Last night I finally fulfilled a request made a couple of years ago by my dear friend Pepe, the ex-waiter from my ex-restaurant, to reprise his favorite dishes from Bluefish: Plato Beirut, Roasted garlic with brie and Apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
I have to admit that the cooking part was pretty fun. Considering how big my own kitchen is, I almost felt like i was back at Bluefish. I knocked off the prep work for these three dishes in about an hour - one hand making the apple crumble, while the other boiled water, drizzled olive oil, peeled garlic and diced parsley. It was as automatic and speedy as it used to be and the ingredients flowed into each dish without a moments doubt. At the same time, I realized that despite how much time has gone by, I still don't particularly feel like eating any of these things. So, in order to spice up the routine a bit I decided to pickle some carrot sticks using an easy recipe from Gourmet.
They were delicious: crunchy, slightly spicy from the garlic, dill and pink peppercorns that I added on a whim. Truly, the photo doesn't do them justice.
The whole thing was pulled together by a limonada or white sangria that I made with white wine, lemon fanta, fizzy water, lemon juice, peaches, pineapple and cherries and a splash of cherry liquor that I bought during a recent trip to Valle del Jerte in Extremadura. I should point out that, here in Spain, people really NEVER drink sangria. It is strictly tourist fare. However, this was a delicious and satisfying beverage anomaly meant to deal with a particularly hot day and alcohol-infused week - but it was delicious!
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