Restaurant Week: Take Two

NOTE: I started this post a week ago.  Last week was just... one of those weeks where nothing gets accomplished in any area of life.  Ever have those weeks?  I'm going to leave what I wrote originally and comment as needed.  And make this week's goal: productivity.


Tonight my friends and I are going out for another Restaurant Week dinner, which will undoubtedly be better than the last one because, well, how could it not be?  We are going here, and I am SO excited.  It sounds right up my alley.  They change the entire restaurant for every season, including menu, decor, etc.  I always study menus ahead of time, but I honestly can't even pick what I want!  This will have to be a game time decision.


Results: SO MUCH BETTER THAN BUTTER!  It was a great meal.  They started us with croissant-like rolls and walnut bread, plus some parmesan poppers.  I'd never had fried parmesan before, but the way it holds together is really nice -- not melty/stringy like mozzarella.  I ended up unintentionally doing a complete cross-comparison of the two restaurants by ordering the Park Ave Winter version of everything I ate at Butter: butternut squash soup, salmon, and banana dessert.  So much for variety, eh.  I thought the soups were almost too different to compare.  The one at Butter was brighter and bolder, but Park Ave's had a really elegant sophistication to it.  I'm talking truffle oil and roasted squash seeds.  Really beautiful and light.  The salmon was cooked perfectly at Park Ave (and no one asked me how I wanted it cooked...), and I loved the citrus glaze and kale.  It was a MONDO portion, too!  Dessert was amaaaaazing.  It was banana ice cream with whipped cream, chocolate crunchies (like a Carvel cake!) and butterscotch sauce.  I ate all of mine and some of Allison's. :)


Yikes!  So much text.  I will spare you my rambling restaurant reviews and get to the cooking.  Yeah, yeah, I hear those sighs of relief.


In my own kitchen, I had a few new things on the menu.  Last week I tried to make this recipe for Curried Cauliflower Flatbread, and I kinda failed.  Had I not, it might have looked something like this:

(photo credit nytimes.com)

My own was so unappetizing in appearance that I will not burden you with a photo.  It was uggo.  Just leave it at that.  However, I learned a few things: 1. I like roasted cauliflower, 2. light coconut milk is AWESOME, and 3. aesthetics matter a lot when it comes to food.  The flavors of this bread were right on, and the texture was, well, almost right on, but it was visually unappealing, which really took away from the eating experience.  This is more my fault than Mr. Bittman's, as I didn't use the right type of pan, but it's incredible how big a role our eyes play in eating, huh?  Anyway, I recommend the recipe if you have the right cookware.


I did, however, succeed with a 101cookbooks.com recipe.  It was called Ten Minute Tasty Asparagus and Brown Rice.  10 minutes?  Maybe in Heidi-land, but in Freya-land, this was more like Thirty Minute Tasty Asparagus and Brown Rice.  Granted she used frozen rice, which sped things up.  However, that wasn't my issue: I let the rice cook while I showered, so no biggie there.  I found the sauce to be a little time consuming.  Measuring is a pain in the butt.  I think I'm over it.  (Hence why Mark Bittman is my cooking hero.)


Hello, asparagus!  I know it's not in season, but until the stores stop tempting me with veggies from South America, I can't totally let go...

Here's what I ended up with.

Obviously served in my super mature Shrek bowl that I ordered from a cereal box.  It's a bowl with ogre antennas!  Seriously?  How could you not love that?

Ten (or Forty) Minute Tasty Asparagus and Brown Rice
Adapted from Heidi Swanson's 101cookbooks.com


3 tbsp EVOO
1 or 2 cans chickpeas (I used one), drained
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, cut into 1-inch segments
3 cups pre-cooked brown rice
1 cup almond slivers, toasted (I used a mix and almond and cashew pieces)
fine grain sea salt


Tahini Dressing:
1 garlic clove, smashed and chopped
1/4 cup tahini
zest of 1 lemon (this might have been the most time consuming piece, made infinitely worse by the fact that we don't have a zester)
scant 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tbsp EVOO
2 tbsp hot water
scant 1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt


Make the dressing by whisking together the garlic, tahini, lemon zest and juice, and olive oil. Add the hot water to thin a bit and then the salt. Set aside.  Add a couple glugs of olive oil (roughly 3 tablespoons) to a big skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the oil around to coat the pan, then add the chickpeas and sprinkling of salt. Let the beans saute there for a couple minutes (I like to try to get some crusty color on them). Be careful, they seem to hiss and pop more then other beans over high heat. Add the garlic and onions. Stir for a minute. Stir in the asparagus with another pinch or two of salt, cover with a lid for a minute or two to steam - just until the asparagus brightens and softens up just a bit. Uncover and stir in the rice and almond slivers, reserving a few almonds for garnish. Taste and add more salt if needed (likely). Serve family-style in a big bowl drizzled with a few tablespoons of the tahini dressing, let each person add more dressing to their tastes.


I think my favorite thing about a recipe like this is that now that I have a "formula", I can more or less do whatever I want with it.  Like switching up some veggies (bok choy?  chard?) or a grain, and just winging it on the sauce.  If you don't have a zester, don't worry.  I didn't think it added that much.  Even a bit too lemony for me.  Overall, loved the recipe.  Great weeknight dinner.  


I had leftover rice and dressing, so I put that aside in a container and it made an appearance in lunch the next day!

Hm, apparently hiding, but in there.  The yogurty blob on top is from my eggplant recipe a few posts ago.  I love using yogurt sauces as salad dressing!


More recipes a-coming.  Happy Monday (BLECH)!