A Lot on My Plate

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That’s SO Jenn is back in action, although sadly my “vacation” was nothing of that sort. While I certainly wish this trip had been filled with fun, sun and rest as initially intended, I tried my best to make up for it once I returned home.

When my friend Nicole and I landed back in NY on Thursday, we unwound with a phenomenal lunch at Zengo. I indulged in bay scallop ceviche with thai chile, avocado, peanut, mint and crispy shallot, salted edamame with lime, thai chicken empanadas with chile poblano, oaxaca cheese and mango-curry salsa, and an insanely fresh volcano sushi roll with seared salmon, red crab and sesame-chipotle aioli. Each dish was thoughtfully prepared with intense layers of creativity and perfectly balanced flavor profiles, every one more unique and sophisticated than the last.

After a full day in the city, I finally settled back into CT and enjoyed a perfectly executed spaghetti puttanesca from Liana’s Trattoria for dinner.

Friday evening Hubby and I had a date night at Acqua for the chef’s last time in that kitchen. He even brought over a top-secret recipe I’m not even allowed to write about yet! As for the rest of the plates, we started with the seasonal pizza autunno with butternut squash, crispy shallots, mozzarella, apples and creme fraiche as well as the pizza funghi with savory roasted mushrooms, fontina and ricotta cheeses with a rich fried egg that ran over top. It was an ideal combination of sweet and savory, each on a thin, crispy crust.

Next, we both dug into a cup of smokey spinach and potato soup with a glob of ricotta, followed by an arugula salad studded with pearls of balsamic vinegar caviar that burst in each bite to evenly coat every forkful of fresh and dehydrated strawberries, thinly sliced cucumbers and nutty cheese. For my entree I had smooth ricotta ravioli with burrata and castelmango cheeses, crunchy pepitas and butternut squash puree, while Hubby happily cut into their wood roasted natural chicken with potato asiago gratin. We finished off our meal with a warm chocolate souffle cake with pistachio gelato.

Saturday morning Hubby took a turn preparing breakfast for us both (It was delish!), and we hit up Chipotle for lunchtime burritos.

I did make a quick round in the kitchen to fill my Crockpot with sweet and spicy meatballs for our friend’s holiday party that night, but that was literally the only form of cooking I tackled.

We rounded out our weekend with a visit to Plan B Burger Bar with good friends last night, where we shared spicy beer battered fried peppers and pickles before biting into our main course. I thoroughly enjoyed a salmon burger with pickled red onion, avocado, kalamata olive aioli and parmesan fries. We wrapped the visit up with a tribute to the now extinct funny bone–a ganache covered chocolate cake generously filled with a peanut butter center.

Now, I’m ready to get back into the kitchen and put together a nice meal for the third night of Chanukah. If only I could decide what to make….

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  1. Pingback: Chocolate Chip Sufganiyot & Late Night Latkes | That's SO Jenn!

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