Friday - Early dinner at Bonefish Grill (East Brunswick). I had never been, but Laurie has been wanting to go so since for once, there was an open reservation, we would overlook the early seating at 6:15 and get it out of the way. We were seated at a nice table, and although the paper table clothes and music didn't compliment the atmosphere very well, overall, I liked the atmosphere. Much better than most chain restaurants. The water and bottle of wine took a while, but the food came rather quick. Albeit, the main course wasn't supposed to come yet, as Laurie had ordered a Caesar Salad! Doh! Chalking it up as an oh-well, meals here now, kind of thing. The meal. I ordered the small filet, and it was good, especially for the price. I ordered it medium-rare, knowing that they would over-cook it at least a little to medium, thankfully, the did it actually medium, which is fine for me. Laurie, ordered hers medium, (she ordered the Filet special, with shrimp on top) and it came WELL, not a hint of pink, which, thankfully(and unfortunately), she likes. Potatoes were good, can't screw them up too much. To make up for the salad debacle, the waitress offered us dessert in which we indulged in the newly added to the menu Strawberry Shortcake which consisted of strawberrys, some melted vanilla ice cream, and a shortbread-type biscuit that grew on me. Overall a decent meal, especially for the price. The (young?) manager, or whomever was asking everyone how there meal was needed either clothes that fit him, or someone to tell him that you can't pull off "the sag" with a tucked in dress shirt and dress pants...

Sat - Decided to buy all new, much needed bedding. (and a few kitchen stuffs, aka Pasta Roller) Watched a movie called Summer Lovers with Peter Gallagher and Daryl Hannah. Makes me want to go to Greece, but strange movie. Also made some Pasta Fagioli soup as a compromise to never going to Olive Garden (aka hell) again. Soup = WOW Breadsticks = Owww.....not so wow. Perhaps I'm not a baker. To quote my love, "Ugh, they taste like flour". Well, at least they looked good. All that kneading of dough for nothing.








We knocked it out of the ballpark with the soup...I think we have officially graduated "Soup School".

Sunday - Went to the movies to see Juno, great flick. The girl who plays the lead is most excellent. Although, while I'm very liberal, if I had a 16yr old daughter, there would be no way I'd let her see it....

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And do get sick....can't complain...it's been a while.

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Some dishes Laurie and I made this week...when we play house...we REALLY play house....

To assist in fighting winter depression, like a methanphedamine tweaker, I always have to "do" something. This weeks episode is cooking which among many other things, Laurie and I completely love doing together.

Last year I ate out A LOT. And not at apple bees...spending enough for a small sportscar. New years resolution is to not spend as much eating out and it's working out good!! I'm learning every day, and so far have had a few debacles....but all in all, after you cook a lot, you really pick apart a restaurant cooked meal!! We figured this out yesterday at lunch at a good, favorite lunch spot. We both looked at each other and picked apart everything from soup to sandwich! It just "wasn't as good". Now that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop fine dining...that would be like quitting crack cold turkey, but now I can enjoy, or rather, appreciate it more, albeit not as frequent.

Of course with the Rob Timko personality, I've had to "invest" (as I like to justify it) in some kitchen tools.....some knives....a pan here and there....and some other gadgets...


Balsamic pork medallions



Apple Pear crepe, with fruit left over from the last debacle.


Pan cooked filet (cast iron)....I sure smoked my house out....


Homemade Creamy Tomato Basil soup with Sourdough grilled cheese and bacon sandwiches...


Ah-So boneless ribs!!

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BAM!

Homemade hand rolled ravioli pasta with 2 different fillings in a brown butter balsamic sauce:
Meat (beef/veal/pork)
Potato & Cheese (Farmers, Goat, Marscapone, Parm)

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Friday - Watched Sex, Lies, and Videotape. Fell asleep to a horrible ending of a movie. Let's recast it with maybe Kevin Spacey as the strange guy, Ben Affleck as the husband (because Ben can made any role better), and get rid of the ugly chick who plays the sister...oh yeah and re-write the ending. Oh yeah, Red Truck wine is horrible.

Saturday - Woke up and cooked some breakfast with Laurie. I must say, we are a kick-ass team of cooks. Iron Chef style. I whipped up some Eggs Benny, my favorite breakfast dish, and since Laurie doesn't like anything runny, or raw-eggy, a spinach and mushroom omlette for her.
Are we Emeril or what?


Since we planned on nothing for the day, or rather we planned on a nice relaxing, magazine reading, music listening, couch day, we (read: I) decided to finally duplicate one of my favorite meals I've ever had. The original meal was at a place in Brussels, Belgium called The Belga Queen and reads as follows:
Meatballs as in Liège (sauce based on a meat stock and pear/apple syrup), cone of fries BQ, lettuce with beer vinegar and virgin olive oil

Now, this "Liege" or rather "Sirop De Liege", upon investigation. Is one of those traditional, only in Belgium, super-top-secret only made by one company, never homemade type of things. (see: website). Phooey. 50$ to have it shipped to me? no thanks. but it can't be that hard right?.....

So scouring the internet, even a pro like myself, proved difficult for a recipe. However, once I started searching in other languages, something came up. A few favors from some foreign speaking friends, and I "sorta" "thought" I had "maybe" the start of a recipe? But it was merely a crap shoot. But, what the hell, it sounded simple, why not give it a try. The recipe called for about 20lbs of fruit, pears and apples and a couple of handfuls of dates....with a total cooking process time of ~9 HOURS! ahhh. Must be good. Well, here are some process pictures, and here are some result pictures. I say it (the sauce) came out EXACTLY as I remember, even better. Out of 20lbs of fruit and 9 hours, it only yielded a jar of sauce/syrup.








Next time around, I'll mix the sauce with the meatball stock a little more as it was almost sweeter than Laurie!

While this was cooking, we had a blast listening to music and catching up on the stack of magazines that have been collecting! We also watched The River Wild - OK flick.

Sunday - Homemade waffles and some scrambled eggs for breakfast, again, tag-team iron chef style! Shopping at Bridgewater mall, Oil change, and bike show to collect a trophy.

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Amazing time!! Amazing People!! Amazing Food!! Amazing Music!!

Too many pics to post, but go here

http://rtimko.smugmug.com/gallery/4102694/1/239189018#239188015

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