chefmd

Here is a sample menu from the Assisted Living floor.

I see patients in an adult (retirement) living place every other Friday. Clinic is done at around 5 PM. As I am leaving, I see vibrant and happy people having a drink and snacks in the lobby. Various wines, cocktails, cheeses of the world. Recently one of my patients requested an earlier appointment so they can get ready for their talk on Gruener Veltliner. Their cafeteria smells good and there are full kitchens in the apartments. Even assisted living floor has menus that are not boring. I will try to remember to take a picture next Friday.

This is an electrical samovar. The writing mentions the manufacturer Minmestprom. ministry of the local production, of РСФСР which is an abbreviation used for Russia as part of the USSR. 50 Hz, 220 Volt. item number. 25 rubles.

Yesterday we had lunch at Maido. You can order Nikkei experience which is a japanese/peruvian tasting menu (may be we will do it on Tue if I am not dined out on fancy food by then) but we chose to order from the menu. Tuna tartar on quinoa cracker. I wish Trader Joe's had crackers like that. Two different seviche. One in the rock dish is topped with fresh hearts of palm. Yum. I had sushi course. Dear husband does not like sushi. When sushi arrived, he volunteered to share it with me which almost caused a scene. I did let him have one salmon, one scallop, and one eel/foie gras pieses. Fat tuna was not to be shared with anyone. Oh, and the waiter tried to shame me for asking for soy sauce. I was so angry about sharing sushi at that point that one look at my facial expression sent him running to bring me a cute little soy sauce dispenser. Little goat dumplings and cui what I called "meat balls". Tasty and exotic. The best non sushi dish of the day: uni rice. It was creamy, tasted like the sea. The best seafood risotto I ever had! "Seviche" dessert. I am not a huge dessert fan and this one was only OK. Tasted like a slightly sweet yogurt.

I am not hard core as @rarerollingobject. My eyes are definitely much bigger than my stomach. Only able to eat one decent size meal a day while travelling. Today we went to LaMar for a late lunch. Potato, sweet potato, plantain chips with a few dipping sauces and a local beer. Small dish of crunchy corn. Mixed ceviche with some white fish, octopus, shrimp, scallops, huge corn kernels, sweet potatoes. Sushi roll topped with spicy tuna. Mango inside the roll. Dear husband managed to order the only non fish dish on the menu: chicken causa.

This morning I needed something to soothe my stomach after chicha morado disaster last night. Grandma always said that rice is good for it. So we had aroz chaufo at the market. So far so good...

Watching sunset last night while sipping chilcano on our balcony.

And of course I had to make a rookie mistake of drinking chicha morada while walking around the shopping mall. As I was finishing suspiciously warm drink, I saw where it came from: a large container sitting at room temperature. Oh well, there are a lot of bathrooms in the condo that we are renting.

Lunch yesterday was at Rafael. We had a amazing waiter who is actually a chef from Portugal travelling from country to country working FOH and BOH planning to go back to Portugal next year to open his own restaurant. All the dishes that he recommended were excellent. I ordered tuna and foie gras dish a la La Bernadin on my own and it was hugely disappointing. Few pale slices of tune with few cubes of foie, drizzled with truffle oil. Should have listened to the guy... Tuna tiradito. Sole and scallop ceviche with sea urchin leche de tigre. Disappointing tuna and foie gras inspired by La Bernadin Super delicious octopus. Sauteed foie gras. Very generous portion. Sweet breads French toast with cereal ice cream for dessert. I suspect that ice cream was inspired by Milk Bar (Momofuku) but it was not credited on the menu.

A whole frozen suckling pig in a grocery store. The white spot is a reflection of the overhead light.

It is cabrito! And I hope to find it! Or as the menu above says: goat well accompanied

Back in Lima! Loved it so much the last time, had to come again. Staying in Double tree the first night and moving to the ocean front condo tomorrow. Lunch at ik restaurant, it was near the hotel. Pisco drinks because Peru. Pisco sour for me and Chilcano for my husband. Tiny quinoa cracker with quinoa and goat cheese bite. I wanted to try alpaca the last time I was in Lima but did not have a chance. Luckily, ik had it on the menu. Alpaca tartar. I love octopus and this dish was excellent. Mushrooms and quinoa. Two ceviches, scallop and paiche. We wanted cabretto for main course but it was not available. Settled for duck. Excellent first meal on this trip!

Cocktail looks like it could be Chilcano.

I am concerned that there may not be enough uni for you in that bowl. Or there may not be enough uni left in the ocean for me. Not sure which concern is more concerning to me ;). In other words, I am insanely jealous. Will follow your culinary adventure with great pleasure!

My son and I travelled to Mexico City for a few days. Will post photos soon. Delicious Mexian food, high end and food markets. Flying back all I could think of was what I was going to cook once home. Made chicken tapaka which is a Georgian dish similar to chicken under the brick. It is often mis pronounced as tabaka but it is named after "tapa", a skillet that applies pressure to chicken as it cooks. I used a skillet filled with water placed on top of chicken. The chicken is cut through the breast bone (and not through the back bone) before you apply pressure to flatten the bird, this way wings fit perfectly in a little indentation between the leg and the breast. Served with garlic sauce. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken_tabaka

I am an immigrant (to US) myself. Left USSR to have better life. Can't imagine what horrors these people left behind. Always so happy to see that anyone can succeed in the Free world if they work hard. And of course food does not require translation.

It is unpleasantly and unseasonably cold in northern VA today. French onion soup seems to be a proper antidote to this weather.

May be I am not using the word vintage correctly. What I meant was old cast iron pans. This is the only brand name one that I have, a recent thrift shop find for 28 dollars. Other pans that I have are no name. All of them are smooth, well seasoned and virtually non stick.

Lighly floured and seared queso de freir drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Followed by by steak seared in Wagner griddle. it is such a pleasure to cook in vintage cast iron! Served with the side of roared carrots.

First and hopefully last snow of the season in Arlington VA. Office is closed. The roads are fine but a lot of stores are closed. Whole foods are open and had lovely dry scallops and Mexican asparagus for me. Served with brown butter, capers, lime pan sauce. A glass of Savignon Blanc on the side. Who knew you could have wine with lunch? On Tuesday!

Lively very dry scallops with maitake mushrooms. Capers and brown butter sauce.

I would call it dinner too.

Tuna steak with roasted mushrooms.

Chorizo hash and egg. The sun is bright this morning!

I often ask thrift shops and yard sale people: can I have one (or four) more of whatever it is I am buying. Getting various and not always very nice responses to that. The lid has instructions that do indicate adding some water. Will report on the results later.