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Midnight sushi in the garden of cherries and lentils
As it turns out I'm no longer twenty years old. This is the lesson my body gave me this morning when I awoke, hungover. To my mind 2 gin and tonics, a couple of whiskeys, and a Beck's over the course of an evening shouldn't mess with me, but I am apparently wrong. Last night I went and played a little pool with French Department people, then we retired to Heather and Rich's apartment for some Cranium and Scrabble. It was quite enjoyable, even if I did end up croaking out of bed this morning searching for water.
The better part of the day was spent in slothful argness, as I tried to come to some equilibrium; the Paneer Makhina I'd picked up at Whole Foods helped a lot in that. By this evening, I was in fine enough shape to make some deliciousness: I made bean cakes from my Indian cookbook, and they were delicious. Think corn pones or johnnycakes, but with green onion and beans (in this case green lentils) added in. Fried up in bacon fat, they are scrumptious. I think tomorrow mornfternoon I'll reduce some cherry juice into a delicious sauce for them; I'm excited already!
Right as I was finishing up my cakes, Mandi called me to inform that she was having one of her [frequent] sushi cravings, and I should accompany her and Erin to sushi. I acquiesced. Tonight I had the wonderful new experience of sashimi. Now, when one says sashimi, I generally think of slabs of fish (etc) on a bed of rice. I'm aware that this is properly called nigiri, not sashimi, but no restaurant I've been to actually makes that distinction. Well, tonight at Kamado's I had selected a number of different sashimis, since I was more in that mood. The waiter then proceeds to ask me whether I prefer those as sushi or sashimi. Now... I actually intended for them to be on beds of rice (i.e. sushi), but I said 'sashimi,' since... that's what my mind thinks of them as. I realized later that I'd made an error, but decided to run with it. Excellent idea.
The plate came out, just little slices of raw fish (well, excepting the barbequed unagi) artfully arranged with some daikon and cucumber to garnish. I adored it. I loved it so, so very much. I regularly eat a pretty decent amount of smoked salmon, and it's tasty, but I don't think I've ever had sushi-grade smoked salmon all on its own, no rice/seaweed/other things to interfere. It was amazing, just amazing. Silky and buttery, absolute heaven. It was one of those experiences that stay with you. I could have eaten a pound or two of it without hesitation. I still love rolls, of course, and nigiri... but that was an experience that I just cannot wait to re-experience. I also want to try some tuna; I had albacore tonight, which was good, but I want to try that delightful purply-red iridescent fish all by itself; it must be fabulous.
And then, to top off a great night there was a good ep of Grey's Anatomy at Erin's (missed WW, due to sushi; I'll d/l it later), followed by me, at home, watching Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I had never seen. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the book, and on John Berendt's other similar work on Venice, City of Falling Angels. It's intermittently stormy tonight, which excites me to no end; means I'll sleep deeply, especially if I manage to slip off in the midst of one of the big thunderstorms. Good night, everybody.
The better part of the day was spent in slothful argness, as I tried to come to some equilibrium; the Paneer Makhina I'd picked up at Whole Foods helped a lot in that. By this evening, I was in fine enough shape to make some deliciousness: I made bean cakes from my Indian cookbook, and they were delicious. Think corn pones or johnnycakes, but with green onion and beans (in this case green lentils) added in. Fried up in bacon fat, they are scrumptious. I think tomorrow mornfternoon I'll reduce some cherry juice into a delicious sauce for them; I'm excited already!
Right as I was finishing up my cakes, Mandi called me to inform that she was having one of her [frequent] sushi cravings, and I should accompany her and Erin to sushi. I acquiesced. Tonight I had the wonderful new experience of sashimi. Now, when one says sashimi, I generally think of slabs of fish (etc) on a bed of rice. I'm aware that this is properly called nigiri, not sashimi, but no restaurant I've been to actually makes that distinction. Well, tonight at Kamado's I had selected a number of different sashimis, since I was more in that mood. The waiter then proceeds to ask me whether I prefer those as sushi or sashimi. Now... I actually intended for them to be on beds of rice (i.e. sushi), but I said 'sashimi,' since... that's what my mind thinks of them as. I realized later that I'd made an error, but decided to run with it. Excellent idea.
The plate came out, just little slices of raw fish (well, excepting the barbequed unagi) artfully arranged with some daikon and cucumber to garnish. I adored it. I loved it so, so very much. I regularly eat a pretty decent amount of smoked salmon, and it's tasty, but I don't think I've ever had sushi-grade smoked salmon all on its own, no rice/seaweed/other things to interfere. It was amazing, just amazing. Silky and buttery, absolute heaven. It was one of those experiences that stay with you. I could have eaten a pound or two of it without hesitation. I still love rolls, of course, and nigiri... but that was an experience that I just cannot wait to re-experience. I also want to try some tuna; I had albacore tonight, which was good, but I want to try that delightful purply-red iridescent fish all by itself; it must be fabulous.
And then, to top off a great night there was a good ep of Grey's Anatomy at Erin's (missed WW, due to sushi; I'll d/l it later), followed by me, at home, watching Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which I had never seen. Now I can't wait to get my hands on the book, and on John Berendt's other similar work on Venice, City of Falling Angels. It's intermittently stormy tonight, which excites me to no end; means I'll sleep deeply, especially if I manage to slip off in the midst of one of the big thunderstorms. Good night, everybody.