Simply Ming; Simply Delicious!

Last night, my boyfriend and I went to Blue Ginger for our 6-year anniversary dinner. For those of you who don't know, Blue Ginger is Ming Tsai's (of East Meets West and Simply Ming) flagship restaurant in Wellseley, Mass. What a fabulous meal we had. I was concerned because it bills itself as "asian fusion" and often times, I find this to mean uncreative Thai food. Ming Tsai however has made a career out of east meets west cuisine and is the master of it we found out after dining at Blue Ginger.

I started my meal with Lime Leaf-Crusted Colossal Shrimp with Galangal-Green Mango Salad & Vietnamese Sauce which was exquisite. Dan had the Blue Ginger Clam Chowder with Chinese Clam-Corn Fritter which was also nice. The chowder was good because it was not a cream based soup so it was not heavy and the fritter was excellent.

For entrees, I had a duck breast with an orange marmalade glaze and Blue Ginger's take on vietnamese springroll. Dan had one of the restaurant's signature dishes, Sake-Miso Marinated Alaskan Butterfish with Wasabi Oil, Soy-Lime Syrup and Vegetarian Soba Noodle Sushi. Both dishes were full of flavor and quite spectacular.

For dessert, we shared a Sesame Macadamia Caramel Nut Tart with Toasted Coconut Ice Cream and Housemade Hot Fudge and Gosling’s Rum Caramel which was to die for.

Not a bad meal for an anniversary dinner!

http://www.ming.com/blueginger/

Also...

I wanted to share this salad I made up:

1 bag of your favorite pre-torn lettuce. I like romaine, but use your favorite
1/2 cup of candied pecan pieces
1 fresh, almost ripe pear, sliced thin
1/4 cup dried cranberries or craisins
cambozola cheese
balsamic vinaigrette made with VERY good quality balsamic, good olive oil, a little dijon mustard and some salt and pepper

I mix the salad with the pears and cranberries, then chill. Just before serving, mix up your dressing and toss the salad, then top with the candied pecans and crumbles or small slices of cambozola.

Mmmmmm.

Made sumpthin' yummy

So, I decided I wanted to use up a bag of radishes I bought a couple days ago because they looked so good.

I like radishes in a variety of ways, but one way I want to try them is this French thing -- radishes and herbed butter on a toasted baguette.

But I didn't do that tonight.

I made pickled radish/onion/carrot salad. So easy and delicious. Just slice everything very thinly, about an equal amount of each, and marinate in seasoned rice wine vinegar with sugar added to taste. Some people might like it sweeter, but I try not to use much sugar, so I just added about 2 teaspoonsful with about a quarter cup of vinegar. Toss in a pinch of dried red chili peppers if you want a little extra spice. You could add julienne of red pepper, too, and/or some paper-thin slices of fresh ginger. You could even add some cold shrimp or crab meat and snow-pea pods if you want to make it a meal.

It's yummy with a soy-ginger marinated chicken breast, would go good with Asian cold noodle salad, or as a side with sushi or sashimi.

God damn, good Italian

I stopped getting my hopes up for decent Italian food in America when I got back from Italy and realized it wasn't the same.

But last night, I stopped at a place north of me that had the balls to bill itself as a trattoria, an Italian ristorante. My hopes were not high until I saw the menu.

I had the best bruschetta I've had since Florence. Oh, man was it delicious. Thin rectangles of toasted focaccia topped with mascarpone, a slice of tomato, roasted red peppers and basil, drizzled with olive oil and a tiny bit of red wine vinegar and a little cracked black pepper. Holy cow, it was delicious. Perfect.

I also tried a saltimbocca, which I didn't love, but that wasn't their fault. I haven't ever really been a fan. I should have had eggplant parm. Next time.

Yay to Benny Rappa for restoring my faith!