The cube of cheese commeth

The place: Trump Intl Tower, NYC, 86^th floor.
The time: a few hours ago.
The food: …um….

Nuit previous we were asked to come and sing at a fancy party for our Maestro in NYC, hence to stay one night and return for our continuing rehearsals the following day. The event was indeed posh enough, and as far as one can tell, fairly positive in the respect of promo-ing our upcoming performances. The only downer of the luscious evening was the food.

Whilst our voices might have been unforgettable for this lot, the food certainly should be. It started well enough, or so we thought. Tiny, tiny crisps with crab and smoked s. atop, and dill of course, because it’s green and pretty. Then our Brit compro and fellow voicer’s fave arrived with great pomp. The ever ready CUBE OF CHEESE, of course accomp with tooth picks. A must have, I'd have thought. OH! I almost forgot the grand sushi rolls too large to place in a gaping maw let alone your mouth.

Then we sang and we were quite brilliant, or so many told us. But who really knows, because they were probably contemplating what they had just eaten and were at a loss of space for anything else in their brains.

Dinner was in appearance an amazing spread. About every dish included Chicken, or Fish: Sesame chicken, chicken marsala, breaded chicken, breaded fish, fish alla teriyaki, fish alla lemon, CHICKEN alla lemon. It was all very good, but... There was a lot of meat for the masses. And they for some reason had leftovers…. We can eat more later?!

Dessert, however, was indeed compensatory for the previous tour-de-force, little tartlets and tiny, tiny miniature chocolate croissants, and other doll-sized goodies. Yum…and the wine was very nice as well!

Overall, it was fun… I then got back to the hotel and realized Les Halles was on the next corner round from us…about cried out of shame for my only meal in NYC.

Salt

A quick note...

I love salt as much as the next person, it makes things flavorful, it keeps certain types of fish alive. It's great, not the least bit pricey.

Our meal Sunday night, however, was a bit overzealous about this already well established ingredient. Uncommon Ground lots it's nerve on our dishes, coating a duck breast and a fillet of halibut in the ground white dust. I was all excited at first. The halibut was served with fresh fava, sun chokes, and a watercress puree. It was beautiful, as noted to me by our charming server, but it was a salt fest. The Duck was no better, and the husband suffered and ate his without complaint...until we reached the outdoors, where he proceeded to ream the chef for his poor seasoning abilities. 

Just for the record we've never had a problem with this joint before, and we will probably go back again. But lighten up, Chef! Sodium kills.

Summer in Chicago

It's supposed to be summer, anyway. Everything around us says so, except the weather. Yes, we have been graced by 50-60 degree days and moderate-to-no sunshine. This is not summer weather, we keep telling ourselves that some day it will be warm enough to go to the lake and not wear gloves when we go out (example A: the woman getting groceries at local stop this a.m.). 

So we turned off the grill the other night and had comfort food instead. Well, what I think of as comfort food. My mother makes this pork tom sauce that was creation of once "frugal" gourmet, now peddling his pans in the great beyond. Very simple recipe that I actually have no idea what is really in the recipe since it varies by what is available. Pretty sure the orig includes celery, which is not my favorite, therefor it's not in our house, and so did not make the dish...My version DID include:

Browning two bone-in pork chops of a goodly size, then removing them to rest.

Sauteing carrots, onions and garlic in browned-bit pot.

Throwing in a tablespoon of Herbs de Provence, two dried bay leaves.

Adding one cup (or whatever) dry white wine. Letting alcohol cook off.

One very large can of crushed tom, one 14oz of petite diced.

Throwing meat back in with juice, and then cooking till falling apart.

Simple and yummy, served with noodles of whatever shape and size. We used wholewheat spaghetti I got from Lincolnwood produce. If you try to cook this kinds of pasta al dente it sometimes can be a little dry tasting, I let it go a minute or two more than I would normal noodles. 

We also had with it a roasted beet salad, recipe from Ev. Day Food.

Roast trimmed beets (skin on!) in foil pack with little s/p and oil at, maybe, 425 for 30-45 min. Depending on the size... When they cool, peal them, your hands will be pretty in pink, but that's some darn good stuff you're left with.

Slice beats to desired size. 

Combine 1/2c Greek yogurt, a couple of teaspoons of white wine vinegar, and Olive oil in a bowl, add water, 1 tablespoon?, to desired thinness.

(here's where we stopped following the recipe)

Chop 7-8 basil leaves and some fresh oregano and add to dressing. Season with s/p. 

Using romaine as a base, top with beets and dressing, add walnuts for crunch (at least that was the plan...I actually forgot them).

So it's not quite Summer, but not still Winter, and Spring already happened. But this meal set our souls at peace. These two dishes don't quite go together, but hey, goofy meal for goofy time of year.