Pictures!!!

Yes, indeed. My first blog with actual pictures in months. And I must say, I've made some serious improvements in those few months.

Here is yesterday's promised recount of what ended up being a rather exceptional meal at BFF Christine's spot in the beautiful North Druid Hills/Briarcliff area of the Hotlanta.

The white asparagus was prepared as mentioned yesterday, braised in Guinness and finished in butter on the stovetop The chorizo is very simply roasted, but a perfect accompaniment to the pomegranate-cinnamon lacquered duck that had gotten a dry rub of tarragon, thyme, garlic, salt, and pepper. Served that over some sauteed bok choy with brown sugar and vinegar.

The white chocolate risotto got a white chocolate ganache that was added to arborio rice cooked in milk, cream, sugar, a split and scraped vanilla bean, and a couple of cinnamon sticks. This was so good I'm pretty sure any new version of the Bible would heavily restrict its consumption.

Let's Be Fair

I have the attention span of a fruit fly with ADD.

No more excuses, really--I have a shiny new (aka my parents old) digital camera that is (probably) fully functional. And I've made quite a few brand new dishes in the past couple of months. But the blog has been mysteriously quiet. Oops.

But it really wouldn't be right to let Thanksgiving pass by without a shout out to all of my 13 readers. Yes, it was 11 before, but apparently Auntie Bene and sig. o. Art drop in every now and then. Hi Ma! Besides, I couldn't let my 9 courses of Thanksgiving go by without even a mention, right?

But before I hop into all that, there have certainly been some recent noteworthy dishes prepped recently, at least two of which were inspired by my recently chronicled trip to Perilla in NYC. And an absolute failure (I mean, I was due...) inspired by my trip to Mesa Grill in NYC.

Perilla taught me that a micro salad on top of a well cooked protein topped with shaved parmegiano reggiano is almost always fantastic. So New Friend Elissa's drop into the apartment gave me an excuse to give it a shot with a preparation of New York strip topped with miso. With a micro salad of shaved yellow bell pepper and frissee and a sauce of oyster mushrooms, honey, and balsamic vinegar, the dish was a perfect main course. It had been preceded by a bouillon of wild mushrooms (cremini, chantrelle and shiitake) topped with a seared leg of duck. And it was followed by sliced bosce pears drizzled with a mint chocolate sauce. I was happy.

Also got to make dinner for The Roommates+TGeggs+Visitor/DC Newcomer Jillian--This time, the protein was ribeyes, the sauce was my basic white wine mushroom sauce with sauteed onions, and the micro salad was arugula and parm. Unfortunately, TGeggs had requested asparagus. I had never made asparagus. I don't like asparagus. Not one bit. But I got this idea to braise the asparagus in beer and then finish them on the stovetop with duck fat I had collected from previous preparations of duck. So. Good. If I can always have my asparagus poached in duck fat I'll eat it forever.

Finally, I think I got called in as a consultant/caterer for Intern Elliott's house party. Honestly, I wasn't even sure I was going to this party--it's tough to get me anywhere out on a Saturday night that doesn't involve hip hop+dancing of some sort. But then he asked me to cook something for the party--my response: "Psh, I ain't got that kinda bling" or some variation of such. His response: "Just make a menu--I'll pick up the food."

.....

He's lucky I didn't try out my white truffle risotto with gulf shrimp fondue recipe I've been eyeing. Or the seared foie gras. Heck, I didn't even go with the tempting Chilean Sea Bass or beef tenderloin. Nah, I tried to keep it on the cheap side...plus, lots of vegetarians to cook for. New Friend Heather, for instance, might have been slightly irritated with a more...typical..night of cooking (see: poaching asparagus in duck fat). Threw together my fried bell peppers with mozarella, except tried a mango and roasted poblano salsa on top. Also some brown sugar roasted butternut squash with rosemary, an onion soubise, and salmon two ways: pan seared and with a honey balsamic glaze. Some slight execution problems with the soubise and the pan seared salmon (overcooked) but overall a good night.


Tomorrow: cooking in Atlanta. See, when Tahir takes vacay, he wants nothing more than to cook. A lot. So in just one week, we've done a wild mushroom risotto for Pops, pan seared Chilean sea bass for Moms, veggie quesadillas for Pops, chicken nachos for Moms, pomegranate-cinnamon glazed duck legs, white asparagus (same prep as above, except butter instead of duck fat. Yes, the duck fat makes a difference), and roasted chorizo for my ATLiens, a sinfully divine white chocolate risotto also for my ATLiens and, oh, yeah. 9 courses of Thanksgiving:

Deep fried turkey (with my injected marinade and dry rub)
Whiskey and Wildflower Honey Glazed Sweet Potatoes
Butternut Squash and Turnip Gratin
Mint Haricots Verts with Toasted Pine Nuts
Watercress, Blood Orange, and Apple Salad with a lime vinaigrette
Spicy Fried Chickpeas (absolute disaster)
Pineapple, Mango, and Roasted Poblano Salsa
Spicy Herbed Mixed Nuts (That's what she said? No? Anyone?)
Pumpkin Cheesecake with freshly whipped cream
Peach Cobbler

Oh, and a Pomegranate-Ginger Mimosa for toasting.

Thanks to everyone who reads this blog, thanks to all my friends for being spectacular--y'all really are my love, for real. Thanks to God for blessing after blessing and the talent to be able to figure out the difference between a gratin and a hole in the wall. Thanks to the fam for enduring my obsessions year after year (next year this time: skydiving!......syke!). And thanks to everyone who eats my food and gives me feedback.

Nothin but love!