Lunching in Prague

Happy Columbus day! I’m happy for good ‘ole Chris, whether or not he actually discovered America. It means a holiday at my new job. It isn’t like I’m overwhelmed or overworked, but I won’t be getting any time off for the initial hire time period anyway so a long weekend is always fun.

Ok, last city of my trip, and 2nd to last vacay food post. You still with me from Paris here & here? Prague felt seriously different from Paris. Paris in one word is majestic. Prague in one word is charming…or Russian-esque…or old-world. That’s more than one word. It totally felt like what I imagine Germany, or Poland or Russia to be like. It was grittier and less perfect than Paris, but it has serious charm. It was Hitler-occupied early on in WWII so there was very little destruction.

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The food and drink is suuuper affordable. Affordable as in, beer is cheaper than a glass of water at restaurants. The food feels really German or Austrian influenced. There is a lot of schnitzels in pork, veal, chicken. There are lots of potatoes, dumplings, and beer.

One of our favorite lunches was at a cute restaurant near the Lennon Wall and Charles Bridge. It is a popular tourist area but nothing was all that crowded. There was some patio seating (complete with blankets!) but inside seemed appealing to escape the chilly day.

Mr. J got a grilled bratwurst with horseradish.
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It looked amazing!

I got one of their apps. It was a deep fried cheese they compare to French camembert. I saw it on menus daily so I figured it would be a good lunch. It was served with a sweet & tart cranberry sauce.
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I loved it. The cranberry sauce was perfect. I needed the tart flavor to balance the decadent cheese.

Just you wait for the best meal of all. Our anniversary dinner was possibly the best meal of the whole trip!

Balsamic Chicken Pizza

It is Friday! That means pizza night!! Well, I think it does for some people. That wasn’t really a thing growing up at my house, but I wouldn’t be sad to have pizza weekly. Friday normally means takeout & DVR which is pretty awesome to me.

This pizza started with some leftover grilled chicken. I figured we’d use it on salad or it could become burrito filling or whatever. It alllmost became my regular BBQ chicken pizza, but I’ve made several BBQ pizza variations before as a doughy BBQ pizza and as a bubble up BBQ one. The chicken would also have been good as this pizza with pesto, ricotta, and red peppers.

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Ingredients:

pizza dough
3/4 cup marinara sauce
6 oz mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 marinated grilled chicken breasts
1 large tomato, sliced
6 oz fontina cheese, cut into chunks
10 sprigs of asparagus, cut into 3rds or 4ths
balsamic reduction (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven and pizza stone (if using one) to 400 degrees.
Spread pizza dough onto pizza stone, poke a few holes with a fork, and bake for 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with marinara, mozzarella, tomato slices, chicken, and chunks of fontina.
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Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with asparagus.
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Let sit for 5 minutes.
Drizzle balsamic reduction on top.
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Slice and enjoy!
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I didn’t listen to my own advice to let it sit for 5 minutes. Cheese tries to jump ship if you don’t give it a second to let it sit. Look how oozy that cheese is!

The pizza has a fresh feeling from the tomatoes and super thin asparagus yet decadent from the abundance of cheeses and chicken. The balsamic reduction is just what this pizza needs. It is sweet but tangy and it ties all the toppings together.

The leftover chicken made the assembly pretty quick. If the asparagus had been thicker I might have roasted it while the dough was pre-cooking. I wanted to shave it, but it was seriously so thin. I reduce balsamic vinegar occasionally. It lasts awhile and becomes delightfully thick and sweet.

Dinner in Paris to Feel Like a Local

Dining in Paris is priiiicy. I know we’d only be in Paris this time, but I still wouldn’t really enjoy a meal that would affect my ability to grocery shop and eat future meals. Maybe that is dramatic, but seriously, I didn’t want to break the bank. Twenty dollar dinners make adding wine and dessert gentler on the wallet. (Check out our first dinner there! and this is a fast-forward a few days later.)

It was kind of cold and rainy so I wanted something cozy and warm that included French wine. We found a super cute neighborhoody kind of place that felt like we were locals.

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I got the cassoulet and loooved it. Dunking baguette hunks into the salty broth while sipping some wine was just what I envisioned. It was meaty and salty and perfect with the red wine.
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The bacon was salty and the beans were the perfect consistency. There was pork sausage annnnd a duck leg. This is serious comfort food. It was also HUGE. Check out the dish compared to the fork. There was so much in there.

Mr. J got beef with roquefort sauce. He loves blue cheeses and definitely loves sauces. He thought the beef was good and the potatoes were an interesting in-between a chip and a potato slice. The beef was supposed to be medium rare. I don’t know that medium should have been in there…it was rare, for sure. I nabbed some green beans from his plate since I my dish was bean & meat focused.
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We were super full. My meal was quite salty and something sweet seemed like the perfect end to the meal. The menu had us at creme brulee.
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We love creme brulee and had it on the menu for a rehearsal dinner dessert option so it seemed quite fitting on our anniversary trip. Also, it is definitely not something we can make at home. It was creamy and the perfect sharing size.

Now, onward to Prague (with some recipes coming along too).

Cake Bombs

Way back when, I wanted to experiment with some cake pops. I somehow convinced myself that I could get away without dipping them in chocolate. I know, you get it. It’s such a mess and a process, right? Right.

Also, I’m not really a baker either. These cake bombs are a twist on cake pops and are about 90% successful. They taste amazing. Nobody minds that the mess is sprinkles because hello, they’re sprinkles.

Ingredients:

boxed chocolate cake mix (and required ingredients)
16 oz chocolate frosting
mini chocolate chips & sprinkles

Directions:

Cook cake according to package.
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Mix cake mix and frosting together.
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Refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
Roll into balls then dip in chocolate or roll in mini chips and sprinkles.
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Refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving.
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They’re easy and I served them in cupcake wrappers. They give the impression of a truffle and taste pretty amazing. I’m glad I didn’t buy sticks just to make the mess to dip them in chocolate.

Lunching on the Go in Paris

Mr. J and I know how to pack in all the sites when on vacay. I’m glad we got to see so much of Paris but also weren’t at whirlwind speed. We tend to have slower more thought out dinners so lunch just depended where we were. These 2 were the most memorable lunches.

I love trying local drinks and snacks that we don’t have here. Europe totally gets the best Schweppes. Agrum is a citrus blend one that is ahhh-mazing. This one seemed really pink grapefruity to me. It was delicious. I got obsessed with a bitter lemon one in Croatia a few years ago. Sis even found me some online!
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We stopped at a tiny place (and ordered completely in French!). It was perfect and gave us a little break from the rain to refuel and keep going. It also was quite the bargain which is hard to find in Paris.

I got a croque monsieur. The French totally know how to do grilled ham & cheese better than we do. So good. I love the soft cheese spread on top with shredded cheese melted on top of that!
paris_lunch_croque_590_390Think bread, cheese, ham, bread, cheese, cheese….and they’re not afraid of butter.

Mr. J got a baguette sandwich. I don’t remember what was in it, but he loved it. It was just what he envisioned.
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Then on the last day in Paris, before we flew to Prague, we ate crepes…on the champs-elysees. How unbelievable is that? I think this is my most iconic meal ever. They came off a cute little car thing converted into a creperie.
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We got 2 to share. One was savory with turkey & gruyere and the sweet one had nutella. Then we decided maybe we needed a croissant and pain au chocolat for the flight.
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When in Paris, right? Next we head to Prague!