Fresh Tart

From A-Z

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 09:09:14 PST

Farewell to Fugaise, now in its last week of business, although certainly not the last act for talented chef Don Saunders. John and I, along with Genie & Joe Dixon, Kathleen Ruhland, and Angela & Mark Lageson, joined Fugaise regulars Debbie & Stu (The Wine Genius) Wiliams and Sue & Lou Ainsworth for a last-hurrah tour through Fugaise's menu.

I had a delicious piece of pan-fried skate over Israeli couscous and baby vegetables. I tasted, admittedly a bit hesitantly (too close to "pet" in my mind, I guess), Stu's roasted tenderloin of kangaroo, which was quite rich and delicious. I loved the bite of seared salmon offered as an amuse bouche (which is unusual - I've pretty much given up eating salmon in Minnesota, both at restaurants and from every store I can think of...pre-frozen and/or not-fresh-enough...fishy...yuck). Served over a sprig of greens and a slice of pink grapefruit, the taste was clean and silky with a wonderful grilled char, mmmmm. Man when salmon's good, it's so good. We of course drank great wine and pretty much had a total blast. Best of luck to the chef and terrific staff!

Such a precise, beautifully composed dinner compared to my (typical) one-pan (hot mess?) lunch! As I've said before, I'm always looking to work as many veggies into my lunch as possible. I love salads, but oh no, I can not eat a salad every day for lunch. No. In the same vein as my quick soups, beans, and pastas (below), if I have a spot of leftover rice I put together a simple fried rice, quick and filling.

I started yesterday as I usually start, by sauteeing a bit of garlic and onion in a drizzle of olive oil. Carrots too this go-round. A few pea pods or mushrooms would have been nice, but I didn't have them.

I did add a pinch of Chinese five-spice powder to the pan, although curry powder would work as well. I cracked an egg into the pan and scrambled it all around with the veggies. Then I added the rice, a bit of chopped chicken, and a handful of spinach leaves, stirring around until hot. To finish, I whisked together a tablespoon of soy sauce with a tablespoon of hoisin sauce and a teaspoon of vinegar. Teriyaki sauce would work too, or oyster sauce - basically any Asian condiment with a bit of sweetness. I poured the sauce over the rice, stirred around a few times, and voila, really fast fried rice.

I just happened to have some crushed peanuts left from the previous night's stir-fry, they made a lovely topping. There was nothing precise or particularly elegant about it, but it made for a hot, healthy lunch - something other than salad! - and that was nice.

FreshTartSteph — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 13:57:00 PST

Friday Morning Coffee with Suz! Man, it's been weeks again, waaay too long. It was great to see her beautiful face and talk super-fast so I could fill her in on all the goings on of the last couple of weeks. You know, the stuff we haven't covered in email or on the phone, ha. Like bitching about the oncoming snowstorm! Bad timing, my friends, since I'm hosting a Silver Service-catered 40th Birthday Bash tomorrow night...pour MOI! Uuuuugh (or more likely a far more offensive word!) if the snow wrecks my lovely party! Vincent Francoual - yes, of the fabulous Vincent A Restaurant- is doing the food, people, this is serious business! (That's the beauty of catering with Silver Service - they work with many of the best chefs and servers in the city.) So although I of course want everyone to be safe - I also want everyone to realize that the food is going to be worth braving the snow - this isn't just me cooking (that's our usual party routine), it's Vincent...

Sigh. Well, at least we were unhampered in our trip to Fugaise for dinner last night. It was as great as I had hoped - for me, silky squash soupfollowed by three small wild boar raviolis (small raviolis, I mean; I have no idea the size of the boar but I'm guessing not terribly small) garnished with figs, wild mushrooms, and truffle demiglace. The usual attentive, knowledgable service. Lovely wine list. Rarrr...

And tonight? Back to spiffing up the house, arranging flowers, setting out candles. And of course plowing through my closet to figure out what the hell I'm wearing - even if I end up standing here alone, just me, a few cases of wine, and a mountain of croque monsieurs, I want to look DAMN GOOD. Hmph.

FreshTartSteph — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 20:46:00 PST

Hallelujah, feeling the sun and warm(er) breezes today RAWKED (just ask George; I know I've used this pic before, it just cracks me up so much I had to use it again)! It actually smelled like spring during my morning walk - put such a grin on my face that the Byerly's cashier commented on it! (Does that mean I'm usually a crankypants in comparison? I don't think so, but hmmm...) I try not to be so affected by the weather, but hey, turns out, that's just how I roll. (See giddy LA posting below.)

No matter the weather, I'm so looking forward to a kickass dinner tomorrow night... Fugaise, baby, with John's assistant Kris and her boyfriend Harry. What winter-into-spring tasties will Chef Don Saunders be offering (on his refreshingly straightforward menu)? Stay tuned for the sure-to-be fabulous details...