Verjuice

I hope everyone is enjoying their Sunday (or Monday morning, if that's the case). I certainly have been. I went for a run this morning: While driving back into town, all I could think about was breakfast.

Depends on the restaurant. I have never experienced (or heard of) any reputable place here serving anything less than stellar fish; it's a tough restaurant town and diners tend to be quite discriminating. Whole Foods and Wild Oats have fresh fish coming in constantly (at an elevated price). We have a superb Japanese restaurant here named Shohko, and I know that their fish is shipped is shipped fresh every other day. I have had a lot of lackluster sushi in coastal towns, including a very disappointing recent experience at a highly lauded Japanese restaurant in Seattle, where I had high expectations of the meal. We are fortunate to have Shohko in our little mountain enclave; because of the owners' high standards and work ethic, I believe it would be a successful addition to any restaurant community. I will probably eat there more often now that the fabulous izakaya Kasasoba (formerly my favorite restaurant in town) is gone. They are truly sensational. This has been the wettest year ever for Santa Fe. Nobody can remember a time before this year when we weren't in a drought. It's been a blissful approximation of the heaven that you described above! I just took this photo of roasted green chiles for you, to demonstrate the success of my ongoing quest to bring more local ingredients into my kitchen. This happens every year; my sincerest intentions end up bagged, frozen and forgotten about until the following year. When I crave Northern New Mexican food, which isn't often, it's so much more fun to go out and get the whole nine yards; sopaipillas, margaritas, red and green chile, freshly fried tortillas. It probably doesn't help my half-hearted mission that I live within a stone's throw of about ten places that do it really well. I know I haven't shown you much cooking in this blog, but I'm hoping for a radical turnaround before it ends tomorrow night.

That's fascinating. I had no idea. Oh, and I keep meaning to ask- did you make it to to the Hatch Chile Festival this year?

1) I assumed so as well. 2) I doubt it.

Living Butter Lettuce Salad. That's th bacon brown sugar dressing served in the little saucepan alongside: Short Stack: Agave, Anise and Habanero Glazed Quail: Brazilian Daiquiri: Cider Martini:

Pear Royale: El Dorado Margarita: Gruyere Sesame Fondue: Cornbread. These were great and we were fighting over them:

For dinner, I met up with my friend Brandon at the new Coyote Cafe. I never liked this place when it was owned by Mark Miller, however it was bought a few weeks ago by Eric DeStefano of Geronimo and partners. Chef DeStefano brought his signature elk dish from Geronimo to Coyote Cafe with him, and it was difficult not to order it because I love it so much. Sorry about the picture quality; it was dark. Cocktail menu:

Pasqual's: The interior is decorated with prayer flags that remind me of the Day of the Dead color scheme, along with other random paraphernalia: We were freezing cold when we were seated, so we both warmed our hand on mugs of hot tea. Mint for him, Ceylon Breakfast for me. He had mole enchiladas with Rosie's free-range chicken, hold the dairy. Cilantro rice and corn tortilla on the side: I ended up ordering something that wouldn't normally leap off the page at me but today was exactly what I wanted. Baked mac and cheese with poblanos, spinach and turkey bacon. The salad had kumquats, candied garlic, pomegranate seeds, radishes and Maytag blue cheese. It was excellent. I did myself proud, as always:

The Plaza: St. Francis Cathedral: Ristras drying in the sun: I had never been inside The Chile Shop before, but we were waiting for a table at Pasqual's and it was right next door. It was fun seeing Santa Fe with fresh eyes like a tourist. I'd never even photographed the Plaza before today, but I enjoyed myself very much. This is for Abra, with humble respects:

Good evening, everyone. I almost went to the Bobcat Bite today to show you guys the famous green chile cheeseburgers that get a fair amount of justifiable press, but then my out of town friend and lunch partner told me that he is avoiding red meat right now. It turned out for the best. I realized that I hadn't yet taken you to the Plaza, and it seemed high time for a visit to Pasqual's. The Lensic on San Francisco: Water St.: Home of the first Frito pie:

To be frank, I can't believe it either.

Thanks for saying that! I own about forty old manual cameras and used to repair them when I was in college, but this is my first digital camera. I bought it last month so that I could do this blog, and pretty much learned to use it properly a day or two before starting. I had never even held one before I bought this one! I made shopping for a digital camera into a project. I drew charts and tables of pros and cons, read every available review on a dozen websites, and narrowed it down to a few based on my needs. I wanted a great macro setting, excellent image quality, and some manual features for low light conditions. I ended up with a Lumix DMC-TZ3 with a 28 mm wide angle Leica DC Vario-Elmar lens and 10x Optical IS Zoom. It wasn't in my top five but of my top ten choices it was the only one immediately available, and I knew I had to make a decision or else this quest for the perfect camera would never end. I took the pictures of the rolls with the macro setting near a NE facing window. Occasionally, I will use iPhoto to make a few cosmetic adjustments before posting, but I didn't think I needed to with of the above photos. eta: I should probably mention that all of the pictures of the UAE were taken by my 16 year-old sister a few weeks ago while we traveled around the UAE, hitting up all those spots together. She asked me if I wanted to learn how to use her camera but I turned her down, then bought my own right after I got back to the U.S. She uploaded the pics to my Mac.

I also got piece of the wonderful sour cream coffee cake, which I like just as much. As you can see, it's made with the same icing and dizzying quantities of cinnamon as the rolls. I will finish it before the day is out, guaranteed.

I'm so disappointed! I wanted to take you all to the Santa Fe Farmer's Market this morning, but when I got there I found an empty lot and a lone flyer stating the the market was cancelled for the holidays and will resume normal hours next week. The Farmer's Market here is superb; it's been around since the 60's and there are quite a few well-known chefs that live in Santa Fe and create a lot of positive buzz around the both the market and Slow Food Santa Fe (Deborah Madison, Bill Jamison and Cheryl Alters Jamison...). I've been to a couple of Slow Food Santa Fe events that were a lot of fun. I also really like and admire Kate Manchester, who is the publisher of Edible Santa Fe and a great source of information for current local events. To cheer myself up afterwards, I went to Counter Culture for pastries and coffee. The cinnamon rolls at Counter Culture are absolutely amazing. I am not a fan of frosting and usually remove it from cake, but the rolls are smothered in a salty, buttery glaze that immediately melts in your mouth on contact. It's not too sweet, and smells so strongly of vanilla that it makes me teeth ache just thinking about it. It's the only icing in the world that I do not tire of. The rolls have the added virtue of inexplicably being just as moist on the outside as the soft little dough baby within. How do they do it? The texture is amazing; flaky like a croissant and appreciably tender. I've decided that eating a cinnamon roll is a story that should be told in chapters: I have converted many a sugar teetotaler with these, but I am still the only person I know who will glady eat a whole one in a single sitting.

Vermints? ← I am going to accept Vermints as close enough, though the answer is Altoids! Bravo.

Bzzz. Guess again!

Mezcal flight. 112, 113, and 114. A Silver Spur: Taco plate (beef): And my usual; the vegetarian combo plate, Christmas. The veggie plate consists of a relleno, a blue corn enchilada, a bean taco and a corn tamale. Rice and beans on the side. Sopaipilla, honey:

Dinner was at Maria's tonight. It was packed again, but we had a table reserved. Salsa : Guacamole (they brought out the guacamole salad by accident rather than the guacamole starter, hence the random accompaniments like croutons and cherry tomatoes. It wasn't as good as it usually is. Way too mushy. Red chile barbecue ribs: The tequila and mezcal menuL The margarita menu; I know it's illegible but I wanted to show it here-- this thing is double-sided, mind you!

Here were the items that they wanted me to use up. Parsnips, spinach, a couple of petrale sole fillets, and some lentil and carrot dish that they made last night and weren't thrilled with. They requested a crunchy, breaded preparation for the fish, so it got pan-fried after being dredged in beaten egg, parmesan, paprika and panko. It came out well but I don't have any photos of the finished product, as I needed to remove the soup plates and serve the fish the moment it was done. Also not photographed: Israeli couscous I decided to puree the lentils and add extra seasonings, coconut milk and chicken stock. I was transporting some black truffle butter from Point A to point B in my tool kit, and would have added some in lieu of the coconut milk if I were cooking for myself... it's so pretty. Maple-rpast parsnips: Sephardic-style spinach with pine nuts, raisins, olive oil and Meyer lemon: I was in and out in two hours, including clean-up of course.

As I mentioned in my introduction to this blog, I recently decided to go for the jugular and begin pursuing, in baby steps, career moves in what I love best: food and cooking. I ended up getting a job cooking in the evenings for a fascinating couple from New York who have retired on a 25 acre plot of land out past Las Campanas. They were both once excellent cooks but for various reasons need someone else in the kitchen right now. One of the requirements for the position was a background in macrobiotics. The couple I cook for had been macrobiotic for many years, and are now weaning themselves onto a more moderate diet. Their only absolute no-no is dairy, so butter and cheese are out. When I was 21, I unexpectedly became very ill, and nursed myself back to health with the help of a macrobiotic diet, which I adhered to for the following year. For this reason, I am reasonably familiar with macrobiotic cooking. Today was very interesting. I usually speak wth my clients in the early morning on the days that I cook in order to determine a menu and shopping list for the day. Today, they wanted me to pass on shopping in favor of using a combination of leftovers and random things from the fridge that needed to be used. I always bring a tool kit of my own spices, oils, vinegars, and other odds and ends, so I was confident that I'd be able to come up with something. First, the kitchen: I always hit my head --hard-- on the kitchen hood. Every darned time. One of the disadvantages of being quite tall. Can you imagine a more beautiful place to grill? I grilled lamp chops out here last week. Brr. Okay, I have to dash to Maria's for dinner now. Will finish posting upon my return.

And if anyone can guess the "secret" ingredients that adorn the discs of Peppermint Crunch and Cinnamon Drops, you get major props.

Behind Tara's is The Chocolatesmith. I love this place, but they use E. Guittard 72% for all of their chocolates (with the exception of a couple that incorporate the use of white chocolate), so if you're a milk devotee, forget about it. Their use of red and green chile is so on the money that it never seems gimmicky, like it sometimes can elsewhere: They are also known for their "pates", which are sold around town, and are reminiscent of the popular Babybel cheese things with the red wax rind (but much prettier).

I needed a wee something to tide me over before heading out to my cooking gig, so I swung by Cloud Cliff Bakery to pick up a croissant and a cup of joe. Cloud Cliff is owned by a notable local character by the name of Willem Malten. From his bio on the Cloud Cliff website: I just noticed that the Aroma coffee slogan is "Coffee with an altitude". Haha. Groan. In the same little lot of studios is Tara's Organic Ice Cream. Tara's ice cream is available at Whole Foods and other markets in town, and I've tried about a dozen flavors since I moved back. This was my first time visiting the tiny factory/ retail store, which is where all the magic happens. Check out these flavors!

It's extremely hot. I woke up with a headache, and I've never been hungover in my life.

It's so beautiful outside today: I'll leave you with one final comment about last night before I head out for a few hours: DON'T!!!!!