But, I needed to head to Evansville to get some materials for Community Band this week. So off I went - but not before I made a CD with some mood-lifting music (and I'm not sharing the playlist...because it's full of guilty pleasures that I think would get me booted out of the "I'm a professional, classically trained musician" club), and headed off into the sunshine belting my lungs out, singing along with Christina Aguilera (oops...dangit...well, as long as I don't mention George Michael I'll be OK - oh - doh!!!).
On the way, I texted a couple of friends and asked them if they needed anything from "The Big City". For those of you who don't live in a town with a population under 10K - when you have the opportunity to visit a place 10 times your size, sometimes one makes that kind of offer to those "left behind".
In this case, it turned out that one of my friends was already in "The Big City" - so, I joined her at "The Acropolis" for lunch. Usually, my favorite dishes include "Chicken Lemonati" - and of course, as an appetizer, the hummus. However, since we had both made a pledge to eat with a bit more restraint after the holidays, we both enjoyed the soup and salad, and had a lovely visit.
Then - I ran some errands, and my last stop before heading home was "The Fresh Market". For those of you who haven't been - I took some pictures to show you. Now - as you peruse these pictures, you need to have your "Greatest Hits of the 1750's" Pandora station on. This is because the moment you enter the door - you see these sights, accompanied by Vivaldi's greatest hits. Go ahead - I'll wait until you find it...
...OK, you're back.
The dry goods part of the store...including a $54 bottle of balsamic vinegar. Really.
Mmmmmm...cheese...that dude is looking at Gruyere, I think.
The produce section. I forgot that veggies are supposed to be that vibrant.
I didn't include the meat counter or the antipasto/olive bar. Or the oak barrels filled with whole bean coffee.
While it doesn't compare to Jungle Jim's with regards to selection, square footage, or sheer whimsy - it had much more of a selection that our local Wal-mart, and the environment was really quite relaxing. While it was insanely busy - it didn't feel like Saturday afternoon at Wally-World at all.
So I made a few strategic purchases, and headed for home...to make this:
Balsamic Glazed Polenta with Mozzarella and Cipollini Onions
(With a Romaine salad with Balsamic dressing on the side)
This post is getting a bit long - so, I'll try to make it short.
Slice some of this in half-inch disks, and brown in olive oil. Move the disks to a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil, brush with balsamic glaze (we bought ours at Jungle Jim's). Sprinkle with kosher salt.
Slice about 10 cipollini onions into rings. Saute them in olive oil over medium heat, until soft. Splash some of that glaze on those as well.
Put a small amount of the onions on each disk. top it with a small piece of mozzarella cheese, and place under the broiler until the cheese melts and gets a bit brown.
Spoon a bit of hot marinara sauce on a plate, put a few disks of the polenta on top of it, and serve up some romaine lettuce with a balsamic vinaigrette on the side.
Like I said - it still needs some tweaking, but was a good start!
I ended the day feeling refreshed - sun, song, friendship and food all served to recharge my batteries...which may be the last time this happens for awhile.
Let's hope not.
No comments:
Post a Comment