I made some pretty good salsa over the weekend to go with some simple burritos, and there was a fair amount left over. The tomatoes available now aren’t so good for eating by themselves, but spun in the food processor with lime juice, onion, garlic, and cilantro they do all right. Milo suggested- pretty impressively for someone not yet four- that we run the leftover salsa through the ice cream machine. He’s used to unusual…
Category: Small Plates
I’ve been working at a local ceramic studio since the beginning of the year, and the owner/teacher fired the kiln this weekend. Today I went by to get the first of what should be several more series of plates, bowls, and cups to inspire more detailed cooking and presentation as well as smaller portions. Though I have no training in the field, I’ve always been influenced by Kaiseki cooking; now that the garden is a…
John and Debi brought Tim (up for the weekend from FL) for a decadent dinner. I made the food; John brought the wine. That was the deal. Normally with multi-course meals I can see the dishes in my head beforehand, but in this case they were a little blurry until just a few hours before dinner. Most of it came out pretty well, though I had to scrap one course and I forgot to add…
The numbers: 8 adults, 11 courses, 7 bottles, 6 hours. The pictures: Duck and pear: Melons are long since out of season, so these are local organic red bartlett pears. This duck took about three months to cure, but was SOOOO worth the wait. Leek & Gruyère tart: A dribble of truffle oil and grating of Indonesian long pepper on top put this one into orbit. Celery root-leek-potato soup: Local milk, veggies from the garden,…
Another chilly wet day required soup, and this time I went for a Japanese-style dinner with a bunch of small dishes followed by a big bowl of soba. Clockwise from upper left: beet pickles, sorrel and nasturtium salad (sesame/ume shu dressing,) leftover braised pan di zucchero, and our own Japanese eggplant cooked with scallions in a serious sauce of garlic, rice vinegar, shoyu, agave syrup, and HP sauce that Christine bought me recently so I…
Well, not really, but if we had Bento boxes it would have looked pretty close. Christine bought both salmon and shrimp today, because they were both great, so I did a multi-course meal but served them all at once. First, the salmon as sashimi, with garlic-infused sesame oil, tamari, lime juice and pink peppercorns, which was decadently creamy, rich, and elegant. Then, the shrimp, shelled- the shells became a broth with onion and carrot- rubbed…