Dali, Somerville [Split from Home Cooking]

[LindaWhit]

Tonight - Dali. They had Fresones. I *HAD* to go.

The lovely and always fun Yolanda was our server, and we had great tapas (libations were sangria for myself and a friend; a mango martini for the other friend): Brocheta de Pez Espada--marinated chunks of swordfish grilled on a skewer w/onions, red peppers & grapes; San Jacobo--breaded and fried zucchini filled w/serrano ham & Manchego cheese (this was a monthly new tapa, and was *wonderful!*); Patatas Bravas--deep-fried potatoes drizzled with a bit of tomato sauce & alioli; Gambas con Gabardina--saffron-batter fried shrimp w/mojo sauce; Vieiras al Azafrán--scallops in saffron cream sauce, and for dessert? Their Fresones (mine, mine, mine!) - giant strawberries dipped in a sherry batter and fried, served with a crema catalana sauce with a strawberry drizzle and a scoop of ice cream, and for one friend, their seriously great Churros with a warm chocolate sauce. I have also turned another friend to the sublime dark side of a snifter of Licor 43, so there was a snifter for both me and her.

A wonderful evening with two wonderful friends with lots of great chit-chat. And I'm a happy happy camper. :-)

[Frizzle]

That all sounds incredible!

[Breadcrumbs]

Sounds like a fabulous evening Linda. I love Patatas Bravas and the shrimp in particular. I wish I was having this for breakfast (she types as she scowls at her bowl of All-Bran w past-their-prime blueberries!)

[LindaWhit]

It was definitely heavier on the fried foods than I would have liked, but one of my friends seems to mostly like that, so I leaned that way for her (and the fresones were a given for me! LOL). But the zucchini with serrano ham and Manchego were a revelation - they had a balsamic glaze on the small serving cutting board that you could smear the slices on - quite wonderful!

Tonight, I'll "cook". Something. Not sure yet what I'll have, as I'm hoping to pick up a half boneless leg of lamb for my dinner tomorrow. Don't celebrate Easter, but always do try and have lamb on that day, as it was my family's traditional meal (except for my sister, who hates lamb - she'd get chicken. LOL!)

[Breadcrumbs]

Mmm that zucchini does sound good. I'll have to dig out my Tapas books and see if I have a recipe.

We too like to have lamb for Easter. Ham was the tradition in my family but mr bc & I both love lamb so this year I picked up some shanks and will be doing Silence of the Lamb Shanks served over fava beans w a chianti glaze... this dish is mr bc's absolute favourite lamb preparation.

[LindaWhit]

I love that recipe title. :-D I saw lamb shanks at my local stupidmarket, but went with the half bone-in leg of lamb. Probably more money than I should have spent (there were lamb steaks as well), but I figured what I don't eat after I get tired of roasted lamb can go into a lamb and barley stew.

[Breadcrumbs]

Well, since I read your post down-thread about having lots of greens, let me toss out another idea for any leftover roast lamb you might have. I recently made open-faced lamb sandwiches for lunch w some of my friends. I started out by making some bruschetta toasts which I rubbed w some garlic.

I toasted some fennel seeds in a dry pan then added in a little evoo and some sliced onions which I sauteed until they were translucent. Into the pan went some roasted lamb that I kind of pulled off the leg. Lamb was tossed to warm then this mixture went onto a pile of greens that I'd given a toss in a light amount of evoo & balsamic & placed on each bruschetta. Provolone went on top of the lamb then the bruschetta headed for the broiler until the cheese was bubbly. These were so yummy - perfect w red wine. Next time I think I'll do Middle Eastern flavours & use cumin seeds instead of fennel, a little aleppo pepper. Lemon vinaigrette and feta on top.

Sorry about your crummy news today. I hope things seem better in the morning. Sending positive thoughts your way.

[LindaWhit]

Oh my, that sounds wonderful, Bc!

[mariacarmen]

hah-we'll be having Lamb of God Chops tomorrow. Also a small half ham.

[Breadcrumbs]

Love it!!