Back Again

 Now that I've returned from approximately one week of eating like a king, it's time to get my hands dirty in the kitchen once more. And what better to start with than a family favorite: Pesto! As I've discussed in the past, pesto is a family favorite and something I chastised myself for not imbibing myself upon sooner in my lifetime. Mom's way of pesto has always been a bit more about the method than any actual recipe, although thanks to some input, I've still been able to recreate hers to varying degrees of success. My take on her pesto is a bit thinner and had a bit more liquid, but it at least served as an excellent dipping agent on top of a reliable sauce!

One of the restaurants we visited in California was the Brigantine Seafood and Oyster Bar, which isn't an individual establishment but a chain of locations found throughout the San Diego area. The closest approximation to it on the East Coast I could make would probably be Legal Sea Foods, although the number of Brigantine locations is much smaller and confined to a specific area. As expected from a snazzy seafood restaurant, it wasn't cheap, but the food was undoubtedly enjoyable. I enjoyed breaded fillets of some non-descript bottom-feeder with a risotto that seemed more like grits but nevertheless satisfying. A potential dealbreaker for some, however, might be the size of the portions. They're pretty big, and in hindsight, my family would have probably been fine ordering an entree to share and saving us a bloated bill. 

Now that our vacation to San Diego has concluded, it's time to bring my attention back to my Mediterranean course at CSCA. I did miss out on our week focusing on Italian affairs, but considering my repertoire of Italian food isn't exactly lacking, it's no skin off my back. I did have one class this past week, a few days after our return, but considering that I was shaking off the post-red eye doldrums, I wasn't on my A game. And let me tell you, being on your A game is essential when making something like Spanish Bacalao, which are potato and cod fritters, and you don't want to zone out in the middle of a busy kitchen like a headless chicken!