Sunday 9 October 2011

The Salt Yard

This weekend was pretty uneventful for me but I kinda liked it. It gave me a chance to study the materials I covered last week in school so I won't feel overwhelmed starting this week. We started our Saturday morning with a delicious veggie omelet and smoked salmon on the side.
I, of course, did not make this gigantor omelet. I haven't mastered the omelet yet so I just sat back and relaxed while T made me breakfast.

Morning/afternoon was spent lounging around and figuring out some math problems.
Before I knew it, it was time for lunch! While T was at work, I popped in a premade lasagna into the oven and threw a bagged salad in a bowl and I was ready to eat!
+ garlic ciabatta bread. The lasagna was delicious and really cheesy.
We met T's friend who is in town from New York on work related matters for dinner. He's a foodie as well so we thought tapas would be perfect. There's a reason why we always come back to the Salt Yard; everything is usually delicious. Unfortunately, this time around, a lot of things disappointed rather than wowed us.
While waiting for our friend to arrive, we ordered some green olives and country style bread with olive oil to start.
grill marks= mmm mmm!!
jamon iberico- the ham was salty and delicious!

Arancini Nero with Devon Crab, Squid Ink and Saffron Alioli  
These little balls were probably my least favorite. We all agreed that it was too rice heavy, the breading too thick, and a bit too dry overall.
courgette flowers with goat cheese and honey
the courgette flowers  drizzled in sweet honey never disappoint, although mine didn't seem to have enough goat cheese on top.
Sauté of Baby Squid with Chorizo, Broad Beans and Friggitelli Peppers 
the squid was muy delicioso; it was combined with chorizo, which provided some saltiness and the broad beans and peppers gave the dish some different textures. Yum!!
Venison Carpaccio, Lardo, Dandelion, Marcona Almonds and Quince Vinaigrette 
The venison carpaccio was reaaaaaally good. It was topped with a wonderful tasting vinaigrette and it sort of was like silky in your mouth.

patatas bravas
x2 because one little bowl isn't enough for 3 people :-)
truffled mac and cheese
Need I say more? Yes! nom.. nom.. nom.. nom...

Chargrilled Chorizo with Pepperonata and Basil
the chorizo was probably my second favorite dish. It was a perfect combination of salty and sweet from the pepperonata.
Slow Roasted Lamb with Confit Potatoes, Baby Tomatoes, Mojo Verde
the lamb was very tender but the dish tasted bland to me. And I wasn't a huge fan of the green sauce, which I'm assuming is the mojo verde (whatever that is!!).
Roasted Porcini with Jerusalem Artichokes Purèe, Poached Free-Range Egg, Pine Nuts and Parsley

Poached Cornish Cod Cheeks, Ceps, Pancetta and Butterbeans
Although this sounded really delicious, the cod cheeks were too tough in texture and nothing really wowed in this dish.

We ordered two desserts; the first was fresh strawberries with meringue and basil shortbread cookies, and the other was a molten lava cake with hazelnut ice cream. Both were delicious but the strawberry one was my favorite!