Tea and Twilight

I was planning on going to a tea house with my sisters and some friends, but alas, we weren't able to find any places that were open in December (I guess tea houses are just really popular during the holidays?).

So, Leah and I decided to host our own tea party at my house. And since we were going to be all girls, we figured, why not also watch a girly movie? The new Twilight movie, Eclipse, just came out and we figured, why not? Of course, watching the movie sober is not fun (almost painful) so we also had a bunch of champagne to drink with tea as well as the truffle popcorn we had during the movie.


From bottom left: currant scone, cucumber sandwich,
curry chicken sandwich, smoked salmon sandwich

To start I made some currant scones, which we served with some Double Devon cream, lemon curd, and raspberry jam. For the tea sandwiches, Leah made a chicken curry sandwich (on wheat bread), and cucumber sandwiches (on white bread). I made a smoked salmon sandwich with creme fraiche on pumpernickel bread. Though not quite traditional, I think the curry sandwich was my favorite, it just had a lot more flavor and kick to it, and went perfectly with the champagne.



For our sweets, my sis tried making petit-fours for the first time. It was a bit sweet (as most all petit fours that I've ever tried) but still pretty good. I went to a recipe that I've made a couple times before, but never fails to impress: chocolate macarons (not "macaroons"!). Both looked really lovely on the table and enjoyed by all the ladies.

I had a few teas, including a lemon-herb tea and champagne raspberry tea (from Lisa's Tea Treasures), but Carrie gave me a couple more (love the "Napa Blanc" tea...really did remind me of wine!). Janie also brought a few teas from Starbucks (my fave was the Berryblossom White).

Good times!

It's crab season!

Crab season just started, and they had it on sale at the Asian supermarket near our house for $2.99 a pound. Crab is probably one of Uly's favorite foods, but I'm not the biggest fan, unless it's disguised in some manner to make it not too "crabby". We wound up getting 2 ginormous crabs and had them for both dinner and breakfast the next day!

One of the crab dishes I do like to eat is crab cakes, so we decided to make some from our usual recipe from Cook's Illustrated. For our other dish, we decided to go Asian and recreate the crab with cellophane noodles we've enjoyed at The Slanted Door. We were going to wing it and see if we can reproduce it, but they actually had the official recipe posted online! It tasted just like it did at the restaurant.

The next day at breakfast, since we still had some crab cakes left over, we decided to make a dish we've had at restaurants before for brunch: crab cakes eggs benedict. It's pretty much the same as regular eggs benedict, but instead of the ham you use a crab cake! It was our first time poaching eggs and it was a bit overcooked for my taste, but it was still pretty yummy!

Roast Cornish Hen with Herb-Bread Stuffing

We felt like drinking some Pinot, and were thinking about roasting a chicken, but then we wanted to try something a little bit different. I found a nice recipe for roast cornish hens from my other Jean-Georges cookbook (thanks Carrie!). The cornish hen was the perfect size for the two of us (no leftovers!), and the bread stuffing that came with it was absolutely perfect.

For our sides, we sauteed some brussels sprouts, and I made a mushroom risotto using regular button mushrooms and dried porcini. Our wine for the evening was a ZD Founder's Reserve Pinot Noir 2007, which we bought on our trip to Napa the previous year.

Here's the recipe for the cornish hens...

Roast Cornish Hen with Herb-Bread Stuffing
from Jean-Georges: Cooking At Home with a Four-Star Chef by Jean Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman

2 ounces good crustless bread (about 4 slices)
5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 pound chicken livers, diced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large shallot, minced
1 teaspoon thyme leaves
2 tablespoons minced parsley leaves
2 Cornish hens, about 1 pound each, rinsed and dried
1 tablespoon buter
2 thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly crushed

1) Preheat the oven to 500F. Cut the bread into 1/2-inch cubes. Place 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a skillet and turn the heat to high. A minute later, add the bread. Toss it until it is golden brown, about 5 minutes, and place it in a bowl.
2) Wipe out the skillet. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and turn the heat to high. Sprinkle the livers liberally with salt and pepper, then toss in the pan. Immediately add the minced garlic, shallot, and thyme. Cook, stirring occasionally until the liver loses its rawness. Add to the bread and toss with the parsley and lots of salt and pepper. (You may prepare the stuffing in advance; refrigerate, in a covered container, for up to 2 days.)
3) When the stuffing is cool enough to handle, stuff the hens. Truss the birds if you like or simply close their rear vents with skewers to keep the stuffing from falling out. Season them all over with salt and pepper.
4) Place a Dutch oven or oven proof casserole over high heat and add the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil, along with the butter. Immediately add the thyme sprigs, garlic cloves, and any scraps from the birds, such as necks or wing tips. Add the birds and brown lightly on both sides of the breast, then turn the birds onto their backs and place the pan in the oven.
5) Spoon the pan juices over the birds every 5 or 10 minutes. h they are done - after about 30 minutes of roasting (there should no traces of pink) -- put them on a platter. Remove the thyme sprigs, garlic, and greace from the pan. Place the pan over high heat and add 1/3 cup water; cook for a minute, scraping up all of the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. When they are incorporated, pour the jus over the birds. Carve and serve.

Halibut Provençal

Felt like eating something light, so Uly and I decided to have some fish for dinner. We bought some fresh halibut from the Union City farmers market, and used one of the recipes from one of our favorite cookbooks, Jean-Georges' Simple to Spectacular. We just love how the recipes can be so simple, yet still "fancy" and very very tasty.

We picked a recipe that was one level up from the simplest, Provençal Halibut. The fresh, in-season grape tomatoes were the perfect complement to the fish, and the whole dish was very light and refreshing. For sides, we had some whole-wheat couscous and braised asparagus, which went very well with the fish. For our wine, we had a nice Chardonnay (free leftovers from Shirley's wedding!:) ).

Provençal Halibut
from Simple to Spectacular: How to Take One Basic Recipe to Four Levels of Sophistication (Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman)

1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced shallots
Four 6-8 ounce bone-in halibut or other steaks, or 2 larger steaks, each at least 1 inch thick
Salt and cayenne pepper
1 pound tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons capers
1 1/2 cups dry white wine
1/3 cup minced parsley

1) Preheat the oven to 500F. Smear the butter in a shallow baking pan that will hold the fish without crowding. Sprinkle the shallots over the butter.
2) Season the fish on both sides with salt and cayenne; lay it in the pan. Scatter the tomatoes and capers around and over the fish, then pour the wine around all.
3) Bring to a boil on top of the stove, then transfer to the oven and cook for 5 minutes, basting once with the liquid. Turn the fish and cook until it is done, about 10 minutes total; the fish should be firm and just about opaque all the way through. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Makes 4 servings
Time: 25 minutes

Uly's Birthday BBQ

For Uly's birthday, he wanted something low-key (must be 'cause he's getting old!). We just invited our families over for a barbeque.

We made Uly's famous sliders...half chuck/half sirloin that we just ground that day, on a brioche bun. I was craving some truffle flavor, so to compliment the burgers, we made some truffle shoestring fries, truffle aioli, and truffle ketchup! In my opinion, you can never have too much truffle...

Sole Meuniere

I found myself craving a some fish, so we decided to revisit Sole Meuniere, which we really liked the last time we made it. We bought some sole from the Asian supermarket and used the same recipe as last time. This dish really is so simple we should really make it more often! We had some sauteed swiss chard on the side, which was a nice light complement to the main course

Went Spanish with the appetizers since we wanted to use up some Pimientos de Padron we had, and also had some of the Jamon Iberico we brought back from Spain. For dessert, we had Picandou, a french soft goat cheese.


We drank 2 different white wines with this dish. With the appetizers and the fish, we had some Ledson Sauvignon Blanc that we had bought from the winery from our last trip to Sonoma. With the cheese, we had a half bottle of Grgich Hills Fumé Blanc.

Squid Ink Pasta

When we were at the Ferry building the day before, we saw some squid ink pasta for sale. Curious, we decided to give it a try. I found a recipe for Squid Ink Pasta with Parsnips and Pancetta so we decided to try it out. The only modifications we made are using regular bacon instead of pancetta (too lazy to go to TJ's to get some), and added some fresh squid.

We drank it with a bottle of Bartolo Fiano 2007 that I got from one of our SCMWA passport days. It was nice and light, complementing the pasta

Tapas!

Since we came back from Spain, we've been wanting to host another tapas night. We invited over my sisters, Leah and Kay, and my cousin Sara and their significant others to share some of the bounty we brought back from our trip.

We started off with some cold tapas. Some olives, pan con tomate, and assorted meats we brought back from Spain: Jamon Iberico, Chorizo, and Morcilla (Spanish blood sausage). Surprisingly the blood sausage was actually the biggest hit out of all the meats! We then had some "soup and salad", heirloom tomato gazpacho shooters and a salad made out of diced granny smith apples, Murcia ("Drunken Goat") cheese, walnuts, and olive oil.

For our hot tapas, we had some Pimientos de Padrón (probably my favorite of all tapas), Chorizo in red wine, Gambas al Ajillo (shrimp in garlic), and green beans with pine nuts. Finally, we had the paella, which had chicken, shrimp, chorizo, peas, red peppers, and clams. It was pretty good but I find I still prefer mussels to clams.


We drank a whole bunch of Spanish wines, but alas I don't remember which ones. All in all, a fun party and a successful meal. Good times!

Cheese Night

We still had some leftover Brillat-Savarin and Rogue River Blue from our Champagne night, so just decided to have some wine and cheese the following week. Along with those two cheeses, I got some L'Edel de Cleron and aged gouda from Milk Pail and we were set!

Since this was also our dinner, Uly didn't want to go without meat. We had some Chorizo Iberico and Jamon Iberico that we had brought back with us from Spain, as well as some pate. For wine, we drank a Mayo Vineyards Cabernet 2006.

Champagne Night

Uly and I wanted to have a special meal, since I was going to India the next day and will be gone for a week. It was a nice warm day, and it had been a while since we had champagne night so we figured it was time to have another one!

We knew we definitely wanted caviar, and this time we decided to splurge on the good stuff: real Osetra caviar. Good thing BevMo carries the stuff. A couple years ago, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell the difference, but now I could definitely notice the higher quality. We decided to make the Jean-Georges style eggs with caviar again, which with the Osetra definitely tasted like what we had at the restaurant (though still not quite as pretty). We also had some of the caviar by itself, with some blinis and creme fraiche. Later on, we even tried the caviar with some vodka we had lying around...it did go pretty well, but I still prefer champagne!

We also had some oysters that we bought from the farmer's market, which I served with a mignonette sauce from Epicurious. I prefer my oysters raw, but unless I'm in a really good restaurant or I buy them at the farm, you can never be too sure so I broiled them for a bit as the recipe recommended. Still pretty damn good. Also made some gougeres, which always go great with champagne. For these I use the recipe from Alain Ducasse. Finally, we cannot have champagne night without some foie gras, good thing we still had some vacuum-packs left in the freezer. We just seared these quickly and had them over brioche.

Of course, the meal won't be complete without some cheese. I got some Brillat-Savarin with truffle paste at Whole Foods, probably my favorite cheese of all time. Since we had the brioche anyway, we also decided to make an hors d'oeuvre that we had at the Mayo Reserve Room winery. It's very simple, but tasty...Rogue river blue, sonoma honey, and truffles. Yum!

Lushes that we are, we had not just one but two(!) bottles of champagne that day. The first one was Guy Larmandier Brut NV, a champagne that we had at a New York restaurant that I absolutely loved. For our second bottle, we stuck with the French and had some Taittinger Brut that we had on hand.

We definitely went all out on this one, but it was oh-so worth it! Can't wait until our next champagne night!

Wine & Cheese

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We had quite a busy weekend in the city so we just wanted a simple meal that we didn't have to cook. We just went to Whole Foods and got some cheese and a baguette. We still had some blue cheese left over, so just got a triple-cream and a hard cheese. We also got a chance to open the chorizo iberico de bellota that we brought back from Spain...man, that was probably the best chorizo I've ever had...good thing we only ate half!

For our wine, drank the 2003 Casanova Di Neri Pietradonice "Super Tuscan" that's been sitting in our cellar for quite some time. It was nice and full-bodied, yet not too tannic. Nothing like some good wine and good cheese to wind down on a Sunday night!

Pork Chops

We still had some veggies left over from the farmers market the previous day, but what meat to make? We settled on pork chops since they were easy and we haven't cooked pork in a while. We loosely followed this recipe from Epicurious but we were missing some of the ingredients and skipped the brining part. It still turned out pretty well though, and was really tasty.

For our vegetable, we had the yellow/purple beans we got at the farmers market, unfortunately the purple color faded and we got yellow/green instead. Maybe it was just dyed? It was still good though. For our starch, we had some baby potatoes that were lightly pan-fried. For the wine, we opened a Hagafen Merlot that we got in Napa last summer...it was nice and mellow and went perfectly with the pork. All in all, it was a pretty simple meal, but hearty and made for a great Sunday dinner.


Pork Chops with Apples


Green and yellow beans


Sauteed baby potatoes


The final plate

Farmers' Market Seafood

Since it's been warm lately, Uly and I felt like it might be nice to have some white wine and seafood for dinner. It's been a few months since we've been to the Union City Farmers' Market...last time we were there, it was winter and there wasn't much going on, so we were pleased to see it bustling and full of activity yesterday morning. We wound up getting some oysters and wahoo (ono), a fish frequently found in Hawaii.

For the oysters, we just followed this recipe from epicurious. The oysters seemed fresh, but we didn't want to take any chances eating it raw, so a quick broil did the trick...the accompanying champagne vinegar mignonette went perfectly. Would have been nice to have some bubbly, but didn't seem worth it to open a whole bottle when we only had 3 oysters each.

The wahoo, we did a simple marinade of soy sauce, sesame oil, and garlic that I saw on Chowhound. It was supposed to also have ginger for even more Asian flavor, but alas I forgot to pick some up at the grocery store. It still turned out really well, though. We wanted some sort of fruity salsa to go with the grilled fish, considered mango but then ultimately decided to go with pineapple to give it more of the Hawaiian flavor. The salsa was just a mix of pineapple (we just used canned), onions, cilantro, jalapeno, and lemon. For sides, we sauteed some snow peas with shallot, and cooked some jasmine rice, flavoring it with a bit of scallions, cilantro, and lemon. The fish didn't look that big when we bought it, but it was huge (probably more than a pound) and we didn't even get to finish it.

For our wine, we opened a bottle of Mayo Chardonnay that had been sitting in our fridge for some time. It was actually a free bottle, since it had no label (not sure how a winery runs out of labels, but hey, it worked out for us!). It might have been a bit too full-bodied for the delicately flavored fish, but it held up well to the salsa, which had a bit of a kick from the jalapeno.

It was a pretty light meal, but very satisfying especially in the hot weather. Definitely looking forward to more warm summer nights!


Oysters with champagne vinegar mignonette


Grilled Wahoo (Ono) with sesame oil and soy marinade


Pineapple salsa, sauteed snow peas, and cilantro-scallion jasmine rice

Steak Night

After over a week in Spain, Uly and I wanted to have some good ol' fashioned American food. And what can be more American than a nice steak? We got a pound of dry-aged ribeye at Whole Foods, and further "dry-aged" it a couple more days in our fridge. All it needed was some salt and pepper. Turned out perfectly medium-rare, Uly sure knows how to grill a steak!

For sides, we made some truffle shoestring fries, grilled asparagus, and mushrooms sauteed with sherry (I guess one Spanish touch left there). For our wine, we opened a 2005 Hendry Cabernet Sauvignon that we got from our last trip to Napa last summer. As predicted, it went perfectly! Nothing like a good steak and a good bottle of cab for a good ol' American meal.


Ribeye steak...check out all the fatty goodness!


Sherried mushrooms


Truffle shoestring fries


Grilled asparagus

Casa Murillo (aka Chez Murillo goes to Spain)

We didn't cook much in May, since we were out of town most weekends, and we went to Spain for a good week and a half. However, I feel like my trip deserves a mention here as it was definitely one of our greatest "food and wine adventures".

All our pictures are posted at our smugmug album for food/wine from this trip, but a recap of our eating adventures is below:

Saturday lunch: Bar Pinotxo - We got to Barcelona around noon, and shortly after had our first meal in Spain at Bar Pinotxo at the Boqueria. We got pretty lucky and got a couple seats right away as another couple was just leaving. I wasn't sure what to order so I just asked the guy for recommendations: got some grilled prawns drizzled in olive oil and a beef-stew type thing (with bones). Both were pretty good but a lot more expensive than we expected (the prawns were 18€!). Had a glass of cava and a beer, which were more reasonable at 3€/2€. It was a bit more than what we thought we would spend at a stand in the boqueria, maybe it was the items we ordered. Food was good but overpriced and a bit overrated, IMO. Total (2 tapas + 2 drinks) = 35€.

Saturday dinner: Inopia - We got there around 7:30 so we didn't need to queue. Started off with croquetas, paletilla ibérica (Iberian ham shoulder?) and ensaladilla rusa (russian salad), which were all great. The russian salad in particular was a nice surprise. It got even better with some fried anchovies marinated in lemon (a special for that night) and patatas bravas (love the combination of their red and garlic sauces). However, the highlight of the meal for me was the Torta Cañarejal cheese...it was just so creamy and runny and flavorful! I'm a cheese lover and have tried many cheeses but this one was truly special and probably one of the best cheeses I've ever had. We finished up with some flan since my hubby wanted something sweet...it was very good but a bit anticlimactic for me after the cheese. We had 3 glasses of wine each, plus a glass of sherry for me and brandy for the hubby at the end. We spent twice as much as we did in Bar Pinotxo but I felt this was a much better value since we got so much food and drink. Total damage (7 tapas + 8 drinks) = 73€.


Saturday "second dinner": Taller de Tapas - It was midnight and I was still so excited to be in Spain that we decided to go out again. I had very fond memories of this bar from a trip five years ago but sadly it wasn't up to snuff (especially after Inopia). The initial plan was to just get some drinks, but we wound up getting more stuff to munch on (hard to believe after our huge dinner but I just wanted to try as much food as I could). The pan con tomate and the pimientos de padron were the only good things (I mean, can't really screw up pimientos de padron), but the chorizo in cider and gambas al ajillo were mediocre and not worth the money or the calories. My hubby really loves gambas al ajillo and it was too bad their version here seemed to use frozen, tiny shrimp and the sauce was lackluster. A bit of a disappointment but I guess my taste has changed a lot in 5 years...should have listened more to these boards instead of nostalgia. At least the whole meal was cheap, even cheaper than our lunch at the Boqueria. Total spent for 4 tapas + 1 bottle of wine = 33€

Sunday lunch: Can Ros - We knew we wanted to have some arroz negro at Barceloneta, so I had Kaiku, Can Majo, and Can Ros on my radar. Can Majo had some recent bad reports so that kinda fell off my list. I was initially planning to go to Kaiku, but we had a bus tour that day and it didn't get to Barceloneta until around 2:45pm. Since Kaiku was only open until 3:30, and Can Ros until 4:30, we decided to go to Can Ros. When we stopped by the restaurant, they asked us if we had a reservation, which we didn't, and said they could accomodate us at 3:30pm. We agreed to that (seemed a good sign that they were full) and just hung out at Barceloneta beach while we waited. For our appetizers, we had some grilled octopus and navajas clams. Both were very good, and it was nice to order seafood items that we haven't had before. For our main course, we had the arros negre which was DIVINE. It didn't have a lot of seafood in it (just some bits of squid) but the rice itself was so flavorful (I'm sure the generous drizzle of good olive oil helped) and the texture was unlike any other paella-type dish I've had before (seemed more "al dente"). The portion looked huge (minimum for 2 people) but we finished every last bit of it. For dessert, we had crema catalana which was a nice way to end the meal (particularly liked the cookies that came with it...in the Philippines we called them "barquillos", not sure if they're called the same in Spain)...coffee was awesome as well. We splurged a bit on wine here and got the 16€ bottle of Albariño instead of the house wine...the wine was great and complimented the meal perfectly. Total for 2 appetizers, arroz for 2, dessert to share, coffee and a bottle of one of their more expensive wines = 77€

Sunday dinner: Cerveceria Catalana - We were initially planning to go to Paco Meralgo and I had Cerveceria Catalana as a backup, since they seemed to be the most recommended for Sunday nights when most restaurants were closed. However, on our way to dinner around 10pm, we saw there was a big party in La Rambla from Barcelona winning their football match over Real Valladolid. My hubby wanted to get tix for that match but couldn't get any, but at least we were able to join in on the party...lots of sports fans (who broke out into song once in a while), fireworks/firecrackers, and general merrymaking. We wound up hanging out with the party in Placa Catalunya for about an hour or so and pushing off our dinner to around 11pm...Cerveceria Catalana seemed like an easier choice since it was open later (until 1:30am) and was right off Rambla Catalunya. We stood around the bar area for a while while we waited for our table, but some spots wound up opening up at the bar so we ate there instead. We started off with some Jamon Jabugo, Idiazabal cheese, and pimientos de padron, all of which were very good. We then had some montaditos (little tapas on top of bread)...the veal which was recommended by one of the bartenders was great and probably the best dish of the night, but the pork loin was also good. We also had a skewer of bacon-wrapped dates and cheese that was just wonderful...I've had bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cheese before, but here they had balls of cheese alternating w/ the bacon-wrapped date, and everything breaded and fried! So yummy. Also had some calamares which were also good (though nowhere near as spectacular as the bacon dates and the veal). Finished up with dessert, I just had to have some warm chocolate cake, and my hubby got their "Roscon de la Casa" (house cake), a sort of sponge-like cake topped with whipped cram...I'm a big chocolate lover but his dessert was actually much better. Finally had a couple of chupitas(shots) of manzana liquor (had much fondness for this liquor from my previous trip to Barcelona 5 years ago). This was probably the probably the best value (in terms of quantity of food/drink for the price) on our whole trip. Total spent including 9 tapas, 1 bottle of wine, 2 glasses of wine (while we were waiting), and 2 shots (yup, we're gluttons AND lushes) = 72€

Monday lunch: Restaurant Sant Joan - We were visiting Sagrada Familia the same day so we figure it was a good time to check out Sant Joan, which has been widely praised on Chowhound. At first we had trouble figuring out what to order since they only had the two boards with the menus, one in Spanish up front and in Catalan in the back. My Spanish, while very little, was still a lot better than my Catalan (nonexistent), so I wound up mostly looking through the Spanish menu. We had somewhat decided on what to order but thankfully one of the servers spoke some English and helped confirm them for us. We weren't very adventurous this time and I had the pechuga de pollo (grilled chicken) which came with fries and a baked potato, while my husband had the lomo con pimientos (grilled pork loin with roasted red peppers)...both were good but the pork was better. Both dishes were very simply prepared, with a drizzle of good quality olive oil, but at this point I thought it was a welcome respite after our previous huge meals with lots of different foods. We had a bottle of their house red wine (Cariñena...I'm assuming this is the carignane grape?) which was surprisingly served chilled...however, this actually worked really well for our lunch, since it seemed more refreshing and appropriate for a lighter lunch. For dessert, hubby got the flan de coco (he said it was better than the flan at Inopia) and I got the queso con membrillo. It was really nice to get the membrillo and nuts with the cheese, since I usually prefer to eat cheese with all the fixings. It definitely hit the spot for our mood that day. This was also the cheapest restaurant meal we had in all of Spain. Total bill (2 entrees, 2 desserts, and a bottle of wine) = 22€

Monday dinner: Cal Pep - Unlike Inopia, we got lazy and didn't wind up leaving our hotel until later, so there was a line out the door when we got there around 9:45pm. We decided to stick it out (wound up chatting with another American couple from NYC behind us), and were seated at the bar approximately an hour later. They say they're open until 11:30pm but you don't get kicked out at that time, that's just when they cut off the queue and stop accepting any more people. When ordering, we did a combination of looking at what other people are having and asking the server about what he recommended. We thoroughly enjoyed all the seafood, including the bacalao (probably the best I've ever had including previous trips to Spain/Portugal), scallop (served in shell), mixed fried seafood/fish, and clams (had some sort of white wine sauce and ham). We also had some pan con tomate, pimientos de padron (just couldn't get enough of those), and sauteed mushrooms to round up the meal. The bill was actually less than what I expected after reading all the reviews. Total bill (7 tapas + 1 bottle of house white wine) = ~70€


Tuesday lunch: Boqueria - After all the huge meals and rich food, we really wanted to eat light since we had a big dinner at Comerç24 that night. Just had a container of mixed fruit, 2 skewers with chorizo and cheese, a couple bocadillos (one serrano and one chorizo), and shared an alfajor for dessert(cookie with dulce de leche filling). We got everything to go and ate it at a random square off La Rambla. Nothing to write home about, but it was cheap) and fit the bill for a light lunch. Hey, it was our only meal in Barcelona with no alcohol! Total (including 1 bottled water) = ~12€

Tuesday dinner: Comerç24 - This was our last dinner in Barcelona and we wanted it to be special, plus we considered this my birthday dinner even though my birthday was the next day. My husband and I both got the Grand Festival de Tapas. While they offer a wine pairing, it is not the fixed wine pairing that we are used to at other tasting menu restaurants...rather they just keep giving you more wine depending on how quickly you consume them (one pairing can last one or multiple courses depending on your pace). Given that we're big alkies, we probably wound up consuming at least 8-9 different wines (plus a glass each of cava to start)...so glad we don't have to drive in Barcelona! It would take too long for me to list all the dishes (but you can see them in my album linked up top), but the highlights were the following: 4 different olive oils to taste, monkfish with black garlic and sesame (just loved that black garlic sauce), oysters with beet root foam, shrimp ceviche (I *never* eat shrimp but I had to admit this was good and not "shrimpy" at all), tuna tartare with slow-cooked egg in the bottom, some sort of japanese-style soup with flowers (it just smelled wonderful), sashimi "pizza", rabbit rice, sirloin with snow peas and sesame, and of course their cheese course which had 5 different types of cheese (my fave was a soft goaty one). Pretty much all the food we put in our mouth tasted great, but I have to admit their service is a bit lacking, especially compared to other Michelin-starred restaurants I've been to. In the beginning of the dinner, two different people asked us for our wine order, seemed like the staff was not coordinated. Then when they asked us what food we don't eat, I mentioned that my husband does not like chocolate, figuring that *he* would get some sort of substitute dessert. However, I was saddened when I saw every other table getting chocolate desserts except for ours, especially since I love chocolate. There was a lot of waiting then we finally got them to give me the chocolate desserts (I still think I was missing one of them)...not sure if they just skipped the chocolate courses and only gave us the non-chocolate desserts, or maybe they gave us more savory courses? In any case, that further convinced me to *never* ask for substitutions on tasting menus, I think it just confuses the staff, especially if they are not well-trained to begin with. That disappointment aside, it was still a very good meal...I really enjoyed the modern molecular cuisine, there's definitely a lot more creativity and variety in temperature as well as flavor. I also liked the slight asian influence. They just really need to work on their service. Total spent (2 grand festival de tapas + 2 glasses of cava + wine pairings and water) = 310€



Wednesday lunch: Picnic on the train - We actually ate this on the AVE train between Barcelona and Madrid. I picked up some Jamon Iberico de Bellota from one of the jamon stands in the Boqueria, some mini chorizos, a couple cheeses (whose names I don't recall, I just asked the cheese lady to pick out a couple different ones for me), bread, grapes, and almonds. Bought a split of wine and a can of beer on the train and we were set! Total cost = ~20€


Wednesday dinner: Tapas crawl in La Latina (Temperanillo, Casa Lucas, Juana La Loca) - One thing I really liked about the tapas bars here is that they give you a free tapa when you order a drink, something I never saw in Barcelona. Most of the tapas seemed to be different items on top of some bread slices (way bigger than the montaditos from Cerveceria Catalana) We started off at Taberna Temperanillo since I wanted to get a good sample of Spanish wines. We started off with a glass each of rioja and ribero del duero (the ribera was better) and got a freebie tapa of a few slices of chorizo and some mini-breadsticks. We ordered a couple tapas, one was cheese and eggplant, the other was anchovy and tomato, both on bread with a drizzle of olive oil, both of which were pretty good. We had another couple of wines (one from La Mancha and a local Madrid wine) and another free tapa (mini toast with a soft blue cheese). Total bill was around 20€. Next stop was Casa Lucas...again we started with a glass of rioja and a glass of ribera (rioja was better this time), and got a free tapa of chorizo on bread. For our food order, we got the "Mancha" pincho, which was some mixed sauteed vegetables topped with a fried quail's egg and bits of ham, and the "Madrid" pincho which had a scramble of morcilla (blood sausage), onion, and tomato, topped with fried onions...both tapas were great and better than the ones we got at Temperanillo, the Madrid one was probably the best dish of the night. We wound up chatting with a nice Spanish man and his daughter who were sitting next to us at the bar...they were regulars and seem to know the bartenders. After hearing it was my birthday, he got the bartender to comp us a couple more glasses of rioja! :) They even let us try one of their raciones, some sort of creamy rice dish with mushrooms and foie gras...so good and I would have gotten it if I wasn't determined to visit at least 3 bars that night. Total bill was (~17€ since we only had to pay for the 2 drinks and 2 tapas). The local guy also recommended a place for drinks, the terrace at El Viajero which I've never heard of before in all my research. He said go for the drinks and the view, not the food, and we felt like taking a break from eating anyway so we each enjoyed a glass of red wine in their nice terrace to enjoy the view (5€ each but they were huge glasses). Seemed like there were a lot of people there on dates, probably since it had a very romantic ambiance. It wasn't a foodie stop, but we were glad to be able to take a break and just sit and enjoy the view. Final food stop was Juana La Loca...we figured we had enough wine at this point and just got a glass each of their house red wine. We didn't seem to get the free tapas here but were ok with that since the wine was cheap anyway (~2€/glass). Had a couple pinchos, jamon de pato (duck ham, I assume?) and a ravioli topped with bacon (forgot the filling). Both were pretty good but I think we were pretty full at this point...total bill (~15€). Our eating in Madrid was off to a great start! Total damage for tapas crawl (including 6 pinchos, 3 free tapas and 12 glasses of wine!) = ~62€

Wednesday post-dinner: Chocolateria San Gines - Gluttons that we are, after the big tapas crawl we still had to get some dessert! Wandered into Chocolateria San Gines on our way back to the hotel at almost 2am and had a couple orders of chocolate con churros. My hubby doesn't eat chocolate so he just had churros, so we had way too much chocolate. That was okay though since I just wanted to try it. It wasn't mind-blowing (preferred the hot chocolate I had in Paris), but it hit the spot. Total bill: ~10€.


Thursday lunch: Botin - We visited Palacio Real in the morning, and had reservations at Botin at 2:30pm (booked through thefork.com). I gotta say I was glad that I got reservations, since the place was packed. Since it was a really hot day (Madrid is definitely a lot warmer than Barcelona!) we decided to get a pitcher of sangria instead of wine. Unlike my last trip to Spain (back in my twenties when I was more into partying), this was the only time I ordered sangria in our entire trip...I figure since we were going to a touristy restaurant, this was the place to get a touristy drink ;-). It did hit the spot though and was very refreshing. We started off with a couple orders of gazpacho...they let you pick what stuff to add to the soup, I got everything and got some chunks of cucumber, tomato, green pepper, and bread. The soup was very good and refreshing as well, I was glad to be able to get this traditional dish at Botin (a lot of local-looking people seemed to have gotten it too). For our main course, I got the cochinillo asado (roast suckling pig...how could I not?) and my hubby got the cordero asado (roast lamb) to be different. We both agreed the pig was better , but it was nice to have the variety and the servings are ginormous, so we both had enough of the pig. For dessert, we shared the "Bartolillos de Madrid" (some sort of cream-filled pastry) which was really good but unfortunately we were pretty much about to burst and could not finish it all. Total bill for 2 appetizers, 2 entrees, 1 dessert, pitcher of sangria = 78€


Thursday dinner: Chueca Tapas (Bocaito, La Bardemcilla) - I had initially planned to do another bar crawl, but we were just so full from lunch still that we couldn't eat too much for dinner (hard to believe given this post so far, i know ;)). We started out at Bocaito where we just stood by the long table opposite the bar. We had a couple glasses of cava and a glass of red wine, and had a free tapa of olives to start. We ordered light and just got a couple croquetas and champiñones al ajillo (one of my favorite tapas). The croquetas were good (as good as any others I've had so far in the trip), but the mushrooms were fantastic, with great garlicky flavor and good quality olive oil. The place was really crowded and seemed to be buzzing with locals. We then moved on to La Bardemcilla where we had a platter of manchego cheese and another couple glasses of red wine (on special for 2€/glass!). We sat at a nice window bench full of pillows, and it was great to just sit and chill with our wine and cheese. Again, this place seemed to be filled with locals as well. Total spent at Chueca (3 tapas + 5 glasses of wine) = 33€.



Friday lunch: Picnic at Retiro Park - I had initially planned to and made reservations at El Mollete, but canceled a couple days before after we figured that it didn't fit with our sightseeing plans...we were going to the Prado and the Reina Sofia on the opposite side of the city. We just picked up the following from a deli: ham and cheese sandwich, pasta with cheese, jamon serrano and sundried tomato, a bag of chips and a couple bottles of water, and had an impromptu picnic at Retiro Park. Again, another light meal since I think we were still recovering from the all the huge meals. At least it gave us a chance to have a nice nap in the park before going to the Reina Sofia! Total cost = ~9€.

Friday dinner: El Ventorillo Murciano - I had initially planned a Huertas tapas crawl, but the hubby declared that he was "tired of tapas" and wanted something different and more hearty. Since this restaurant was recommended for authentic paella, I wound up calling them the day before, and after much struggling with my spanish was able to secure a reservation for 9pm. The meal started with a free tapa/amuse of fried zucchini. For our appetizer, we ordered the embotidos a la plancha (an assortment of grilled sausages)...it came with about 3 different kinds of sausages and some fries, great to snack on while we waited for our paella. For our main, we got the "arroz de cunejo y caracoles" (rice with rabbit and tree snails), and it was amazing. I've had rabbit before (tastes like chicken) but not the caracoles and was very surprised at how tasty they were. It seemed like a lot but we polished off the whole thing. I thought it was cool that at places (both in Barcelona at Can Ros and at Madrid at this restaurant) we've had seemingly the most authentic "paellas", but they don't call them paella. Maybe it's similar to how the better California producers use the term "sparkling wine" instead of "california champagne"? For our wine, we had a bottle of their house red, probably the most expensive "house wine" we've had but still quite affordable at 16€. It was a Barahonda Crianza 2004 (Cabernet/Monastrel blend) and was probably one of the best bottles of wine we've had in our entire trip...it easily tasted like a bottle that cost twice as much. We skipped out on dessert since I wanted to get cheese at Casa Gonzales, but they gave us 2 free small glasses of dessert wine and some chocolate-covered almonds, candied walnuts and raisins! Total bill = 71€.

Friday post-dinner: Casa Gonzalez - I really wanted to try some of their cheeses, so I got the 5-cheese sampler platter. It included the following: Manchego Curado, Idiazabal (smoked), A'Fuega de Pitu Blanco Irojo (goat), Azul Picon de Hojas (blue) and Arzua Gallego (the only cheese that was pasteurized). The goat cheese was probably my favorite. We each had a couple glasses of wine, a Jumilla and a Garnacha (Greco Madrid). There was so much cheese that we couldn't quite finish it all so I had them wrap up the rest to eat the next day. Total bill = 22€

Saturday lunch: Mercado de San Miguel - We wanted a light-ish lunch since we were having a big dinner at La Terraza that night, so we decided to check out the Mercado de San Miguel. It wasn't as big as the Boqueria in Barcelona, but it seemed neater and more organized. Unfortunately there was only one place selling jamon so it took us forever to get our Jamon Iberico de Bellota (and cost so much more). We also got some bread and a half bottle of Rioja. They give you glasses so you can eat at some tables in the middle of the market, but it was super-crowded and we really wanted to have a picnic...the lady who sold me our wine was very nice and let me borrow the glasses to take with me (she said it was ok as long as no one sees, so I stuffed them in my purse!). We enjoyed the wine, bread, ham, and our leftover cheese from Casa Gonzales at a small grassy knoll not too far away from the market (near Palacio Real). Afterwards we went back to the market to return the glasses and got some ice cream from one of the other stalls for dessert. Total bill = ~30€

Saturday dinner: La Terraza del Casino de Madrid - This was our biggest splurge meal and our last dinner in Spain. I booked the reservations for it one month in advance through email. Unfortunately they don't open up the terrace until June, but the indoor restaurant still had very good ambiance...I really liked the all-white decor and how far apart the tables were from each other. Jacket is required and we were both dressed up, though it annoyed me that a couple American teenage girls were wearing jeans even though their dad was wearing a jacket (they wouldn't let him take it off though, haha). As far as the food...I thought Comerç24 was "molecular" but this place is over-the-top with the whiz-bang tricks! Not that I minded, I actually thought it was very fun and entertaining, definitely the most creative cuisine I've ever had (wonder if Alinea and WD-50 are similar). Highlights were the following: the frozen "cocktail" made tableside with liquid nitrogen, "bread and butter" with the olive oil "butter" in a tube, pork marrow, mandarin bonbon (liquid inside and explodes in your mouth), liquid ham croquette (similar technique to the bonbon...amazing how much it tastes like jamon croquetas when the liquid bursts in your mouth!), 21st century spanish omelette (their take on tortilla española...caramelized onion sauce, egg foam, potato foam layered in a martini glass with a light drizzle of olive oil on top), scallops and beetroot (looked like a whole beet but made up of beet-flavored sauce, carbonara "egg nest" (a fake egg, complete with runny "yolk" and "pasta"...not sure what it was made of, but it did remind me of carbonara), thyme sorbet (they brought out the liquid nitrogen again!), yogurt and mint oil "cherimoya" (looks exactly like the fruit), chocolate and coffee "donuts". As you can see from all the quotation marks, there was a lot of food that looked like one thing but made up of something entirely different...I wouldn't say it was the best-tasting food I've ever had (the liquid jamon croquetas were up there though), but it is definitely one of my top restaurant experiences ever, as I look at fine dining as a form of entertainment. I do wonder how much of the Ferrán Adrià influence is there, since I saw some silverware with "el bulli" stamped on it...maybe they recycle some of the past El Bulli dishes? Even though I wasn't able to secure reservations to El Bulli, I felt like this was a great "consolation prize" and that it was definitely worth the money. One minor disappointment is that they don't offer wine pairings, but we asked the sommelier for recommendations for a cava and a red: a Freixenet Reserva Real cava (definitely a far cry from those $10 bottles in the supermarket...rivals fine champagnes and probably the best cava I've had), and a 2005 El Puntido Rioja (surprisingly light-bodied, but loads of great flavor). This restaurant is definitely deserving of their 2 Michelin stars. Total cost (2 menu degustacion + 2 bottles of wine + 2 bottles of water) = 376€


Sunday breakfast: La Mallorquina - Since we stayed right off Puerta del Sol, we kept passing by this bakery. I was very intrigued by the ensaimada, since it looks almost exactly like filipino ensaymada, except without the additional butter topping and using powdered sugar instead of granulated sugar. Wound up getting an ensaimada and a napolitano, a custard-filled pastry that is their specialty. Both were super-yummy, I liked the ensaimada better but my hubby preferred the napolitano. What a great ending to eight days of good eats! Total cost = 2€


After adding everything up, we spent ~€1400 on food/drink for our trip...got lucky the exchange rate with the dollar was pretty good so it wound up being ~$1770. We actually spent less than we did at our last trip to NYC (maybe because they don't do crazy wine markups in Europe). Since we don't get to travel to Europe too often, I thought it was totally worth it. Definitely a gastronomic experience of a lifetime!