Food Interlude

At some point I'll resume regular blogging. Maybe I'll even update you on the awesomeness that has been my life for the last few weeks. However, I'm too busy at the moment livin' like the rockstar that I am, so you'll have to accept this meager post for the time being...

I present to you my dinner... a bacon & avocado grilled portobello burger.

Be jealous

Mystery Solved

In addition to Fathers' Day this weekend, we also had a housewarming party to attend. Because I have the continued itch to create in my kitchen I decided to take on the task of making blueberry cupcakes, and 2 different kinds of hummus to bring to the party. My Kitchen Aid mixer & food processor have been calling to me & I was happy to oblige!

Love 'em!

I started out with the blueberries

Very light & fluffy...

...and pretty

Whipped cream frosting with fresh blueberries on top!

Lookin' good...

...but next time I might try a pastry bag to put on the frosting...

...would probably look neater/cleaner/prettier that way.

Ready for the cupcake carrier!

Crazy cupcake carrier!

The next task of making hummus was a little scary... for one reason & one reason only...

JALAPENOS!

arch nemesis

You may recall my recent issues with jalapenos. I decided to put our issues aside & use the remaining jalapenos to make a Jalapeno Lime Hummus. I've made it before & it was good, so I decided to just go for it.

Interesting thing happened right around this time in my cooking that is worth mentioning. I checked my mail & as luck would have it my favorite magazine was awaiting me on my front porch!

Oh, how I love getting new issues!

Because I just couldn't contain my excitement I flipped through the magazine & saw this:

Do you see it?!

Yes, that's right!

They are extra big!!!

I was so excited to see this article! I thought it was hilarious since Peter & I were so confused about the size of our jalapenos! Apparently there really are big ones out there. The article said that you could find them at your local farmers' market, but ours were from good ol' Wegmans... now back to the hummus!

Chickpeas

Jalapenos

I used plastic bags on my hands as I dissected the jalapenos before putting them into the food processor. It was a bit cumbersome, but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do to avoid capsaicin contamination! (I hadn't planned on making this, so I didn't have a chance to get any latex gloves to use instead). I realized around this time that I also needed a blender for this hummus recipe, so I had to bring out more of the Kitchen Aid collection!

Peter wanted me to choose between the two of them on our bridal registry, but so glad I didn't

Below are the final products. In addition to the jalapeno lime hummus we invented a garlic scape hummus as well. I personally preferred the garlic scape one. The jalapeno hummus wasn't spicy at all! I even put in extra jalapenos! The last time we made it the spiciness was evident, so my conclusion was that after sitting in my refrigerator during the last two weeks, the jalapenos lost a lot of their spiciness. Does anyone know if this is in fact what happens?

Beautiful presentation by my husband!

Valentines Day a la Food Network & Woman's Day

7 years ago I met my now husband on Valentines Day..... of course we didn't really talk or hang out together that day & didn't officially start dating until months later, but regardless it is the day we met! Since today was my day off I decided to cook a nice V-day dinner for him.

There was an entire surf & turf dinner that had been described in my Food Network magazine, so I decided to conquer it. I had to make some minor substitutions, but it was pretty close.
I couldn't find jumbo shrimp, pancetta or truffled peccorino (for the mashed potatoes), so I substituted regular shrimp, prosciutto, and plain peccorino cheese respectively. Peter didn't even know the difference. It was a decent dinner- good, but sadly, not wonderful.


Now, the desert is what I'm most proud of. There was a recipe for Molten Chocolate Cake in Woman's Day magazine. It seemed easy enough & I figured I'd give it a shot.... I'm so glad I did!
It turned out fabulous! Even my picky husband commented on how good it was!
Finally, we had a drink for dessert as well. I read the recipe wrong, but didn't realize that until it was too late. The drink we made was equal parts Chambord & sparkling rose. It was ridiculously sweet, but we drank it anyway.... then finished off the rest of the sparkling wine without any chambord (much better).

All, in all, not to shabby!

The Morimoto Experience

Earlier this month Peter & I headed out to NYC & Jersey for a wedding of a college friend. We decided to use this as an opportunity to go to a nice restaurant for a true culinary experience. We've been fans of the Iron Chef & Iron Chef America for years, so what better restaurant to visit than Mosaharu Morimoto's! He is by far our favorite chef in a veritable pantheon of culinary giants.

We decided to document our experience....

We each started out dinner with a drink. I had an unadventurous glass of riesling, while Peter went for a "White Lily." We don't remember what was in it except for yuzu (japanese citrus). Peter describes this as "the best cocktail I've ever had." He says that it tasted like a combination of citrus & lily scent. He raved about it all night long. In case you're wondering, my glass of reisling was pretty standard.

First Course: Toro (Fatty Tuna) Tartare

The pink area on top is the tuna & below are 6 accouterments. We're not sure what they all were, but there was definitely wasabi, some crispy little balls of a bread-like substance, & a soy-like paste.

The berry looking thing on the side is a japanese mountain peach called Yamamomo. It tasted okay.




Second Course: Scallop Carpaccio w/hot oil & herbs

I really enjoyed this. I liked all the flavors.

Peter thought the scallop was very tender & had a wonderful texture. It was a relatively mild dish, but still tasted good.



Third Course: Salad w/soy dashi foam

Peter says, "Do not underestimate the foam!" We often watch Iron Chef & wonder, "how much flavor is really in that foam?" Well, my friends, the aswer is "alot!" While this salad was not one of our favorite courses, we were happy that we got some foam to experience. Not much else to say about this dish. Peter had been hoping for a lobster foam, but alas (sigh!) we had to settle for soy dashi.

At this point in our meal Peter & I tried different courses. I was had no desire to eat oyster, while he wanted to stay true to the Morimoto experience & ate the omakase as intended.

Jaime's Fourth Course: Smoked Salmon Ravioli w/Salmon Roe & Yuzu Foam

I was not impressed. The waitress told me this was one of the most popular dishes, so I was quite disappointed when I had no desire to finish the single ravioli on my plate.



Peter's Fourth Dish: Oysters w/Foie Gras & Uni (Sea Urchin Gonads)


Peter was not too excited about this dish. The oyster was okay. The foie gras tasted kinda like butter. Peter's comment on the uni, "It tasted like concentrated, rotting seaweed."



Fifth Course: Sushi

One was shrimp, a salmon, a sardine, a toro & two other things.

I liked them all. I don't know if there was anything really special about them, but I enjoyed them & thought the taste & texture were both excellent. Peter agrees.





Palette Cleanser: Homemade Ginger Ale

Peter sampled this first & the face he made was enough to scare me out of trying it. Before sampling it I smelled it & the scent almost knocked me over! The taste was like a a flavor explosion! I have to imagine that if you drank the juice that picked ginger comes in it would be quite similar to what our homemade ginger ale tasted like. Peter thought there was also a pretty strong citrus flavor in it as well. Our lips were burning before we finished off the tiny glass. Lucky for us our waitress warned us that it was a "sipping drink" & not a shot as the glass it is served in may have you believe!

Despite what the above may lead you to believe, we both really enjoyed it.



Sixth (Main) Course: Half a Lobster w/Lemon Creme Fraiche & Wagyu Beef w/Sweet Potoatoes

The lobster was coated in garam masala. Peter doesn't really like lobster, but he enjoyed eating this. He thought the creme fraiche seemed like a good idea at first, but it quickly became overwhelming. He thought the beef tasted like good beef & was tender, buthe didn't think anything made it particularly special.

I really enjoyed the wagyu beef. The lobster was okay. I was excited about creme fraiche, but lemon is not a favorite flavor of mine, so I was a bit disappointed.

Seventh (Dessert) Course: Chocolaty Goodness (for lack of a better name)

This dish consisted of a cannel of chocolate ice cream, a toffee chip & a dark chocolate ganache layered on some type of graham cracker. This was awesome! Peter says the toffee & ganache were extremely good.



Eighth Course: The Bill

It was pricey & we knew that going in. We don't frequent expensive restaurants, so a big bill once in our 6 years together is acceptable!



A few other notes of Morimotos:

The Bathroom was pretty sweet.

The toilet had a control panel for ..... heated seat, vibrating, oscillating, etc.

And now for the "piece de resistance"

We had hoped to possibly see him around, but we never thought we'd have the oppourtunity to have our picture taken with our favorite Iron Chef! The looks on our faces definitely convey the excitement/enjoyment we got out of this experience!