done.

And if this were all I were making, dinner would have been done in less than an hour. But I decided to make that arugula salad again. I LOVE THIS SALAD. But it takes about 1 1/2 hours to make, especially if you are easily distracted as I am. Regardless, we all got to eat around 8 pm (really not that unusual for us, but tough if you are still jet lagged from your flight over from Europe).

Last night we went out for Mexcian at Rositas. They have delicious salsa, good margaritas and above average American-Mexican food. It was a very nice evening. Mom and Illona are off to Oregon/California today, and I’m off to Minnesota tomorrow, so unless Adam feels compelled to tell you what he is eating for dinner while I am out of town, there will be a brief hiatus. I’ll be back on 3/9.

Weekend Recap

I spent most of the weekend working on a presentation that I’m giving in a few weeks. By requiring me to turn in my slides 2 weeks in advance, they have ensured that I am well prepared for the talk. Despite my attempts to get things done in advance, however, I spent the majority of the last two days making power point slides. And re-watching Downton Abbey. I did have some time to cook though.

Friday I went out with some girlfriends, to say farewell to one friend who is leaving rainy Seattle for sunny Denver. I can’t say that I blame her, although Seattle is putting on its best show today in an attempt to convince her to stay. We went to Cantinetta, which was delicious. I’ve had a hard time finding a good Italian restaurant in Seattle, but this might be it. Homemade pasta is amazing, as were the nutella filled donut holes we had for dessert.

Saturday, I made meatloaf. Meatloaf never blows me away, and this was no different. I *love* meatloaf sandwiches though, so that was my main motivation for making this. I’m not sure that I’d make this one again, I missed the ketchup-y nature of my usual meatloaf recipe. And the mushroom gravy was unnecessary. Tasty, but unnecessary. The roasted vegetables (green beans, quartered red potatoes tossed with olive oil, salt and a little sugar roasted at 500 degrees for 20 minutes, then tossed with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 clove pressed garlic, a little salt, a little pepper and sliced radicchio) were delicious. I can’t find the meatloaf recipe right now, but unless you really like mushrooms and you don’t like meatloaf with ketchup and bacon (which I love and will likely be the basis for all future meatloaf adventures), you can probably skip it.

Sunday I went to an Oscar party, so ate lots of appetizer sized foods. Adam ate leftovers. I haven’t planned a menu for this week, since my mom is in town visiting. We’ll play it by ear, although tonight might be pizza night if I get home from work early enough to make the pizza dough.

The Herbfarm

Last night we went out for an amazing dining experience. Two of our very good friends are moving away, and as their going-away celebration (not that we are celebrating their leaving… we are very sad that they are leaving), we all went to the Herbfarm for dinner.

The Herbfarm is a “farm-to-table” dining establishment, with one seating per night. It’s a set menu, with 9 courses and wine pairings. The chef is 26 years old. I think I was still cooking macaroni and cheese from a box when I was 26 years old. They have a theme menu, which changes every two weeks or so. It was “a taste of trees” last night, with each course incorporating wood smoke, tree nuts, etc. It was really a phenomenal experience, one that I hope some day to repeat. Perhaps when it is mushroom week.

The menu from last night:

Applewood-smoked steelhead with celery root Fueille de Brick and Oregon black truffle soup, with a Virginica oyster in pine-smoked sea water with smoked arctic char roe

Albacore tuna with parsnip cream

Braised acorn-fed pork neck with chestnut spaetzle and rutabaga puree

Roasted Moulard duck with beet sauce, blackened beets, raisined beets, elderberry tree capers and hazelnuts

Charcoal grilled lamp with rosemary garlic farina cake and sausage of wild black trumpet mushrooms and lamb

Dinah’s cheese with carrot-elder tree blossom marmalade

Barlett pear raviolo in douglas fir consomme

Whiskey savarin with walnut butter, whiskey snap tuile and bay leaf-maple syrup ice cream

Assorted small sweets