Gazpacho with roasted tomatillos and basil cream.

3 tomatillos, roasted at 400 for about 20 min.

3 med tomatoes

half a bell pepper

half a cucumber

half an onion

1 garlic clove

dash tabasco
1. Add everything to blender... blend!

Basil Cream

1 cup cream

1 cup basil

1. I used a stick blender but you can use a food processor.

Serve: Spoon gazpacho into bowl, drizzle with basil cream and mix in some avocado chunks! YUM.

Pesce spada alla Norma.

Pasta alla Norma, but with swordfish. YUM.

Pesce Spada alla Norma

1 4 or 5oz swordfish steak, cooked however you want (I broiled mine with some lemon).

1 eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, salted, drained and pat dry.

1 small red onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, diced

2 tomatoes, diced

4 celery tops, minced

1 cup basil leaves, cut in chiffonade

2 T tomato paste

Sprinkle of oregano

Goat cheese

1. Het some lard in a nonstick pan over medhigh heat. Fry eggplant in lard until soft and golden. Make sure the lard is good and hot so the eggplant wont just sop it all up. Having the eggplant WELL drained and pat VERY dry also helps. I used about 2 T lard and had some left when the eggplant was done. Trust me, if you do it right, you wont have oil sponge eggplant yuck.

2. At the last few seconds, sprinkle oregano onto eggplant so it wakes up a little. Remove eggplant from pan.

3. Turn heat to med. Add onion to pan, cook for about 2 min. Add tomato, garlic and celery tops to pan. Let cook about 10 min until tomato is soft and breaking up.

4. Add tomato paste and a little water to dissolve. Heat for a couple mins.

5. Add basil leaves at the last minute and serve. I put in on top of swordfish steaks but you can do whatever sounds yummy! Sprinkle goat cheese on top (supposed to be ricotta salata but I really like goat cheese).

CSA Week 10

Dayton Restaraunt Week. July 26-31, 2009. Meadowlark review.

Here is what I ate tonight for dinner (this was all $20.09 for restaraunt week):

1. Spicy Shrimp and Watermelon with Basil, Mint and Nuoc Cham.

2. Harissa-brushed Swordfish with Sicilian Couscous (couscous, kalamata, sultanas, onion, tomato, parsley).

3. Roasted Peach with Blue Cheese, Sweet Balsamic Syrup and Dolcessa Gelato (nixed the bleu cheese).

I was at the Meadowlark here in Dayton. Let me review for you. First course was good. Light and refreshing, though I feel the shrimp was not that good, but I always feel like that about shrimp. Seconds... the swordish was amazing! The couscous, was couscous. Well done, but not special. The fish was special though. Dessert was great. The peach was warm and I either got a balsamic reduction (probable) or a high quality balsamic. The flavor of it said to me that it was a reduction, and sweetened at that. The gelato tasted cream cheesy. I dont know what flavor it was supposed to be but it was def buttermilk or cream cheese or something of that nature.

I have never been to Meadowlark before, and I fear I did not experience the height of what the restaurant can offer. They were busy (on a one hour wait if you didnt call ahead... I did). The host who I spoke to on the phone and when I arrived was very kind and personable, probably the best part of the experience. I felt sort of rushed through the whole experience. I suppose for the onslaught of people they were experiencing, the restaurant fared very well. No overt mistakes were made, save one. They delivered my check to me before I had even received dessert. Way to P*** me off. Are you kidding me? I would consider this place somewhere in the upper band of Dayton dining, and you are acting like a Perkins or a Waffle House and not waiting until I am through with my meal? I mean really. THAT was why I felt rushed. You should let a diner FINISH their meal before you make them pay. Maybe the rules are different considering the time. I dont know. One piece of advice: wait until the end of the meal until bill is delivered please.

I might return to Meadowlark again. On a muchmuch slower night.

Where should I go next? Restaraunt week menus.

Vegetarian soft rolls with peanut sauce.

Fillings:

Napa, red pepper, scallions, basil, mint, cilantro, cucumber, wakame, avocado.

Sauce:

Peanuts, shoyu, fish sauce, sesame oil, water, onion.

Rolling tutorial here!