4 minute post and The Perfect Salad

Four minutes left at work and I just thought that downtime at the law firm would be perfect blogging time! So, more to follow in the coming days/weeks.
I am excited to announce that I devoured the best salad of my entire life eight days ago. Said salad was eaten at a new restaurant on King Street (in Charleston) called Closed for Business. I do not like the name of this restaurant, it sounds like it is trying too hard to be 'hip' and 'trendy'. I had reservations, especially because REV restaurant group opened Closed for Business in the same building where an amazing Spanish Tapas bar called Raval used to reside (also owned by the people at REV foods). Would this new place be able to fill the shoes of its predecessor? The first thing I noticed upon entering the restaurant was that the entire waitstaff was sporting varieties of flannel. This made me happy. Flannel has a certain influence on me and makes me want to hug whoever is wearing it. However, this time I had to resist the temptation as our waitress (who, although it was her first night, was great) greeted us at the table and presented the menus. I settled down at a long unfinished wood table near the door and opened up the concise menu. Doubt settled in as I scanned the list of food offerings and had to eliminate 99% of the meaty dishes (burgers, pork rinds, etc.). I asked if the potato skins appetizer could be made without the bacon, yes, okay give me an order of those. My stomach told me that potato skins would not suffice. I looked down to the salad section of the menu and, because of the featuring steak and chicken, had to mentally crossed off all of them but one. My last option was a gamble, the "Seasonal Salad". Our waitress verified that this salad was indeed vegetarian and was made with all local ingredients, hoorah! I will have one, please. The potato skins were good, but this post is not called The Perfect Potato Skins for a reason.
When my salad arrived in a big wooden bowl my eyes started to dance as I gazed upon the large technicolor leaves of lettuce, the radish slices boasting a sunburst center, and the freshly made cheese slices layered on top of each other in a pile at the center of the bowl. I plunged my fork into the vegetables and stuffed the leafy mixture into my mouth. I have never tasted lettuce so full of flavor, so complex and delicious as this. Each bite had a tiny hint of bitterness (from the earthy lettuce) followed by the sweet crunch of the radish, the tangy pungency of the cheese and was finished with a light coating of a mild vinaigrette that brought all of the flavors together. The composition that made up the salad was limited but what they say is true: the best food is the simplest food if you use the highest quality of ingredients.
Ironic that a restaurant that has only one vegetarian option on the menu filled me with one of the best meals I have ever had (and certainly the best salad I have ever eaten).
A few days later I was at Harris Teeter and picked up a bag of the pre-washed, ready-to-eat salad concoctions. I looked at the small, limp, and browning iceberg lettuce and felt sad and cheated that this is what the big food industries offer the public. I looked around me and tried to imagine our grocery stores stocked with fruits and vegetables that were bursting with color and vitality instead of the almost dead looking options that I was surrounded with. It was a nice thought...support your local farmers.

Brussel Sprouts and Champagne

I am not sure if I can think of a more pleasant way to spend a Friday afternoon than with a bowl full of steamed brussel sprouts and a glass (or two...maybe three) of champagne. The combination is not something that I have actually tried before but as I was making garlic butter at work today the idea came to me. I had the brussels, a vegetable that I always like to have in my refrigerator, but I had to stop at the Piggly Wiggle to pick up a bottle of Lunetta Prosecco. Prosecco, techinically a sparkling wine, is light and has a very distict fruit taste-definitly apple.
The champagne brings out the deep green flavors that the brussel holds within its many layers. I sprinked a handful of fresh Pecorino-Romano over the sprouts and the cheese bites at my tongue as I swallow.
I am going to go enjoy my snack for a little longer...

Cashew Nut Paella (with an Egg-Sunny Side Up)

The past two days have been full.
"Full of what?" You may ask.
Full of everything.
Absolute moving chaos reigns over all else. I am so sick of anything involved with moving that I am currently unable to discuss the any details of the event.
The first day of my LAST class began this morning at 9:45. I am trying to muster some sort of enthusiasm towards the daunting task of sitting for two hours every day for a month in an uncomfortable computer lab (I can't cross my legs underneath the desk/computer...how am I supposed to learn??) learning about information systems. The teacher seems extremely strict, which I already knew from RateMyProfessor.com and so I sat in the front row just to give myself a little automatic boost.
Today also started my week of working in the kitchen at Cru. I cored, peeled and squeezed the seeds out of 5 boxes of tomatoes. I loved it.
I made a delicious Cashew Nut Paella (recipe to follow in later post) for Baldwin and me after a really difficult day of moving. As goes with some dishes, like Paella, it was even more delectable the day after it was made. What really made tonight's dinner something to smile about is the sunny side up egg that I placed on top on the Paella. The yolk oozed over the saffron rice and vegetables with comfort like it had been there many times before.
Enjoying a night in by watching what life is like in the Obama White House on NBC.
Doing it all again tomorrow (minus the moving which, like I said, I still cannot bear to speak about).

The First Meal

I only had the chance to gather a few kitchen essentials yesterday during the whole move (I will, no doubt, be getting the rest of my loot today and tomorrow). So my first meal in Bee Street was a few degrees less than glamorous, yet still delicious! My little red rice-maker-that-could is a small gift from the culinary gods for busy people. I threw some brown rice in the bottom pot, added some cut up yellow pepper, carrots, and broccoli to the attached steamer (genius addition to the rice making functions of this little piece of glory). I got in the shower and came out with a hot dish ready for me to devour. Add some soy sauce that was left behind from the last tenant (a good friend) and voila! Dinner is served.
I accompanied it with a Sea Dog Raspberry Wheat Ale--after all I had a hard day of moving!
Some boxes are still laying around the apartment, some empty which have no place to be stored and some not so empty that are begging to be unpacked.
In fact I think I can hear my magnetic spice rack yelling to be taken out of the Whole Foods reusable bag and be replaced in their rightful position on the front of my refrigerator.

Sitting in an Empty Apartment

The movers came this morning at 9 a.m. It is 1:40 p.m. now and I still have no furniture in my new place. Pablo and I are both sitting on his dog mat on the floor surrounded by boxes of clothing and no where to put anything....waiting....waiting...
We still have not moved any of our kitchen things though I packed up my new set of Wusthoff knives last night because I just could not stand it any longer to see them laying around the kitchen unwashed after people had used them.
Waiting for movers I guess is better than moving it all by myself so I really do not have anything to complain about.
So no complaining.

Moving Day

Pablo (my black lab mix) and I are moving out of Cannon Street! We have had some great times in this old house but circumstance has shown that a move is more than necessary for us now. The best thing about moving to my own little apartment is that I will have my own little KITCHEN! I cannot wait to open my refrigerator and have it filled with my own ingredients with which I can cook uninterrupted. The kitchen counters will be clean with no dried-on spaghetti sauce to speak of. The sink may have one stray dirty glass or bowl in it from my breakfast before work but will not be streaked with dirty grime, surrounded by filthy sponges.
Today and tomorrow morning will be the hard parts (the packing and the moving) but once I am in my new place...It will by glorious!
Now the question is...What should my first meal in my new apartment be?
A pasta dish? A couscous dish? Homemade pizza?

I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti (Book Review)

In this memoir Giulia Melucci recounts her past failed relationship with men and the food that she cooked during those years.  I finished the book yesterday (on the beach) and have still not yet decided if I love or hate it.  I read all 276 pages in a few short days, racing through each page trying to grasp at any positive similarities to Sex and the City or Eat, Pray, Love that are promised on the back cover reviews.  I never found any; no exciting sexual retellings nor profound self-discovery.  I could identify with the underdog-like voice that comes through as Melucci writes about struggling to maintain any positive male relationships in her life and I was enticed by the great recipes that are included in the text.  I was frustrated with Melucci for having me read about her boring relationships with the strange men that she is attracted to. She stays in relationships with these men for months after she should have ended it with them, declaring what she refers to as Stockholm's syndrome.  

While the recipes that Melucci includes in the text are not all vegetarian most of them can be slightly altered to make them so.  I have yet to try any of these recipes, though I suspect they will be delicious as most of them are adaptations from other cookbooks or online recipe sites.  If you enjoy reading about mundane, failed relationships and altered recipes I Love, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti is perfect for you.  If not, just stick to Sex and the City or Eat, Pray, Love and epicurious.com

Second blog, no pasta

As I was beginning to get my kitchen ready for pasta making I looked outside and realized that the SUN was out for the first time in a few days.  This prompted me to abandon my pasta making and head to the beach instead.  Now instead of eating fresh pasta I have eaten four bagels in the past day and a half.  A friend brought over a huge paper bag full of fresh Bruegger's Bagels as a gift for dog sitting over the weekend.  Having gone to the beach instead of grocery shopping and cooking all I have to eat in the house now is bagels, lots and lots of bagels.

First Blog, Fresh Pasta

I had been planning to make fresh pasta with pesto today for about a week.  My roommates wanted to help (now they are doing other things) so now it seems to be just me and a messy table to clean off before I start rolling out the fresh pasta sheets.