HappyLab

Turkey thighs braised with hard cider, bacon and potatoes:

I purchased my first bunches of ramps this weekend. First meal with them was fettucine with ramps, bacon, and a (barely) fried egg:

Spice roasted duck with leek bread pudding, both from Ad Hoc at Home:

I made the duck breast this weekend as well. It's amazing how much flavor it packs in with just a simple marinade. I served it with the leek bread pudding, which is also excellent. While some of the recipes are a bit fussy, the book has won me over; Keller knows how to make everything taste better than you would imagine.

You all continue to amaze me with your amazing dinners and beautiful photos. The other night, I at spaghetti with a creamy pink shrimp sauce, inspired by a Marcella Hazan recipe:

Has anyone cooked anything from the book yet? The book looks like a great read with fantastic pictures, but I'm curious how it compares to Donald Link's Real Cajun as a general cajun cookbook.

Squid ink risotto with squid and head-on shrimp:

Paella:

Last weekend, I made a gooseberry chutney that I served with seared duck breasts. I've posted the recipe on my blog: http://culinarystudio.blogspot.com/2009/07...ry-chutney.html

Pretty dish, well done. What was the acid in it to cut through the duck fat? How did the dish taste? ← Thannks! The acid was a fairly large amount of cider vinegar. I thought the recipe called for way too much, but it worked and gave the chutney a very nice tang. I also added a hefty dose of dry sherry. The chutney itself was great and not at all too sweet; some chopped rosemary helped to make it more savory.

Duck with gooseberry chutney. Served with sauteed beet greens topped with goat cheese and roasted beets

Scott Bryan is now chef at Apiary in the East Village

Roast chicken, roast asparagus, baked Rancho Gordo yellow eye beans:

Roasted monk fish with chorizo, sherry, saffron vinaigrette. Served with sauteed potatoes and roasted asparagus:

As I recall, Rhong Thiam was previously part of the Penang chain of Malaysian restaurants and is still co-owned by the Penang owners. It has been a while since I dined there, but I believe there are some holdovers from the Penang menu, so this may explain the noodles. However, Rhong Thiam is definitely a (very good) Thai restaurant, and the chef and other co-owner, Andy Yang, is from Bangkok.