A Disaster No More!

Remember the disaster that sent us packing for Z Cucina? Jack and I decided that it would be a real shame to throw out the organic, free-range chicken that I had purchased that day from the Clintonville Farmers market. I had been trying to make it into tandoori chicken (the sauce failed pretty miserably), but to save the chicken we put it in a strainer and gave it a rinse.
The next night, it was just Jack and I for dinner and we were very happy we had saved the chicken. This disaster became the centerpiece of our very delicious dinner! This meal was made entirely from farmers market finds, and that was really exciting.


The Menu:
Peas
- cooked with a bit of bacon from the market...a great way to add flavor!
- There is something very nice about shelling your own peas. The effort of this labor seems to make them extra delicious.
Corn
- Ohio is known for its corn, and this was the first of the season. I was very excited when I saw it at the Schatz Family Farmstand.
Chicken Salad
- onions, garlic, tomatoes, and green beans all from the market!
- A delicious cilantro curry vinaigrette, made with herbs still warm from the sun in our garden
- The rescued chicken



VERY FRESH, VERY LOCAL, VERY TASTY!!!!!!

Z Cucina by the pictures!

Z Cucina, in the Short North of Columbus, Ohio, strikes a perfect balance between fancy and no-fuss. It has all of the elements that I would consider key to a fine dining establishment: good food, a nice wine list, excellent service, and a clean and simple dining room. The menu also rotates seasonally to keep things fresh and interesting and to allow for the use of local ingredients. What Z Cucina doesn't have is equally important - - it lacks the pretension that can make some restaurants feel inaccessible. From the food to the decor, the people at Z Cucina have figured out how to provide the customer with exactly the right amount of the elegant without becoming overbearing.
We hadn't exactly planned on going out last Friday, but there had been a culinary disaster that was best solved by aborting the mission and heading out on the town. I have mostly ditched the cookbook and begun to improvise in the kitchen - - mostly with delicious results, but sometimes these grand experiments fail. I don't even remember what I was making, but it got to the point where adding things to try to fix the dish was not going to work. It is important to be able to recognize the point of no return for a dish! It was time to go to Z Cucina.
It has now been over a week since this meal and with a new menu up on the restaurant's website I don't remember exactly what went into each dish. What I do remember was that it was a very pleasant experience both in atmosphere and on the palate. I am going to give a picture tour and let the food speak for itself. If you want to know more you are just going to have to try it!

Night of disasters

There's this Herb Khoresh recipe with lamb shanks form the New York Times that I've been eyeing for months, and I finally found the time and the lamb shanks to do it... but ultimately it was disappointing. I didn't have dried Persian limes, so I did some research and some websites said that it would be ok if I substituted regular limes. Bad idea. Bad bad bad bad bad idea. It made the braise bitter and limey, in a really bad way. I called Avi in a panic and he suggested making a sauce from the braising liquid by adding some wine and tomato paste. Apparently I neglected to tell Avi/he didn't hear me say that there was a ton of lime in the braising liquid, because the tomato paste and wine didn't work at all. Now what would have been delicious lamb stock is just a big pot of bitter limey liquid and my salty tears (ok not really, but almost).
I rescued it, sort of, by taking the meat off the bone and adding some spices and figs and roasting in the oven, but not as good as I desperately wanted it to be. On top of that, Becca over-salted the cabbage salad.

Still, everything was edible.

The one great thing about dinner was Becca and Emily's curried stuffed sweet potato. It pretty much made up for everything else.