can't get enough of that slaw!

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. We really did eat a radish, jicama and cilantro slaw again tonight (making this the third night in a row where these ingredients have played a prominent role). What can I say, the combination is amazing. Not only is the crunchiness extremely satisfying, but it is delightfully bright, which is exactly what we are in the mood for with this sudden burst of 80 + degrees weather. Tonight that punch of brightness was necessary to push our otherwise wintery steakhouse meal into spring.

For our other side we took the tart-making technique acquired this past fall during what I like to call "butternut squash tart mania", and made a delicious tart with whatever we had in the fridge that seemed like a good combination. I don't normally plug brands on the blog, but it has to be said that the Trader Joes pie crusts are incredible. First, they are easy to work with, which is important given that the key to this tart-making technique is combining two store-bought crusts into a ball, rolling the whole thing out, then folding the edges over the ingredients. These crusts are very durable and resilient (and we do have basis for comparison, as this whole process was much more difficult when we used another brand of crust). Second, they have come out perfectly every time (even tonight when the tart was slightly underdone it tasted great). So Trader Joes, if you wanted to send some free crusts my way I'll gladly talk about how awesome they are again and again and again...

New York Strip cooked to a perfect just-below-medium-rare

Slaw: julienned radish, jicama and carrot with cilantro and rice wine vinegar

Tart: oyster mushrooms, caramelized onions, banana pepper, pecorino cheese