Where my fellow cooks at???

[the wicked child]

what c2i said.

[count2infinity]

Great vegetarian (could be vegan without the cheese) dish tonight: Spicy tomato lentil soup...

One onion, one jalapeno both diced and sauteed until soft with some color, then put in about a tablespoon of garlic for a little bit of sautee action. add a cup of lentils, 2 cups of veggie stock, 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes, 15 oz can of tomato sauce, dry basil, cumin, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste. Once the lentils are soft, hit it with a stick blender serve with some fresh basil on top. then I made grilled cheese dippin sticks: http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/grill ... e24d337648" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for dipping into the soup. delicious for a chilly evening like tonight.

[tifosi77]

C'mon everyone..... be that guy and take pictures of your food. This thread needs more food pictures!

[columbia]

I made some broccoli (vinegar) slaw last weekend and it has been a great side dish for various things.
Definitely will do that again.

[canaan]

C'mon everyone..... be that guy and take pictures of your food. This thread needs more food pictures!

I made a killer pork tenderloin and forgot to take pictures. I was a sad panda

[count2infinity]

half the time i just cook stuff and eat it. don't even bother with pictures as most of my food isn't real pretty, just tasty.

[blackjack68]

C'mon everyone..... be that guy and take pictures of your food. This thread needs more food pictures!

I made a killer pork tenderloin and forgot to take pictures. I was a sad panda

Funny you say that.

I cooked a peppercorn encrusted pork tenderloin with roasted root vegetables (perfect for this dreary day) and ate it...then opened LGP and saw this thread and thought, damn, forgot the pictures..again.

[Letang Is The Truth]

Breakfast

Spoiler:

[tifosi77]

Cured Rainbow Trout With Lightly Torched Skin, Almond-Bacon Crumbs, Parsley & Scallion Salad


(There were also wax beans that had been sauteed in bacon fat with some shallot and garlic, but I plated, photo'd and served the dish without ever adding them to the plate. Mostly because I'm an idiot.)

[BigMcK]

Unlike most of you fine cooks, when something I make turns out edible (other than Bar B Que), on the plate it just looks like something to eat. You kinda have to have that artistic talent to make it look more than just food.

Oh, and if anyone if missing a remote, LITT may have found it.

[Letang Is The Truth]

i was setting up my universal remote

[tifosi77]

Roast Pork Loin, Wild Mushrooms, Fennel-Apple Puree, Granny Smith Gremolata

(I am apparently unable to take in-focus photos with my phone)

[count2infinity]

tif, if you get this thread shutdown over unfocused pictures, I swear, imma internet punch you in the head... AND I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!

[tifosi77]

[columbia]

I took the leftover stock from last week's pot roast and made a potato, mushroom (and lots of garlic) soup.
Perfect for Autumn.

[count2infinity]

Ridiculously simple tonight, but oh so good.

Bruschetta: Rosemary olive oil bread, tomatoes marinated in salt, pepper, itallian seasoning, olive oil, garlic and balsamic vinegar, and fresh mozzarella.
Spinach salads: Took the marinade from the tomatoes and added a bit of sugar and some dijon mustard, poured it over the spinach and then added some cracked black pepper.

Big image:

Spoiler:

[tifosi77]

There you go, that's the ticket! More pics!

In other food news, Mrs Tif and I just spent a lovely weekend in Washington D.C. She had a work conference in Alexandria, and we decided to make a trip out of it. Meant we flew separately, and on different days, but it was still a good opportunity to visit one of my favorite cities together for the first time.

We ate at Jaleo (2x), Oyamel and Graffiato. Jaleo and Oyamel are wonderful restaurants, I could eat at either every day if I had the opportunity. Jaleo is Jaleo; excellent Spanish tapas, created and served with one hand on tradition and one on modernity. Oyamel is a Mexican restaurant that focuses on refined interpretations of street food (which I consider to be its own food group). They had two dishes that featured huitlacoche (sort of a fungus that grows on corn), and each were outstanding. New favorite ingredient. Graffiato (by Top Chef contestant Mike Izzabella) was less successful. The flavors of all the dishes were tasty enough, and the charred octopus was as good as I've ever had. But something just felt.... I dunno...... off. Great space, great menu. Just, the whole felt less than the sum of the parts.

One odd thing was that all those restaurants are within a few blocks of each other near the Verizon Center. So I was immersed in Caps fans. That was fun.

We also had a couple 'pit stop' bites between hot dog lunches and dinner proper. First was this Thai place in the plaza at the Verizon Center. I want to say it was called Thai Chili, but don't quote me on that. If there's one thing L.A. does better than just about anywhere in the U.S., it's Thai food. So I pretty much just wanted a light aperitif and a beer (or two) before dinner. The lettuce wraps we got were delicious, but not at all what I've come to expect as a Thai flavor profile. So either the dish was representative of a different region of Thailand (most places out here are southern), or they weren't even close. Regardless, it was tasty. Next day, we noshed at the Old Ebbit Grill, across the street from the Department of the Treasury. This is a Washington institution, known for seafood. The oysters did not disappoint, but the service was oddly disjointed.

Then on Monday, I had several hours to kill before my flight. I decided to head back into the District and have lunch at Zaytinya... so between Jaleo, Oyamel and Zaytinya I would have eaten four meals at José Andrés restaurants in four days. And while the food was certainly tasty enough, the highlight of the meal was that Chef Andrés happened to be in the house for a press event.


That's Chef Andrés on the left, btw. Apologies for the blurry image; it's a cropped shot from a camera phone that was zoomed in 4x.

Didn't get to speak with him, because he seemed to be conducting a phone interview (in Spanish). But he ended up sitting right behind me for about 15 minutes or so. I really wanted to say hey and thank him for opening a new world of culinary and cultural exploration for me and my wife, but I really needed to get going and he wouldn't hang up the bloody phone.

I make no bones about being an ardent fan of José Andrés; after this weekend, we have had eight meals at his restaurants (only one of which is in our hometown). The guy is without question one of two or three biggest influences on me as a cook and foodist, and "Made In Spain" is one of the best cooking and food culture shows that has ever been produced. To say I was excited to see him in person is a bit of an understatement.

Anyway, that was a cool little coda for the trip.

[BigMcK]

They had two dishes that featured huitlacoche (sort of a fungus that grows on corn), and each were outstanding. New favorite ingredient.

I used to work with a guy that had a successful catering business on the weekends. He is a very good eclectic chef and brought in for a holiday event a dish that included corn smut. I think the plastic spoons were eaten before anyone was daring enough to eat corn smut. Maybe he should had said it was huitlacoche instead.

[viva la ben]

YUMMO

Spoiler:

[tifosi77]

The menu at Oyamel describes it as 'corn truffle'.

[columbia]

I'd hit that.

[eddysnake]

Spoiler:

Turtle Tart

[bh]

I'd hit that.

[tifosi77]

Paella de pato con setas y fuet

(Rice with duck, mushrooms and pork chorizo)


Ideally, paella is cooked over an open fire....

Spoiler:

It's a fun picture, but I carbonized the bottom of my pan. Stupid thing ended up with a black film coating the underside where directly scorched.

[Letang Is The Truth]

i love me some paella