Presenting the food orgy, in chronological order:
Wednesday: Neesha was in town, so Courtney, Mel, Chris, E and I joined up at Pinati's for some Middle Eastern fare. The place has the best hummus in town - we think the secret's in the tahini. Warm pitas fresh from the oven... mmm! We ordered shish kabobs and rounded dinner with the most decadent chocolate souffles.
Thursday: Had L & W over for dinner. I made the usual Chinese - pork with black soy beans simmered in a clay pot, baby bok choy - and a stray Indonesian dish, fried tempeh with kecap manis (E's favorite). We munched on edamame and broke out a semi-sweet table red. The highlight of the evening was the dessert that L & W had brought - cupcakes!! Not just any cupcakes, these were gems from the new bakery up the street that I've been craving for.
From Dozen: Orange Blossom, Snowball, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Vanilla Vanilla, Milk Chocolate
Friday: We invited Liz over for dinner. After a hurried trip to Whole Foods to fetch 2 lbs of yellowfin tuna and packed-'n-ready haricot vert (I'm a lazy bum, I know), I whipped up pepper-crusted seared ahi tuna, short-grain rice, the beans, and chopped salad, while E gave Liz the grand tour of our teeny apartment. We opened the organic pear wine from Four Chimneys (Liz raved on about it) and, even though we were stuffed, managed to have rich brownies (laced with chocolate ganache) for dessert.
It had been a rough week at work, and toiling in the kitchen after hours wasn't the best way to decompress, but I was pretty psyched... iron chefs never shy from a challenge!
Saturday: Another night with Liz, this time trading the kitchen for a huge tabletop grill - hibachi at Yokoso. There was a long wait, so we hovered at the bar and ordered a Sakura (sake + cherry brandy) and Malibu coconut martini. The martini was bliss in a glass. Our chef at the grill looked kinda young and new, and he took things slow and simple. Basic knife-flipping, easy does it with cracking the eggs and slicing the shrimp. The part during dinner where the lights go off and the flames go up, we had a tame baby flame. :) At least he made a little onion volcano.
Sunday (finale): No company for dinner, but it was fun all the same. It's the time of year for fondue; instead of the classic Swiss, we made one with gorgonzola, port, and walnuts. Dippers include seared beef tenderloin, granny smith apples, and cubed Italian bread. We had generous servings of port with the meal. Delicious - definitely will do it again for company.
Gorgonzola, port, and walnut fondue - recipe from Rick Rodgers
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Watched Pan's Labyrinth on Sunday. I walked in expecting a fantastical journey a la Chronicles of Narnia, but left feeling somber, shaken, and a little depressed. It was well done, and at parts I felt like I was cuddled up with a good book, though I couldn't stand to watch the gory scenes. The two realities were cleverly woven; I can't decide if the story ended well or not.
The Spanish definitely added to the enchantment (pun). Whenever E recognized a phrase, he'd lean over and repeat it excitedly in a whisper, "Vamanos!" "Un poco!" Pretty funny. Dark theater, dramatic scenes, and a boy shows off his vocabulary with vim. :)
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Countdown to Chinese New Year begins!
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