Cooking and Dining at Home During the Pandemic (Part 3)

As restaurants start to open for outside dining and the first day that Napa Valley wineries are open for tastings (outside), we head up for lunch at Bistro Don Giovanni and a tasting at Chandon.  For lunch, we share an antipasto platter, pizzas, and an apple tart (with ice cream, of course).

Bistro Don Giovanni

Here we are

It's time for another local take-away meal:  octopus salad, beet salad, and several pizzas (spinach/mozzarella/ricotta/squash blossom/lemon, pepperoni/red onion/fennel, four cheese) from The Food Shed in Napa, that we bring home with us for dinner (and some of their fresh burrata for consumption later).

Octopus salad, beet salad, pizza - takeout

Another of our favorite fish dishes is sauteed sole (in a little butter and olive oil), with a sauce of butter, lemon juice, chopped parsley, red pepper flakes, and capers on top, served with potatoes (roasted with thyme, rosemary, sage, and garlic) and quinoa kale salad.

Sauteed sole with roasted potatoes

We follow this great dish with a take-away from the Thai Noodle House in Alameda:  red duck curry, spicy cashew chicken, and pad kee mau (with beef).

Cashew chicken/pad kee mau, red duck curry

Soon, its time for seafood again and we top a favorite basil pesto risotto with barbecued shrimp.

Basil pesto with shrimp

We've frozen some duck legs and breasts to bring out whenever the right time arises and we use a few to make a crispy duck breast (seasoned with Chinese five spice, salt, and pepper) with carrots glazed in butter, sugar, ginger, salt, pepper, and water, accompanied by a tomato burrata salad (using the fresh burata from The Food Shed).

Crispy duck breast with glazed carrots, tomato/burrata

Later, its more fish:  grilled halibut with a three bean salad and another tomato/burrata salad.

Grilled halibut, salads

For a real treat, we head across the bay to New England Lobster Market and Eatery for fresh lobsters (lobster rolls for lunch and several to pick for a dinner).

Lunch, diner preparation

We make a lobster corn chowder by removing the lobster meat and cooking it with fresh corn off the cob, onion, potatoes, and celery, in a stock of sherry, paprika, milk, cream, wine, and the lobster shells and corn cobs.  What a feast!

Lobster corn chowder

We've enjoyed cooking all these meals and sharing the picture, bringing back many great taste memories as we write.  We're looking forward to many more, some from these favorites and others yet to be discovered.