In The Interest of Experimentation

So this weekend I was quite productive. Natalie, Ross and I tried a new restaurant on Friday night--Jimmy's. It was delicious, and the beer was great (I had a yummy Japanese beer a white ale) . . . but we concluded that we would come back in the winter when the lack of air conditioning wouldn't matter so much.

Saturday I braved the heat and ran down to the Union Square Green Market (one of my favorite things to do on a Saturday morning), and got fresh ricotta, tomatoes, radishes, zucchini, and then I was on my way out and I saw squash blossoms. I have never cooked squash blossoms, but I have been reading so much about them, that when I saw them, I had no choice but to buy them (even though I am pretty sure I have never even eaten them).

Tonight, I made fried squash blossoms. One batch was plain, and one was stuffed with ricotta. The batter was light, just beer and flour and when the oil got hot enough the fried blossoms were delicious. The most amazing thing was how "squashy" they tasted, and yet the strong squash flavor in something so delicate was so out of this world: amazing how much consistency matters. I think the next time I will stuff them with a more flavorful filling (or as a friend suggested schtup them--although I have only heard that used as yiddish euphamism for sex, so I think I am pretty much just uncomfortable with the idea of "schtupping" squash blossoms . . . .um yeah), a perhaps stronger cheese with basil, garlic, and mushroom. I have leftover blossoms so I wish I could do it tomorrow, however I am not sure I can handle pouring out another half of a bottle of oil to make my dinner . . . maybe Wednesday?

June and The beginning of July Gone in A Flash

So much has happened it's hard to know where to begin . . . so I will just dive in . . . In the last two months I have eaten at Blue Hill at Stone Barns, thrown a crabcake dinner party, gone to my first coney island cyclones game, and been to Copenhagen and Stockholm. Craziness.

Blue Hill was excellent. I went with my friends Megan and Matt, and as it turns out, Matt is a great person to eat out with, because he likes to eat and without even thinking said, tasting menu with wine pairings? Of course. Unfortunately, my camera died before dinner so I have no pictures of the presentation which was truly amazing. Our bright green salad was served on a piece of black slate. Bright green asparagus soup was served in a big white bowl. And it was all delicious.

The next weekend I invited Ross, Natalie, Geordie and Lindsay over for a dinner party, which turned out kind of great. I made a blueberry cake using the recipe for the rasberry yogurt cake and covered it in lemon curd for dessert. It was delicious. And I made crabcakes using Amanda Hesser's recipe from Cooking for Mr. Latte. I was a little nervous, because the now former boyfriend made me think it was kind of insane to throw a dinner party and cook something you had never made before. I had never made the crabcakes before, but they turned out terrifically delicious. I would definately make the recipe again (a lot of crab meat, white bread and coated in saltine cracker crumbs to keep the crab from getting tough). So pthhht. Lindsay and Geordie put together a little cheese and wine tasting to enjoy before the meal, which was definately the best thing anyone could ever bring for me to share. Yay dinner party. Yay. Next post all about Scandinavia (oh and that picture of Geordie and Lindsay? It's from the cyclones game, there was a wedding after the game on the field and that is them enjoying the wedding cake. ha ha ha ha)