At the beach

Earlier in the summer, Sona and I hiked at Governor Nelson, and there were some cool windsurfers taking advantage of the windy day.

Elise's visit

Elise visited from Milwaukee last weekend. She arrived around 10:30am, and we chatted and caught up. Then we made fish tacos (with tuna steaks and grilled, not fried). 

We hit a few garage sales, and since she'd never been, we went to Olbrich Gardens.

Muppets

Chicken pho

The Daleys and I took in Muppets in Space on the Memorial Union Terrace awhile ago. Beforehand, we attempted to try the bánh mì (a French-influenced Vietnamese sandwich) at the Viet Hoa Market in Monona. Alas, they were out of the sandwiches by the time we arrived. (They said to call ahead next time, and they'd make some.) I am not deterred, though. I shall try again.

Book of Mormon, the El, + Deep-Dish 'Za

On the El train

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of visiting The Windy City to see The Book of Mormon. In the cab on the way to the show, the driver suggested that we take the El* instead of a cab, which was very kind. It saved us money and time since the ride was going to be about an hour and a hour downtown in rush-hour traffic. We made sure to give him a generous tip, so he wasn't being too slighted by offering the suggestion. Plus, it was a special treat for me because I'd never ridden the El before.

For dinner, we stopped at Trattoria No. 10. We had the baby spinach salad with crispy pancetta, radicchio, pears, goat cheese, pistachio, and goat cheese vinaigrette and black--hooray for squid ink--tagliatelle with scallops, shrimp, calamari in a tomato-fennel saffron sauce.

Indian Dinner

Saag paneer

I used the saag paneer recipe from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the East Vegetarian Cooking. Since I ran out of spinach from the garden, I substituted kale, which was surprisingly good. I might use it instead in the future. Also, I omitted the heavy cream because it didn't seem necessary.

Saag Paneer
serves: 4-6

Ingredients
1-in. cube of ginger (peeled and coarsely chopped)
3-6 garlic cloves
1/2 to 1 hot green chili, sliced roughly
paneer
salt
1/4 tsp. garam masala
1/8 tsp. cayenne
6 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1.5 lbs. spinach
3 Tbsp. heavy cream

Lunch at Chautara

Lamb palungo

I had the pleasure of lunching at Chautara recently. I'd heard they were closing in July, so I was determined to get there before they left. From the waitress, I learned that they'll be closed for 6-9 months, but then are moving into the Shakti space next door. This was a welcome discovery since I'm very fond of Chautara. Their fish dishes are especially lovely.

Piggies

Sardines with fennel + orange 

At Pig in a Fur Coat, Teresa and I had sardines with fennel and orange on whole wheat crostini, dates stuffed with chorizo and piquillo peppers and topped with a red pepper puree, and lamb carpaccio with pea shoots, egg yolk, and herbs. The dates were my favorite. I wasn't sure about the combination of dates and red pepper. I was worried it'd be too much sweet for me, but I was pleasantly surprised. The spiciness of the chorizo and peppers cut the sweetness of the dates.

Dates stuffed with chorizo and piquillo peppers

My least favorite was the lamb carpaccio. It was stringy and not terribly appetizing.

Lamb carpaccio

Umami with Mara

Summer rolls

When Mara was visiting a few weeks ago, we went to Umami for dinner. We had the summer rolls, the sesame seaweed salad with shiitake mushrooms, the mixed greens salad, and the tonkatsu ramen with a garlic bomb. The summer rolls were a tad bland, but, as always, the seaweed salad and tonkatsu ramen were marvelous.

Seaweed salad

Tonkatsu ramen

Stuffing our Faces in January

Jerky!

Way back in January, Naomi and Bill from the Cities graced us with their presence for a visit. Based on the pics, all we did was eat, but we did also hit a few thrift stores and N. + B. attended a Father John Misty concert.

Bloody Mary at the Old Fashioned

Keeling over for Kielbasa

Awhile back, I had some fresh kielbasa sausages from the Willy St. Co-op in the freezer. They were meant for someone else, but I decided to make them for myself. I used the recipe for Escarole with Italian Sausage and White Beans from Epicurious. (See my swaps and substitutions below the recipe.)

Seared sausages

3 tablespoons olive oil

12 Italian sausages (about 3 pounds), casings removed

1 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped prosciutto (about 2 ounces)

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 large head escarole, chopped (about 10 cups)

3/4 cup dry white wine

4 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, rinsed, drained

1 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sauté sausage until cooked through, breaking up with back of spoon, about 6 minutes per batch. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to bowl, leaving drippings in pot. Reduce heat to medium; add onion to pot and sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add prosciutto and sauté 1 minute. Mix in garlic and crushed red pepper. Add escarole and sauté until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook 2 minutes. Add beans, stock and sausage and simmer 10 minutes to blend flavors. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to large bowl. Top with grated Parmesan, if desired.

Éirinn go Brách

Over the holidays, J. and I visited his sister and her family in the west of Ireland.

at the Detroit airport

Guinness at a local pub

Throwing rocks with grandma 

The last remaining yew

A short walk down the lane from their house is Aughnanure Castle. This 16th-century tower house, or a fortified residence, was owned by the wealthy, land-owning O'Fflahertie (O'Flaherty) family. More than 200 such tower houses exist just in County Galway. The name Aughnanure comes from the Gaelic Achadh na nlubhar, which means the field of the yews. One representative of the yew trees still remains on the grounds.