More catching up

I did manage to get some cooking in during the past 8 months:

Maine shrimp ceviche--it's sad the season is so short, but that's part of what makes these so special. That way for the few weeks they're in season, we have an excuse to eat as many as we can!


Butternut squash gnocchi with local shitakes and brown butter...mmmmmmm


Cauliflower flan with chorizo:


Duck boobies with cherry sauce:



Lamb chops with barley and fennel:


Squash soup with onion sprouts--I swear restaurants copy us...the week after we made this we saw these sprouts on a bunch of different menus!


Black cod with macomber turnip, one of our new favorite veggies (and it's local!)


Duck ravioli with fennel and crispy duck skin--the ravioli were a bit undersalted :-(


Hopefully we'll be able to do much better than this over the summer!

Making up for lost time

Well, I clearly did not keep up with any posting at all during the school year. Now that it's over, I should probably get back to it, huh?

I'll start out with our trip to NYC last December. We went to Momofuku, of course (both Noodle Bar and Ssam Bar--Ssam Bar is WAY better), but also tried some new places.

First, we went to Lupa on a totally freezing cold day. I think I got frostbite on my eye. The food was delicious, especially the marinated beef tongue, sardines, and pastas. The best part, though, was the tasting of amari:




We also went to Tailor, which I enjoyed a lot. I love the idea of restaurants that take risks with food, and push the boundaries of flavor, but sometimes you end up with results that don't work so well (like a few courses at WD-50). I found that everything was at least good, and some things were spectacular. Here it is!

Chestnut soup with razor clams and potato:


Scallop tartare, pickled litchi sorbet, asian pear:


Maple poached snails, bacon, parsley, toast--OMG, totally amazing


Sesame sweetbreads, banana puree, purple mustard:


Loup de mer, pear consomme, sunchokes, pickled crosnes--perfect fish, awesome flavors!


Black garlic chicken, long beans, shitake mushrooms--the black garlic was really interesting, chicken had a great texture, and the sauce was delicious


Miso butterscotch pork belly--holy crap this was good, just an unbelievable combination of savory and sweet


Cantaloupe sorbet, serrano ham (like a cracker), sherry:


Grapefruit, tarragon, and some kind of custard/flan (can't remember, and it's not on the menu--arrrrghhh!!)


Apple, crumble, and some other stuff I can't remember, but I do remember it was super tasty!