We were saddened last November when our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Little Saigon closed. Great food, great Pho and really close by in Montclair.
To our delight we received word last weekend that, as rumoured, they’ve reopened in nearby Nutley. Same menu same smiling faces welcoming us. For those of you who are nearby they’re at 358 Passic Ave in Nutley (sorry, no website).
And somehow in the process of figuring out where they were I stumbled upon this wonderful site: Pho Fever. Primo’s already got his eye on a “Pho Shizzle” t-shirt.
After a wonderful Christmas in Colorado which found the Principessa conquering high-altitude Yorkshire Pudding, (which turned out great at an altitude of 8500 ft. I might add) and Segundo and TB making a gingerbread village we returned to a mailbox stuffed with seed catalogs. I promised The Principessa I would only grow 2 kinds of tomatoes this year. The red kind and the not-red kind.
Sunday was the annual football banquet. As the coach said when sent out the note asking for contributions “not everyone can bring soda”. There were four options for contributing entrees: Baked Ziti, Lasanga, Sausage & Peppers and Meatballs. You know the kind of banquet we’re talkin’ ’bout.
So we signed up for meatballs. We made about 60. Those puppies lasted about 30 seconds around all those 7th and 8th grade linemen.
Filed under: Garden
The turkey was succulent. The sides were better. Our own fare consisted of Brussels sprouts and herbs.
Some pics from T-day.
Filed under: Garden, Kitchen | Tags: brussels sprouts, Garden, herbs, Kitchen
4 days and counting. The long range forecast is not looking great for the frying of the bird. We’ll keep you posted.
On the other hand, this year may be our most bounteous harvest yet for the holiday table. In the past we’ve had little more than a few herbs to use for the big feast but this year we’ll be able to serve our own Brussels sprouts as well as lettuce if we went nuts and decided we needed to ruin our holiday meal with a salad. There are also a few shallots poking their fronds up from the soil.
Alas, it doesn’t look like the beets I planted in late August are going to amount to anything. Maybe enough for a garnish at best. I’ll wait until Thursday to pull a couple and roast ‘em up real fast if there are enough to make a side.
In preparation for the arrival of friends and family we gussied up the yard this weekend. Mowed, fertilized, raked the remaining leaves. This year we only threw out one bag of leaves, the rest went to the composting bin to be used over the course of the year.
Also, on Friday I stopped by our guys at NJ Grinding to get our knives sharpened for all the food prep we’ll be doing.
Friday night fish was this wonderful recipe from The Boss (aka Bittman) called Ligurian Fish. We made it with Alaskan Cod which I’m told is OK to eat according to the PC Fish Police.
Saturday night was more fish and potatoes….stunningly fresh bluefish from the fish guys at the Montclair Farmer’s Mkt. This time is was a Marcella recipe done in a very similar manner to the cod, but involving a parsley and garlic sauce. Then it was off to Primo’s football game in the wilds of Bergen County. They romped 27-7.
Sunday was horseradish crusted pork loin along with Mom’s Red Cabbage. As usual the pork loin, while perfectly cooked, was very lean and tended towards dry. But a tasty crust made up for a lot. With the Principessa’s apple crisp for dessert it was our first real “fall” kind of meal.
You really can fix anything, including this tub of B&B which took a dive from the top shelf of the fridge.
Actually that’s the problem. There are no smells coming from our new stove. The nitwits who delivered it said they “weren’t really trained” to hook up a gas stove. So why would I be charged for “installation”?
Hmmmmm.
Hopefully it will be up and running for the weekend. We’ll keep you posted.
You can’t stop a winner. You can only hope to contain it. Last weekend we led off with the Mussels, white beans and pasta again. We just love this dish and it’s the perfect Friday night dish…not too much cooking and prep but enough to keep one occupied in the kitchen, whilst having an adult beverage and listening to WFUV.
Saturday we tried rib-eye bison steaks from the bison lady at the Montclair Farmer’s Market. Just simply grilled. They were OK but we’ve like the filets we’ve had in the past better. Not really rich enough to be considered a rib-eye.
Sunday we crammed the cavity of a chicken full of herbs and a lemon and roasted it. The Principessa made a wonderful ratatouille AND a risotto with one of the butternuts from the garden. Not our usual chicken and mashed which was nice for a change.
