Good Food in the East and the West [Coasts]

Ah! So many good things to savor and recount!

This past Thursday I hopped a red-eye to Boston because my sister, Kirsten, was graduating from college on Saturday (wooo! yay Sister!! Congrats again and again!). In classic Schmid tradition, the event was celebrated with the whole family attending a nice meal; my sister chose for her graduation dinner to be held at a favorite restaurant of hers, the Cottage, in Wellesley, MA. She described it to me as "fresh California cuisine meets traditional New England fare", heh, or in some way similar that makes me love her dearly and mock her description by asking if "fusion chowder" was on the menu. Oh, Kir, the place was fantastic!

Here is a picture-tour of some of the food we enjoyed: Cocktails. Heh. I asked the bartender to try to re-create the Sake Lemon Drop I had last week in SF. It wasn't the same, was a little stronger, and I was ok with both facts.

We chose a few different appetizers for the table, including delicious fried calamari with a fresh, ginger dipping sauce, fried

artichoke hearts, a seasonal mixed- grill salad and nachos.

Yes, nachos. Now I am not a chip fan, but when Kir asked me what I thought of the menu's description, I caved - homemade wontons, topped with sesame-seared Ahi tuna, Asian vegetables, ginger vinaigrette and a wasabi cream. They were fabulous and it is the only dish I can recall where raw celery enhanced the flavor!

Kir's boyfriend, Kyle, ordered one of the more interesting dinners of the night. A true food-pairing mind-boggle! Granola-crusted

Mahi-Mahi. My brain tried, but could not comprehend the taste

or texture that would result. When we asked the waiter to describe it, he said that brown sugar in the granola gave it a sweet coating. When Ky received the dish, it looked beautiful. The taste? So surprisingly well-paired. The firm fish was coated in a caramelized, slightly-chewy and moist granola crust with golden raisins that provided a sweet moistness to the "steaky" fish. It worked very very well!

I ordered the Polenta Cake w/ seared scallops: "crisp, creamy polenta, sauteed confetti garden fresh vegetables, blistered tomatoes,
crowned with goat cheese and micro-greens". It was wonderful to sop up the rich vegetable broth with the crunchy- outside/incredibly creamy[yet not cloying]-inside polenta cakes.

Everyone was quite pleased with their meals and the night was very much a success!

A few hours after Kir's Commencement Ceremony, I was on a plane back to Cali. I have used my relaxing Sunday to enjoy the 90* sun with bike-rides to the farmers market and other various errand-related locations. I've also been trying out some new cooking techniques with my standard brea dough.

For lunch, I grilled a rolled-out round of dough in a cast iron pan. Then I smeared it with ripe avocado and topped it with slices of fresh tomato, cilantro, society garlic and chipotle powder. The quick-to-assemble flat bread was super fresh, clean and delicious!

Dinner was significantly more labor-intensive. Like usual, I utilized my long plane ride to assemble a menu for the week. The dish that I planned to feed me for the next two nights? Pizza!

The preparation started with an hour of roasting garlic for the white bean/garlic spread that would be the base of my pizza topping. The resulting creamy and sweet garlic went into the food pro with a can of white beans, olive oil and fresh lemon juice.

Next I assembled my side dish: red peppers stuffed and roasted with tomatoes, garlic and Kalamata olives. They went into the oven for an hour on 375*.

Back to the pizza toppings: I sliced and caramelized one of the red onions I bought at the farmers market this morning. Once the half-moons were sweet and brown, I added a bunch of chopped arugula to wilt and removed both from the stove.

Meanwhile, I started up the grill and rolled out a small ball of dough onto some floured aluminum foil. As you can see in the picture, I do not own a rolling pin; a wine bottle stands in nicely - thanks for the tip, J! :D I brushed the dough with oil and laid it on the grill for a few minutes until the under-side was toasty. Then I took it back inside where I assembled the toppings, grated on some "Silver Mountain" cheese - a great, aged, raw-milk cheddar from Bravo Farms in Traver, CA - and threw it back on the grill to warm.

I didn't expect the grilling to go so quickly (and easily), so I was left waiting for the roasted peppers to finish. It was probably for the best, however, because I think the pizza's combination of flavors benefited from the wait (like most things, I'm sure, only I'm usually too impatient to find out.) I finished the toppings with cayenne, a dash of cumin and fresh herbs.

I joyously took my first bite of the pizza and wondered what I could add to make it better; something was missing. It was now that I cursed aloud - I had completely forgotten to apply the garlic/bean spread before adding the onions and arugula!! {Sigh} To compensate, I dolloped and distributed the cool, lemony spread over the top of the slices. Much better! :D Tomorrow night, I'll remember to chop some basil onto the roasted pepper, too. Cheers to summer!