Food photos taken in Budapest Hungary on our vacation last summer

Home Cooking Catherine Style

My daughters are out of town and so I splurged on some Wholefood's sea scallops to make for an entree this evening.  Sorry girls! At $25 a pound I'll wait for a better deal to feed your hungry teen stomachs! I went to my favorite recipe website, Simply Recipes, and made Sea Scallops with Asparagus Sauce.  I cheated with the sides and picked up some garlic roasted red potatoes and some grilled veggies (asparagus, portabella cap, red pepper, zucchini) at their deli to make the night a bit easier on myself. 

Tautogs Restaurant in Virginia Beach

This past weekend I took my daughters to play in a soccer tournament in Norfolk, VA.  Not only did my daughters' team win, but we ate at a winner of a restaurant in Virginia Beach called Tautogs. A cute renovated house a block from the water made it a very inviting place, full of locals and awesome seafood. Since the dishes we ordered were either specials or no longer on the menu at the time of this publishing...........I really need to start taking notes............I will just leave you with photos of the entrees: sea scallops (one of my ultimate favorite foods), a salmon and crab layered dish, and a "flounder like" fish I had never heard of before and naturally have forgotten.  If you are ever anywhere near VA Beach go!  It is only open for dinner. Very reasonable prices for seafood.

Iris: at the North Carolna Museum of Art

Iris is a restaurant that I have been meaning to try for years.  I was finally inclined to make a go at it when we decided one Friday night to venture to an Art in the Evening event at the NC Museum of Art to hear a super jazz group called Peter Lamb and the Wolves. A treat of a combo with great music and great food.  One daughter ordered the Braised Beef Short Rib Pot Pie, with roasted root vegetables, puff pastry crust, mixed greens with an herb shallot vinaigrette.  Good tasting but very heavy on the meat with not a lot of roots or pastry to talk about. My other daughter had the Farro Piccolo Risotto with lemon, thyme, dijon, and garlic sautéed broccolini, crispy fried leeks, and parmigiano-reggiano. I had a special of salmon fillet with mango chutney sauce. An enjoyable meal. Dessert was a pecan style pie with homemade raspberry sorbet.

Mantra Indian Cuisine and Bar

Is there anything more fun than the anticipation of eating at a new restaurant? Downtown Raleigh has now seen the opening of an incredible new Indian restaurant called Mantra Indian Cuisine and Bar.  Although I went over my usual budget for this meal, I was not sorry I did! The cocktails here are original and made with fresh ingredients.  I did not see the typical sour mix/simple syrup type drinks that make you feel you are not getting your money's worth. These rocked! Now the meal. The table was served papadum, which is a thin crispy cracker type appetizer that came with three toppings; a tamarind sauce, raita, and a cilantro sauce. I had to prevent myself from drinking the sauces with a spoon they were so fresh.  More papadum was freely brought out when we devoured the first round. Next we shared an order of the Samosas which were filled with potatoes and peas. I like to dip them in tamarind sauce. Lovely! For my entree I ordered the Lamb Shank Maharani prepared with star anise, bay leaves and dark rum served with fried potato croquettes and mixed vegetables.....well as you can see the croquettes were mysteriously missing in the photo.  New restaurant.......oh well.........As you can only guess, the meat was falling off the bone as it had been cooked for hours.  And the the sauce was divine. My friend had the special which was a shrimp and crab stuffed tilapia served in a similar sauce.  For desert we had.........well.......just look at the photo!  It is just too complicated to explain. Will I be going back?  A resounding YES!  Only next time for the cheaper lunch time buffet if it continues.