Anniversary Dinner in Prague

Our last night in Prague was our 2nd wedding anniversary and the dinner couldn’t have been more perfect. We went to School Restaurant on a recommendation from a friend who raved about it. It was so great and exactly the right way to celebrate and end the trip.

While we settled into the menus and tried to decide on a wine that would be good for both entrees, we got some herbed butter and bread. I neglected to take any photos of the outside or interior, but the purple and lime decor on the table is my only example of how fresh and current this place looked!
prague_butter_590_390
I got the duck breast with polenta and red cabbage. I know, it seems like when I’m in Europe, I only eat duck. I just couldn’t pass on it since it is not as prevalent in the US. The duck was tender with crispy skin. The polenta was addicting and I actually loved the cabbage…never thought I’d even glimpse at cabbage with everything else on the plate but I liked the crunch. I did however, ignore the pan jus. To me, it didn’t add anything.
prague_duck_590_390
There was a salmon dish that looked amazing and a pork dish I would have liked, but I just wanted to do it up! Mr. J was on the fence too. We kind of decided that everything on the menu would be amazing.

Mr. J went with the veal cheeks. They were tender, doused in a red wine thyme sauce, and held within a mashed potato cup. He loved it.
prague_beefcheeks_590_390
Our adorable server led us away from a wine he thought would be too sweet. The one we ended up with was per-fect. He compared it to pinot noir and now Mr. J is seriously hooked. He has seen the light!

We figured dessert was totally necessary on our anniversary. Then as we tried to decide, the wine + Mr. J convinced me that maybe 2 desserts were in order; it was our last night and our anniversary, after all. I do always say ‘you can do whatever you want when you’re on vacation!’

We got strawberry dumplings. The Czech have dumplings for appetizers, side dishes, and desserts. Ours had whipped cream, strawberries, and strawberry creme fraiche.
prague_dumplings_590_390
The other was an apple strudel that came with pumpkin ice cream.
prague_apple_590_390
Ohh my goodness. I can’t believe we got 2 desserts that were fruit based. It was such an amazing night. We meandered back to the metro with stars in our eyes and smiles on our faces.

Chopped Greek Salad

I have one more (possibly the best meal) from vacay to share, but I wanted to space ’em out with some regular posts too. Coming back from vacation and work travel, I wanted greens! I needed more veggies! I had one last cucumber from the rents’ garden so I thought, let’s go Greek!

This is suuuuper easy and nothing out of the ordinary, but I think chopped salads are a great way to make salad feel more special for dinner.

Ingredients:

2-3 cups lettuce or greens of your choosing
1 tomato, chopped
1 cucumber, chopped
1 cup chickpeas
1/2 cup feta crumbled
1/4 cup Greek, caesar, or creamy Caesar dressing
3 chicken tenders, marinated & grilled, then chopped
1 cup croutons

Directions:

Wash & chop lettuce putting into a big bowl. (I didn’t chop the lettuce all that much, but chop to your preference)
chop_greek_lettuce_590_390
Add tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, and feta.
chop_greek_bowl_590_390
Toss with dressing & top with chicken and croutons.
chop_greek_plate_590_390
I loooove Greek salad and think this was a good one for dinner. The chicken and chickpeas make it filling. The garden cucumber and garden tomato are good reminders how good these veggies are when they’re local and in season. We’re nearing the end but I’ll enjoy them while they last.

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.

prague_oldsquare_590_390
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.
prague_lunch_brat_590_390
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.
prague_lunch_cheese_590_390
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.

chick_pizza_balsamic_590_390

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.
chick_pizza_topped_590_390
Return to the oven for another 10-15 minutes.
Remove from the oven and top with asparagus.
chick_pizza_baked_590_390
Let sit for 5 minutes.
Drizzle balsamic reduction on top.
chick_pizza_balsamic_590_390
Slice and enjoy!
chick_pizza_slice_590_390
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.

paris_dinner2_outside_590_390
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.
paris_dinner2_casso_590_390
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.
paris_dinner2_beef_590_390
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.
paris_dinner2_creme_590_390
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).