The Special Guest Chef

Before this week gets ahead of me too much I should write about the past two days. Last night I went out to dinner at my favorite Tapas restaurant. One of my chefs from another restaurant was the special guest chef for the night and they had a special menu. He had some cool items on there and I ate yet another interesting dish. Anisha met me at the restaurant and we started with an insalata cortada…a Spanish chopped salad. Then we had one of my favorites…garbanzos con chorizo….yummmmm! Then we had the smoked venison sausage which came with spaghetti squash, autumn olive berries, and pistachio. Then we had it…Sauteed calves brains! It was served with chorizo, pistachio, and pepper puree. It was surprisingly creamy with a sweet taste. It went with the spicy chorizo very nicely. Since I’ve already had beef heart, I didn’t need to order that! But then we had the famous corn there and the chef brought us a special charcuterie plate. This had some duck liver on it, a sweetbread & lobster terrine, blood sausage, and some tripe. Of course there was the usual mustards, crispy bread, and cornichons with it. Very tasty, but we were full at that point…and after eating the brains, smarter too!

From there we got to hang out with some chefs and I met some cool guys that work on oyster boats. I’m hoping with a little luck they’ll teach me something about that whole industry. And I also found out that Ms. Rachael Ray will be in town this coming Saturday. Her husband plays in a band and he has a show in Boston…and I know where they like to eat when they’re here!

Tonight I finally got to see my friend Julie! We’ve been trying to get together for a while and we were going to meet out, but since I don’t get to cook as much as I used to I had her over for dinner. I made some toasted raviolis to start the evening and they were a hit! I even heated some up for Greg later on and he enjoyed them as well. For dinner we had a nice chicken dish I made with mushrooms, onions, thyme, and chicken broth. We also had baked sweet potatoes and my favorite green bean side dish with a Dijon sauce and walnuts. Then we sat around and got all caught up on each other’s lives. We also realized that we just don’t do it enough and we’re hoping to get together more often, but there’s no need to speed into the next gathering! Right, Julie???

I also have a few pictures from last night. In Spain, they drink Cava (the Spanish form of champagne) out of perrones. You’re supposed to start with it near your mouth and then extend your arm all the way. I’m not the best at it, but I gave it a shot…you know, cuz everyone else was doing it!