Portuguese Food Is Delicious

So tonight was a blast.  As previously mentioned, Ms. Industrious and I had a date planned to see her wedding dress for her second fitting, and also to grab some dinner at a Portuguese restaurant that she said was awesomesauce.

First of all, her dress is a-maz-ing.  Seriously.  It looks like it was made just for her, and it suits her personality to a T.  I couldn't stop squeeing the entire time we were there, and neither could she for that matter!  Sooo perfect, pretty, and elegant.  I wish I could say more, but of course I cannot.  Picard* is going to just keel over, stunned and speechless, when he sees her.  Hee hee hee I cannot wait! 

*I asked for Ms. Industrious' help in choosing a name for her fiancé, and she suggested Trekkie since he is a huge huge huge ST:TNG fan.  I really liked this, but something about it didn't have quite enough oomph.  And then it hit me - Picard.  His complete adoration for Captain Jean-Luc Picard has sealed his nickname fate.

Secondly, she treated me (because she is a doll, and also because she totally ninjaed the check the second it arrived) to a fantabulous meal at the Madeira Restaurant in East Providence, RI. 

Let me sum up my feelings about the food there in one word: NOM.  Now let me sum up the meal in a lot more words.  Because I love food, and a meal like this deserves detailed praise.

To start there was this awesome bread.  Now I know you're thinking, ho-hum it's just bread.  You'd think that, but no.  This bread was exceptional.  It was so light and fluffy, but with a very distinct bready flavor that you wouldn't confuse with any other bread.  I stuffed my face with like five slices before Ms. Industrious tactfully reminded me that we had more food coming, haha.

Then we had an appetizer of Chourico `a Bombeiro, which is flame grilled Portuguese sausage.  And they weren't kidding about the flame part.  The sausage literally arrived ON FIRE.  The flame was so huge that when they set it down in front of us and walked away, we stared at it and each other for a few moments wondering how to put the fire out and go about eating it.  Then Ms. Industrious became brave and stabbed it with a fork and knife, put it on her plate, and blew out the flame.  My hero!  Now I was a bit concernd that this sausage would be Kielbasa-esque - of which I am not a fan.  But no, it was nothing at all like Kielbasa.  It was salty and delicious with a mild kick to it.  I gobbled it up quickly, and then started longingly at Ms. Industrious' portion because I wanted to steal it from her.

For the main course, I had Escalopes no Forno, which is baked scallops in a light lemon and butter sauce topped with bread crumbs and served with rice, roasted potatoes, and seasonal vegetables.  Sounds pretty conventional, right?  WRONG!  The "light lemon and butter sauce" was really some kind of awesome semi-creamy, maybe tomatoey?, and uber garlicky sauce.  I nearly died and went to heaven.  I savored each bite, wiping up every last drop of that sauce with my potatoes.  I also tasted her swordfish dish, which came with pasta (I think it was linguine), littlenecks, and more of that delicious Chourico sausage.  OMG her swordfish was so tender it was ridonk, and the sauce here was also decadent and delicious.  Both meals were out of this world.

Can you tell I'm a food person yet?

Lastly, we split a slice of Chocolate Truffle Cake for dessert.  And guess what.  It was amazing, too.  Big surprise given the rest of the evening's food, I know.  My favorite part of the cake was that not only was the frosting or ganache or whatever delicious, and the truffley mousse delicious, but the very cake itself had strong flavor and was delicious as well.  Too often cakes are just a vehicle for frosting, with the cake itself either being dry or boring.  But not this cake.  Sooo good.

At the end of the meal, Ms. Industrious and I came to the conclusion that part of the reason we're such great friends and get along so well is our mutual love of good food.  We're the kind of people who take a bite, and if it surpasses our high standards, close our eyes and smile to ourselves in utter enjoyment.  Same kind of people who lean back after a good meal, eyes half-lidded and bodies ready for bed.  Food coma FTW.

~Dorkopotamus (aka Katy)

Cooking Endeavors and Plans with Ms. Industrious

So I attempted bolognese sauce for the first time last night, from a recipe I found in a cookbook by the awesome Ellie Krieger.  Most of her recipes have turned our splendidly so far, so I was hoping for the best.  However, this one was not so much bolognese sauce.  It's not that it was bad, per se, it just wasn't what it was advertised to be.  In my experience, bolognese sauce is a semi-creamy red meat sauce.  Apparently Ellie Krieger thinks bolognese sauce is some flavored meat and tomatoes tossed with pasta.  You see the incongruity.  Someone I know makes an excellent bolognese sauce *coughcoughKIM* and should give me some tips for next time.

In other news, I'm looking forward to tonight!  I'm going with Ms. Industrious to a dress fitting for her wedding gown!  Woohoo!  Girly time!  I can't wait to see the dress in person.  It's been a lot of fun hearing about all the planning and decision-making that's been going into planning her wedding.  I love this stuff, and I couldn't be more excited for them.  I've known the groom since high school, but have been super-close for about...7 or 8 years now?  Wow...has it really been that long already, or am I just terrible at math?  Anyways, I couldn't have chosen a better girl for him if I'd tried.  They are simply fantastic together.

Hmm...he needs a nickname, too.  I guess Mr. Industrious makes sense?  But that's too obvious.  This is too difficult.  I will have to think on it.

Anyway, all of this makes me reminisce about my own wedding.

I miss all the hoopla that comes with planning a wedding.  As stressful as it was, it was so totally worth every second of planning, every curse, every tear.  To have that one perfect, magical day marrying the person you love.  *sigh*  Memories...  Yeah, I'm a romantic sap, what of it?

Our Cake Topper

~Dorkopotamus (aka Katy)

Girls Night and Tangents

Tonight is Girls Night - a group of about 5 girls getting together to cook, eat, and be merry.  We always do a potluck and tend to use the night as a testing ground for new recipes.  One of my favorite recipes so far has been an amazing broccoli with fresh ginger and balsamic vinegar made by the very industrious...well, actually, this brings up a good point.  What should I call people here?  Should I call them by name?  Make up names for them?  Hrmm...  For now, I think I shall call this particular friend Ms. Industrious.  Yes.  Well.  Yeah, that's kind of lame, but it's all I've got for now.

So anyways, Ms. Industrious makes this awesome broccoli dish that I never get to eat because the hubby dislikes all three major ingredients.  Especially the broccoli.  Which he is allergic to because it is somehow part of the mustard family.  Just imagine that chick from The Exorcist...that's him on mustard.  Very bad situation.

I don't often get to eat things he doesn't like/is allergic to, so on Girls Nights I really appreciate eating these forbidden foods.  Hence my love of the broccoli dish.  And so tonight I will be making something that sounds delicious to me, but he would probably hate, hehe.  Did I mention I love cooking?  Because I do. 

Long, tangental story, short...here is the recipe for Balsamic Roasted Red Potatoes that I will be attempting tonight, only with russet potatoes instead.  I'll try and remember to snap some pics later as I cook.  Fun!

~Dorkopotamus (aka Katy)