Life In Da Burbs

after the huge potluck dinner the previous night, J and I decided to have purely veggies for dinner sunday night. on the menu was : a mesclin salad with slivers of georgia peach, and plum tomatos. the dressing was an aged balsamic vinegrette. italian peppers sweated down till soft and sweet. and tomato soup.

I am predicting this will be her second smash hit after "Stars are Blind". It's a picture collage, can't wait to see the music video once it's done.

Here is a close up pic of Chef's Duck Rillette. What is Rillette ? A rillette is a meat (usually duck or pork) that is cooked confit style, then shredded to be then incorporated with some rendered fat, herbs and spices... And since this is one of those old world recipes, as long as you have a fat seal on the top of the jar, it's shelf stable for months...

A little Potluck this past Saturday... Short list of foods consumed : Crostini, California /Avocado Rolls, Duck Rillette, Beef Tacos, Pan Seared Foie Gras with Nectarine wine reduction sauce, Banana and Raspberry Tart, Chinese Sponge Cake

My parents just got back from a Mediterranean cruise and picked up a bunch of spices from Istanbul. Among them were 3 packs of Turkish Saffron. The next night, I called a family meal and prepared a Seafood Risotto using the newly acquired saffron. Take a look a the pics below... Wow, it was great. Ingredient list : Japanese short grain rice (in lieu of Arborio), Chicken Stock, Clam Juice, 2 Onions, 2 cloves Garlic, Chicken Wings, Lobster, Cherrystone Clams, Andouille Sausage, Green Bell Pepper, Olive Oil, 2 oz. Saffron (yes, I used a ton).

Numa Numa Song (the original webcam guy) Yatta by Happatai performed on Jimmy Kimmel The best Song/Music Video EVER!!

Are you aware of how delicious these little Oatmeal Creme Pies are? They are amazingly delicious. With soft baked oatmeal cookies sandwiching in the perfect amount of goowy white creme in the middle. I'm surprised not more of these weight gainers are sold in the United States... Anywho, I'm a fan and you should be too. Go have yourself a Little Debbie's Oatmeal Creme Pie. It will put a smile on your face.

You may read the earlier post on L'Atelier and wonder why I even posted the blog... What significance does it portray... Well, it just so happens Joel Robuchon is one of my culinary heroes. If not the biggest. Reading about him in college, I was in awe of his skills and craft. His accolades followed but for me, it is the skills and ability to draw the best of out your ingredients that make a great chef a master chef. Guys like Robuchon and Troisgros , are the reason I am obsessed with French cuisine. Their excellence opened my eyes to what greatness really is. To some, names like Mickey Mantle or Joe Namath strike a nerve and send a jolt of excitement through their veins. To me, Robuchon and Troisgros symbolize the ultimate in an industry that is finally getting it's 15 minutes of fame. It's inspiring and possibly why I dedicate my professional career to the food industry. To real chefs, it's not just about the plates of food they serve, but the whole process in w...

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/09/dining/09robuchon.html Another reason why NYC is awesome... After much anticipation, Chef Robuchon is about to open his first restaurant in the Big Apple. I had the distinct honor of meeting Joel Robuchon last year at an after party celebrating D'Artagnan's 20th Anniversary. Joel Robuchon and Guy Savoy were coincidentally visiting manhattan that day and the guys at Le Bernardin hosted a little soiree, Luckily I tagged along with the right group. Totally laid back and shaking hands with everybody, Mr. Robuchon was chatting away with press and really attractive Manhattan food groupies. I watched as he explained his cuisine and you could tell he knew he was "Bad Ass". Nobody questions Joel Robuchon about food. And especially about French food. I look forward to dining at his new eatery. L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon is actually where I proposed to my wife last year in Japan. So along with my total professional respect for Chef Robuc...

OK, so the pictures below aren't pictures taken by conventional photography methods but by something called HDR. High Dynamic Range imagining . This is a technique used to capture a scene using different exposures to highten an image. I really don't know enough about this to explain so please read the "wiki" clip. Fascinating though.