kismet09

i ate so much good food that i can't remember it all, and i guess i didn't quite take pictures of everything.

The highlights were Monta Ramen and Lotus of Siam.

Also tasty were Robuchon Atelier, Ichiza, Firefly, Public House, Bouchon and all of the coffee drinks from Sambalatte.

A step or two behind those were Queen Victoria Pub, Peppermill, Hash House, Thai Pepper, Makino.

The perfect black plum I had for breakfast one day was also pretty great. I should've probably put more distance between some of the best meals, since I would've appreciated them more, but life is short. Supposedly the world championships might be in Vegas for 2014, and if so, I'll probably go back.

Now, to start researching Buffalo Nationals next summer.

Tim got me Book of Mormon tickets for Christmas, but it was sold out until July, so we've just been waiting for the day to come around. At the time, we thought it'd be a weekend trip to the big city, but now that we live 90 minutes away, we took a half-day trip.

Got in around 3, left the car near the theater, and walked over to the Plaza hotel, since I wanted to see the new food court. There were way too many options, and we ended up splitting a piece of coconut cake, and I had a (overpriced) cold pressed Stumptown. Did a check via foursquare of what else was nearby, and learned there was a Momofuku Milk Bar! Had to go there and try crack pie. So good. Now thoroughly hyped on on caffeine and sugar.

We had a fancier than expected dinner, thanks to my new promotion and feeling the need to celebrate. We went to The Modern, the fine dining restaurant at MOMA, which I think picopaco recommended at one point. Four course prix fixe, but also multiple amuses, and mignardises. So much food!

premeal 1: two spoons -- one with a cube of ginger and coconut crusted goat cheese (best goat cheese i've ever had) and one with a raw preparation of fish; watercress soup in a test tube; chili dusted, lemon verbena scented popcorn.

premeal 2: mackarel escabeche with a square of gelatin, basil cream, something else

one: "Pralines" of foie gras / Mango Purée and Balsamic Vinegar.
The foie looked like truffles, rolled in something crispy and some poppy seeds. This was just the right size serving, too.

two: SWEET PEA SOUP / Smoked Ricotta, Barley and Pea “Barbajuan”. 
Incredibly fresh flavor, with the biggest slice of black truffle that I've ever been served. it looked kind of ugly when you mixed all the components together, but it tasted great.

three: THOMAS FARM RACK OF LAMB / Olive and Fines Herbes, Fava Bean-Bacon Fondue and Crisp Spring Onion
This was prepared tableside, which made me feel a little silly. It was super rich, and the lamb was a huge, thick slice. the cooking seemed a little uneven to me, but it was still quite good, and the fondue sauce helped the meat where it was a little too done.

four: CARAMEL PARFAIT / Mango Ravioli, Coconut Tapioca and Ten Flavor Sorbet
Kind of weird, but not untasty. the combos of textures, temperatures and flavors weren't quite harmonious to me. I liked tim's fig tart better.

after: a big cart of treats that we got to choose from --  grabbed caramels, a macaron, a passion fruit caramel-filled chocolate 'lollipop,' a stroopwaffel cookie (or however you spell that), an earl grey truffle.

after 2: lemon and rosemary sorbet with candied herbs served in a raspberry tuille cookie.

after 3: a little box of the most amazing cookies, kind of like thumbprints, with a milk chocolate center, which we ate after the show.

school started last week, but i started seeing my new freshmen this week. and i went to chicago for four days, which meant i had to be running-around-like-a-crazy-person just before and just after to be ready for them. and now i'm exhausted.

i made this for dinner last night:
make mirepoix-ish thing
pour three cups of water over it
mix in turmeric, cinnamon, cumin, ginger powder, 2 cloves minced garlic, salt
bring water to boil, pour in 2 cups of israeli couscous, pour in a large helping of raisins and currants, turn off heat, cover, and let sit until the couscous is tender (i went and sat on the couch and watched baseball, and then remembered it was on the stove. i guess that was about 15-20 minutes).
stir in some chopped up cucumbers and carrots, frozen peas, chickpeas... or whatever things you have running around. peppers would probably be good (if you like them), and chopped up snow peas, or edamame... you get the idea. you could even add some chicken.
add zest of one lemon, juice the lemon, mix the lemon juice with some olive oil til it looks vinaigrette-ish, pour that over too.
taste for seasoning, eat.

i also had some pizza.

i'm doing a ropes course with my students this weekend. i hate giving up part of my weekend and i'm all bitter. until i get there, and then i have so much fun and i love my job again.

i did this tuesday: walk 5 minutes, jog 3, walk 2, jog 3.5, walk 2, jog 4, walk 2, jog 4.5, walk 2, jog 2, walk 5. felt pretty good.

i did this yesterday: walk 5 minutes, jog 3, walk 2, jog 5, walk 2, jog 3, walk 2, jog 3.5 ish, walk 5. i almost died in the lungs. too hard at the end of the work week.

i ate a ridiculous amount in chicago. that will get its own, backdated post, hopefully tonight when i have time to think about it. i also broke my record points on foursquare. and got a lot of clothes for my birthday. i will have to keep up the exercise if i want them to keep fitting, especially if i continue to have eating weekends like i did in chicago, and there are at least two of those coming up (minneapolis at the end of this month, and vermont in november).

i'm at a conference in portland (maine). today was a pre conference workshop, so i'm the only person i know in town, and it was a long day of talking to new people, so i took myself out to dinner alone. the hotel is a block from miyake. this was too much temptation to be rational and stay within my per diem. all of my other 'best meals' sorts of meals have been singular occasions at restaurants. i've been to miyake three times now over a couple of years and each time i put my meal into a superlative category.

i'd definitely go for the omakase if you've never been before, but i also prefer omakase when other people are there too, so you can talk about it as you eat it. this was the perfect combo of things for me, and a perfect solo meal.

i sat at the bar (should have sat on the side rather than in the front - would've been a better view, but i would've felt like i was crowding the only two others seated at the five-seat bar). it was pretty busy for a single server who was also trying to train a new server, but she was handling it pretty calmly.

started with the nigiri - in order of how i ate them (excuse lack of sophisticated sushi nomenclature): tai (i think?), dorado (again, i think - it has only been an hour since i ate these, but the flavors made me forget. i should take notes while it's explained), something from the hamachi family, king salmon, japanese sardine topped with scallion and ginger, toro. lots of different textures going on, subtly amazing flavors, perfect rice, just the right temperature and consistency and seasoning. this also came with a salmon avocado roll - so buttery rich. nom.

one special tonight was foie gras torchons, bruleed, with a caramelized onion marmalade, little rice cakes filled with something tasty, and a sesame paste. this sounds like a big mess of things, but it all meshed perfectly. lots of flavors, great balance of temperatures, super-rich, and just the right amount of it that i didn't feel overwhelmed by it (it's probably enough for two to share, but both halves of that couple would probably be a little bitter that they had to give some of the goodness to the other). this was listed as an appetizer, but the kitchen recommended i have it after my nigiri due to the richness, which made total sense. chef masa and chef karl (i think that's what his embroidered name was on his shirt, anyway) both asked me how it was and i made gibberish sounds of adoration.

i had an unagi nigiri for dessert after watching it get served a couple of times and deciding i had to have one. it was just right.

got this cookbook for xmas, and it's living up to all of the glowing reviews i've read. the writing style is warm and conversational, and the recipees have just enough specifics, plus suggestions for improvisation, and make-ahead and storage tips, which i find very helpful. some of them are takes on things that i already make, but with small twists. so far, i've made beef daube (it's great - i've eaten it for three meals in a row now) and back of the card cheese and olive bread (also excellent). highly recommended as cookbooks ago.

also in bed with the laptop. since tim's sharing a hotel room with another woman this weekend, i feel no guilt at toting both laptop and palm pilot to bed.

i am one of those consumers that companies love, because they advertise and advertise and then one day i finally give in and decide to partake of what they're offering, and then regret it for a long time. purchases have included door to door vacuum sales (altho i feel only minor pangs of guilt about that one - it's a really excellent vacuum) and any number of of-the-month clubs.

i have finally fulfilled my book of the month club obligations, after sending at least 10 automatically sent featured selections of the month back (they start sending you mean letters about declining the offerings online rather than returning the books to them at their cost). i purchased a math/lewis carroll biog, and medium raw, anthony bourdain's recently released sequel to kitchen confidential. kc is probably the only book i've reread other than harry potter in recent years. i just love the way bourdain writes - it's smart and sarcastic (without it seeming forced or cliched) and all about food. the first bit of medium raw made my mouth water.

i'm on a food book kick. almost everything i've read in the past year was about food, eating, or serving food. highly recommended: service included, by phoebe damrosch, about serving at per se; the apprentice, by jacques pepin. recommended: Waiting: The True Confessions of a Waitress by Debra Ginsberg. i'm partway through Untangling My Chopsticks: A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto by Victoria Abbott Riccardi, which is interesting, but not that compelling, and The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School by Kathleen Flinn (what's with all my books being colon-ized? good thing i'm just copy and pasting rather than typing - those are really long titles.... even service included has a colon, but i didn't feel like looking it up on amazon). eventually i'll probably go back to fiction, but something about food memoirs is pulling me in right now.

i'm a little afraid to get too much deeper into medium raw, since once i do, i'll probably just keep reading and stop sleeping for a bit, and there are other things i need to get done. maybe i can be patient enough to save it for the plane to dallas.

my mixer, she works! i've never made bread before, so i'm pretty happy with how these turned out. i just used the recipe in the mixer instruction manual -- mix dry ingredients, including yeast, warm wet ingredients, add, knead, eyeball how much more flour it needs, rise, punch, rise, bake!

turkey, filet mignon, roasted garlic mashed potatos, sweet potatos, green beans with garlic and almonds, glazed carrots with pecans and bacon, swiss chard with raisins and pine nuts, cheddar scallion biscuits, rice, fresh cranberry sauce, chestnut stuffing, salad...

and once we digest, pumpkin, pecan and dutch apple pies, and strawberry shortcake with fresh whipped cream.

happy eating everyone! i'm thankful to have all of you in my crazy life.