pcarpen

an excellent book indeed. great photos in there. another very thorough and authentic thai cuisine reference is Thai Food by David Thompson. Thai Food by David Thompson and since a bunch of people have asked for the recipe, here's my version of Bun Ga: Vietnamese Bun Ga Serves 4 1 package rice stick or cellophane noodles 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts handful of sliced scallions handful of chopped fresh mint handful of chopped fresh cilantro handful of peanuts, roughly chopped 4 carrots, finely julienned 2 cucumbers, peeled, seeded, thinly sliced handful of beansprouts handful of mixed field greens or lettuce for the Sauce: 2 tsp vietnamese fish sauce 4-5 limes, juiced 4-5 tsp sugar to taste Prepare noodles according to package. when done, drain in a strainer and rinse in cold water. Chicken breasts can be cooked in a number of ways. the traditional way is to grill them in a terriyaki-type marinade, but in this case we just dropped them in a pot of salted boiling water and poached them for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. remove from water and shred. since the chicken is hot, this is done with two pairs of kitchen tongs acting as hands. you could also cook them ahead of time and let them cool before you shred them, but we rarely have the forsight or time to do this. The Sauce is the tricky part. In a small bowl, you want to add 1 tsp of sugar for every lime that you use. for a batch that serves 4, we use about 5 of each. then slowly add the fish sauce to taste. the sauce is powerful, so adding too much can overwhelm everything. it helps to have tasted the sauce in a restaurant to know what it should taste like, but if not, just add it until you like the taste of the mixture. Assembly: put a pile of noodles in the bottom of the bowl, add lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, sprouts, herbs, and scallions. Add the shredded chicken on top, top with peanuts, spoon over sauce and add Sriracha hot sauce for a little kick. Mix it all up and eat up!

I had to laugh because that's how it is in our home now (although, my photos aren't as good as yours)... my husband being the one who now is even thinking of arrangement and garnishes, etc. when he plates. Seriously, your photos are great. I was surprised when you posted that your camera was 2MP. Mine is 5.25! Any advice? How close to the food are you holding the camera? Lighting, flash, etc.? If you would be more comfortable to PM, please feel free. you know, i keep wanting to buy a new higher resolution camera, but i keep getting good shots with the old one, so i just can't justify yet. I use a Canon S200 Digital Elph. i wish i could tell you that i have some great techniques, but i really don't. we cook, plate up the food, sit down to eat, and then i jump up to grab the camera and just take a picture of it right at our table. the kitchen doesn't have great lighting, and i use the regular flash setting with macro mode turned on (which allows the good sharp close-up shots) without any zoom. i'll take a couple of shots to get a good one sometimes and from different angles or different depths. the pics got better as i started caring less about getting the whole plate or bowl in the shot, and just started concentrating on the food itself. i then upload the photos, resize them to 640x480, and that's it.

thanks rachel. you know, things always taste better when they're pretty and what's really funny is that my wife is even plating things all nicely so that they'll look good for the camera. luckily, we pretend to be normal when other people are around.

wednesday: bun ga. vietnamese cellophane noodles with shredded chicken, greens, cucumbers, carrots, bean sprouts, scallions, cilantro, mint, peanuts, and fish sauce

tuesday: to brace the cold and snow in the northeast, turkey and bean chili. i know, not as exciting as yesterday's roasted chicken, but it sure tasted good.

Seriously good looking chicken skin I must say. Yeah, nice job. I'll say! Great photography to capture it, as well. thanks for the compliments, guys. who knew that my little 2 MP camera could get such great shots? so is it slightly sick that my wife and i try to come up with new dishes to cook just so we can take pictures of them? at least we recognize our problem ;)

monday: roasted chicken with rosemary, thyme, lemon, and garlic. roasted fingerlings, sweet potatoes, red onions, and baby vidalia onions. haricot verts, mixed greens. red wine pan sauce.

wednesday: grilled chicken marinated in lemon, garlic, rosemary, thyme, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. grilled onions and fennel. hearts of palm and parmesan salad.

As a follow up to this thread, apparently, Alton Brown was rushed from the set of Iron Chef yesterday with heart problems. Fortunately, all is ok. check it out: Alton Brown's Rants & Raves

thursday: bucatini with artichokes, tomatoes, lemon zest, olive oil, lemon juice,parmesan, and fresh ricotta

tuesday: pan-seared sea scallops, roasted brussels sprouts, mashed jerusalem artichokes, with a green onion vinaigarette

monday: the weather agreed with cambridge again, and there was more grilling to be done. grilled trout, grilled quesadillas with caramelized balsamic onions and jack cheese

saturday: bucatini with squid and mussels sunday: it was warm enough to grill in the northeast, so we fired it up for the first time this year. chicken marinated in olive oil, garlic, lime juice, lime zest, chili, cilantro, scallion, salt and pepper. along with grilled fingerlings and grilled red onions with thyme.

wednesday: wild mushroom risotto with fresh thyme and parmesan

friday: whole roasted mediterranean sea bass stuffed with lemons, basil, mint, and cilantro. served with a blood orange, fennel, and olive salad, and mashed jerusalem artichokes with olive oil and scallions.

thursday: goi ga, vietnamese chicken salad with cabbage, lettuce, carrots, mint, cilantro, scallions, peanuts, and shredded chicken. topped with a dressing of fresh lime juice, fish sauce, garlic, sugar, and rice wine vinegar.

tuesday: squid salald with white beans, chili, and mint. also has scallions, cilantro, tomatoes, and a lime dressing. we used to do it will grilled squid, but poaching it briefly makes it for a much easier cleanup and a nice tender squid.

That looks so good. Did you use the panini maker to grill the veggies? I've been told you can do that. you could grill the veggies on the panini press, but i haven't had great results with it. the surface isn't that big, so it would take a while to do them all. also, i love the nice char marks that a real grill pan or grill puts on the veggies. the panini press steams them too much and turns them soggy.

monday: grilled veggie cuban sandwich. inspired by the veggie cubano at chez henri in cambridge, MA. grilled zucchini, eggplant, red onions, roasted red and yellow peppers, swiss cheese, and what truly gives it that zing, cornichons and yellow mustard. brushed with olive oil (instead of the traditional butter) and pressed on our panini press.

thursday: pan seared salmon, roasted brussels sprouts and baby vidalia onions, baby greens with sherry-mustard vinaigarette

tuesday: a take on mario batali's "two minute squid", with olives, pinenuts, and israeli couscous wednesday: seared scallops with spicy thai noodle soup

As two people who spend the majority of their free time seeking out and eating great food, any trip to a new city is preceeded by a good deal of research so we won't waste a single meal on something mediocre. Last weekend, while in Phoenix for a wedding, we had only a few meals on our own between wedding festivities. Having read about the successes and accomplishments of 2003 James Beard Award Winner Chris Bianco, we knew that our first lunch would have to be an Pane Bianco, a small sandwich shop that he had recently opened. We had no idea what an experience that would be. The long, spare modern space is dominated by a large wood-burning oven where the breads and focaccia are baked. always tending to the oven, is the chef himself, a very good sign. The menu consists of 4 sandwiches, all $8: . House-made mozzarella with local tomatoes and basil. . Tuna with red onion, kalamata olives, lemon and arugula. . Soppressata, with aged provolone and wood-roasted peppers. . Market Sandwich, which changes daily. in addition, there's a focaccia of the day, 2 salads, one of the house-made mozzarella with tomato and basil, and the other of tuna with agugula, drinks, and dessert. The dessert selection on the day we were there, consisted of a choice of blood oranges or homemade almond italian ice. a very simple and streamlined menu. You put your order in, and wait the 5-10 minutes for your name to be called. Seating is all outdoors on communal tables. The sandwiches were unquestionably the best we've ever eaten. From the bread to the ingredients inside, the quality of product and the care that obviously went into each and every sandwich just blew us away. The housemade mozzarella was some of the best we've ever tasted, the tuna, imported from Portugal, was incredible, and the bread, well, the only bread that we can legitimately compare it to is the pizza bianca from Forno in Campo di Fiori in Rome. about 8 inches in diameter and about an inch thick, the bread is individually baked loaves, still warm from the oven with a crunchy exterior, golden brown, brushed with olive oil, salt, and rosemary, and soft and chewy on the inside. Put them all together, and it just creates a truly memorable experience. we took our first bites, looked at each other, and just started laughing. They were just that good. Adding to that experience is the friendly staff, the other carefully selected and unique products that they offer (they also offer loaves of bread baked in the wood burning oven, artisanal olive oils and pasta), and as if that wasn't enough, the two wrapped chocolates sitting in the bottom of our bag that they give out to everyone. We were simply stunned at how good the sandwiches were, and literally didn't stop talking about them for the rest of the day. I'm sure most people would consider us a little crazy to get this excited over a sandwich, but it is so much more than that. It's obvious to anyone that walks into the restaurant how much Chef Chris care about what he does, and how much he enjoys sharing it with others. This relationship that he has with his dedicated clientelle, obvious by his interactions with them while we were there, is such a great thing to see and be a part of. We were so impressed, that we came back the very next day for another round of sandwiches. And just for good measure, we got an extra one for the plane ride home the following day. We were expecting Phoenix to be a culinary wasteland dominated by chain restaurants, and came away with one of the most memorable food experiences in recent memory. We were so impressed, that we decided to write Chef Chris and his staff a letter telling them about our experience and how much we appreciated the work that he was doing. Lo and behold, a few days later, we got a phone call from Chris himself thanking us, saying that it's so great to hear people who understand what he's trying to do there, and that it's truly a labor of love for him. I came across this article earlier this week that just reinforces what i already knew was the truth about him. He's a rare chef who cares more about the product and sharing it with his customers than about having his own Food Network show and creating a global empire of restaurants. http://www.pizzamarketplace.com/research.h...n=49&step=story Due to our wedding obligations, we didn't make it over to Pizzeria Bianco. we can only imagine that it lives up to the standards that we saw at Pane and we can't wait to get back to Phoenix to try it. So for those of you living in Phoenix or travelling there, please to check them both out. And say hi to Chef Chris. Pane Bianco 4404 N. Central Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85012 (602) 234-2100