126 replies to this topic

[birder53]

Was that last night's sunset? It was a 360 degree pink sky up here followed by about an hour of amazing color changes in the west.

[gfron1]

That was actually sunrise this morning - beautiful.

Lunch was at Gregorios Kountry Kitchen - outstanding. I'm really sick of Mexican at this point, but it was so good. Great gauc. Great flautas. And wait til you see the pics of the Taco Guadalajara.

[Verjuice]

Last night, Rob, Kerry and I had a quick dinner at La Cocina Mexican Restaurant, just across the street from The Curious Kumquat. Like a true northerner, I could not resist the urge to order my enchiladas "Christmas". The red was significantly hotter.

This was my first experience with enchiladas that had been stacked rather than rolled. Rob commented that New Mexican food in this part of the State is more similar to Chihuahuan food, stylistically.




Today, the three of us met for lunch at Kountry Kitchen. Chips and salsa:



I had the enchiladas Christmas with a side of guacamole.



Kerry had the enchiladas Green with an egg over easy (a traditional accompaniment around here, says Rob):



Rob had the flautas because the albondigas he was pining for turned out to be unavailable. Everything was excellent.



And I am speechless over this incredible thing, so I'll leave it open to interpretation. Behold the Guadalajara Taco:

[CaliPoutine]

This is killing me. Mexican food is the one food I consistently crave and there is nothing that even resembles authentic in these parts!!

[John DePaula]

Me, too! Let's just say that Portland is not known for its excellent (New) Mexican food... I miss it so much!

[gfron1]

Just a couple of quick updates then we're off for dinner. Chef Mel called and said, "How close to my budget do I need to be?" I said, "How important is it to you that whatever you make is being talked about by three eGulleters?" She said, "So, if I go over, that's okay?" I said, "If your meal sucks, is that okay?" She said, "Okay" I said, "Now that that is settled, how much did you go over?" She said, "Twice the amount." I said, "Oh shit."


On another front, I haven't started my final dessert component and I'm running out of time. So expect extreme close-ups to hide mistakes and flaws!

[Kerry Beal]

P.S.  If you're on a PC, Using Firefox (Ctrl + +) or Internet Explorer (View | Text Size | Larger) will help.

That's what I thought too, but it doesn't seem to help on this computer.

[Kerry Beal]

So there we were at lunch, the meals come out and 3 people whip out cameras and start taking pictures. The server looked at us with something akin to amusement.

When I went up to pay - she asked - "Why are you taking pictiures of the food?" I gave her the abbreviated explanation of eG and that is when she said - "then you should have had the Guadalajara taco." "Why?", I inquired. "Because it's got a smily face." she said. So the next guy who ordered it had to wait for his meal because she brought it over to our table to have it's picture taken before she delivered it to him.

You know you are an eGulleter when...

[gfron1]

We're all beat after that meal and conversation. Who has the energy to actually post pics?!

[Verjuice]

I cannot do justice to our wonderful evening by attempting to describe it while exhausted, so I'll keep the words to a minimum and just post pics for now.

The dinner was held at one of the most beautiful homes I have seen in New Mexico. It was like a jewelry box full of beautiful things to entertain the eye at every turn. Our hosts were lovely, fascinating people, and everything made by Chef Mel was delicious.









"Mexican Buttermilk" (margaritas):



Roasted Thai Lime Shrimp:



Tropical Fruit Salad with Mint Chimichurri and Gouda on Baby Organic Spinach:



Roasted Red Pepper & Mushroom Bisque:



Roasted Corn Crab Cake with Mango Cilantro Salsa, Crab Leg, Sweet Potato Pureé with Crystallized Ginger, Grilled Lemon and Stuffed Grilled Peppers with Spinach and Mushroom:



Rob, correct me if I'm wrong! This is Rob's Lemon Pound Cake with Blackberry Mousse, Italian Meringue, Candied Celery and Candied Ruby Red Grapefruit Peel:

[Verjuice]

oh.. it was chiffon cake, not pound, right?

[gfron1]

Rob, correct me if I'm wrong! This is Rob's Lemon Pound Cake with Blackberry Mousse, Italian Meringue, Candied Celery and Candied Ruby Red Grapefruit Peel:

It really was an amazing meal - and I'm very impressed with Mel's ability to consistently pull of great meals (that's why I'm going into business with her). My dessert is a long running project that I'll probably walk away from. Inspired by a bar of soap in Palm Springs, and first attempted HERE.
I wanted a subtle, but distinct celery taste paired with lemon. This one had numerous flaws, but I think the tastes worked and finished this meal perfectly. It starts with a vessel of Pierre Herme's lemon pound cake, filled with a blackberry lemon chiffon mousse (Italian meringue mousse), and topped with celery Italian meringue. The "pineapple" on the plate is just some of the vessel cutouts finished in a pan with butter and filled with prickly pear jelly.

Today we get to actually take the chocolate class, and then its all about cheese!

[Kerry Beal]

Rob, correct me if I'm wrong! This is Rob's Lemon Pound Cake with Blackberry Mousse, Italian Meringue, Candied Celery and Candied Ruby Red Grapefruit Peel:

It really was an amazing meal - and I'm very impressed with Mel's ability to consistently pull of great meals (that's why I'm going into business with her). My dessert is a long running project that I'll probably walk away from. Inspired by a bar of soap in Palm Springs, and first attempted HERE.
I wanted a subtle, but distinct celery taste paired with lemon. This one had numerous flaws, but I think the tastes worked and finished this meal perfectly. It starts with a vessel of Pierre Herme's lemon pound cake, filled with a blackberry lemon chiffon mousse (Italian meringue mousse), and topped with celery Italian meringue. The "pineapple" on the plate is just some of the vessel cutouts finished in a pan with butter and filled with prickly pear jelly.

Today we get to actually take the chocolate class, and then its all about cheese!

I agree that the tastes worked in this dessert. I only wish that I wasn't so full from the rest of the meal that I could have finished it. The celery flavour in the meringue paired with the remaining flavours were quite amazing, and that little 'pineapple' slice was a touch of brilliance (and very, very tasty). The candied celery and candied grapefruit rind added the perfect finishing touch. Best bar of soap I've ever eaten.

[jumanggy]

Wow, what an amazing meal, everything looks so good! (Especially the crab leg.) Best of luck with your business, Rob: if the meals are always that fantastic, it really takes a lot of pressure off

Rob, you are really something else... A bar of soap?! I don't think any pastry chef can beat that inspiration! I hope you'll talk a bit about what needed to be ironed out in the P&B forums.

[Kerry Beal]

My class at the high school yesterday was a lot of fun. I'll have to wait until I get home to post pictures because I'm photographically impaired posting from this hotel computer.

The students were a cross section from juniors to seniors, some who had plans to go into the culinary field, some not, but still very interested in the culinary arts. The interesting thing was their enthusiasium for what they were learning. They have a competition coming up and a lot of talk revolved around how they could incorporate what they were learning into that competition. We also explored a few ideas that they could use for fund raising in the future.

It was really fun to have more hands on than in my usual classes - more mess to clean up at the end, but more fun. One young man, after rolling the truffles between his gloved hands asked "Do I have to take off the gloves - or can I lick them off?" Far be it from me to discourage the eating of good chocolate. Took him about 5 minutes, but they were licked clean before he removed them. He ate a lot of chocolate yesterday. They all did - they were pretty wired by the time they left. We made some bark from the left over dark chocolate incorporating pinion (pine nuts for the rest of us) and dried habanero pepper. Wow - catches you right in the throat - but they ate some and took the rest home!

It was a treat to work with Patrick, another eG'er, who works at Rob's store and is a senior in the culinary program at the school. Before I came down I was reviewing his threads on getting ideas for the culinary competition which is up coming. They are limited by having only two burners to create their entire meal and need ideas for desserts that can be done on the stove top. Maybe they will do something in chocolate!

[David Ross]

I cannot do justice to our wonderful evening by attempting to describe it while exhausted, so I'll keep the words to a minimum and just post pics for now.

The dinner was held at one of the most beautiful homes I have seen in New Mexico. It was like a jewelry box full of beautiful things to entertain the eye at every turn. Our hosts were lovely, fascinating people, and everything made by Chef Mel was delicious.

Lord what a delicious looking feast. Can you post some recipes for us?

[gfron1]

I'll see if Mel will share recipes (if she even has them).

The only other thing I'll say about the dessert, and then I'll do some detailing in P&B, is that I was afraid of doing what we call in American pop culture - jumping the shark - taking things too far and killing it. But, I don't see any difference in finding inspiration in a bar of soap versus a good wine, a flower, or anything else. Sometimes we find inspiration in odd places. This time it was rubbing my underarm in a shower in Palm Springs.

[Anna N]

I'll see if Mel will share recipes (if she even has them).

The only other thing I'll say about the dessert, and then I'll do some detailing in P&B, is that I was afraid of doing what we call in American pop culture - jumping the shark - taking things too far and killing it.  But, I don't see any difference in finding inspiration in a bar of soap versus a good wine, a flower, or anything else.  Sometimes we find inspiration in odd places.  This time it was rubbing my underarm in a shower in Palm Springs. 

Oh yes to the recipes especially the Thai lime shrimp!

I hope you were in the shower, not a show when you rubbed your underarm!

[Beth Wilson]

Ditto on the recipe request here! Looks like the perfect food to warm us up to forget the fresh snowfall yesterday!!

Thanks for sharing your lovely part of the world with us! It is spectacular!

Oh, and I am envious of the Maple Syrup. Went out to The Max Burt farm to get some over the holiday and he has been cleaned out until the next syrup run. That stuff is black gold up here!

[Tri2Cook]

I cannot do justice to our wonderful evening by attempting to describe it while exhausted, so I'll keep the words to a minimum and just post pics for now.

The dinner was held at one of the most beautiful homes I have seen in New Mexico. It was like a jewelry box full of beautiful things to entertain the eye at every turn. Our hosts were lovely, fascinating people, and everything made by Chef Mel was delicious.

Wow. Just f'ing wow. Beautiful meal.

Rob, we're gonna have to do some forum brainstorming one of these days. I love unusual inspirations and incorporating unexpected ingredients for desserts (which has resulted in some messes along the way but it's fun), the celery soap theme is awesome.

[Verjuice]

Kerry's class... Pictures say it all.

[Verjuice]

[Verjuice]

Lunch was burritos from Don Juan.

That's Lexi whooshing past in the background. Bean and cheese with red:



Picadillo with spicy jalapenos:



Chicharron:



Relleno burrito with green chile:



'Cia. So effing adorable:



Gorgeous Lexi. She is Rob's girl:

[gfron1]

It looks like we're going to be providing delayed gratification on this whole weekend. The fact is - it hasn't stopped, and we just had no friggin' time to post much more than pics. The cheese party is over and I'm ready to pour myself into bed and wake up on Monday, but its up early for a dog walk and the long drive to the airport in El Paso. The good news is that I'll have most of tomorrow to catch up, post pics, respond to comments, etc.

I'm used to the cheese parties, so Kerry and Verjuice can do most of the talking there, but it was a huge hit - good crowd and good cheese (unfortunately its rarely good wine).

I'm off to bed, and I PROMISE great stuff tomorrow summing up the weekend.

[Verjuice]

I can't believe it's over!

I had such a good time. You guys are awesome. Thanks for everything.

Now, for the sugar coma...

[Kerry Beal]

The cheese party was wonderful. Got to meet lots of the locals - quite an ecclectic bunch. The deal is that folks bring food and drink, sample the cheese and purchase it if they like it.

We had wonderful tamales made by a neighbour of Rob's - perfectly thin masa around a not too spicy filling with a fresh salsa to accompany them. Absolutely delicious.

Verjuice and I stood close to the door and Rob would signal us when one of the members who was a good cook came in - we'd follow them upstairs to be sure that we could sample what they had brought - after we took pictures of it of course.

We took along some of the Sauvagine cheese and the stinky cheese - you could smell it whenever you entered that room. The Sauvagine was popular- the stinky cheese received mixed reviews.

[Rembrant Wood]

Not much to say about this dessert since its not going to be part of the weekend - it will be long gone by then, but here's Amernick's Pumpkin Cheesecake with Pecan Squares.  I just need to find someone to give it to.

Oh my.......my fav deserts have long been a really good punkin' pie,a decent cheesecake and just about anything with plenty of pecans.

[gfron1]

Alright - relaxing in a hotel in El Paso where I'll spend the night until my spouse flies in. Kerry should be getting close to Canada by this time and Verjuice should be just about at Albuquerque. I'm sure both will have more info and pics to share once they get settled. A very busy and somewhat bizarre weekend.

I'll start with the dessert. The key was the celery. How to get the flavor in, but keep it enjoyable and not distracting. I had juiced 4 C. of celery juice, which then boiled down to 1 C. of concentrate. It wasn't very concentrated, but definitely purer. I ran it through my fine mesh chinois to get the particles out, and reboiled with celery seed. I then restrained and added the sugar to make it a syrup, which I boiled down again.


I brought it to softball and added it to the egg whites.


Then I put it in a piping bag and that seemed like it didn't work as well as I had hoped. You can see it went from very silky smooth to somewhat broken. There was no delay between whipping and piping, so all i can figure is piping through the tip was the problem. But here is the final product.


I'm still happy with the taste, just not the texture. The other problem was my mousse seemed to break instead of staying smooth.

Tri2Cook - I would love to brainstorm - that's the fun part for me!

[gfron1]

The cheese party. There's always a crowd at the food table.


Here's Kerry sampling some of the tamales that had just arrived.


The tamale maker - Consuelo.


Verjuice had a great conversation with my mad Hungarian friend.


And the cheese. These are the cheeses that Kerry brought. Both were fantastic, but the one of the left was just over the top good! The one on the right was so strong that it knocked me backwards when I opened it.

[gfron1]

And the chocolate class. Here are some of the chocolates that were made - transfer sheets with magnetic molds.


Demonstrating molds and luster dust.


Kerry in action


and Kerry with Dustin, a local kid who has taken every one of our cooking classes - he's gonna be good!