Trial and Error

Since John has asked me to try to make the Black Bean Soup like we had at BARcelona Tapas we went back again recently so I could make a few notes. This weekend I tried it out with a few changes for next time. I think I had a little too much chicken stock (maybe try about 1/4 c. less) even though I like it this way, the restaurant’s soup was a little thicker. And as for the sherry cream sauce. Well that was a big fail, it didn’t taste anything like the restaurant’s and was definitely too runny but it added a nice new flavor to the soup. All of these will be noted in my next attempt.

Saturday morning I went downtown to the Farmer’s Market. This used to be my routine in Birmingham every Saturday morning so I felt I would carry on the tradition here. I got a lot of leafy greens like kale, bibb lettuce, arugula, and basil. And not to mention a beautiful arrangement of tulips which got me right in the mood for spring. I also brought home these poboy sandwiches for lunch for us. This poboy had the best coleslaw I had ever eaten. Needless to say I am going back next weekend to get the sandwich again and see if I can find out how they make it so I can re-create it next week.

Easter is coming up this week. This is the first time John and I won’t be with family which makes me a little homesick but as our own new family we decided we would still make an Easter meal and remember what the day is truly about! We are both use to eating ham on Easter Sunday but since we have a freezer full of turkey, pheasant, chukkar, and quail…I am assuming one of those will be our meats. I decided to also have haricot verts with herb butter (thank you Barefoot Contessa) and make deviled eggs like my mom use to.

Menu for the Week:

Fried Turkey Fingers with Mashed Potatoes

Chukkar Pizza and Bloomin Onion (trying to re-create Outback’s version)

Curried Turkey Veloute and Brown Rice

Dessert for the Week: Raspberry Bars