SATURDAY~
AM, mobilized at 10 and went for a little run down to the Marina. Came back, and we headed over to a restaurant called Absinthe in Hayes Valley, on the corner of Hayes and Gough. An incredible French restaurant, Absinthe boasts its claim to chef Jamie Lauren, who was on Top Chef. And, rightfully so. We started out the afternoon with pick-me-ups; I had a delicious Ginger Rogers, which is gin mixed with ginger syrup, lime juice, muddled mint, and ginger ale. It was truly incredible (and beautiful)... Ah, the wonders of being 21! A whole new world has opened itself up to me :) For eats, this is where it gets beyond phenomenal. We shared French onion soups, which are one of my favorites ever. So homey, comforting, and delicious, the beef-based broth, so heavy on onion-y deliciousness, a slice of bread drenched in this amazing broth, with the cheese. OH, that cheese. Gruyere, so melted, pervading the soup in its fatty, swiss cheese-but-better goodness. Then, since it was brunch after all, I had a French toast (the theme of this meal, if you couldn't tell is to eat all things "French." Literally.). But, this was no ordinary French toast; this was a French toast stuffed with ricotta (the other theme of this meal was to eat as much cheese as possible). It came with a berry compote (blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries, yum), fresh whipped cream and maple syrup. The base of the toast, a brioche, was so delicious to start with: fluffy, crisp in all the right places, and not too eggy. But, there was also the ricotta, which imparted another kind of fluffiness, and skewed the sweet of the whole dish towards more of a savory. I feel like good ricotta is like that; you can eat it on its own, and it'll be so sweet and fresh, but depending upon what you pair it with, it can be the sweet or the savory. OK, so enough of that.
We then headed to the Ferry Building along the Embarcadero where Tim and I picked up ingredients for the dinner we were to cook later that night (each name has a link to its corresponding recipe). All of the recipes were from Gourmet Magazine:
Comments on each of them:
#1 The pasta salad was good but had a bit too much raw onion for my taste.
#2 The chutney made this dish. It could be paired with ANYTHING, and it'll make the dish. We put fresh poblano peppers, and I chopped them up. My thumbs were hurting about an hour after doing so, despite washing my hands at least 5 times, due to the capsaicin. Stupidly, I wanted to take my contacts out a good 2.5 hours after cutting the peppers... burn, baby, burn. Even the next morning, I put a contact in... ow. So I had to put the other contact in using my pinkies. THAT takes skill.
#3 I love pork. I don't normally love fennel, but I love fennel like this. Fennel tends to have a licorice-y taste, and I don't like licorice... but cooking it with the pork in a chicken broth, and white wine really cut that flavor, turning it nice and soft. It absorbed the flavors nicely.
#4 I love chocolate. And I love raspberries. More importantly, I love the two together. But, I must admit that this wasn't my favorite ever. My brother loved it, but I guess I'm more used to the traditional clafoutis, which tastes like a yummy pancake. Though, this has more traditional ingredients than the other recipe I usually use, so it would be easier to make in La Mais' kitchen... I'd just have to buy the chocolate and the raspberries. However, it was vastly improved by the 72% Scharffen Berger chocolate that I sprinkled on top. Good chocolate makes everything taste good.
We had tons of wine-- a Pinot Noir to pair with the pork, a Cabernet to pair with the beef, and a Sauternes to pair with the dessert. Yum all around, and just a touch woozy at the end of the meal, I must admit :)
Went to bed after the dishes; passed out pretty promptly.
SUNDAY~
Ah, moving. Ah, Housing messing up, again. THEY DON'T DESERVE A TAG FOR THIS. In fact, they don't deserve a tag at all, so I'm going to delete the tag for Housing. Thankful for my family's presence in helping me move, and for Edelen the SUV Zipcar.
Anyway, all is safe and sound in my new room... love it. So many windows... so beautiful!! :) I'll spend the week arranging things and making it into my space.
That's about it... we had yummy Italian for dinner (looove pappardelle... it has to be one of my favorite pastas). Now, I want to go to sleep. Moving is exhausting. Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm. I spent most of my energy talking about the food from yesterday that today's post about moving would be 1- really uninteresting 2- not nearly as delicious 3- further exhaustion for me to relive those 3 hours.
TOMORROW~
Bidding adieu to the parents until about Thanksgiving time. Sad! It was nice to see them so many times this summer...
Other than that:
Hiking//organizing-slash-nesting//enjoying a good old Labor Day//back on Stanford campus!
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