TrelayneNYC

One of these days, I will be brave and buy some cardi instead of ogling them with my camera. Unfortunately, they're a royal PITA to prep.

today - Oro blanco grapefruits (they're the ones pictured above; a cross between a pomelo and a grapefruit that's not as bitter and twice as sweet), mesclun, spinach, tatsoi, FRESH BAY LEAVES!!!, carrots, cauliflower, Meyer lemons, salmon

then we went inside the Ferry Building and bought some oxtails, pistachios, canned tomatoes, onion and garlic. And sweet peppers.

Yeah, I'm one of the few who carries a pocket-sized camera just for this purpose.

It's also why I'm not on Instagram.

I rarely shoot pix in restaurants due to frequent less-than-ideal conditions, although if I know we're going to a place that has great lighting, then my device comes along for the ride.

Here's a selection of pix shot throughout 2017. I stopped blogging a while ago and have since transitioned to social media but I keep my old site around as storage space for old photos and also for inspiration.

B and I went to NYC in late April and it was there that my camera zonked and died. Since my camera is my baby - even more important than my cell phone, I dragged my hubby over to Best Buy to pick up a new device - a SONY that I was initially skeptical but have since gotten used to. The below are pix from our kitchen, along with shots from farmers' markets and stores in New York and San Francisco, and food from excursions to local restaurants. Enjoy.

By the way, none of these photos were taken with a tripod. Except for seven, the rest were shot in natural light or in conditions that had a mixture of natural and artificial light.

Birthday lunch for six:

Caesar's salad (made tableside, with romaine lettuce, croutons, coddled egg, olive oil, lemon juice, anchovy, cheese, etc.)
Bouilabaisse
Homemade garlic bread
Chocolate dump cake
Christmas pudding with brandied custard sauce
Dark chocolate with orange

Tea, coffee, dessert wines, etc.

You guys need to go here pronto.

Horchata - Koshihikari rice, almonds, black cardamom, cinnamon.

Scallop chicharrón, scallop ceviche, crème fraîche.

Jicama empanada, shiso, pumpkin, salmon roe.

Smoked mushroom taco with pickled wild mushrooms.

Dungeness crab tostada, sour orange segments, sour orange-habanero salsa, Castelfranco radicchio, tarragon.

Pineapple guava sorbet

Fuyu persimmon, habanero honey, tarragon

Tasmanian trout ceviche, dashi, Granny Smith apple

Aguachile, parsnip, red bell pepper

Black bean tamales steamed in banana leaves, with salsa on the side

Smoked squab broth, pomegranate seeds, cilantro flowers

Tres frijoles with sturgeon caviar, shallots and edible gold leaf

Black cod, salsa verde, green grapes

Wagyu beef, pickled onion

Smoked squab breast served with spiced cranberry sauce, quince simmered in cranberry juice, pickled Japanese turnips and charred scallion, and sourdough flour tortillas

Yes, it's the same squab from which the broth was made.

Foie gras churro, with foie gras mousse, cinnamon sugar, served with hot milk chocolate infused with cinnamon, Lustau sherry and coffee.

By the time I remembered to take a pic, I'd eaten half of the churro. Dunk the churro into the chocolate.

Dulce de leche spooned atop pear sorbet with chunks of Asian pear, macadamia nut butter

Pecan ice cream, candied pecans, shortbread cookie, apples, clarified butter

The cookie was on top of the apples. Break the cookie and spoon everything over.

Cherry extract digestif, vermouth, sweet Mexican lime

We'll definitely return. I'm an instant fan.

Californios
3115 22nd Street (South Van Ness)
Mission District

Someone is tone deaf.

Pete Wells had this response:

Some folks on Facebook are speculating whether it has to do with a #metoo thing.

I admit I don't follow DC-centric food news much but since I have friends who live in the area, of which one is an alum of this school, the news of the close struck me like a blow.

L’Academie de Cuisine, the local culinary school that’s produced distinguished alumni including James Beard Foundation Award-winner Aaron Silverman, Mirabelle pastry chef Aggie Chin, Daikaya co-founder Katsuya Fukushima, and celebrity chef Carla Hall, just shut down its professional campus in Gaithersburg, Maryland.

L’Academie founder Francois Dionot, who started the now-revered institution in 1976, informed staff late Friday, December 15, that the professional facility (16006 Industrial Drive, Gaithersburg, Md.) was done effective immediately.

"L'Academie de Cuisine" by Don Rockwell on donrockwell.com

"Culinary Launchpad L'Academie de Cuisine Is Closing" by Warren Rojas on eater.dc.com

Wow.

I admit I don't follow DC-centric food news much but since I have friends who live in the area, of which one is an alum of this school, the news of this close struck me like a blow.

On 12/11/2017 at 3:02 PM, Al Dente said:

More shameful behavior:

"Mario Batali Steps Aside from His Restaurants Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations" by Laurel Wamsley on npr.org

Ken Friedman is next.

"Natalie Saibel, a longtime server at the Spotted Pig, a West Village restaurant with celebrity investors, didn’t quit in 2015 after the owner, Ken Friedman, ran his hands over her buttocks and then her groin in a room crowded with customers, joking that he was searching her pockets for a forbidden cellphone.

"Amy Dee Richardson, a bar manager there, didn’t quit in 2004, when she says Mr. Friedman bit her on the waist as he bent down to duck under the bar. Neither did Trish Nelson, a longtime server who said he grabbed her head and pulled it toward his crotch in front of Amy Poehler in 2007 as Ms. Nelson knelt to collect glasses from a low shelf.

"But one night in 2012, Mr. Friedman pushed Ms. Nelson too far, she said: He invited her into his car to smoke marijuana and almost immediately lunged forward and pushed his tongue into her mouth."

"Ken Friedman, Power Restaurateur, Is Accused of Sexual Harassment" by Julia Moskin and Kim Severson on nytimes.com

4 hours ago, dcandohio said:

 Could you post the recipe or source for the cream cheese cookies, please? I love cream cheese!!!!

Here you go:

https://food52.com/recipes/14625-cream-cheese-cookies

Their instructions say to drop the batter onto a tray by the tablespoon. The cookies pictured above are what resulted. If you want them smaller, drop them by the teaspoonful. We ended up baking in multiple batches.

I was at a cookie party - I think I mentioned that...

For tonight (Sunday), we had

Yogurt chicken curry, served with lime, cilantro and green mango pickle
Pearl couscous with onion and preserved lemon
Roasted cauliflower
Fresh pineapple for dessert

On Saturday, we had 

Chicken with triple mushroom (button mushrooms, Chinese black mushroom and straw mushrooms)
Wok-fried fillet of beef with snow peas

at our favorite cheapie Chinese restaurant in the Castro.

Earlier that morning, I started on

the prep for Sunday night's dinner.

What you're looking at are the ingredients for spiced yogurt which was subsequently added to 2 lbs. bone-in chicken thighs. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator for 12-24 hours.

If anyone wants to know - half the cookies I sampled last night seemed like they were storebought. Was a real bummer.

There's more pix somewhere in my archives.

I feel that the book shines best w/r/t vegetables and non-main course dishes. His take on mujadara is excellent, for instance. 

Oh, and the pears with saffron and cardamom are fantastic.

I think "Jerusalem" is definitely one of his best books so far.

A rant though:

If you're sautéing 2 cups of thinly sliced onions in 2 tbsp. olive oil over medium heat, they're *NOT* going to turn golden brown in 10-15 minutes no matter how many times the cookbook says, not unless the laws of physics don't work anymore.

Chard with yogurt, tahini and buttered pine nuts, pgs. 88-89.

Maqluba, which we thought rather underwhelming

Wild sea bass with harissa and rose petals

Chicken and cardamom rice (photo taken before we added herbs and Greek yogurt)

Fattuosh

Fried tomatoes with pipelchuma and poached egg

B and I are headed to a cookie party later tonight.

These are our contributions:

Meyer lemon-ricotta bars with a Meyer lemon shortbread crust
Cream cheese cookies

Sunday brunch for December 3, 2017:
 

French omelette
Golden beets with garlic, capers and parsley
Potatoes and turnip greens fried in duck fat

Wild boar slab bacon from Golden Gate Meat Company

Manhattan clam chowder
Mesclun salad with purslane and sorrel; shallot vinaigrette
Torta di pere ("pear cake")

Brunch for three for November 26, 2017:

yogurt biscuits with cheddar cheese and chives
scrambled eggs with caramelized onion
Warren pears poached in Malbec, with crème fraîche

Minestra maritata ("wedding soup").

B remarked, "This is rich." I replied, "That's the idea; it's a rather thin soup without all of the olive oil, pecorino and pork meatballs." Sometimes I'll add pastina or other soup pasta (e.g., orzo, tubetti, ditalini). But it's just as good without.

And today, we went to Iza Ramen.

Chicken gyoza, chicken kara-age, shishito pepper

Ramen, pork belly, slow-cooked egg, toasted nori

We went to Rintaro for lunch.

Fried chicken wings, sansho pepper and mustard, arugula salad