The Foodies were on a road trip to Matilija Nursery to buy some hummingbird sage. On the way to this charming, but hard to find, nursery, we stopped in at Cafe Firenze for lunch.
We both had exceptionally good dishes: Braised Short Rib Ravioli with a Taleggio Cheese Sauce for Foodie Philip; Truffle Gnocchi with four Cheese and Sausage. Both had a heap of flavor with rich, creamy sauces.
Lunch cost a very reasonable $25.91 per serve including tax and tip.
Dinner
The hot weather continues to inspire salads, so we returned to our smoked salmon “Cobb” style salad. We dropped the bacon because, with smoked salmon, we didn’t want two salty elements in the dish. The burrata also replaced the salty cheese element.
Smoked salmon is $5.99 for the 4oz pack or $3.00 a serve
A pastured egg is 50c (only on special)
The cherry tomatoes were $3.49 and we used about half, or 88c per serve
Add 20c for watercress.
The avocado was $1.49 or 75c per serve
The burrata is $4.99, or $2.50 per serve.
This is a great variation on a Cobb for $7.33 per serve.
For lunch we had more of the Popeye’s chicken, at room temperature, with the remaining salad from last night.
The chicken is $2.98 per serve with tax
The salad kit was $3.49 for four serves, or 88c per serve.
Lunch today cost $3.97 per serve.
Dinner
Tonight’s “Thursday Night Steak Night” was a rib eye with Trader Joe’s marinated and grilled eggplant and Zucchini grilled vegetables.
The dry aged rib eye was $19.16 or $9.58 per serve
The grilled vegetables were $3.99 for the pack or $2.00 per serve.
We were unable to finish tonight’s meal, so the left over vegetable and steak will surface in a lunch shortly. We really liked the balsamic marinated grilled vegetables. A good meal for $11.58 per serve (with about ⅓ left over).
As we enjoyed the sweet and spicy trout, we thought we’d give a pink salmon pouch a try, along with some capers for crunch and salt. It worked okay.
The salmon was 1.49 or 75c per serve
Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 33c per serve
The moon touched tomato adds 15c per serve
Add 45c for butter and garlic dip.
Today’s sandwiches were enjoyable, if messy, for $2.00 per serve.
Dinner
With a hot night looming we didn’t want to have the oven on, so we used the immersion circulator to sous vide shrimp and to reheat a pack of Tikka Vegetables from Trader Joe’s. Served with brown rice from the pressure cooker.
The Tikka vegetables were $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
The shrimp was $7.99 for the pack, and we used half, or $2.00 per serve
Add 33c for brown rice
Add 40c for butter and garlic.
It’s rare we make bad flavor combination choices, but this was one. The shrimp had perfect texture and were cooked exactly as we wanted. The Tikka Vegetables were also pretty good with the rice. The Tikka Vegetables and the Shrimp simply did not work well together. We think we’ll use the Tikka Vegetables with another Indian vegetarian dish on rice next time.
Still, as long as you ate in serial it was all good for $3.73 per serve.
We rather like the tuna pouches (on special 5 for $10), and the tomato and Swiss is always a favorite.
The tuna was $2.00 or $1.00 per serve
Sprouted Rye bread is 32c per serve
Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 33c per serve
The moon touched tomato adds 15c per serve
Add 45c for butter and garlic dip.
Today’s sandwiches were enjoyable, if messy, for $2.25 per serve.
Dinner
For dinner we simply reheated the remaining pulled pork and served it with the balance of the corn and black bean salad. Still a great meal for $4.29 per serve.
For lunch we finished some par baked panini rolls and stuffed them with the Soutzoukakia and some of the tomato sauce, along with a slice of Swiss cheese. Messy but so good.
The Soutzoukakia and sauce come to $2.12
Swiss slices are 12 for $3.99 or 33c per serve
Par-baked roll is 55c.
Lunch today was great for $3.00 per serve.
Dinner
We have been planning pulled pork since the Pork Shoulder arrived in our Keller Crafted meat box this month. We keep it simple, braising on a bed of onion and garlic cloves with chicken stock.
After three hours it was perfect and pulled apart beautifully. We served with a fresh corn – cut right off the cob into the salad – and “spicy” black bean salad. No-one noticed the spice, but with the bell pepper and shallot it was a perfect, sharp foil to the pulled pork.
The pork shoulder is $18.94 and we’ll get six serves, or $3.16 per serve
Onion and garlic adds 10c per serve
Chicken stock is $3.99 a quart, and with one cup used 17c per serve
The corn was 50c and we’ll get four serves of the salad, or 13c per serve
The beans were 99c for a can, or 25c per serve
The bell pepper was $1.32 or 33c per serve
Add 15c for shallot and seasoning.
A really well balanced meal withe the pickled onion on top providing a sour crunch against the pulled pork, balanced with the freshness of the salad, for $4.29 per serve.
For lunch we had supermarket sushi, except the main ‘salad roll’ was more like a summer spring roll as it had no rice. The Avocado sushi was more conventional.
The average for the two was $7.49 per serve.
Dinner
For dinner Foodie Greg pan fried two Keller Crafted pork chops in butter and served with an Endive and Apple salad with a mustard, oil and apple cider vinegar dressing.
The pork chops were $11.84 or $5.92 per serve
The endive were $2.31 or $1.16 per serve
The Envy apple was 86c or 43c per serve
Add 35c for dressing ingredients.
Dinner tonight was excellent. The sharpness of the salad balanced the perfectly cooked, but slightly fatty pork. An excellent meal for $7.86 per serve.
Trying for a “tuna melt” variation we combined canned Sardines with spicy labné (yoghurt cheese) and, for a little crunch, sun-dried tomatoes.
Skinless, boneless sardines in water are $1.99 or $1.00 per serve
Two slices of bread are 32c per serve
Add 35c for labné and butter
The sun dried tomatoes were $5.99 and we shared about 1/6 or 25c per serve.
Lunch today worked really well as a sandwich for $1.92 per serve.
Dinner
It was time to revisit Soutzoukakia was such a success last time we had it, that we had to do it again. Instead of just adding canned crushed tomatoes, we used one can of fire roasted crushed tomato, and a can of Trader Joe’s Grecian Style Eggplant,Tomato and Onion. This is an excellent addition and it really elevated this dish. We cannot recommend it highly enough.
Tonight we served two, but there is a third serve for left overs (that will probably go into lunch rolls).
Ground lamb was $6.99 or $2.33 per serve
An egg is 50c or 17c per serve
8 oz Panko breadcrumbs are $2.99 and we used half, or 25c per serve
Cotija cheese, substituting for Parmesan is $3.99 for 8oz and we shared 2 oz or 50c per serve
1/4 cup and a tablespoon of red wine – halved – is 34c per serve
Canned crushed tomatoes were $1.25 for the can, or 42c per serve
The eggplant, tomato and onion is $2.49 or 83c per serve
Onions, shallot and garlic adds 25c per serve
Parsley was $1.49 for the bunch, but we only used 1/4 or 13c per serve
Fresh mint came from our garden
Tomato paste comes in a 90c can, but we used 1/8 or 5c per serve
Tabouli costs $2.69 for 8 oz and we had two each, or 67c per serve
The tin of dolma’s is $2.49 or 83c per serve.
The lamb version creates a software patty with more flavor than with beef, so we like this version better for $6.77 per serve.
Before we left San Diego we lunched with friends at The Parkhouse Eatery. It was recommended to us, and we recommend it to you. The atmosphere is causal, but the food is first class. Perhaps more importantly, the staff are obviously having fun while working.
The Foodies had different Benedict interpretations: Foodie Greg has the bacon “PK Benedict,” while Foodie Philip had the Cowboy Benedict featuring a 4 oz Flank Steak. They both were dressed with perfectly cooked eggs and an avocado hollandaise that had the perfect amount of heat from the poblano peppers in it. The steak was cooked as ordered.
Cowboy Benedict
Unexpectedly served with a small mountain of mashed potato, but it was good and worked.
This was a great meal. Next time we’ll pay instead of being treated by our friend!
Dinner
Back home and it’s “Thursday Steak Night” featuring a 12 oz rib eye from Keller Crafted meats, and a basic Caesar salad.
The dry aged rib eye was $17.54 or $8.77 per serve
The organic Romaine lettuce cost $1.99 or 99c per serve
Oven baked cheese bites (instead of croutons and Parmesan) are $2.49 for the pack and we used half on the salad, or 67c per serve
A pastured egg is 50c or 25c per serve
Add 30c for other dressing ingredients.
Dinner was – as expected – a very tasty and satisfying meal, without being “out of the box exciting” like the last couple of meals! But good for $10.98 per serve.
