Thank You Steve.
t says: Steve Jobs will surely be missed.
Matyson gets some new visitors.
t says: g was super-excited by an updated Matyson menu – but we hesitated in making a reservation … a and v did not … neither did kp. It was good though, because now we know whether or not we should go – here’s what they have to say about their [separate] visits.
kp says: I had the Pork Belly with Kimchi which was not okay. The pork belly itself was described as having some spice (gochujang); however, it really had no flavor and no definetly no heat. The cucumber kimchi was not kimchi at all – no sour or heat, just a cucumber that may have been semi pickled – and not even crispy. The cilantro was some kind of micro kind that again had no flavor. The only saving quality was the pork belly itself was crisped up nicely.
Now the entree was much better! Crispy Skin Red Drum Fish with black eye peas in a mild coconut curry. The skin of the fish was expertly crisped to perfection (almost as delicious as chicken skin). The meat itself was perfectly cooked through with delicate flaking. The black eyed peas (especially for a Southerner) was cooked to “just done-ness” (not mushy) with adequate flavors of hints of curry and coconut. The collard greens were not bitter whatsoever but could have used some kind of meat flavoring (bacon preferably).
I ordered the Coconut Cream Pie which was a heavenly dream. The filling itself was delicately fluffed and had crisped brown coconut that accented the creamy coconut. The macadameian crust was perfection with a beautiful full nutty flavor. The accompanying caramel was a nice sweet finish to each bite.
a says: Very good though v and I were not blown away. Many good flavors, all proteins/fish were well prepared, and they took some risks. However, the risks didn’t always pay off and we felt some dishes lacked harmony as did the courses of the tasting menu. Some flavors were from southeast Asia, some from the Caribbean, and some the near east – all quite good but not always coming together perfectly. I’m also pretty sure most would find the portions small. The tasting menu is a good way to taste multiple dishes and the whole table doesn’t have to order it.
cm+k do Amada for Resto-Week
cm says: some thoughts: overall a great meal. one of the better deals in restaurant week as each person gets to order 5 dishes. everything was very good but the favorites are outlined here.
-gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp) – shrimp served in sizzling hot oil flavored with hot peppers, lots of garlic, and lime. seems so simple but the shrimp burst with flavor. k’s favorite dish.
-ensalada verde (green salad) – another seemingly simple dish but oh so good. spicy arugula, asparagus, fava beans, green beans, avocado, and a light, bright vinagrette. even in a meal of stronger flavors a standout dish.
-escalavida – a quartet of veggies served with thin toasts topped with herbed goat cheese. onions cooked down to sweet greatness, limey eggplant with a deep flavor (even though i typically don’t like eggplant), confit tomatoes bursting with flavor, and melt-in-your-mouth roasted peppers. delicious.
-setas a la plancha (wild mushrooms cooked on grill) – probably my favorite dish. it is amazing the texture and flavor wild mushrooms could add. not your typical button mushrooms. grilled perfectly and served with an herbed oil, i could have eaten a boat full of these. these stood up favorably even against seafood and meat, i really do think mushrooms can be so great.
-scallops a la plancha – also cooked perfectly, so tasty. not too soft, not too chewy, perfectly al dente. also served with herbed oil and lemon.
-esparragos con trufas – grilled asparagus served with a soft poached egg and truffles. the poached egg melted into the truffle to become a luxurious sauce topping perfectly grilled asparagus.
-pastel de chocolate – flourless chocolate cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate-hazelnut caramel – don’t really think i need to describe it to know how good it is.
okay so the “favorites” were actually 7 of the 10 dishes but that is how good everything was. even the other 3 were eaten up quickly andhappily.
great meal as usual with mr. garces.
t says: Agh, g and I have got get back to Amada …
j puts bacon everywhere
t says: If kp, j, and me had a fight, and the winner was solely determined by who loves bacon more, I’m not sure who would win. kp’s got the culinary mastery over j and me (he makes bacon-covered breadsticks), but I can claim that I ate a heaping plate of bacon 6 days a week for 6 months straight (and to be honest, it wasn’t even that delicious a bacon – it was at my college cafeteria). I’ve decided to give j a bit of an advantage of her own by gifting her a bacon-centric cookbook for her bday. These were her first attempts:
BFF ... beautiful from far-away ... (I'll give $1 to the first person who can tell me where I'm stealing that from - cast members not permitted to guess)
If you add mussels and snow peas, it's now considered "healthy", right?
j says: Okay so it is bacon and salmon poke (top picture) and pork tenderloin wrapped with bacon with mussels and sugar snap peas (bottom picture)
t says: was it tasty?
j says: sooooo good. i used salmon intead of tuna bc the tuna didnt look fresh. and i of course added my own variations. bc i didnt want to deep fry wonton wrappers so i used triscuits. and [boyfriend’s name] doesnt like regular peas so i opted out. and they didnt have fresh clams so i used mussels. you want me to blog about it? i feel like i will be more likely to do it bc it was good and i made it.
t says: lol – nah, go study or something. what’s the title of the book?
j says: I love bacon
t says: is that a statement you’re making, or the title of the book?
t steals the mic: It turns out that “I love bacon” is the name of the book. Furthermore, it is the center of some kind of controversy as it may or may not be a follow-up to “I <3 Corn”. Check it out. Corn? Seriously? I mean, I love me some SoJo corn just as much as the next guy, but unless it’s that corn dish from Fond, I have a hard time loving it even one-tenth as much as I love bacon.
What was the point of this post? Three-fold:
1) To show off j’s cooking skills.
2) To make kp salivate.
3) To make certain vegetarians queasy at the thought of bacon-wrapped pork (you know who you are).
If j feels so inspired, she’ll send me the recipe. If not, then you’ll just have to deconstruct it, yourself.
d strikes out on his own.
t says: After having gotten a doctoral degree, a new job, and a new apartment, d is going to start a series of culinary adventures which he will document on his brand new blog! Check it out:
http://baruffeast.blogspot.com/
We were there for a breakfast at his new crib (see the menu on his site). Quite delicious. Then he let me play with his camera. Surprisingly, he didn’t use the photo that I thought was hilarious.
Cute, right?
kp’s country kitchen
t says: kp cooked a meal for g, v, a, d, and me (and himself). It was friggin awesome. Here are some pictures and quotes/comments. But I need to apologize in advance. While my iPhone normally takes crappy pix (it’s a 3G people … not a 4, not a 3GS, a 3G!!), it did especially crappy this time. So absolutely no justice to kp’s food is done by these – sorry kp!!
App 1: "Hush Puppies"
A composed plate that features a swan-shaped hush puppy, a lamb kebab in the background (it's kind of like a lamb sausage but spiced/seasoned really well) ... and judging by clarity , you can tell that it was NOT take by my iPhone.
It looks like a pot of brown, but it is sweet sweet butter chicken, made with bone-in chicken. So delicious!
I am neglecting a picture of the palak paneer cuz my pic was so bad. v took some pics of the cookies we made. I premade some dough balls as described here and then we topped them with a variety of spices (ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon), dried cherries, crystallized ginger, etc. I wish she had taken pics of kp’s food cuz hers were WAY better than mine.
Pre-oven cookies.
Post-oven cookies.
d also brought some yummy sorbet which was a delightful way to cleanse the palate. He also man-handled all the dishes.
And let’s round out the evening with some more comments.
a says: Definitely the best Indian food we’ve had in a long, long time. The chicken was decadent and the hushpuppies were spicy pillows from heaven. And I thought the wine/beer paired well with such a wide variety of dishes (t interjects: a brought the majority of wine/beer, so his reputation was on the line).
v says: What an unbelievably fantastic meal! The unintended cost of eating at kp’s… needing to buy pants with expandable waist bands the next day!
back to t: I also believe that v was so full that she at one point remarked that she felt as if she was “muffin-topping” and/or “pregnant with a baby butter chicken”. a was surprisingly ok with the impregnation of his girlfriend by another man. This meal was delicious from beginning to end – a very typical occurrence at the house of kp. When we asked how long it took him to make the food, accusing him of “taking all day”, he responded, “no, just since 3”. Four hours of love went into the food, and you could taste it. g and d made no official comments as far as I know – more like sounds that were along the lines of “mmmmmmmmmm”. d was very interested, however, in the cooking techniques and spice mixtures – when kp revealed that he sending us each home with a mix of spices, you could hear/see the gears in d’s head turning. I anticipate that he will attempt to replicate/expound upon these dishes at future gatherings – but you got to be careful – although he’d never admit it, a lot of kp’s cookery comes from inherent knowledge that he might not really think twice about, while neophytes like myself will completely miss something if not explicitly instructed.
after dinner sneeze 