I did not cook yesterday. Instead I went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant not too far from here. Been wanting to try it. No reservations, cash only. It was fabulous, wishing I had gone there sooner. I had a grilled calamari salad over couscous with pinenuts and raisins, not my favorite preparation of couscous, but it worked for this dish. No additional seasoning needed, that is a big deal. Steve had grilled octupus salad over chick peas and potatoes, he enjoyed it, I found it to not really go together, the chickpeas were hard, the potatoes soft, the octupus was good, his needed more seasoning.
The entrees were fantastic. I had a veal chop with polenta, roasted root vegetables, and broccoli rabe. The polenta was the best I have ever had. It was creamy and flavorful, quite suprising. The veal chop was done well, too. The root veg were great, no cliched sugar addition. The sweet potatoes were even inspiring and I am not much for sweet potatoes. I will be making these at home, salty. Broccoli rabe was good, not bitter. I will also be making the polenta (glad I got some last week). I think I will add mascarpone cheese.
Steve's dish was the better of the two. He had chicken rolitini stuffed with zucchini and provolone. The chicken was browned all over. It was suprisingly fantastic. I usually view chicken on menus as obligatory for the unadventurous palate. I will only order it if it is a novel production (I am a chicken-snob). I will be pounding out some chicken breasts before the month is out.