Friday dinner, Campagnolo

It's a habit that we've nurtured over many years of dining at Yoshi's: we like eating at restaurant bars. Is it the high stools and counter? Is it the chance to have more casual interaction with the bar staff? I don't know, really. I just know that if we get the option, we often take it. And so it was Friday night at Campagnolo.

Busy place - we're glad to see it so packed if it's a sign that the neighbourhood will continue to develop nicely. When we arrived, we asked to sit at the bar. The backroom where the bar is had a table for four available, but not enough seats for us at the bar itself. Ah well, the table it was. And so we sat with menus and water a handful of minutes, and wouldn't you know it? The bar freed up! We moved quickly (I think the waiter was a little miffed, and I felt badly a moment or two), and soon Marie, Conrad, and I were parked with a bottle of red wine and an order of smaller plates submitted.

I like Campagnolo a lot. It's funny - we almost never go out for Italian food in Chicago or elsewhere. I'm not really sure why. But we like our little Vancouver neighbourhood place in all of its minimalism. In fact, we'll have our rehearsal dinner there this autumn, and I'm excited for that. In the meantime, though, here's a look at what we had:

Marinated Olives (cerignola, mantequilla, peppadew)
Crispy Ceci (chickpeas, chilies, mint, citrus)
Spring Vegetable Salad (crispy bread, bagna cauda)
Bruschetta (trumpet mushrooms,buffalo mozzarella, olive oil)

Conrad and Marie split the Margherita pizza (fior di latte mozzarella, tomato, basil) with prosciutto added while I enjoyed a plate of ravioli (wild nettles, soffrito, spot prawn butter). The butter was an especially sweet and delicious touch.

No dessert, we were well-enough fed (and two bottles of wine meant we were well-enough beveraged, too!). By the time we left, the bar was even more packed, and our spots were being eyed hungrily...

week without Conrad

Hmmmm... maybe that's a little melodramatic. It wasn't a FULL week, though given his time out of town the week before this past one, it all added up to feel like so much more than a week.

Let me be kind of honest here and allow some light in on the relationship that Conrad and I have. We're together a lot. We don't need to talk much - I learned a long time ago that Conrad is a person who appreciates silences, and while I am a person who naturally wants to fill silences, I've come to enjoy the value of being quiet together. Even now, sitting in our favourite Vancouver coffee shop, I'm blogging and Flickring and Facebooking and e-mailing, and he's reading. We're close by each other, but we haven't said anything in some minutes. And really, it's very comfortable. When we're apart - usually his work, sometimes mine - it's odd to us. We have only phone conversations to share, and the warm silences we share just don't quite work.

So yes, I'm overly dramatic about his absences, and I miss him a lot. And, happily, I have good people in my life who kept me good company this past week. A rundown so that I can properly thank them:

Scot invited me to a beer and cheese pairing dinner at Kendall College on Monday, and along with his friend Larissa (I hope I have that right), our teammate and friend George came along while his wife was out of town. The College has a very nice culinary school dining room, and it's been far too long since last I had been there. A rare (this year, at last) , warm spring evening, good company, and some tasty food. I especially liked the tart apple salad. I still wonder what made the "sexy" gingerbread sexy.

Wednesday lunch I enjoyed the company of my former officemate, Eric, in town on research leave. We ended up at a Brazilian place on Taylor, and I was quite impressed by the bowl of moqueca - fish and shrimp in a coconut broth. A side of rice, and I was well-nourished. Plus, great to see Eric while he was in town!

Fred joined me at the bar at Yoshi's for half-price bottle night on Wednesday. A newer teammate, he's a sweet and funny guy, and I was delighted to learn that we both share a real interest in tennis. Bonus points for enabling my sweet tooth by agreeing share dessert with me.

Thursday (Conrad got in much much later that night), I ventured far south to Hyde Park to Chuck's place. Chuck - and his adorable dog Rex - were hosting a small gathering to raise funds for a literacy center.

I have no photos of the food, but be assured that the Indian buffet Chuck had had catered was tasty AND substantial.

I missed Conrad a lot while he was gone, I won't lie. I was glad, however, for people who kept me company and who ensured I did not go hungry. As if there's ever any fear of that last possibility.

weekend baking

We've not been blessed with the most springlike of springs in Chicago this year. Rather, one might accuse spring 2011 of being altogether wintry at times. Cold, wet, miserable.

This weekend, however, the sun came out, temperatures, rose, and the air conditioning for our building is still not yet switched on. And so I, of course - wise creature that I am - turn to baking.

I'm still rusty at it, I haven't done enough of it lately, and I'm genuinely not being as consistent with it as I'd like. I also really have to wonder about the oven here - I don't think it bakes very evenly at all, and over time, that bothers me more and more. I'll soldier on for now, of course, and put aside the less-than-pretty efforts for eating at home or discreetly tossing away.

Yesterday morning I was up quite early, a fitful night of sleep behind me and a swim practice ahead. Scones for Smelts was the plan. One batch had golden raisins, candied ginger nibs, and walnuts. The other featured dried cherries (my obsession for a year now) and bittersweet chocolate. I gave extras to Heidi as advance thanks for timing me this coming Tuesday and distributed most of the rest to teammates. I ate one with a decaf latte after practice and saved one for Conrad's coffee today.

There was a team function today I'd intended to go to, but in view of Conrad's work travel last week and then today, I realized I wanted the time at home with him. He had packing to do, though, so I turned back to the kitchen and made two lemon loaves for the team to take with them. Simple quickbread cakes, scented with lemon zest and glazed with a lemon juice and sugar syrup. It was a favourite of mine when I was a kid, and Mum gave me the recipe some years back. I need to make it for Conrad's office one day.



After that I looked at some new biscotti recipes and settled on an almond crunch recipe. These were mostly to go with Conrad to the LA office. An easy enough recipe, but I think I would want the crunch to be less burnt sugar and more sweet/salty toffee or praline. I may swap out that part if I can find a good candy recipe. Still, the cookies looked nice enough, so that was good.



After Conrad left, I decided to do a bit more baking for friends. No photos from that effort - I simply forgot. I did get some chocolate chip cookies in the mail to a couple of people, though. I don't often make chocolate chip, I confess, and this was a new recipe as well. That sounds like an excuse somehow, right? I think they're fine, the cookies, but I might go to other recipes in the future.

The last batch of cookies are not yet complete. Chocolate ginger cookies a friend requested, and the dough needs a good chilling. Tuesday night I'll roll the dough and bake them up. I think that should be fine.

I've eaten a bunch of cookie dough, and we'll call that dessert. A bit more baking to come this week, and with forecasted cooler days and nights again, that should be fine.

halibut, Wednesday night

Wednesday night I pulled a recipe, dimly recalled, from the dusty recesses of my mind. Not quite remembered right, I later realized, but it was tasty enough.

I had made a black bean stew on Sunday as a quick vegetarian dinner for after swim practice on Monday, and the leftovers were still haunting our fridge. Some of these reheated became the sauce and side for the plate. One part easily done.

The recipe I was trying to recall involved a tortilla crust for frying fish. I had it in my mind as tortilla chips, however, and the crumb was a bit drier going on for that. Not a bad swap out, mind you. A bunch of store-bought chips (Frontera brand, of course!), some chopped garlic, chopped cilantro, and salt all in a food processor, and in short time I had a crumb coating. Salty, garlicky, savoury, an elusive corn flavour underpinning it all.

I dredged two pieces of halibut in flour then milk, then pressed on the crumbs. These when into a pan with oil heated already for a nice browning on each side. I put a lid on part of the time, too, so that the steaming action could better cook the fish itself. It all turned out cooked through but fork tender.

I set out a simple romaine salad with it, and Conrad and I opened a bottle of a Pinot Noir. In the midst of two weeks wherein he will be gone a lot with work travel, we grabbed ourselves a tasty little meal midweek and enjoyed each other's company immensely.

two recent desserts

Another evening at home alone, and with the fog rolling in and an early dinner in my belly, I've decided to be all cozy and catch up on blogging. A glass of wine, some photos from recent dining, and here I go!

If I may, let me revisit the fun weekend with Allison - a week now since she arrived. We picked her up at Midway, and by the end of the evening, we three were over at Hearty for a late bite. Conrad and Allison were ambivalent about dessert, but the table behind us on the patio (ah, patio dining - it's been so cold since then) recommended an item, and I decided we should all share it. Very worth it, I have to say: a Nutella pop tart with salted caramel ice cream. Go on, ask Conrad and Allison how much they declined and how birdlike they picked at it sparingly. As if!

That was a delicious treat, undeniably. Better still was the dessert the next day. Allison and I went to Terzo Piano at the Art Institute for lunch. She opted for the little lunch special while I had the papparedelle with turkey confit. The room filled up, we moved on from wine to coffee (decaf for me), and I ordered dessert.

Every time I go to Terzo Piano, I find that every dessert has at least one super-intriguing or appealing ingredient. Same thing this time. Allison guessed my choice on the second try: ricotta and green pea fritters with carrot caramel and orange sorbet. Peas? Interesting. And think about it: they are sweet. The peas were in the filling to the fritters, and they really were fresh and sweet and fine. The caramel? Lovely. The sorbet? A bright, tart-sweet, fruity counterpoint. Another winner.



After a month of cleanse, it was a good start to an anti-cleanse weekend. Mmmmm... desserts...

10 states

A short post to congratulate Allison who, yesterday, reached double digits in the number of US states she has visited. Despite miserable weather on the drive to and from, we made it up to Milwaukee for a quick visit that included a stop at a coffee shop in the Third Ward
(Conrad and I have liked the soups there in the past, but the decaf latte was truly awful), a bit of a drive along the lake and past some fine old homes, and a stop to browse and buy at the Spice House.








I love the Spice House. On my first visit to Milwaukee - waaaaay back in 1995, before there was any hint of an idea that I would live in the US - I was taken there and went to town on bringing things back for fun at home and at the restaurant. Allison picked up a couple of things, and I somehow restrained myself, buying only some vanilla and saffron and true cinnamon sticks and a few other things. But ah, to smell that truffle salt or see a big jar of mace blades. Fun stuff.

Anyway, it was about Allison, taking her to the outlets at Pleasant Prairie (not a successful jaunt for the most part), and adding that tenth state to her list. Congratulations to my best woman, and may her future additions have better weather in store for her!

salmon, midweek

I haven't been cooking too many great dishes lately. It feels like I've made dinner and nothing more. It's food, it's nourishing, it's not especially noteworthy or even pretty enough to be photographed. This past Wednesday, however, I took a little time and made a little effort, and the result was a fairly decent little meal for us.
Three components:

1. Salmon, coated with a bit of oil and seasoned with salt, pepper, and thyme. I seared it to a nice medium.
2. Corn and leek puree, made with vegetable broth and no dairy, sieved to a better smoothness.
3. Fava bean and tomato salad, tossed with a simple garlic and sherry vinegar dressing and mixed with some diced red pepper and sliced shallot.

Plated, it looked attractive enough, and I thought the meatiness of the fish, the sweetness of the puree, and the sharpness of the salad made for a balanced plate. A good meal, and one worth photographing at last.

"spring"

I think many of my Chicago friends (all of them, more likely) will be displeased with this weather. I may not join them in that chorus. Look at me: I'm a pale and pasty guy from far north of here. Temperatures in the 80s, like the ones we've had this week, are not ones I enjoy, not in May. July? Fine. At least at that time of year the AC is switched on in our building.

I set out for a dental appointment yesterday in a lightweight H&M shirt (fun shopping with Martin in Philadelphia!), sticking to the east side of the street for shade so as not to burn. When I came out of my appointment later that morning, it was brisk out. By the time I got downtown to the Art Institute to meet Allison for lunch, fog or low cloud was obscuring the taller buildings.

Our shopping expedition turned into a search for the extra layer we'd neglected to bring along. H&M to the rescue, at least for me!

A sweater day today, and we'll be indoors or in a car much of the day. Were we not entertaining a guest this weekend, though, I suspect I'd spend much of today standing under a deliciously warm shower. And yet for all that, I am glad for this weather. Until the AC gets turned on, it means cool nights of good sleep. 80 degrees? Save it for a few more weeks from now, please!

guilty pleasures

It invariably takes a trip out of town to bring out some of my guiltiest eating habits.

(We won't discuss the contents of the special drawer in the living room and all of their teeth-rotting capabilities.)

Conrad and I were up in the UP this past weekend, enjoying time with his family. And really, we didn't eat badly. Well, not too badly. I had a lovely piece of roast walleye on Saturday night, for example, and my poached eggs on Sunday morning were a perfect, simple breakfast.

On the other hand, I steered us to pasties for lunch on Saturday and willingly caved in to the joys of Old Dutch.

And then there were the onion rings at Culver's on the way home on Sunday. That salad? Not mine. Nope, not at all.

Bad Peter, bad. I foresee many days of diet soda and cigarettes ahead...

day at The Getty

A spring Saturday in Los Angeles, a weekend with Conrad. We'd been looking forward to this, and our big plan (other than shopping at the RVCA store) was getting to The Getty Museum. After breakfast in Santa Monica, we did.

Ever been there? A gorgeous museum campus. Travertine marble all over, fossils in the walls, gardens, interesting collections, a terrific little gift shop, a mediocre lunch.

But let's hold off on that last one. Let's take that list in order.

Travertine. I'd never heard of it until I first visited the museum in 2005. Now, it seems, I spot its creamy spongy texture in many places and gravitate toward it. Much of The Getty is clad in the marble, and one of the fun things about it is just wandering the campus and spotting the fossils in the walls.
It might be poetic to suggest that the campus gleams like a castle on a hilltop, all creamy white, and if I lived in Bel Air and had a view, I might think so. We actually spent more time admiring the buildings and grounds than the collections.

The gardens. In spring bloom, perhaps not at their peak. Lovely, though. Conrad and I opted for an hour-long garden tour (and the accompanying sunburn) not long after we arrived at the museum. The most interesting things, I think, were the succulents,



but we enjoyed the whole tour.

We actually didn't see many of the collections. I was keen to see an exhibit on illuminated manuscripts, so we toured that. We also wandered through some of the European paintings, though we found ourselves distracted, thinking how very much we wanted to get back outside.

Gift shop! We visited twice: once to scope it out, the second time to shop. No photos, but a couple of people will find items from The Getty in their Christmas parcels.

And then there was lunch. Oh dear. You know, I generally do not criticize restaurants on the blog if I've had a bad experience, and I don't mean to rag on the dining room at The Getty too much. It was a handsome room, very bright. I thought that the menu looked good (though there was little that fit my cleanse). Our salads were tasty. Conrad's crab cakes looked really tasty. So, there were positives. Even the negative looked attractive when it was plated - that's a nice photo there.



The menu promised an English pea risotto with wild mushrooms, faro, and pea shoots. There was faro, there were pea shoots. Was it a risotto? No, not really - it was grains and stuff in a bowl with a thin broth at the bottom, not at all creamy from the rice starch. Once again, alas, I re-learned the lesson: if a restaurant calls them "wild" mushrooms without specifying what type they are, they probably aren't wild. No, I don't consider cremini or portabello mushrooms wild. They're button mushrooms deep down. What I received? Unabashedly button mushrooms. Lots of them. Easily a half cup or more left on the plate - pieces too large for me to just swallow without having to chew or taste. Worse still, there was a mighty long gap between the salads and the entree I disliked so. I will credit the restaurant for removing it from our bill, but I would be reluctant to ever go dine there again.

It did take us a handful of minutes or more after lunch to re-find the enjoyment in our visit to The Getty. Happily, we did. In all we spent some five or so hours there, and I wish we'd spent more.

More Getty photos in the set on Flickr.