Tonight, I inadvertently forgot to confirm plans in time to meet a friend for dinner, so into the kitchen for me. Needed something simple and homey after last night’s overindulgence, so I made masoor dal (with cauliflower stems cooked into it for more flavor), beets from COTM Ethiopia, fish, rice, and roasted papad.
The fish was frozen barramundi which said it had lemon pepper seasoning. Well, that seasoning was more of an awful, goopy sauce, so I scraped it off and replaced it with green chilli and mustard pickle.
The beets were better than I thought for very simple ingredients, which should not have been a surprise given that Ethiopian food is so much more flavorful than the scant seasonings for some dishes might suggest. It comes together on the plate.
Meal hit the spot better than I had expected, and I ate too much (thought it was two meals worth, but there’s just a bit of dal and beets left, which is fine, I’ll supplement tomorrow).
Also (finally) started a cure on 3 lbs of salmon for beet-cured salmon for various recipients.
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Last night, I had planned on sous vide soy sauce chicken with snow pea salad and rice. Why sous vide for a classic chinese poached dish? Because I needed to use a chicken breast, and I thought the texture to flavor balance might work better as sv (it did not).
Well, then, a friend called and we decided on an impromptu drink and early bite. Chicken went into the water bath as I left home.
We met at my favorite nearby turkish spot, and started with a glass of Prosecco. The bartender topped us up when I wasn’t looking, then we ordered another glass, after which she topped us up again. As we were finishing up, friend’s husband (also friend 
) joined us, and got a drink because we weren’t done. But then we had to get another to keep him company, and then he got another because we are much slower than he is… and so, a Tuesday “early drink” turned into “we should probably drop you the 4 blocks home so you don’t have to walk…?” (I walked.)
Food was delicious, as always — zucchini fritters with a delightfully crisp kataifi coating, fresh falafel (as in fresh beans, not dried), thin and crisp lahmacun, creamy fava bean toasts topped with a tangy arugula salad, and pretty perfect pistachio baklava.
We did eat very early, so when I came home I ate the (not great) soy sauce chicken anyway
