Birthday Weekend Part 2

Here are a few more food notes and photos from my birthday weekend in the Hamptons...

Sunday we made salads for lunch. I cooked some bacon, then chopped the leftover potato wedges from Friday and sauteed them in the bacon grease.

Healthy? No. Delicious? Yes. It gave us a little something warm and crispy to put on the salads...though I think we could have just eaten the potatoes straight from the pan.
Nate went to the store to get our provisions...he picked up some chicken breasts, and we marinated them in lemon, Dijon mustard, oil and spices. Then Jason grilled them. (Nate was hard at work cleaning up debris from the storm, but he did take a lunch break to enjoy the salads by the pool.)

So tasty!!

Sunday afternoon, we took the ferry to Shelter Island and planned to have sunset dinner/drinks at Sunset Beach, but we weren't the only ones with that idea. The place was mobbed, and it was a pretty serious "scene." We left and stumbled on a really cute hotel that reminded all of us of Kellerman's from Dirty Dancing.

There we had a lovely al fresco dinner -- I had grilled swordfish with pureed cauliflower. Christine called some of her friends to come and meet us. Sophie and her husband will also be at Meghan's wedding in Chicago next month, so it was fun to get to know them.

Monday morning, I thought it would be fun to make huevos ranchers, as I know Neil and Nate both love to get them at Barneys for brunch. I sauteed some onions and peppers with garlic, then added them to two cans of beans and two chopped chipotle peppers.

Everybody assembled their own plates with tortilla chips on the bottom and avocado, tomato, cilantro, salsa, beans and cheese. So tasty!!

For dinner that night, I made sauteed fish over corn, tomato, beans and basil. It's another one of my favorite recipes from Fresh Every Day by Sarah Foster. I hadn't made it this summer, and the flavors are just perfect for a warm night. Ideally, it's better with thicker fish, as these thin fillets (I believe my friend Eddie would call them "bait fish") sort of fell apart when I was sauteeing them.

We dined outside by the pool. For dessert, Jason had made some salted caramel ice cream. It was a perfect ending to a fantastic weekend.

God is Gouda

I'd been wanting to try Inside Park, the restaurant at St. Barts Church on 50th and Park. (In part because I'd already planned the name of this blog post!) On Thursday, Neil's aunt Jackie was in town, so we went there for lunch.

Here are some pics I pulled from Yelp so you could get a sense of the venue. Unfortunately, the terrace was closed...I assume they must stop serving there after Labor Day.

We shared the oyster and laughing bird shrimp po'boy with caraway slaw and spicy tomato aioli on stirato. We also split the endive salad with watermelon and smoked ricotta salata.

The setting is very cool...very similar to Bonterra, a Charlotte restaurant in an old church.

To be honest, I thought the food was a bit disappointing, but it was so much fun to catch up with Jackie that the food was secondary. She is an amazing woman who has led schools in South America and Asia, and she just returned from a three-month trip to Africa. Over the years, I always enjoyed Neil's stories about his adventurous aunt, and I finally got to meet her for myself when she was running a school in Peru in 2004. I find her absolutely fascinating and such an inspiration in the art of unconventional living! 

Hamptons Birthday

Christine and I rode the Jitney out to the Hamptons mid-morning on Friday. We got to the house and met Neil and Nate's friends Jason and Aseem, who cooked a fantastic dinner for all of us that night. Photo note: these are a mix of shots from my camera and Jason's, but the really good ones are his!

Jason made us Moscow mules to drink...yum...we also had lots of the boys' favorite rose from Wolffer Estate.

Aseem grilled potato wedges. He microwaved them for a few minutes so they were par-cooked when he put them on the grill, tossed in a blend of spices.

Jason grilled Romaine lettuce for a Caesar salad. Fantastic!

The next day was my birthday! Neil made scrambled eggs, bacon and toast for us to enjoy poolside. Late in the morning, we got dressed and went into Sag Harbor for lunch at B. Smith's on the water.

Our delightful waitress Dee was quite excited to have a birthday girl and insisted I taste one of the restaurant's signature watermelon margaritas. Almost all of us had a lobster roll...mine came with a special birthday salad, garnished with an edible flower. We had fun looking at the yachts in the harbor, especially the one with a Mini parked on it!

Dee offered up some words of birthday wisdom. She said 35 is a good age because, "all of that foolishness you used to go for...you're not going for anymore." I wrote her quote down in my notebook, and she autographed it for me.

Next stop was the Wolffer Estate. The boys wanted to get another case of rose, so we also had a bottle of celebratory champagne while we were there.

Then we drove through Amagansett and toward Montauk to meet our friend Mae at Cyrils beach bar. It was quite a scene, and we all got a big kick out of the people-watching. The crowd was practically spilling out onto the highway.

After such a big day, we needed a low-key dinner. We ended up at World Pie in Bridgehampton, where we had three very funky -- and tasty -- pizzas. One was duck with cilantro, green onions and hoisin; one was a taco pizza; and one was bacon and pork with pineapple.

Christine got me a Devil's food cake, and we just ate it at home in our jammies. What a wonderful day! Who could ask for more -- great friends, great food, great weather. I feel like I am living the life! PURE JOY.

Early Birthday Dinner

Oh, the advantages of living with a gourmet cook...did I mention Kurt did a weeklong course at the Cordon Bleu a few years back?  

Thank heavens his birthday was before mine so I could get away with a simple supper. He went all out...on a weeknight, no less!

And, to make it extra special...he moved our cafe table into the living room to make it more of an occasion. So sweet!

First course -- watermelon ceviche. This was to. die. for.

Next up -- bacon and gruyere crepes with a pickled vegetable salad. Loved every bite!
And the main course: coq au vin. It was hard to get a photo that did it justice, but I spent a few seconds just inhaling the fragrance of the chicken, which he'd marinated overnight to infuse it with delicious flavor. Perfection!

Dessert was waffles topped with mint chocolate chip ice cream and a homemade chocolate syrup.

What a fabulous, fabulous start to my birthday. Could I be any luckier to have found such a sweet, creative roommate? To do: return the favor!