Fresh Tart

Geez (OMG, John just said the word 'geez' right while I typed that - perhaps coincidence, or as he cracked, because we're 'yoked', ha), I really need to pull out my damn cam when we socialize. Argh! Last night we had dinner at Morton's, with Mack's and Zimmern's, to celebrate Aaron's birthday. No pic, unless Aaron scans and sends me the picture the maitre d' took (hint). Lovely salads, steaks, scallops, crab cakes, broccoli, and hash browns floated by and disappeared with nary a record of their greatness, other than the shadow of flavor on our palates, swallow. Or perhaps a bit of creamed spinach in our teeth. Shame, really, I'm all about the pic. All I can say is good times, as always, good times.

Tonight, we hosted Sheri and Darin Lynch for dinner - man did we luck out not only with cool guests but with the cool breeze that blew through around 5:00 pm, whoooo, effectively removing all humidity from the sultry air and thus creating a damn-near perfect July's eve. NICE. We noshed pre-dinner on grilled bread, grilled tomatoes and red onions, and paper-thin slices of Molinari dry salami. For din - al fresco, baby,due to that fabulous breeze - a beef tenderloin roast, smeared with garlic and herbs, then seared on the grill, served alongside crushed new potatoes topped with creme fraiche, mushrooms sauteed with garlic and lemon, and sugar snap peas sauteed in a bit of butter. With warm fruit crisp (peach, plum, blueberry) for dessert, we polished off a pretty sweet evening of summer chat, if I do say so myself - again, good times, good times. (And again, no pic, argh! However, recipe for fruit crisp posted in comments, below.)

Tomorrow, a little baseball, a splash of swimming, dinner a la Chinois, and Batman, baby. Bat. Man. Yep, once again - good times, good times. Happy Summer!

Moderate it: as I mentioned below, I knew I was making steak for din tonight, so I passed on the steak at Morton's on Thursday. Grilled scallops wrapped in bacon fit the bill nicely. The broccoli with Bearnaise was delicious. But I did not get away before the hash browns - or even tastier, and just as rich, the potatoes Lyonnaise - arrived. Ah well.

Over this past Date Weekend, great biking (a correctly tuned bike! I'm so into it!) with John and a couple of lovely meals out to boot. As I mentioned below, we kicked off a long weekend together last Thursday, in the uber-romantic bar at Cafe Lurcat (twinkly chandeliers everywhere, pic from their website). No frites this trip - moderation, natch - but when I head back next Thursday, with my minxes, we're all over the frites, oh yeah. Can't wait!

Then Sunday night, pre-Neil Diamond (we were invited by John's client Frank and his wife Christine, total blast, thank you), we had a fabulous dinner at Heartland - yes, the Heartland of our Bizarre Foods Minnesota adventure - in St. Paul. I love everything about Heartland, from Chef Lenny Russo to the Mission-style dining room to the genius wine list to the beautiful, fresh, locally-sourced food. I had two appetizers - the house-smoked bacon-pinto bean soup with tomato concassee and fresh summer herbs, followed by the fried zucchini blossoms with fava bean mousse filling, kohlrabi-dill slaw, and cucumber-walnut vinaigrette. I just...lurved them both, especially the squash blossoms, so crispy and salty, perfectly set off by the tangy slaw and vinaigrette. I kept saying, this is my kind of dish, oh yeah, I love this food, it's all about the contrast, this is so me...blah, blah, blah. John was too polite to not listen, but I realize (um, in retrospect) that I was perhaps a bit monotonous. What can I say? I completely enjoyed every bite, and yes, it was my kind of dish. (No pic, damn it, forgot my camera. Needless to say, pretty, pretty.)

This week I'm mining the riches of my LaFinca veggie share - salad greens, broccoli (to be stir-fried with sugar snap peas tomorrow night), kohlrabi (great sliced thin for dipping in yummy things like olive tapenade), strawberries (which I finished, en pint, after a long bike ride last Friday, OMG good), and kale, which I'll saute for lunch tomorrow for myself and my sis, Stacey. I'm pretty much obsessed with kale sauteed with garlic and finished with lots of salt and lemon or balsamic. Crave-worthy, even in the summer.

This Thursday night, a beefy din at Morton's with the Mack's and Zimmern's, coming right up (pedal, pedal, pedal). Friday, dinner here with the Lynch's (more pedaling or walking or something, Lord help my butt). Not sure how we're fitting in a little post-season baseball tourney as well, but you know, somehow it all works. Nathan's playing tennis, golf, basketball, and now baseball again for a few days, but it's summer in Minnesota, baby, we'll take whatever comes our way. How pretty has this weather been? Ah, these are the days to remember in the depths of winter, as rockin' as those fried squash blossoms filled with fava puree... Just beautiful (the pic is of lovely Maud arranging flowers in Sag Harbor, summer in a pic, as it were). Splash!

Moderate it: it's worth filling out restaurant meals with vegetables. Certainly no guarantee for low calories - restaurants use fat liberally to make veggies tasty, even the steamed, roasted, and grilled versions - but better than starch dishes (like, oh, frites, mashed potatoes, risotto, pasta, bread stuffings), which were practically invented to absorb an insane amount of oil and cream.

An even better treat than going to a restaurant for dinner is heading to someone's home for dinner. Granted, I'm shockingly blessed with friends and family who are not just good cooks, but great cooks. (Thank you, Food Gods!) Seriously - some of the best tastes I've ever savored have been courtesy of none other than my parents, grandma, and aunts, not to mention in-laws and friends. Veal scallops a la danoise (my father-in-law), roasted goose with cabbage, lardons, and whipped potatoes (Dad & Susanna), fresh lemon-coconut cake (Suz), grilled tuna on Georgica Beach (Bartley), guacamole on Georgica Beach (Maud), grilled leg of lamb (Carol), Christmas prime rib roast (aunt Mary), apple pie (aunt Marge), crispy homemade pizzas (Kathie), Greek salad (Mary P), spanikopita (Mary P's mother-in-law), almond puff pastry (Mom), braised lamb (Stu & Debbie), heirloom tomato salad (Rudy & Ana), oyster stew (Andrew), fried fresh walleye with garden green beans (Grandma & Grandpa Meyer), Schaum torte (Polly), oven-roasted potatoes (Harry)... Oh my goodness, I could go on and on and on. It's unbelievable, really. From the simplest to the most involved, all completely memorable. So there you go, proof that I remember fondly damn near everything I've ever eaten. (Curse or blessing? Not sure...) Hey, if I am what I eat, I'm so jamming! As well as French, Greek, Mexican, Italian, Danish, German, British... NICE!

Also nice? In fact, where I'm going with all of this? (Sorry, I tend to get a little carried away with my reminiscing...) We're going to Suz& Cory's for dinner tonight - yays! For raclette - melted cheese served with all sorts of tasty Frenchy/Swissy accoutrements: potatoes, ham, pickles, vegetables. Little wine, little chat, little checking out Planet Earth in high def (The Coreman, like The Batman, has all the best toys). Aaaaahhh, Total Tasty Relaxation. Thank you in advance Shuberts! Wheee!

I'll hope for you that you're lucky enough to be heading to someone's home for dinner tonight too. If not, whip up a little somethin' somethin' for yourself (perhaps a simple pasta with broccolini with a nice glass of red) and...well...pretend? (Actually, it works, I do it all the time!)