Artists Eat (at my house): Elise Levine and David Smooke
This post is the first installment in a new series: Artists Eat (at my house) where artists come to my house to eat, and then share some of their art, posted here along with a recipe. I think it will be fun and creative and tasty. Or, that’s the idea.
E2 and Lemon Tart
E2
We met for dinner at e2 in Highland Park on a rainy spring day. After hugs and kisses and it’s been way-too-longs, we tucked ourselves into the comfy table by the big chalk board and ordered 4 omgs! (tiny appetizers that make you say, you guessed it): gongonzola mess, roasted garlic, sauteed onions with caraway seeds, and roasted carrots. Add scrumptious crusty bread, and then more bread. We opened the first bottle of wine. Rick had found a deal on a luscious cabernet. (It’s byob at e2.)
We shared 3 entrees. Spicy shrimp risotto with arugula and peas, traditional beans and greens with cannelini beans and super nice broth for more bread, and then the portabello arancini (risotto balls) served with piave cheese and fresh tomato sauce. Three balls, diplomatically divided between four people. E2 is a great place to spend a rainy night. Excellent service, amazing food—laid back, fun, and fresh. Our server had corkscrew in hand as we finished bottle 1 and headed toward 2.
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It’s amazing how much happiness one apple can bring a household. There had been 6 apples, and in our house, this final piece of fruit would normally sit there until eternity sent it to the compost bin. Not sure why the final apple, the final anything, gets ignored around here. But the Braeburn that tottered in the big bowl we keep on the kitchen counter led me to pancakes.
On Friday, I pulled the first radish from the garden. This beautiful little veggie inspired an improvisational grilled cheese sandwich. Garden to lunch in less than 10 minutes. Multi-grain bread with Minerva’s extra-sharp cheese, and then thinly sliced radish tucked within. The crunch. A revelation.
Omelets. When I talk about omelets, I call them “nice.” I ask my husband, “Would you like a nice omelet for lunch?” Or, “Why don’t we have a nice omelet with that leftover curry?” I’m not sure what led to my friendly assumption about this food, but it holds up. A good omelet is so good–and easy to make. It’s the same with frittatas. They’re friendly. I especially like using them to finish up produce too small for anything else. One carrot left in the fridge? No problem. The answer, last Saturday, was a carrot-spinach-garlic-onion frittata. 
I am an oatmeal-focused person. I eat it daily and make it from scratch in a pan with milk and oats and then all kinds of tasty things thrown in, depending on my mood: walnuts, bananas, dried cherries, crystallized ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, maple syrup. Last summer, I started making granola at the start of each week and that was easier–just add milk and banana–the tasty stuff already lurked inside.
