|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| About a year and a half ago, I started in the wine industry. Those of us in the industry know that the vintage is everything. Its all about how the climate was that year in a particular region. This will determine the potential of what the wine maker can do with what the earth produced. Its really a magical thing. I don't know yet how the 2008 vintage will be for most regions.... but for food? it was a fantastic vintage here at Foodbytim.
Since i haven't updated in a long time, I'm going to spare you all the long commentaries and just show you some pictures. I'll include some captions here and there, but hopefully the pictures will speak for themselves.
I'll keep the pictures seperated by theme... but be warned.. there are a lot of pics... good pics....
Food Porn
Anthony Bourdain has this concept called Food Porn. i think its pretty self explanatory. its food that is so over the top. Its over glamourized... over indulgent.... overly rich in flavor.... its just food that is too good. While we've had many of these kinds of dishes (food porn), this one particular meal in Nice, France may have been the most over the top.
I forget the name of the place but it was a restaurant that specialized in truffles.
First Course:
Salad with shaved truffles and truffle caviar.
Second Course:
Truffle stuffed tortellini with shaved truffles.
Third Course:
Fillet topped with Foies Gras and shaved truffles on a bed of potatoes, with a vegetable souffle on the side.
Absolutely crazy.....
Home Cookin
below is a bunch of pics of some of the great dishes that turned out in our own kitchen.
Lobster Sashimi
Cantonese Lobster Noodle
Abalone in with a Ginger, Ginseng, Abalone consume
Foie Gras with Balsamic Gelee
Roasted Pork Belly with Thai Green Curry
Roasted Bone Marrow
AMAZING wines....
Chateau de la Maltroye 2004 Chassagne Montrachet.
Patrick Javillier Corton Charlamagne 2000
Domain Chatelain Chablis Premier Cru Forchaume 2006
These were some of the most eye opening experiences we have had with wine. Its unbelieveable how great these wines were... it definetely raised the bar. interesting that they are all chardonnay...
Butter poached Lobster with a butter cream sauce and grated Aussie parmesan
Hamachi Sashimi topped with mango, grapefruit, shallots, and ceyanne pepper
Vietnamese Shrimp and noodle salad
Chili Crab Singaporean style
Malaysian street food made at home
Vietnamese style Crab cakes.
Beef Wellington
Jean Georges style Sweet and sour pork belly with shallot confit.
France
We were fortunate to be able to visit France. we visited 30+ vineyards and ate incredibly well the entire time. it was a once in a life time kind of experience for us. here are just a few of the hundreds of great pics we got of food, markets, vineyards, and wine....
Like I said earlier.... 2008 was a great year.... I think 2009 is looking promising.
| | |
| So... as my good friend "K8 or die" pointed out... it really is time to update. so i looked through my picasa and found some great meals we had since Christmas, all the way up to my trip of eating to NYC this last weekend. I hope you enjoy.
Canape Trio
This is the the first of the canape trio. It's silken tofu topped with 2 kinds of caviar and spring onion. This was incredible. the salty flavors of the caviar and the creaminess of the silken tofu.... oh man..... harmonious...
Next is Tuna Tartare which was made with sashimi grade tuna, soy sauce, and walnut oil, topped with spring onion. I originally wanted to do an asian style tuna tartare with sesame oil, but thought that the delicate flavor of the raw tuna would be over powered by the sesame oil. so i used some walnut oil which was just perfect. the nutty bitterness of the oil subtly complimented and brought out the tuna taste.
Then the Nori wrapped Shrimp Tempura with a honey wasabi sauce, topped with Spring onion. so simple yet so good.
The Best Split Pea Soup
This really is the best split pea soup i've had... and its not just cause my wife made it... well, maybe it is. since she recently has perfected to art of making a good soup.
For this one Candice made this incredible ham bone stock which was mixed with peas and blended in my trusty vitamix. and while i am tempted to write "what's split pea soup without bacon??", i guess the more appropriate comment would be "what's split pea soup without and incredible ham bone stock?????" (i know.. doesn't quite have the same ring... but oh well...)
Chilean Sea Bass marninated in Miso and Sake with Pickled Ginger and Lotus Root Chips
If you have never had Chilean Sea Bass, you really should. If it's the cost of the fish that puts you off, let me tell you right now that it is worth every cent. When cooked well, Chilean Sea Bass has got to be in my top 5 foods ever....
This is currently another one of Candice's specialties. She marinated the fish in japanese miso, sake, and mirin for 2 days. Then we just baked the fish until the meat was flakey. this picture just doesn't do justice. it is so rich and delicious. the pickled ginger and lotus root chip was a nice accompaniment.
Quail Braised in a Chablis sauce with Mushrooms cooked with Porcini Oil.
It seems like almost any other bird is better than Chicken. but yet we still eat so much Chicken... i don't get it.
For this one, we braised the quail in a Chablis and herb concoction. we then cooked some mushrooms and topped them off with Porcini Oil... the Porcini oil brought out this intense but so pleasant mushroom flavor that went so beautifully with the quail...
Pan Seared Duck Breast with a Blood Orange and White Port Reduction, served on top of Baby Beets.
Duck is probably my favorite meat. The secret to cooking a perfect duck breast is to first steam the whole duck for about an hour which drains the thick layer of fat and par cooks the bird. Then you carve and remove the breast pieces. at this point a quick 5 min sear should do the trick.
For the reduction sauce we deglazed the pan that we cooked the duck in with white port and sqeezed blood oranges and some sugar. Served on delicious beets.
Rack of Lamb poached in Duck Fat and Anchovies, served with a side of Spicey Yellow Bell Peppers.
Another dish that makes me drool at the thought of it. this is why i love the french. they cook things in duck fat.
First we started by boiling some duck fat with herbs and anchovies. Then after a quick sear on either side, we dropped the whole rack of lamb into the duck fat and let it sit in it (with the heat off) for about 1/2 hour. and out came this beautiful work of art.
Squid Ink Risotto with a Garlic Spring Onion Sauce and Grilled Tiger Prawns
So in asia the use of squid ink in dishes is very common... But here its very expensive and hard to find.
think of squid ink as a concentrated fish stock with an incredible flavor. not a really strong fishy taste.. but perhaps more like a clammy taste.
So we cooked the risotto rice in the squid ink and pureed some fresh garlic and spring oinions for the sauce. and how can you go wrong with grilled tiger prawns...
Eating Through NYC.
So its pretty rare with my job that i get full weekends off. So when i once in a long while do, its a great reason to take a short trip somewhere. it had been a few years since my last NYC trip, so it was time to go again.
and of course what we all love about NYC is the incredible food. i think we had 6 meals in 1.5 days. it was pretty amazing. below are some of the highlights.
This was just a random shop we walked by. They specialized in smoked fish and chocolate. so many little shops like this. so fun.....
and the legendary Katz deli... corned beef and pastrami that melts in your mouth on a sandwich.... mmmmmm!
so much better than Carnegie deli....
 
and here is a wonderful TINY cute teahouse called Podunk Cafe that serves the best tea. If i were a woman and lived in NYC, you would find me here all the time...
For dinner we went to Prune.
Baby Radishes with sweet butter and sea salt...
Fried Sweet Breads....
And a new favorite of ours... Monk Fish Liver... Apparently this is the the new Foie Gras in france. and well deserved too... it was so delicate, yet rich in flavor and so delicious... i need to get some of this to cook at home.
and finally, the reason we went to this restaurant... Roasted Veal Bone Marrow.... while this may gross out some people, its actually an extremely common dish around the world.
While Prune was very delicious, we found the most incredible place.... so good that I am tempted to drive all the way up to NYC again this weekend just to go visit this place again. Its a Japanese hole in the wall kinda sake bar called Hagi. we first heard of both Prune and Hagi on Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations. He refered to both these restaurants as places where chefs go out to eat at. So we just had to try them.. and sure enough at Hagi, there were some cooks from other restaurants eating, which is always a good sign...
Here we ordered some Uni sashimi... i have never seen Uni prepared so
fresh and served in such a large quantity for such a cheap price!
$6!!! And if you've never had Uni, its up there with Foie...
who ever though udon could be so good??? This was the first time i've had fresh udon. i think.... i've probably had it at restaurants about 100 times in my life, but never like this... the noodles were chewy and the broth was amazing!!!
And finally the much anticipated Yellow Fin Collar. The meat on the collar of the fish is just more full in flavor. it was perfectly cooked and just so delicious at 1 am. It really is the best part of the fish.
All in all at Hagi, we spent $20!! incredible... this is how a restaurant should be... not pretentious. honest. delicious. Affordable.
I think thats going to be the end of the entry as I am now extremely hungry looking at all this amazing food.
| | |
| before i write about my trip to singapore. there are two very important things i must address..  
mmmmmm.... i need one right now... oh what am i talking about.. i'm having one right now... ok.. now to the food blog. So since i started my new job, i've gone down 2 belt sizes.. i haven't weighed myself recently. but my clothes have gotten more loose and all that... i was kinda proud of myself. not cause i lost weight.. but cause i lost weight without running on a treadmill and at the same time not changing my diet. (except adding a lot of wine to it..) however.. im sad to announce that i think i've undone the weight loss here in Singapore... We've been here for almost 2 weeks now and i feel like i put on a good 10 lbs in our time here so far. but how can you blame me?? its the food capital of the world. it really is... the food here is amazing. Singapore is made up of 3 main people groups: Chinese, Malay, and Indian. with these cultures came the food. evenutally it all blended into 1 fabulous cuisine... i mean, think about it.. the elegance of real chinese food (not the stuff you get from a carry out), the flavors of south east asia, and the spices of india... all in the same foods. It really is incredible. and since we only get to come here once a year or so, we've been eating non stop. So like any big city, singapores got some amazing restuarants... 2 of the top 50 restaurants in the world are here. and thats actually saying a lot considering probably maybe only 8 or so of the top 50 are in the whole united states. but what do you do in the US when you get back from work late and you dont want to cook? when you dont have the time to prepare food? or after the bar you need to eat something? order a pizza... eat chinese take out.., go get some fastfood.. there really isnt much you can do. the options are extremely limited. this is the best part about eating in singapore! Hawker Centres a hawker centre is basically like a glorified food court. they open early in the morning for breakfasts and close late at night for midnight snack. they are all over the country. and there is always something great to eat. perhaps the most popular (and touristy) one in singapore is called Newton Circus.  in this picture you are only seeing about 1/4th of newton circus. the place is huge! 
a typical food stall in any hawker centre lures in customers with the freshest foods on display. 
competition is fierce so they better make sure that the food is good to stay in business. 
yes that is a stingray. and yes, you can order stingray in a foodcourt!!?!?  everyone eats here. people in suits.. people in rags.. tourists.. locals... 
our food from one of the hawker stalls. 
Prawns cooked in butter and garlic. 
Chili Crab is one of Candice's fav dishes out here... so much better than eating MD blue crabs... although i do like those too..     Not all hawker centers are as clean and nice as Newton circus.. but that probably means that the food is much cheaper too.. average meal at a local hawker centre is probably $4 US. and thats a pretty decent meal too. Durian Fruit Stand Candice's sister Sharon has a weekend house just outside of Singapore in Malaysia. we took a little trip there. on the way we cut through the province... randomly we saw a Durian friut stand!! these have to be one of my favorite things... ok.. yes. durian stinks.. lets get over that. but the reason i love this so much is cause just to the left of the picture below (out of the sight) is the actual tree that these durians came from. the durian fruit is harvested and the sold on the street right next to the tree. how fresh is that?? 
we saw this while driving and pulled over.. 
a nice pile of durians. 
apparently there is a way to pick out a good durian... by smelling it.... look how she is concentrating... reminds me of wine tasting... haha.. 
opening a durian is dangerous... 
thankfully no one got hurt... 
so the question is... why would you fight through the deadly outer husk of this fruit that smells like rotting garbage in order to reach this soft mushy fruit? 
because the taste out weighs the pain from the spikes, the ripe rotten smell of garbage, and the gross texture... its that good. Markets! and finally the markets.... its so sad that markets are not readily accessible to people in the US. The food from the markets are just so much more fresh than in supermarkets.. below are just some pics from the market.     
With the food so fresh, we had to cook! candice made her paella and i made the green papaya salad with pan seared duck. 
there is so much more to write about.. but since its getting long, im going to cut it here for now. peace. | | |
| Had some old friends over.... yet another reason to try new dishes.
well, we are still on our duck/fig kick, and since it does taste good, i figured it was ok to make it again. Candice perfected her Paella and I finally got to stuff some vegetables... been wanting to do that for some time now...
ok here we go..
Deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan
deconstruction? Im not sure how Derrida would feel about deconstruction becoming the next buzz word in cooking. but essentially, it is undoing a dish back to its ingredients and recreating a new dish with it. As mentioned above, I had been wanting to stuff small vegetables for a while now. something about it just seemed like a fun thing to do. eggplant is a perfect vegetable to hollow out. as i was trying to conceptualize this dish, candice came up with a brilliant idea. if Im using eggplant.. what about creating a eggplant parm? deconstructed... it was brilliant. we decided to go with veal, tomato sauce, fresh oregano, parmesan, another soft cheese which name has escaped me, and of course, the eggplant. after hollowing out the eggplants, i cooked the parts removed and pureed it. the veal was ground and prepared with fresh oregano, tomato sauce, and garlic. i then added the eggplant puree to the mixture and let it simmer briefly. inside the hollowed eggplant i placed the soft cheese and then spooned in the veal, eggplant, garlic, oregano, and tomato sauce mixture. seal the top with some parmesan cheese and throw in oven at a low heat for about 10 mins.
Seafood Paella
The trick to this dish is the stock. it is so vital to what this dish is.. candice used some rissotto rice and cooked it with some seafood, garlic and chorizo. she then added some fish stock with she made earlier by cooking salmon head and bones. let everything cook in the stock and all the flavors infuze.... wow.. it may have been the best paella ive had..
Duck Breast with a Fig-Port Sauce on a Polenta
I just wrote about this dish in the previous post so i will not go into details again.. (just scroll down the page.)
but i must say... last time we made the dish, we used a whole duckling. we steamed it, then pan seared it... this time we used a duck breast. much easier to cook i guess.. but we felt as though we had sacrificed the tenderness of the duckling as well as the smoothness of flavor. so next time, we will use the whole duckling again. even though it was much more of a pain to cook. never the less... it still tasted great.
thanks to pete, andrew, and andrea for a wonderful evening.
 | | |
| It's been a wonderful first year of marriage. there is something about two people coming together that can really create something more beautiful and better than being alone. and of course this is not a marriage blog. but when two people with two different backgrounds come together, learn how to work together, and enjoy life together, even the cooking gets better. I told candice that if it were not for her, i would probably never have experienced Foie Gras, Prosciutto, Epoisses cheese, and some other foods that i love so much now. was a scary thought!
so for our anniversary, we decided to treat ourselves one night to a fancy meal at Palena Cafe, and the next night, cook ourselves a fancy dinner. so before we get into the cooking, here are some pics from Palena Cafe.
Serrano Ham and Fresh Figs
Figs... I never knew figs could be so good. i guess its because i never had a really good one before. they always seemed to have a semi bland taste and a mushy texture. But as we were strolling through Eastern Market, we came across some really nice looking figs. too good looking to resist. so we picked some up. the next thing that stole our attention was the Serrano Ham. In front of us, in the butcher display case, sat 3 kinds of hams. domestic prosciutto, imported prosciutto, and a serrano. after some sample tastings, serrano it was!
The serrano was beautiful. Its a bit more firm in texture to than the prosciutto and also a bit stronger in flavor.
eaten with the fig, the slight saltiness and the subtle sweetness compliment each other very well.
Steamed and Pan Seared Duck Breast on Polenta with a Fig Port Sauce
Been wanting to tackle duck for a long time. Its a tricky bird to cook because it has a very very high fat content. Chinese cooking over comes this by roasting the duck which allows the fat to melt away. another method of doing that is to first steam the duck before cooking it.
We rubbed salt, pepper, and scallions all over the duck. Then wrapped it up in foil.
we put him on the steamer and let it cook for 1 hour.
After an hour much of the fat of the duck has seeped out, but the meat inside is still medium rare. the thick skin and layer of fat keep the meat from over cooking.
Carving the duck is a bit tricky. if you slice down the center, you can easily remove the breast pieces.
A very important step is the searing. I used the duck fat that seeped out of the duck when steaming to sear the duck skin side down first. you can let it sit for a long time as the fat in the skin keeps it from burning fast and makes it crispy. you then flip it over for a very quick sear on the other side. Its so important that the breast is not over cooked. you want it to be a little pink still. over cooked duck is a great travesty.
The sauce really made this dish. Candice made a duck jus, fig, port wine, and wine vinegar reduction.
again the sweetness of the fig and port cut the grease and richness of the duck.
We served the duck on polenta which is a dense cake like starch made from boiled corn meal.
the duck was topped with fresh fig and thyme with the fig and port sauce.
and just for fun, one more pic.
There really is something about two that is better than one.
| | |
|
