Lunch Saturday … The wine is the highlight here …
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Wow! What a spectacular lunch and wine pairing!
Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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Thanks so much.
It was quite delicious ! And the Barolo was amazing.
Perfect pairing !!!
Have a wonderful weekend.
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All I can think of is Bill Withers’ “A Lovely Day”.
Because it was.
I bought potting soil.
I bought Rao’s Marinara.
I bought chocolate.
I did other supermarkety and CVSey-type things.
I got some deals. 
I braved Mahoneys Garden Center just down the road from me at 2pm on a very warm Saturday May afternoon and lucked into a good parking space.
I repotted the Greek oregano, Italian flat leaf parsley, English thyme, chives, rosemary, Danvers carrots, Box Car Willie tomatoes, and Rutgers tomatoes purchased at Mahoneys. All from starter plants, because I’m a failure at growing from seed.
Several Moscow Mules were consumed after repotting and during dinner prep, and wine was consumed while dining…a Chateau Souverain Chardonnay, the first white wine I ever enjoyed back in 1978 on a visit to the winery with my aunt. It’s a good, basic white wine.
Dinner was a thick grilled Tsardusted bone-in pork chop with mango salsa (small dice mango, shallots, red bell pepper, minced Cuban pepper, parsley, lime juice, and honey). Served on garlic-herb orzo with steamed asparagus alongside.
And the wine. As I said…A Lovely Day.
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We enjoyed another outstanding dinner at Cafe Panache in Ramsey, NJ. We enjoyed fork tender short ribs with celery root puree and spinach; excellent lobster bisque with mussels; sweet corn agnolotti; and a special of soft shell crabs with the same delicious lobster bisque sauce and corn. It all went great with an excellent Chateauneuf Du Pape.
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Quiet Saturday night. Exhausted from work. Frustrated with on and off GI issues (did finally see a doctor earlier this week).
Made a martini, ordered Chinese (curry chicken with onion and broccoli, white rice, and veggie dumplings), and did some catching up on Svengoolie, my go-to for good bad horror movies. No pics of the food.
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Well the first answer is shaken, not stirred and the second question is how much vermouth do you like with your martinis? I’m 1:1 kinda guy, myself. 
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9 times out of 10 I stir my martinis. No patience tonight, so shaken it was. I usually only use a splash of vermouth, but since finding Dolin, I go a little bit more.
I used to take Noel Coward’s philosophy as gospel (“Fill a glass with gin and wave it in the general direction of Italy”) but with a good vermouth, one need not be as drastic. 
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Quesadilla for the hubs ( a few cheeses, last of the pepper jelly, and okay, I had a corner), while working on some chicken stock.
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Wow! I love that chicken from Popeyes, and I’m pretty sure we don’t get beignets.
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Cheese Stuffed, Fried Squash Blossoms, Tomato Sauce
Stuffed w/Creamy Herb Cheese & Skosh of Half & Half. Lightly Battered w/Flour, Salt & Sparkling Water. Fried & Sprinkled w/Flaky Salt. Side of Spaghetti Sauce. Turned out perfect. 
Toasted Baguette Slices, Rubbed w/Garlic & Drizzled w/Buttery Olive Oil & Sprinkled w/Flaky Salt
Spaghetti & Red Sauce w/Chicken
Finely Chopped & Sautéed Onions, Carrots, Bell Peppers & Garlic, Pureed Roasted Tomatoes, Jar of Tomato Paste, Tomato Olive Tapenade, Italian Seasoning, Bay Leaf, Crushed Dried Pepper, Mushroom Powder, White Wine, Chicken Stock, Low & Slow then added Browned Italian Chicken Sausage & Ground Chicken, Butter & Olive Oil, S&P and cooked a bit longer.
Pretty rich & delicious.
Wine was the rest of the Sparkling Organic Rose Sangiovese.
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We were having our favourite easy and fresh option of burrata with basil and tomatoes, but it’s not quite enough for dinner so I made a sort of easy Thai soup, inspired by reading about tom yum. I haven’t had that for ages!
I just used a Knorr Kaffir Lime Leaf and Ginger stock pot as the base - put in a little fish sauce and sugar and some lemongrass. I simmered it for 5 mins to bring out the flavour, then added some thinly sliced mushroom (I needed only one - it was a small bowl for us smaller eaters) two halves of a cherry tomato, sliced green onion, and two shrimp for each bowl - simmered for another few mins. Garnished with some basil, cilantro, and a lime wedge, and only a tiny amount of coconut cream since my guy doesn’t enjoy it much. It was a tasty experiment and now all the actual Thai chefs can laugh at me 
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I don’t think we get Beignets here either, but I’m addicted to their creamy Red Beans & Rice. 
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I’m not a Thai chef, but no laughing here. It sounds delicious.
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It looks & sounds sooo comfortingly yummy.
That must’ve been some pretty great wine to be the “highlight” of a meal that looks like that! 
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Yes! And I just posted about my trip to Eataly London and lusting after the zucchini flowers. I feel inspired - but I don’t deep fry. Hmm, what to do…
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I like the idea of those agnolotti! I might see if I can dig up a recipe for those since my pasta machine is getting dusty. It all sounds yum.
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I did chop & add a few to the spaghetti sauce after running out of cheese mixture. I’m going to buy more if they’re available… How do you cook yours?
