The Next Morning

....And we continued the good eating in New York the next morning at Wendy's, with a crazy good strata, made with St. Andre, prosciutto, basil pesto I think, and a really good bread. I tried to eat the entire pan myself, but was told I had to share.

Megan Ate Goooooood in New York!

Wendy, Donna, and Steve have regular dinner gatherings, and they were kind enough to invite Craig and me last weekend. I plan to return on a regular basis! Donna and Steve hosted, turning out some amazing food in their newly remodeled kitchen (beautiful cabinets!). We started with white wine and hors, delicious spanikopita, mini quiche, and an amazing cheese platter, with Gorgonzola, aged Asiago, Prato Disan Tati Pecorino, Delic de France Grand Camembert, Selections Creamy Blue, and French Tome de Savoie Raw Milk. I would be hard pressed to name a favorite--I loved them all!

We were served a really good shrimp cocktail--the shrimp were from Chinatown, although probably not originally, and Donna made the cocktail sauce, which was a zillion times better than the jarred version.

And we started on the red wine...my palate will remember this day. We had a vertical tasting of wine from Vineyard 29, ("Aida" Napa Proprietary Red from 2000 and 2001), De Toren Fusion V 2002, and 2004 St. Clement Napa Valley Oroppas. Each became my favorite until I tried the next one.

The African chicken peanut soup was really delicious. It was rich and velvety without being heavy, and the peanut flavor was there without being overpowering, and the chicken was so tender.

After all that soupy goodness, our palates needed to regroup, and we were served a lovely Riesling sorbet.

The entree was chicken with a mushroom-fennel ragout, with so many different mushrooms in it. It was served with muddled potatoes (a first for me) and delicate spring asparagus. So good and such a welcome for spring.

I've maxed out my post pictures, but dessert was more tasty than pretty anyway. It was my contribution, a Cointreau zabaglione served over vanilla bean pears sauteed in pinot grigio and some crumbled merengues (WF, not Hollie). Next time I'd use less sugar, but it was good and I'll probably make it again. The dessert wine, though, was spectacular. 2003 Rieussec Sauternes, a beautiful golden color and just the right amount of sweet.

Sweet!

Cauliflower, Beef and Bean Soup, and Pain A L'ancienne

I don't know why this picture uploaded sideways, but I guess it doesn't matter. On Saturday I made more of Craig's favorite vegetable, using another NY Times recipe (I think it's the editors' favorite as well). The cauliflower is cooked in the garbanzo cooking water, with some tomato paste and cayenne, then topped with cilantro and formerly frozen peas. Served over couscous, it was good, but we both agreed it needed a little something. Maybe next time I'll cook one of those delicious chickens and use the broth to cook the beans, and shred some of the chicken in the finished dish. The sweet peas were a really nice touch in this. Also, the recipe used harissa but said cayenne could be substituted, so maybe it's better with the harissa.

On Sunday I made more of that delicious pain a l'ancienne. This was my very first opportunity

to use the peel Craig made me for Christmas, and it worked great! I also refined my technique for making Hollie a hearth (a tall glass bottle is essential), and the bread was really good.

We ate the bread with a soup I made using the runner beans we grew and dried last summer. I wanted a soup bone but couldn't find one, so I got a little bit of short rib that I roasted a lot of the fat off of and used that. I was working without any recipe and at one point thought I was just making a big mess, but it turned out delicious. I threw in some leftover canned tomatoes and some turnip, carrot, and cabbage. The beans were really really good! I hope I'm able to grow more this summer.

Miso-Glazed Salmon

Craig outdid himself AGAIN on Friday night. He picked up some wild-caught salmon and baked it in the oven with a miso glaze. It was so good--I loved the salty miso and the salmon was perfectly done. He also made sweet potato oven fries and Swiss chard, and served the meal with a Macon Charnay Recolte 2006 white burgundy, which was delicious with the meal.

Eating Well in North Carolina!

Craig and I visited Susan and David near Wilmington, NC last weekend. It was a great trip--not only was the company exceptional, but the weather was great and the food even better! Our very first night there, Craig and David cooked up some local scallops and broccoli rabe:

Craig did the scallops, pan-seared with a lemon-thyme white wine sauce. Even I, not the world's biggest scallop fan, ate every single one on my plate--they were goooood. If they hadn't been there, however, I would have been content with a big bowl of the rabe, sauteed with lots of garlic and some crushed red pepper, just like David's mom would make.

Breakfasts were just as good as dinners. Our first morning, David made cornmeal-buckwheat blueberry pancakes, made with blueberries Susan and David picked and froze last summer. Craig said they were the best pancakes he's ever had, and that's saying something. David also introduced us to curry oatmeal, made with steel-cut oats and dried fruits. It's savory and delicious and I can't wait to make it myself.

And our little Rhode Island contribution:

Jonnycakes! We brought the mix and Craig fried them up. Apparently it's against the rules to have blueberries with your jonnycakes, but butter and maple syrup were all they really needed.

Our hosts took us to a little goat farm run by a woman who makes her own cheese. She's apparently won some national acclaim, especially for her blue:

It wasn't tangy like a traditional blue might be, but it was really soft and good. Look at that mold. That wasn't the only goat cheese I bought that day--I'll put a picture up on a future post--besides the blue, the two most notable were a cheddar (very young and mild) and an entire wheel of gouda, which I am not allowed to crack open until June 1.

On our final night there, Sue and Dave made us more of that wonderful rabe and a lovely risotto with sun-dried tomatoes, chicken, and shallots.

Mmm!

Other Things Megan Ate that are not pictured include hush puppies, stewed okra and tomatoes, crab cakes, field peas and snaps, pulled pork, and grits. I'm definitely heading south again!

Pick Yer Chicken

I heard about a market on Federal Hill, Antonelli's, that was supposed to have the best chicken ever, not flavorless and dull like most.  You can also apparently go in the back of the shop and pick out your chicken before it's butchered.  I haven't quite gotten to that point, but I did want to check the place out, so Craig and I drove up there on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago.  It was really clean and pleasant, no visible butchering.  A sign said they have goat (chivo), and the woman told me they often have rabbit, but had sold out.  You can also buy chicken feet there.  We bought a small chicken, sans feet.  This was the very best chicken soup I have ever made!  I don't think I did anything out of the ordinary, it must have been the chicken.  I can't wait to try roasting one.  Craig drank a Moose Drool from his microbrew club, and I made some hippie bread to soak up the delicious broth.  Next time it's the chivo!

Comfort Food

I had kind of a rough week, so on Friday Craig made my favorite comfort food--red sauce and noodles.  He had made the sauce before, it calls for a lot of anchovies, and this time I think it was a little too salty.  It was still really good though, with oil-cured olives and capers.  Sure made the kitchen smell wonderful too!  We put it over a fancy Italian pasta, and had baby broccoli sauteed with garlic and crushed red pepper.  We drank Trappolini Cenereto Lazio 2007.  It was a really good wine, but didn't go too well with the meal, I would put it with lamb instead.