Some Meals and 0ther Meals

There are some meals that require an extensive amount of planning in order to pull off. Special ingredients need to be bought, research must be conducted, and many times preparations needs to be done in advance. Then there are meals that all you have to do is leave the house in search of adventure, meet up with a cute boy, go on a hunt for a good French Chardonnay, end up with a bottle of California Pinot Noir instead, and next thing you know your marching around town with a bundle of perfectly ripe figs in your bag that are just begging you to do something special with them before they become wrinkly and old.

Of course last Thursday afternoon when I found myself in these exact circumstances I had every intention of fulfilling the wishes of these tender little figs, however hunger dictated that the cute boy and I partake in a little afternoon snack to tide us over till evening.

So, we stopped into ino on Bedford Street for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and a variety of brochettes.
The restaurant was tiny with little wooden cube sized tables, and a counter off to the side. The Italian Folk songs playing in the background - something reminiscent of Allen Lomax’s Field recordings - helped solidify the quaint ambiance, while only adding a mild note of cheesiness.

Here’s me eating the truffled egg toast. YUM!
An hour later it was back to Brooklyn for a quick nap before getting to work on the Pinot Noir and Figs. I had wanted to keep it classic by roasting the figs with cheese and prosciutto, but there was a scarcity of ingredients in my fridge so we stuffed them with a tepinade of olives, capers, pickled lemon rind, and Pecorino Romano cheese. After roasting them for 15 min on 350F, we drizzled them with chestnut honey and orange zest.
With the wine and the sweet potatoes it made for a decadent supper, but one that wasn’t at all labor intensive; the perfect something out of nothing meal after an indulgent day of eating and drinking.