Sun - August 13, 2006

Dinner Guests


My friends from CEGEP, Steve and Eve and their two daughters Sophie and Clara were visiting San Francisco, so I invited them and Nicholas and Heather over for dinner -- being the first dinner guests at my new home. We had tri-tip, asparagus, tomato salad and corn basil risotto, and Nicholas and Heather brought a nice dessert.

Here are the seven of us posing on my couch (me, Clara, Eve, Sophie, Steve, Nicholas and Heather).



Clara, Eve, Sophie and Stephen on the couch.



Heather and Sophie



Clara and Eve

Posted at 11:13 PM     Read More  

Tue - July 4, 2006

Summer BBQ


Once again, Tom asked me to help out with his summer BBQ (helping means cooking and eating :-) ). Food was great as always. I decided to take some different pictures this time -- with my Canon 20D, and more close up, as opposed to the whole dish at a time.

Results are here.


Posted at 12:08 PM     Read More  

Fri - December 16, 2005

The French Laundry


After two months of waiting, our reservations finally arrived. Anne, David, Tom and I went up to Yountville in Napa Valley to eat at the French Laundry. We started with drinks at Bouchon, Thomas Keller's more casual restaurant. We then went for an amazing nine course dinner (plus two bonus desserts). On Friday, we went back to Bouchon for lunch, just for fun. Pictures of the meal are here.





We were really lucky to get to shake hands with the chef at the end of the meal. He saw us looking in to the kitchen and taking a photo of him, so he came out to greet us.

Posted at 08:09 PM     Read More  

Sun - October 16, 2005

French Laundry Reservations


I was able to get reservations at The French Laundry for Tom, me, anne and David for December 15. It should be great!

Posted at 06:54 PM     Read More  

Sun - September 25, 2005

Clam Bake (update)


Tom invited me over for a clam bake. Largely, this is an excuse to cook giant lobsters so he has enough shells to make lobster stock / butter for his December party.





He made 4 out of his 6 4-5 pound lobsters.





What you can't see on the right is the side plates of corn, sausage and potatoes, as well as a bowl of cockles (clams). Clam bake involves sausages at the bottom, covered by clams, covered by potatoes, covered by corn, covered by lobsters. anne derided the other stuff as filler though, and thus no pictures. Those were some tasty potatoes.

Tom has much more details here.

Posted at 04:05 PM     Read More  

Mon - May 30, 2005

Dry Creek Kitchen, Healdsburg, Sonoma CA


For Memorial Day Weekend (Saturday), anne, David, anne's coworker John and I went to Sonoma to do some wine tasting. We stopped at Dry Creek Kitchen for dinner (one of Charlie Palmer's restaurants). Photos of the wine paired tasting menu are here.


Posted at 10:53 AM     Read More  

Sun - April 24, 2005

808 at home


One of the best meals I had in Las Vegas at NAB was at 808 -- so good that I didn't mind going back the very next day. The best dish on the menu was a sesame crusted seared mahi mahi with a lime ginger beurre blanc on asian vegetables. I was thrilled to find the recipe here -- and I tried it at home. The results are below. It was delicious.




The recipe from the article follows -- I think it may need more ginger and less cream, but otherwise it was very good. I coated both sides of the mahi mahi. The vegetables were carrots, zucchini and baby boc choi, in that order, sautéed in oil and finished with soy sauce and a touch of butter.

Charred Mahi-Mahi With a Sesame Crust Topped With Lime Ginger Beurre Blanc

1/2 cup dry white wine
2 slices fresh ginger
1/4 cup heavy cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
3-ounce mahi-mahi fillet
1/8 cup white sesame seeds
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/4 teaspoon black sesame seeds

In a skillet, combine the white wine and the fresh slivers of ginger. Simmer on medium heat to reduce by half. Add the heavy cream and reduce again by half. Cut the butter into small cubes; then add them one at a time until each is incorporated into the reduction. Make sure to keep the sauce right under boiling temperature while you incorporate the butter. The sauce will separate if it boils too rapidly or becomes too cold.

Next, pass the reduction through cheesecloth or a chinois. (A chinois is a metal sieve with a very fine mesh used to strain soups and sauces.) Put the sauce in a blender and add the minced garlic and the lime juice. Process at medium speed until the ginger and the lime juice are incorporated into the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve to the side until fish is ready for serving.

Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides. Mix together the cornstarch and white sesame seeds. Next, press one side of the fish into the seed mixture. Place a heavy-bottomed skillet or a wok on high heat. After the skillet is really hot, place the fish in the pan with the sesame seed side down. Cook until crispy brown. Turn the fish over and cook an additional 4 to 6 minutes. (Mahi-mahi has a firm, white meat and a delicate flavor. It is sometimes called dorado or dolphin fish. [It has no relation to dolphins, which are mammals.])

Serve on a small bed of stir-fried vegetables. Drizzle the lime ginger butter sauce around the fish and garnish the dish with black sesame seeds.

Posted at 07:19 PM     Read More  

NAB eats


NAB was a culinary trip. Pictures are coming, but I ate at:

808, in Caeasars (yum) -- twice
Nobu, in the Hard Rock
Bouchon, somwhere in the Venetian
Aureole in Mandalay Bay

Posted at 07:09 PM     Read More  

Mon - December 6, 2004

Tom's Annual Winter Party


I helped with the cooking again (fifth year now) at Tom's Winter dinner party. The menu was amazing:
* Cheese and Fruit Plate
* Foie Gras Terrine and Brioche
* Smoked Wild Mushroom Soup
* Onion Tarts with House Made Bacon and Smoked Bell Peppers
* Scallop and Lobster Risotto
* Maltaise-sytle Sauté
* Steak and Eggs
* Winter Vegetables with Harissa
* Zinfandel Braised Short Ribs
* Pomegranate Duck Salad
* Turned Vegatables with Maitre d'Hotel Butter
* Haricot Verts and Port Braised Shallots
* Croquembouche
* Crepes Suzette
* Deep Fried Chocolate Truffles

Pictures here.

Posted at 09:54 PM    

Sun - November 21, 2004

Morimoto Restaurant


Well, after many trips to Philadelphia, Peter and I finally made it to Morimoto, run by Iron Chef Japanese Masaharu Morimoto who became famous while working at Nobu, where I've been three times in Las Vegas. The menu is similar, Peter and I split the omakase tasting menu. The menu is 9 courses, featuring:
• Toro tartar with caviar and scalions
• Japanese oysters three ways, with thai, salsa and ceviche dressing
• New style sashimi with hot sesame and olive oil (the best)
• Seared young yellowtail salad
• Exotic citrus sorbet
• Lobster with Chef's special seasoning and citrus crème fraîche
• Kobe beeef and foie gras with yams
• six pieces of sushi including toro, hamachi, bluefin, sardine and giant clam
• passion fruit sorbet and chocolate soup



Pictures can be found here.

Posted at 10:07 PM     Read More  

Wed - September 29, 2004

Sea Scallops and Asparagus and Chanterelle Risotto


Well, I got bored of being a bump on a log, so I decided to try cooking a little more regularly. Todays was pretty fancy:

Pan Seared Sea Scallops on watercress with a balsamic mustard vinaigrette finished with fleur de sel, accompanied by Asparagus and Chanterelle Risotto.




Posted at 09:04 PM     Read More  

Mon - August 9, 2004

San Francisco's Ferry Building and David Bruce Winery


Last Saturday, I met Nicholas and Heather up at the city to check out the Ferry Building farmer's market. We had a small lunch at a restaurant called Mistral. On Sunday, I went with Tom, anne and David to David Bruce's 40th anniversary wine tasting event, which was also fun. Photos here.

Posted at 09:05 PM     Read More  

Tue - July 6, 2004

Tom's Summer BBQ


I helped out a bit at Tom's Summer BBQ. Pictures are here. I arrived a little late after a long week at WWDC, so I didn't do as much as usual. But I got to whisk in the two pounds of butter that made up the buffalo wing sauce here.

Posted at 11:30 PM     Read More  

Fri - April 9, 2004

Kan Zeman


Today, Adrian and I went to eat at Kan Zamen on University Avenue. Its pretty good. I was there the week before with Nick and Heather, too. The combo plus meat combo is great! They also have a belly dancer show on weekends.

Posted at 08:44 PM     Read More  

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