april french bento, le refuge

Hello friends! It has been a while...so busy with pre move activities! We had a nice outing to the Old Town Alexandria today, the beautiful historic town on the Potomac...

We had lunch at Le Refuge, a traditional and super tasty restaurant on a leafy street, and could not resist having the squid in tomato garlic (and glace de viande) sauce as we always do...

Jamison's scallops with Pernod were supple, buttery perfection!

My saffron-infused Bouillabaisse (here with rouille-spread toast...yum) was very nice:

In the bento, keeping the romantic French feeling going with artisan macarons in raspberry and pistachio (dessert first, non?), scallop-mango-grapefruit salad in butter lettuce, homegrown shiso and more mango used as an edible baran. Have a great evening--see you soon!

spring salmon heart bento

Hi friends! Today's springy bento featured wholegrain toast topped with goat cheese and smoked salmon (with a small flourish of fennel frond), resting on a bed of tender mache, with accents of edible violets and golden baby tomato. A mustardy Dijon dressing was poured over after I snapped this pic. Below, my magewappa box with floral elastic band and tender pink tulips:

Had a lovely outing to Tachibana yesterday with Jamison and a dear friend (hello, L.!)...it is our favorite spot for Japanese food, where sushi is always ravishingly fresh and meticulously made. A selection including sea urchin, fish egg with quail egg, plum/ume roll, shrimp tempura roll, and my utter addiction, the spicy scallop roll (front):

Gorgeous spring day--luminous and cool-bright! Cherry blossoms against bright blue sky:

     I adore the amazing electric yellow-green of new leaves emerging...

              Our dogwood at peak bloom, covered in voluptuous yet delicate white flowers:

Have a wonderful week ahead!

delicious spring scrambled eggs

Hello, friends! Here's Jamison's recipe for a delicious and richly flavorful version of shirred eggs. A pal shared some ultra fresh organic eggs with a deep golden color and wonderful depth of flavor that inspired this special treatment...

Shirred Eggs with Scallion and Radicchio

serves 2

5 organic eggs

1/4 head radicchio, shredded fine

5 scallions, green and white sections, sliced thin

1/8 cup each Asiago and Havarti (Dill flavor, if you can find) cheese, grated

1 generous tablespoon of Greek Yogurt

ground chipotle pepper

 

Crack eggs in a bowl and combine with Greek yogurt, salt and fresh ground pepper. Melt a slice of butter in pan, saute radicchio and scallion until tender, then add eggs/cheese and cook over very low heat, adding pinches of cheese and about 4 shakes chipotle pepper. Cook until tenderly done with a soft texture. Enjoy!