Dining Dish: photographs

Showing posts with label photographs. Show all posts

Monday, September 21, 2009

City Cafe much much more than coffee - dine.drink.caffeinate

City Cafe seemed to me to be the go to place for a morning meeting in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood. My assumption came from two meetings I had there and never looked beyond the café area. Who knew, there was a bar and lounge as well as a restaurant in the back.

Owners Bruce Bodie and Gino Cardinale, owners since 1994, finished a complete renovation of all areas of City Cafe this summer and at the same time brought in a new chef.

Read the whole story, watch the video and catch the slide show:

City Cafe much much more than coffee - dine.drink.caffeinate

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Friday, May 08, 2009

Steak.Seafood.Sanctuary - coming to Baltimore

Baltimore Dining Examiner: Steak.Seafood.Sanctuary - coming to Baltimore

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Friday, November 28, 2008

Stimulate your cooking desires!

Do you love to cook but there are few people around you that share your passion, who understand why you sit by the TV waiting for the next Top Chef episode and they can’t comprehend why reading a cookbook to you is like reading a great novel? If you answered yes, then maybe it is time you start a culinary dinner club.

Shrimp Ball Soup - Photo by Brian Carmen

How to start a culinary dinner club

Starting a culinary dining group is simple, it is fun and a great reason to show off recipes you know and ones you want to try. Start small, reach out to friends and co-workers who like to cook, maybe 3 other people – if you know more, then invite them as well.

- Rotate hosting the gatherings at different homes
- The host gets to choose the theme (i.e. ethnic, regional, seafood, cookbook or celeb chefs recipes, spa cuisine, vegetarian etc.)
- The host can coordinate what dishes are coming to the dinner or choose not to (I don’t coordinate it….it is more fun.)
- Choose how often you want to hold them every 4 weeks, every 6 weeks –you get the picture?
- Voila – you have a culinary dinner group!

Over the years, I have been part of two such groups and always enjoyed them immensely: not only for the food but for the friendships.

I recently reached out to an acquaintance who I knew was into cooking and suggested we start a group. She would invite about 4 to 6 friends and I the same.

Tuesday night was an inaugural dinner at my house with the new group. Choosing a couple days before Thanksgiving to host it wasn’t the best choice of days and we had a couple of cancellations at the last minute. All-in-all, there were 6 of us including two guests (since there was so much food). The theme I chose was “Anything but Turkey.” Our dinner ended up being eclectic, fun and tasty.

The dishes for the evening:

-Oysters in a champagne cream with spinach served in an artichoke heart
-Vietnamese spring rolls with nuoc mam dipping sauce
-Shrimp ball soup (recipe link) - see photo above
-Russian herring and potato salad
-Honey truffle thyme marinated chicken thighs
-White asparagus with lemon zest
-Apricot almond cake - I have a link to the Kerrygold cookbook but you have to click on dessert tab and then on the apricot almond cake- here is the (link)

A miracle fruit experiment to wrap up the evening

Early this summer I participated in an experiment with the magic berry, a taste altering fruit which contains miraculin. It alters your tongues perception of sour and bitter foods making them sweet. MiracleUK company from Great Britain sent me a complimentary pouch of the freeze-dried miracle fruit. After the culinary dinner posse had eaten we tried the experiment. I kept it simple, each was given some of the powder that they left on there tongue for a minute or so, then I gave them a slice of lemon to suck on and a taste of vinegar, both became sweet to them.

Let us know what your culinary groups do or any suggestions for people putting a group together.

For more info:

If you are a member of http://www.facebook/ check out my “Love to Cook” group.

Miracle Fruit: I have written about the miracle fruit in past posts in greater detail and here is the full story and also another one I posted on Gordon Ramsey’s reaction to the magic berry.

Purchase Miracle Fruit: http://www.miracleuk.info/

Monday, July 07, 2008

Green Bananas

A picture speaks louder than words. I have never seen an entire display of bananas that were all green, so green, that I thought Kermit was hiding amongst them. Nere one had the blush of yellow. I pulled out the trusty Kodak to capture this moment, just so I could share.

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Mayor Into The Lion's Den

There I was at a happy hour get together tonight of the local press, a great number of them from The Sun. It has been a rough week at The Sun with approximately 100 layoffs and buyouts. No one is really feeling secure about their jobs-not a good week there. Talking about having a bad week, let’s take a look at Mayor Dixon – not a good week there either. Now put them all together.

Talk about a strong, savvy politico, Mayor Dixon walked into the proverbial lion's den of a bar full of reporters who are drinking at a media happy hour gathering. This was truly a Kodak moment and I got it.

I got to chat a little bit with her honor, the Mayor. Being the non-politico and the Dining Examiner, I asked her about favorite foods and restaurants. I can say that the mayor enjoys grilled fish, seems to have a penchant for Italian food, and enjoys a good mojito though she was sipping white wine.

It Left a Sour Taste

The gathering was at Ixia and I would think that some arrangements would have been made for discounts on the drinks for this group of about 30 but no, and no one behind the bar or hosting was savvy to put discounts together. I had two cocktails and with tip was $30. It’s a beautiful venue, and my yuzu based cocktail was delicious but it soured when I got the bill.

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Tainted Tongue

It was just less than 2 weeks ago I got an e-mail from Roopa K., writer of http://www.raspberryeggplant.blogspot.com/ inviting Baltimore’s food bloggers to a gathering where our taste receptors on our tongues will be altered.

The invitation “ Have you heard of miracle fruit? (If so, feel free to skip ahead.) Miracle fruit is an amazing little berry-like fruit that contains a protein called miraculin. Miraculin alters your taste buds' perception of foods such that any sour or bitter foods you eat taste sweet; the effect of each berry lasts anywhere from 20-60 minutes. After you eat one, lemons taste like lemonade; goat cheese tastes like cheesecake, Guinness tastes like chocolate, and vinegar tastes pleasant. It has been written about in a number of publications and on many blogs, and, most recently, the New York Times ran an article on it in Wednesday's dining section - take a look at it for more info on a recent miracle fruit party in NY.”

I, in fact, had read the story in the Times and was right there for the gathering just this past Friday night. Meghan, writer of Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme was co-hosting and was on WYPR discussing the Miracle Fruit

The Experiment:

There were a number of us bloggers gathered at Roopa’s Mt. Vernon apartment. She spent a great deal of time putting together food items to taste; plates of citrus, pickles, cheeses, vinegars, hot sauces, beer, unsweetened tea – one blogger brought a can of artichoke soda that was already sweet so when tasted sweetness was cloying.

We were to coat our tongues for about 30 seconds with the berry and I actually felt a tingle or numbing on the tip of the tongue. Most of us went immediately for the lemon and grapefruit which rather than being sour were a sweet tart. The vinegars were sweet, the hot sauce if it was sweeter I didn’t notice because the heat took over. The pickled items took on the “sweet bread & butter pickle” flavor profile.

I squeezed straight lemon juice in water and it tasted like lemonade and the ice tea, unsweetened tasted bitter but once I squeezed citrus in the tea it tasted sweet. So for me, it didn’t alter bitter it only altered the tart items. I could munch on a fresh piece of rhubarb with no wincing.

The Bloggers:

Here are the bloggers and their links:

Baltimore Snacker http://baltimoresnacker.blogspot.com/2008/06/miracle-fruit-party.html

Pigtown-Pigout http://pigtown-pigout.blogspot.com/2008/06/its-miracle.html

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme http://culinarynovice.blogspot.com/

Black Coffee and Donut http://blackcoffeeandadonut.com/

Kitchenography http://kitchenography.typepad.com/

Strawberries in Paris http://strawberriesinparis.wordpress.com/

Along with our food bloggers from Baltimore, Rob Kasper of the Sunpapers attended as well. ttp://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/custom/today/bal-columnist-kasper,0,6430018.columnist

In conclusion:

My tongue was challenged, tainted and taunted - it has fully recovered.

Food Pornography

Here I am at 6 a.m., licking my monitor’s screen: enticed, titillated, and with uncontrolled yearning. It was wrapped in a virtual brown paper wrapper, an innocent e-mail newsletter from StarChefs.com that touted "Father’s Day Grilling Tips" in the subject line. There I was the lamb heading to the slaughter (pun intended).

I perused the stories and there, innocently stuck in-between #7 Jim Clarke's Sincere Musings on Sancerre and #9 Top 10 Jobs on StarChefs.com JobFinder was # 8 Recent Tasting Photos From New York: Gordon Ramsey, Morimoto, Adour, Beards Awards and more. I clicked, and I was hooked: picture after picture of the most delicious food and drink, I was salivating heavily.

Oh no, the whole gallery is there – I’m going to loose the entire day drooling over food, looking at pictures of the great chefs and their food. OH NO! The gallery has photos all the way back to 2006.

No junkie (well food junkie) likes to drool alone – join me: CLICK HERE

Friday, May 09, 2008

New Friends - Bold Flavors

One of my favorite dinners in Italy was at Il Latini in Florence where my friend and I dined at a communal table, interacting with people from all over the world. We exchanged stories, drank some vino and shared our passion for good food ~ it was a very memorable evening.

In today’s technological world are we losing the social skills to interact with friends, family and business colleagues? I know being locked up in my home office, day-after-day, glued to my computer I miss social interaction: the banter, the sharing of ideas and the camaraderie of others. Enter Baltimore Foodies, a club where people with a passion for food, dining and drink gather at Baltimore restaurants to enjoy the pleasures of the table and the companionship of others.

NEW FRIENDS

Last night I ventured to the dinner that Baltimore Foodies coordinated at Red Fish located at the corner of Hudson and Boston Streets in Canton. Baltimore Foodies founder, Lars Rusin, introduced me to some of the “foodies” at the bar. Everyone was social, many of the “foodies” knowing others from attending other Baltimore Foodies' events. The evening’s weather was pleasant so the broad European windows were opened in an accordion like fashion lending spaciousness to the narrow bar. The barkeep brought me my Mojito, a good mix of sour lime muddled with fresh mint with a blast of sweet, simple syrup – they get an A in Mojito (it would have gotten an A+ if they had a sugarcane shoot in the drink).

I loved the broad brush stroke demographics of those attending: singles and married, young and old, professionals to retirees, men and women---all passionate about what they eat and where they go to dine. On one side of me was a lovely couple, retired – he, a former accountant, across from me was an attorney who cooks most evenings, a gal in the advertising industry who doesn’t hesitate traipsing to unsafe areas of town at 4 a.m. for bulgogi, an anesthesiology nurse and an executive at the Baltimore Convention Center round out my dining posse.

Once seated at our communal table, the nurse and I, true foodies, agreed to share our dishes so we can taste more of the food. Between courses discussions on favorite places to eat with James Joyce being touted for the best hamburger and Bella’s in Little Italy for authentic Italian food. Kali’s Court, Brass Elephant, Sotto Sopra, and Iggies and Matthew’s for pizza – all favorites for different reasons.

BOLD FLAVORS

If you like bold flavors than Red Fish is for you. There are some items on their Euro-Asian menu that are subdued but most lean heavily to Asian with some salutes to European. As you get to know me, I am all about flavors and the menu for the evening was one of the reasons why I chose to attend this Baltimore Foodies event.

The top toque at Red Fish is Executive Chef Arthur Francis Fuller, formerly of the Sky Lounge. This is a man not shy to flavor his food and if you like bland foods then I suggest you go elsewhere. This restaurant’s location has gone through a number of owners and permutations so if it’s been year since you’ve been do try it again.

The menu designed for the foodies event offered a choice on each course and I, the devoted blogger/reviewer, ate a portion on both selections – just for you!

Amuse Bouche
(amuse the mouth)

Razor Clams
This was a surprise treat, unexpected and my first razor clams. The flavors were bold.

First Course

Prawn Tom Yum Soup
Tom Yum Soup uses a chili paste and lime for a sour spicy flavor. Maybe the Tom Yum I’ve had before had been dumbed down for American tastes for I found this version quite spicy. I personally could have used a lighter ratio of chili paste to broth. If your sinuses are stuffed or you have a cold this is the soup to have.

Grilled Strip Steak Salad
The steak was well seasoned and grilled to medium for this salad. I loved the crunch of the lotus root. I would have preferred a bit more of the citrus nam-pla dressing.

Second Course

Crispy Red Mullet Roll
This crunchy, fried sushi-style roll was wonderful and I was sad that I agreed to share ~ I could have eaten more.

Pan Seared Scallops
This is a strong salute to Red Fish’s European flavors with dried Spanish chorizo sausage and creamy polenta. One of my dining companions said if they were at home they would have licked the plate.

Third Course

Sizzling Kalbi Beef Short Ribs
This Korean dish cuts the short ribs in a cross cut about ½ inch thick and then they are marinated and eventually grilled. The sugar in the marinade can burn and char which happened on a couple pieces.

Japanese Style Crab Cakes
No complaints here on the crab cakes and the sweet chili beurre blanc enhanced the entire dish. The bok choy and kimchee were nice accompaniments.

Dessert

Strawberries in Balsamic Sabayon with Cracked Black Pepper and Vanilla Crème Anglaise
This is a winner and you can do a simple version of this at home – A dip of vanilla ice cream, sliced strawberries, drizzled Balsamic vinegar and fresh ground black pepper. You can change that up by replacing the Balsamic vinegar with Pernod. A real hit.

I found most of the dishes served on Red Fish’s menu, the exceptions were the razor clams and strawberry dessert.

Dining Dish says in her Arnold Schwarzenegger impression, “I’ll be back.” There are more dishes I want to try and others I want to enjoy again.

Baltimore Foodies
P O Box 1682
Baltimore, MD 21203
443.621.0990
http://www.baltfoodies.com

Red Fish
2350 Boston Street
Baltimore, MD
http://www.redfishusa.com
410 276 1926

Monday – Saturday
5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
Sushi (Friday & Saturday)
5 p.m. until late
Sunday
11 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Sunday Brunch Specials

Saturday, March 29, 2008

I Can Hardly Move

Vince Lupo, the intrepid photographer on my cookbook YUM and his lovely wife Mary came over for dinner. That is all Vince wanted as payment for some very nice professional shots he did of me. Here is a photographer who works for the leading magazines for fashion, food and architecture. So I wanted to make this a WOW dinner and I succeeded but I can hardly move.
(here are two of the pictures taken by Vince Lupo)

I started cooking yesterday. I did the brisket Italian style, the key lime cheesecake, cleaned the lobster for the lobster summer rolls, and made the lemon basil sorbetto. Oh, almost forgot I made the lentil and sausage soup.

Thinking I’m ahead of the game I did relax a bit in the a.m. and headed to the kitchen where I sliced the brisket. I did fancy oven roasted baby potatoes and broiled the asparagus. I made the dipping sauce for the summer rolls, did the Buddakan's Tuna Tea Eggs, put out the pate. Pulled out the mandoline to thinly slice the mango to top the cheesecake. Whipped the cream to top the cheesecake…oye!

Here is the final menu:

Appetizers in the family room

Pate, cornichons and French bread
Lobster and Mango Summer Rolls with Nuoc Mam dipping sauce
Buddakan Eggs with Raw Tuna topping

Salad
Sliced tomato, cucumbers, carrots, black olives, feta cheese with olive oil and benimosu vinegar

Soup
Sausage and Lentil Soup

Intermezzo
Lemon Basil Sorbetto

Entrée
Italian Style Brisket
Oven Roasted Potatoes
7 minute Asparagus

Dessert

Key Lime Cheesecake topped with Mango Ribbons

It was a lot of food but people went for 2nds. I have about 2 hours of clean up in the morning. I’ll post the links tomorrow to some of the recipes.

Ciao Ciao

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Lunch at Sauté

Today I journeyed to Canton for lunch to meet with restaurant marketer, Merritt Dworkin of Chameleon Consulting (410 258 9658 – merritt.chameleonconsulting@gmail.com). I met Merritt about 6 years ago when I worked at Hoang’s restaurant in Canton. Some of you might know her name from the Hard Rock Café and Red Star Restaurant.

Merritt offered up a choice of restaurants for luncheon, one being the new Sauté and I thought it would be great to check it out for lunch. Also it helps with a list of recommended restaurants in Baltimore I am compiling for Sally’s Place (which get 6 million hits a year) Sauté is managed by Tony Guarino.

The place is lovely but my little point and shoot doesn’t do it justice. Along the bar side and in the dining room are these beautifully mullioned windows that fold open in good weather for a real European feel. Tony advised they will be offering al fresco dining once the weather permits. I’m not usually impressed with ladies rooms but they didn’t cut cost here where some might – it was very nice.

The original chef has come and gone and now Chef Mark Suliga, formerly of Brewers Hill Pub takes the top toque position. The lunch menu has the same lite fare, salads, and pizza offerings as the dinner menu. We kicked off our munch with a spicy Thai Shrimp, which were quite large accompanied with a chopped selection of hearts of palm and shrimp, add the avocado, blood orange and fried, yummy little toast and this plate is a hit.

I opted for the Serrano Ham Pizza with sun-dried tomato pesto, arugula and sherry vinaigrette. It had great flavor but the outer edges of the Serrano ham slices were a bit tough. The crust was thin and crispy the way I like it. Merritt ordered the Winter Panzanella Salad with butternut squash, pear, Asiago cheese, pumpernickel with a balsamic dressing. She added rare tuna to the salad.

Merritt and I discussed our careers and businesses and how we can help each other but in general it was a great excuse to have a nice afternoon out.

The dinner menu is pretty straight forward: Pan Roasted Delmonico, Tuna, Grilled Trout, Meatloaf, Seafood Bouillabaisse, Crab Cakes, Slow Roasted Pork Loin, Smoked Duck Breast and Duck Leg Confit, Pan Roasted Chicken, Porcini Encrusted Diver Scallops and Filet Mignon – something for everyone. They are running happy hour specials from 4 to 7 p.m.

Our lovely and very charming waitress informed us they have been pretty packed every night so definitely call for a reservation. They are offering valet parking on Friday and Saturday nights.

Dining Dish says: Check this place out!

Sauté
2844 Hudson Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
410.32.saute

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Mine Yours Ours Salud - Enjoy

Mio Restaurant in midtown DC at 1100 Vermont Avenue N.W. had a little get together on St Patrick’s Day for media and public relations people to meet their new chef/partner, Stefano Frigerio. You might recognize Stefano’s name as the executive sous chef who worked closely with Chef Fabio Trabocchi at the award winning Maestro Restaurant in McLean. Stefano recently opened Osteria Cinghiale in Baltimore. You might recognize his name yet again from Riccardo and Monika Bosio 's Sotto Sopra Restaurant blog post, Dinner at Dara's where Stefano and his lovely wife, public relations maven, Dusty Lockhart of Three Lockharts Communications had dinner at my house.

Dusty Lockhart & Executive Chef Stefano Frigerio

I asked my husband if he wanted to take off early from work and attend this little gathering and he seemed up for the road trip to Washington DC. It really isn’t far, it is just traffic can be a bear between Baltimore and DC. It seemed no one was on the road and we made the 50 miles into downtown DC quickly putting us ahead of schedule and the first to arrive.

Normally I don’t like to be the first one at a gathering but this allowed me quality time to talk with Dusty, well with child at the moment, Stefano, and the managing partner, Manuel Iguina

(no slouch in the restaurant business). I got a private tour of the kitchen: the pastry section that doubles for upper level party room’s kitchen, a peek into walk-in where I spied some beef hooked and aging, and finally through to the open kitchen area where Nicholas Stefanelli, the sous chef who worked with Stefano at Maestro, was getting our hors d’oeuvres ready.

Guests started to arrive. I played catch up with Acqua Birchenall, exuberant over her art exhibit in New York city running through March. Her husband Michael and regional publicist for Loew’s Hotels, Ellen Gale arrived shortly thereafter. Michael is the editor of FoodService Monthy. Also at the party was the DC restaurant publicist and gossip columnist, Linda Roth, Alexandra Greeley with Gayot, Slow Food DC, and Eating Asia, Amber Pfau of PFAU Communications, Leigh Lambert of the Washington Post Food Section, and Clarice Lelle, former pastry chef at Maestro.

The real stars of the room were the food, the chef and the proprietor. We sampled Beef Carpaccio with Quail Egg, the Foie-Gras Ballotine with Honey-Huckleberry Sauce on Corn Bread, the Serrano Ham on the Parmesan Crisp with a Balsamic Reduction, Crawfish Bisque, Stuffed Fried Olives, and much more.

Beef Carpaccio

The husband, mine of course, did very well mingling and socializing – he gave me room to roam and network. Usually I get a thumb sideways from him suggesting we leave but not this evening. The thumb for the evening is up, a thumbs up for MIO from this foodie and I look forward to going back for dinner. Check out the menu and put it on your restaurant list. It’s has a stylish atmosphere, great food, easy to find, and $7 valet parking after 5:30 p.m.

So in keeping with MIO’s tag line: Mine, Yours, Ours, Salud – let me add Enjoy.

Friday, November 23, 2007

It's a Wrap from Tubac

For those of you who haven't read the post just below I had an opportunity present itself to work as Steven Raichlen's assistant during the shooting of his new TV series for PBS. Steven called personally and I was able to adjust my schedule. It happened fast, on the 11th Steven told me it was a go and by the 12th I was in Tubac, AZ ( about 20 miles north of the Mexican border) at the Tubac Golf Resort.

When I arrived in Arizona the limo turned out to be a shuttle bus but at that late hour I was the only passenger. The driver was a chatty fellow, a part-time actor, who had appeared in the Bruce Willis movie made in Baltimore called 12 Monkeys. He played what Bruce thought was his alter ego in the men's room in the last scene (so my shuttle bus driver says). Whoa, a bobcat jumped out in front of the shuttle van but was out the way before we could hit it. That should have been the subtle hint that I wasn't in Metropolis anymore.

I get into my hacienda-style room around 12:30 a.m. - unpacked and unwound and to sleep at 1:30 a.m. (or 3:30 a.m. east coast time). Upon checking my cell phone there was a voice message from Steven to meet at the restaurant at 6 a.m. the next morning.

I have food styled for Steven twice, one-day jobs for MPT where I had recipes in advance, I styled the food and brought the dishes, platters, flatware etc. I was in for a rude awakening. A new production company, a new location, young chefs who have never done this before and me, coming in at the 11th hour and not sure of my responsibilities.

We were shooting in a field with cows who meandered as they pleased, the flys were outrageous and then the bees.

It was a tough shoot and when I was finally up to speed the shooting was over. There were days I could have cried because I wasn't getting it together in the exacting form I'm used to and being a personal assistant was different than a food stylist. At moments I felt like one of those ducks in a shooting gallery that changed direction so many times.

The only time I saw daylight was on set. I left my room in the dark and returned in the dark. On the last day of shooting I got off set before it turned dark and saw the courtyard and fountain outside the back of my room.

One morning I had a large animal jump out in front of me and run across the field. I wasn't sure what it was but it scared the living ***** out of me. I learned it was probably a "javalina", a giant rodent that looks like a wild boar. If they have young with them they can attack. Well after that I would make someone drive me to my room every night after that. Meantime I still walked to the set in the a.m. in the dark. Hey at the end of the day, I enjoyed not taking those extra steps.

There were laughs on set but it was pretty much down to business. Steven was and is such a gentleman with everyone when most would have been flipping out. The producer, Matt reminded me of Steven being similar in stature and coloring to Steven, you might have thought them brothers.

I got off campus one night when someone drove me 15 miles or so to a grocery store so I could find a pumice soap for Steven. The store didn't even have Lava soap. Thrilled to be off the resort I took the opportuity to buy bottled water and Milano cookies for my room - aren't Milano's cookies one of the core food groups.

As our time was running short at Tubac we went into night shoots. One day was 6 a.m. to 9:15 p.m. and the next 7 a.m to 8:15 p.m. The days were hot and very cool when the sun went in.

I still have notes to type up for Steven, changes in recipes etc. I did get off the premise the night before I left for a "wrap" dinner. I finally could kick back and show my sense of humor - it was a fun evening.

Click HERE for photos

Friday, October 19, 2007

At The Table with Women Chefs -New York City

A great evening was had by all at Women Chefs and Restaurateurs "At The Table" dinner. I got there a bit early and helped a small bit with setting up the silent auction. Boo hoo, someone out bid me for the 2 tickets to David Letterman and dinner at the Monkey Bar.

What's with the music, well it highlights the photos from the evening's festivities-check them out just below the menu.

It was a great evening and we raised money for culinary scholarships.

Thursday, October 18, 2007
Prince George Ballroom
New York

Honorary Chair: Sara Moulton

Chefs: Anne Burrell, Centro Vinoteca; Heather Carlucci-Rodriguez, Lassi; Rebecca Charles, Pearl Oyster Bar; Mary Cleaver, The Cleaver Company; Alina Eisenhauer, Sturbridge Baking Company (Sturbridge, MA); Patti Jackson, Cento Vini; Nancy Olson, Gramercy Tavern; Amy Scherber, Amy’s Bread; Barbara Sibley & Margaritte Malfy, La Palapa; Ivy Stark, Dos Caminos;Patricia Williams, District

Sommeliers: Julee Resendez; Yukari Pratt

Menu

Hors d'oeuvres
Almond Shorba

Hudson Valley Lamb and Feta Burgers with Tzatziki on House Made Buns

Mini Roasted Chile Poblano Corn Muffins filled with Queso Cotija, Serrano Ham and Guacasalsa of fresh Tomatillo and Avocado

Ceviche of Fluke with Citrus Ginger Mignonette

L'Hemoniere Sauvignon Blanc, 2006
The Wines of the Alto Adige
Rogue Bower Beers

Dinner

Hudson Valley Antipasto Carponata, Pumpkin, Pickles and House made Crackers

A Selection of Amy's Breads

Scallop Chowder with Pernod and Thyme
Buttonwood Sauvignon Blanc, 2006

Roasted Pumpkin Farrotto with Gorgonzola Dolce
Ryan Patrick Estate Chardonnay, 2005

Wild Salmon with Charmoula, Couscous and cucumber Lime organic Soy Sour Cream
Woodward Canyon Nelms Road Cabernet Sauvingnon, 2005

Beef Shortrib Brasato in Sforzato di Valtellina with Spaghetti Squash, caramelized Cauliflower and Pioppini Mushrooms
Trinchero Folie a Deux Cabernet Sauvingnon 2005

Dessert

Chocolate Bread Pudding with Cacao Nib Whipped Cream

Petit Fours

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

I'm So Far Behind

EEEgads, the November Baltimore Style Magazine is coming out and new people will be reading the Dining Dish. I'm not quite sure what Style meant saying my blog was if Lucy Ricardo wrote a blog but I will take it as a compliment.

Okay, so all you new readers here is the poop on Dining Dish. I have multiple post to make but I don't seem to be getting to it. Here is the synopsis.

CHEAP VACATION TO OCEAN CITY

Yes cheap, we got the AARP discount at the Fenwick Inn the week after Labor Day at $39.50 a night for the room. We ate dinner at happy hour at Jordon's restaurant rooftop at our hotel with 1/2 a pound of shrimp for $3.50. Found a great cyber cafe
Java Surf Cafe - 15 Village of Fenwick. They have wonderful ice cream from Woodside Farm Creamery that was written up in Gourmet or Bon Appetit's August edition. The proprietor is Jeff Goldberg. Do stop in and tell him Dining Dish sent you.

NATURAL FOOD SHOW

I finally met my client, Donna Shields,RD, MS,CPT - an amazing woman. I have been working as her publicist since July and we finally met. She lives in Key West. We had a great time walking the show and dinner later at Sotto Sopra Restaurant I spent
a couple hours at the Maryland booth promoting tsp spices,certified organic spices conveniently premeasured and sealed in individual teaspoon packets.

JAPANESE FOOD SHOW

Last summer while having lunch with Hiroko Shimbo at 11 Madison in New York she asked who I suggested to be on stage with her during a cooking demonstrations. I told her to reach out to Sara Moulton who is also a member of Women Chefs and Restaurateurs and she did. Fast forward to October 1st when I day bus it to New York for the Japanese Food Show.

I was amazed when I walked into the lobby and an acquaintance I met a couple years ago with Wiley publishing said hello. She is now working for a very hip caterer. I start going to the booths, had some wonderful udon noodles, tasted the new soy paper and then scurried to get a seat for the cooking demonstrations. I squish by a couple of women and sit down only to realize it was Phoung Hoang and her daughter Lyly who used to own Hoang's restaurant in Baltimore. They now have a restaurant in Fairfax Virginia called Hoang's. I cried when they moved away from Baltimore, I just loved them and the education they gave me on Vietnamese Food. I had a great day with them, chatting with Hiroko and Sara Moulton. I even ran into three other people I knew, Lisa Ekus PR Maven,
Jamie Tiampo a fabulous food photographer and cookbook author, Julie Sahni.

Phoung Hoang, Sara Moulton, Hiroko Shimbo, LyLy Hoang

DINNER AT DARA'S

I wanted to give you a link to a story that Riccardo Bosio wrote about a dinner I fixed for him. Click here for the story This should keep you busy.

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I still have the cookbook reviews to write..that will be sent with the Dining Dish E-newsletters, archives are at http://www.dara-does-it.com. You can sign up here on the blog.

YUM-TASTY RECIPES FROM CULINARY GREATS

Hard to believe but the cookbook will be out October 25th. My co-compiler Jeff Spear and I will do big e-mail blast. We will be at the City Lit Project fundraiser Saturday, October 25th and the Maryland Hospitality Education Foundation will be selling the book to raise money as well. More to come.

WOMEN CHEFS DINNER - This Thursday in New York ...notes to come.

Monday, April 23, 2007

A Little Exercise and Lots of Food

Took a walk yesterday for an hour and I did water aerobics for an hour today, suspended with no floatation device. My reward for the exercise was going out to lunch with Jeff Spear from Studio Spear. We talked business about the new cookbook we compiled coming out October 1st called YUM. The profits will go to the national charity. We hit Thai Landing and I had some average won ton soup but a wonderful bean thread salad with chicken and shrimp. I am so full!

Thrilled the sun is shining. Working from home has its benefits but I do find that there can be days-on-end that I don’t walk out of the house.

What’s up in Dining Dish land? Last Monday night was the Restaurant Association of Maryland’s Annual Gala. Michael Birchenall, editor of Mid Atlantic Food Service Monthly, won the allied member award, and deservedly so. Michael hosted my husband and I at his table along with Andrew and Liz Evans of the award-winning and much publicized Inn at Easton.

Watch out Baltimore restaurateurs, Michael Birchenall has set me loose with my camera for a new photo section call Balti-More. You never know when I’m going to snap your photo.

I didn’t tell you I had just gotten back from 5 days in Chicago at the International Association of Culinary Professional’s conference where eating and drinking were a prerequisite. That is another blog story with photos.

So Monday had been the RAM gala and Tuesday was the 11th Anniversary at Sotto Sopra Restaurant. It was communal dining, family-style service (note the photos below). Riccardo doesn’t know how to do things in a small way. Platters of salads, then seafood, half lobsters for all, two risottos, grilled meats and braised lamb …too much but everyone loved it. Abudanza!

Lots of work on my plate---pun intended. Back to the paying jobs.