visiting a chef

Just a quick note to let you know what I had for dinner last night at my friend's restaurant. Um, yes, we had leftovers for breakfast.

Appetizers:
Hoison glazed ribs
Asian Caesar Salad (Crisp hearts of romaine tossed in an Asian Caesar dressing, standing in a kaffir seasoned crouton finished with sweet grape tomatoes and chilled sriracha seasoned shrimp.)

Entrees:
Cottonwood Peking Duck (Hoisin glazed duck, twice roasted, served with sesame coriander bok choy, vegetable fried rice and finished with a Peking sauce)
Shichimi Ahi Tuna (chili, orange and black sesame spiced yellowfin tuna steak, pan seared and served rare upon a vegetable Pad Thai lo mein)
Cambodian Hot Pot (shrimp, sea scallops, baby clams and crisp Asian vegetables, simmered in a spicy coconut shrimp broth and tossed with rice noodles)

Desserts:
Chocolat Pyramid (Dark chocolate torte, coated with a Callebaut chocolate ganache and finished with house-made caramel sauce, chocolate mousse and raspberry infusion)
Ginger Creme Brulee (Traditional créme brulee with a hint of ginger served with a chocolate shortbread cookie)

Wine:
2006 Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay
2005 Magness Cabernet Sauvignon

Seriously one of the best meals I have ever had. Ever. And I have been here for five days and we have eaten at his other retaurants the other nights. Bliss. I will post more about it with pics on dig this chick when I get home (still have one more meal tonight).

Blogging. Day two.

It wasn't that long ago that I thought blogs were for the birds (except for Nici's - and I really mean that, NH). But I think I'm really going to enjoy this . . . I say this because now I have a forum to tell you guys about the incredible lamb we had for dinner last night with green beans from the garden and the MOST AMAZING bottle of wine I think I've ever had. A vieilles vignes chateauneuf-du-pape that we purchased at Vinopolis in Portland in May. Robert Parker, who Ted and I tend to agree with in general, gave it a 93 points. Crappity crap. We were oooo-ing and aaahhh-ing our way through the entire meal. Good stuff. I mean look at it for Christ's sake, there's a freakin' saint right there on the bottle.


God love Vinopolis. It's like Worden's, the GF, CVS, and the old Broadway Wine combined but X2! Wish we had the equivalent in Missoula.

So, with that in mind, I gave access to all the ladies and will invite the dudes, too as soon as I get email address for all of them. If you have the time and the inclination, please post about the amazing food and wine in which you imbibe. The whole goal of the supper club/newly named bistro society was to give us all the opportunity to taste different and better food and wine more frequently than we normally are able.

Spanish menu post to come!

Welcome, food and drink lovin' friends!

The time has come to take our foodie compulsions to the next level. So, why not blog about it?!? What better way to coordinate schedules and menus?

Our next destination is Spain! The next dinner is planned for Saturday, August 23rd at 5:30 at my house.

I'm working on the menu with Marcy and Freddy tomorrow night. I'll post something as soon as I can and you all can sign up for the course and drink you want to bring! Or, feel free to suggest something else if you'd rather. All ideas are welcome!

If anyone has any pictures from the French dinner this winter, send them to me and I can put them in a slideshow for everyone to check out. Honestly, the wine was so damn good, I don't recall whether or not we had any cameras. . . . Yuuummmmmm, bordeaux.