El Patron

I have a weakness for fish tacos. As soon as I see them on a menu, I stop reading and start getting impatient...I'm ready for them to arrive in front of me on the table before I even order them. I like them on corn tortillas or flour, I like them with grilled or fried fish, and I love the way they brighten up with a big squeeze of fresh lime juice. It's the perfect summer food.

The tacos marineros at El Patron are a welcome addition to my mental list of places in KC that have great fish tacos. The tilapia was lightly breaded and then grilled, the pico de gallo was pleasantly spicy, and the corn tortillas were absolutely delicious - fluffier than the corn tortillas I'm used to, and not at all dry. And the dish of salsa they were served with had pineapple in it. It was genius. The whole taco was a little sweet, a little hot and really very tasty.

The rest of our dinner was good, too. The chips were crisp and thick, the hot salsa was true to itss name, and the carne asada with nopales was very well prepared. The cactus was tender with a little bite to it, and the carne asada had just the right hint of spices.

El Patron Cocina & Bar
2905 Southwest Blvd
816*931*6400

Tortilla

I've been to Spain twice; it's my favorite of the European countries. The first time I traveled there, by train, when we crossed the border from France I felt different somehow - it was something I've never really been able to explain. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were traveling right along the coast and there was something about the light and the colors and the way that my heart felt and right then and there I fell in love with the entire country. I've never really lost that feeling - even when I was chasing down a guy who was making off with my pack in the Barcelona train station.
Anyhow.
My love of the country, naturally, extends to the food. And the food I ate the most, for nearly every meal, was the Tortilla de Patatas - the Spanish potato omelette. We ate it plain, on crusty bread, or on crusty bread with a thick coating of mayonnaise and a hot cup of coffee. It was cheap and delicious and when I'm really craving it now, I make my way down to La Bodega for their most excellent happy hour (theirs is served with a really tasty red pepper aioli). Or I make it at home and watch my husband's face light up. He's never been to Spain, but I'm sharing one of my favorite parts with him when I throw one of these together.
It is the perfect dinner with a tomato salad and a thick slice of crusty french bread, but it's even better cold the next day for breakfast.

Tortilla de Patatas

1 lb. red-skinned potatoes, thinly sliced
1 large white onion, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
6 eggs
olive oil
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 375.
In an oven-proof skillet, saute the potato slices in a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper over medium heat until softened (appx 10-15 minutes). Remove potatoes from the pan with a slotted spoon and add more olive oil. Saute onion slices for 10 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add potatoes back into the pan and incorporate, allowing to cook for 5 more minutes.
In a separate bowl, beat eggs. Pour beaten eggs into the pan and turn the heat to medium low. Gently shake pan to evenly distribute eggs and cook for 5-6 minutes on stovetop.
Place pan in oven to finish cooking. Cook for 10-12 minutes or until eggs are set.
Cool in pan. Cut into wedges and serve.

Restaurant Success!

I'm reluctant to try anyplace new for a meal, afraid that this time will be the time that the boy goes to 11 and won't quit with the noise. I don't want to be the diners that everyone else is glaring at and secretly stabbing in their minds. He doesn't go to 11, not yet, but I don't yet have the confidence that he won't.
So we stick with the old takeaway standbys - Cupini's for gnocchi and sandwiches, Red Dragon for moo shu chicken, Oklahoma Joe's for the Z-Man and the smoked chicken breast sandwich, and one of us (I won't say who) finally succumbed to the Wendy's "Baconator" commercials. It's amazing how suggestible to commercials you become when watching the TV in the middle of the night. I think it's rest that leads to common sense and common sense that leads to healthy advertising skepticism.
Today, however, Gus's Nana was up for trying lunch at a real restaurant with us and so the boy and I agreed. Swagat up in Zona Rosa is comfortable and lunch buffet meant we wouldn't be waiting and could drop cash and dash if need be. The pakoras were as delicious as I remembered, the lentils in the Dal Makhni were firm and flavorful, and I smothered too many pieces of their delicious naan in mint chutney. Their servers were charming - they squirreled us away in a quiet corner with lots of room for the stroller, whistled and clicked at the baby, and made us feel welcome as always. It was a confidence boost. We'll be heading out for a meal again really soon.

one month later

tap tap tap

Is this thing on???

Monday the husband goes back to work. I'm being dragged, kicking and screaming, back into the real world of jobs and bills and schedules and, um, real life. The last month has been spectacular. I don't want to leave it.

You have all been patient and lovely.

While we were basking in meals delivered to our door by wonderful friends and family, the world kept turning. We ate salmon (twice!) and spicy pasta salad and pizza and chicken casserole and made beautiful caprese salads with the homegrown tomatoes delivered by our neighbor. We dove into our Costco stash of foods in the deep freeze and ate bowl after bowl after bowl of Cheerios, simply because it was easy. My whole food outlook is a bit different than it was before. We've had carry-out twice. Both times we were so excited it was a little worrisome.

Suddenly, though, I'm starting to think about eating less as a have-to and more as a want-to. I'm starting to get my tastebuds back. When you go from being simply a foodie to becoming someone's primary source of food, everything changes. You examine everything you put in your mouth. Will it make the baby gassy/fussy/upset/rashy? I'm learning now, a month in, to take a deep breath and just see what comes next.