FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

Bringing It Back

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Fish Dinner

When I first moved to Austin, I was a broiling and blogging machine.  Every minute of my day was planned.  If I didn’t post at least five times per week, I’d put myself on lockdown and post daily the following week.  Ridiculous, right?  I never want to go back there.  But!  I do want to bring that broiling back.

Pacific Cod

All you need is coconut or olive oil spray {TJ’s is my fav} and a go-to seasoning {like this or this}.

Broiled Tomatoes

Spray, sprinkle, broil on high until fish is cooked and veggies are brown, and you’ve got yourself a dinner.  And a healthy one, at that.

Foreign Cinema

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Foreign Cinema San Fran

We went out with a bang on our last foodie adventure in California!  We sat at a cozy, little table at Foreign Cinema and began to analyze the menu.  What was special?  What couldn’t we get in our respective hometowns?  What hadn’t we already experienced on this trip?

Foreign Cinema San Fran 2

Although my mom can get seafood a plenty in Florida, I’ve been struggling to find oyster-seeking friends in Texas.  My eyes lit up when I saw Plateau de Fruits de Mer.  I saw her see me and then say something like, “well, I’m sure this is Pacific seafood that wouldn’t be as fresh near me.”.  Moms are the best.  We ordered it.

Mom Daughter San Fran

We ordered the plateau, zucchini soup with porcini, dungeness crab gratin, and chocolate pot de crème.  And everything, to the very last drop, exceeded any positive word I could manage to dig up from a thesaurus right now.  So I’ll leave it at that, indescribable in the best way ever.  Just like the time spent with my mom, how fitting.

Cafe La Haye

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Cafe La Haye 1

After a long day of wine tasting, my mom picked me up and we headed to dinner at Cafe La Haye.  We parked smack dab in the center of Sonoma Square and walked only a block or so before arriving at this super quaint spot.  Crisp white linens and subway tile laced with local art – we were into it even before menus arrived.

Cafe La Haye 2

The restaurant was described to us as “REAL farm to table, fantastic food!” and it met every expectation that came from that description.  My mom and I were both drawn to the seafood heavy specials board and ordered solely from that list.  Seared dayboat scallop with corn ravioli and creamed spinach, grilled ahi tuna with sauce gribiche, frisee, artichoke and peppers, and Alaskan halibut with smashed yukon potatoes and lacinato kale.

Cafe La Haye Tuna

Every dish we had was pretty spectacular, but my mom and I both agreed that the scallop starter took the prize.  There’s something about creamed spinach that we’re both very much drawn to.  And if you mix a favorite with carb and seafood, well you’ve got yourself a winner in the Vrana book.

Cafe La Haye Halibut

We were both so happy with our first meal in Sonoma and highly recommend this place to future visitors.  Another trip to Sonoma is already on my list and dinner at Cafe La Haye will be another must as well.

App In The Kitchen

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A few weeks ago, I attended a launch party for a new app called Cooking Planit where they demonstrated how technology could guide you through the kitchen.  The concept seemed great… For other people.  You know, because I’m a pen/paper/Evernote type of gal.  I recipe scheme and mix and, when I’m not, I love picking a good cookbook off the shelf, folding open the pages, and inevitably smearing ingredients on said good cookbook pages.

But this week has been different.  I’m coming off of a weekend move, a week of travel, a weekend of Austin City Limits, and have only a few days before hop on a plane again.  So as much as I love paper and spilling on paper, I don’t have much time for it right now.  Sorry paper.

But what I did have time for today, was thawing a hunk of halibut before heading to work.  And then in between tasks at my desk, firing up the Cooking Planit app and searching for halibut.  And finding a recipe that would only require a mad dash from the produce department to the self-checkout line at Whole Foods.  And then, mindlessly making dinner with plenty of time for cleanup before the timer buzzed.

Cooking Planit’s Baked Halibut with Cilantro Vinaigrette was a delish spin on fish that I’d definitely make again.  Knowing that I’m weird about things tasting oily, I added only two tablespoons of olive oil and couldn’t have been happier with the consistency.  The cilantro and parsley gave this meal a solid dose of vibrantly fresh flavor.  And, well, red pepper flakes always secure a win in my book.

As far as the app goes, it couldn’t have been easier.  There was no losing your place and having to skim through the recipe only to find that you missed a step.  And even more importantly, each step was straight forward and simply put.  Cooking Planit will certainly be a tool of choice when I’m just not in the mood for paper.  And I have a feeling this app could also teach me a thing or two about cooking multiple dishes for a large dinner party.