The heartland

I'm finally unpacked and settled back into Vegas from my visit to Ohio. It was an excellent time; I got to see good friends and family, dine at interesting places, drink to excess, and eat a lot of amazing ice cream. It was also really, really cold.

I got to cook with and for my family, which I really loved doing. I also tried to mindfully absorb culinary ideas that are uniquely "Columbus" to me. The food scene in the city is getting interesting, there were a plethora of new restaurants to try on this visit. Tomorrow I'll organize some more pictures and report back on the highlights of our eating adventures.

I was pretty happy with the Christmas day menu I prepared for my family; I believe they enjoyed eating it as well. My mother made her incredibly addictive bread rolls and some cookies, and Michael pitched in as Sous for the day.

Baked French Brie with caramelized onions, we served it with a ruby Port reduction.

The goose was free-range and organic from the North Market. I stuffed it with lemon, thyme, and some of the trimmed fat, then scored the skin and roasted it. I used the heart, trimmings, and gizzards to flavor a rich gravy. The skin was incredibly crispy and delicious.

Golden potato puree, loaded with butter.

And Brussels sprouts with hazelnuts and apple wood smoked bacon.

Cooking for people you love is always a huge pleasure, and I really enjoyed spending the day with my parents and everyone else preparing this meal.

By the time I post this, it will be 2011, so happy new year, everyone. This past year has been unbelievable for me, and with my upcoming voyage to Spain, 2011 in looking pretty awesome as well. I'm really, really excited about it.

Adios!

The Cosmopolitan and a brief journey to the City by the Bay

I know my blogs are less frequent lately, but this will cease soon, I swear. Just bear with me for the next couple weeks while I enjoy some family and friend time in Ohio. I'll post- I just can't guarantee a timeline.

On Sunday night, Michael and I ventured out to the new Cosmopolitan casino in City Center. It has a really interesting interior, below is a picture of the "chandelier"; two levels of alcoholic bliss ensconced within flowing tendrils of strung crystal. It's really gorgeous; it hangs about 3 stories high, terminating in a point on the gaming floor, nice touch.

The Cosmopolitan has a ton of new restaurants in it, a nice coffee shop, and a gourmet food store that sells artisan cheeses and salumi, cookbooks and the like.

Our original intention was to visit one of Jose Andres' new restaurants, but neither was open yet, so we decided to check out a burger/sausage joint called Holstein's next to the giant chandelier.

They have a decent selection of very reasonably priced (for Vegas) beers and cocktails, along with a formidable list of milkshakes. We split this S'mores milkshake with spiced rum, graham cracker crumbles, and a toasted, home-made marshmallow. Um, yum!

Our first appetizer was lobster mac n' cheese with taleggio and black truffle. It was served with a mini lobster BLT on the side. The mac n' cheese was really awesome, I was thrilled to have huge chunks of perfectly cooked lobster in every bite.

Our burger had tomato confit, arugula, and caramelized onion, and was very moist and tasty. We got duck fat fries, they came with a bonus topping of fried onion and pepper strings. The fries came out tepid, but still tasted good, and I'm willing to deal with the bumps of a just-opened restaurant.

The pork belly buns had great texture and flavor, I really wish they had a bit of sriracha, though.

The Tuscan sausages were good, but I was hoping for a more sandwich-type deal, like Wurstkuche. They had crisped proscuitto on top and a nice arugula salad on the side.

The lobster mac n' cheese and the burger were the stand outs of the meal, and I felt like we got good value for our money.

Monday night I hopped on a last minute flight to San Francisco to make an afternoon appointment at the Spanish consulate for my visa. In the process, I got to spend time with my great aunt, which was a really nice experience.

Earlier this evening, I flew back to Las Vegas, and tomorrow afternoon I'm flying to Ohio. It's a busy kind of week.

Until next time,

Adios!

Post-cold update

Well, I'm finally over the cold I picked up on my flight back from Ohio, and since I've essentially spent the last week sleeping and whining while wrapped in blankets, I haven't done anything interesting.

In apology, here's a cute picture of one of my brother's puppies:

Now that I'm feeling better, I've been working on my Spanish, getting everything together for my trip, and just finished my last final exam today.

I still have to get the student visa for Spain, but according to the consulate, the next available appointment is January 10th, and it takes 3-6 weeks for them to process it. Also, I have to go to San Francisco to get it... adventure time! The awesome people at Sammic are trying to get in touch with the consulate though, to see if there's any possibility of getting an earlier appointment.

As far as plans for the immediate future, I'll be in Ohio again for the holidays from the 22nd to the 30th, and I plan on eating a lot more Jeni's ice cream this time around. I may even hit a PRK (er, punk rock karaoke... I know, I know) at Circus, where some of my friends work. (They were recently featured on the Heartland episode of Anthony Bordain's "No Reservations") And there will probably be other visits to some of my old haunts, should be a fun time, especially since the tone of the trip will be celebration as opposed to mourning.

A new casino just opened up in City Center, the Cosmopolitan, and there are two restaurants from Jose Andres in there, so I would like to try to visit one this weekend. We'll see how it all works out, though.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Adios!

Julian Serrano

On Tuesday night, Michael decided that he wanted to take me out to dinner, an offer I of course, couldn't refuse. He let me pick- I decided we should try out Julian Serrano's newer restaurant in Aria on the advice of my sommelier instructor.

The restaurant is very pretty inside, but I couldn't quite place a theme for the decor. The tile work and fairly surreal "trees" around the bar area gave it a really unique look.

Julian Serrano is originally from Madrid, and he has another restaurant here in Vegas, Picasso in the Bellagio.

We started with a selection of Spanish cheeses, including Cabrales, Manchego, Cana de cabra, and La Serena. The cheeses were served with fig preserves and crusty bread. My favorite was the La Serena, it's a very soft sheep's milk cheese.

The next course was tuna with "molecular" raspberry, little squares of ahi tuna rolled in sesame seeds, and topped with a very intensely flavored cube of raspberry. I would wager that they pressed fresh raspberries for the juice, then thickened it with a bit of agar agar, then cut it into squares, but I'm not 100% sure. They were good, though, the raspberry with the tuna was odd at first, but they played well together. I liked the wasabi salt they served in the corner of each compartment.

Then there was lobster with "molecular" pineapple, I assume stabilized in the same way as above. I really liked these; the pineapple had a nice roasted flavor to it, and was very smooth with just a little bite to it. The lobster was perfectly cooked, and the sesame oil went really well with the fresh pineapple flavor. The aroma of this skewer was really complex and appealing, sweet, roasty, earthy... the flavor came in waves. Really nice dish.

Pintxos? Of course! House-made chorizo on mashed Yukon gold potatoes. I could eat many of these.

And a huge dish of paella for fun. The flavors were really intense, I especially loved the peppers with their sweet burst. This version was made with sausage, chicken, and rabbit.

I should probably add that the service at Julian Serrano was impeccable, the waiters were friendly and accommodating, everything came out in perfect order, and they had an excellent selection of Spanish wines by the glass. I really thought this restaurant was a great value, I highly recommend it to anyone swinging through Vegas.

We decided to head to Jean-Phillippe patisserie for dessert, just because they're amazing. Above is a super-rich carrot cake mostly comprised of cream-cheese icing. Yum.

The pumpkin cheesecake was really good, the shell around it is white chocolate. The tiny marzipan pumpkin on top was adorable.

This chocolate deal was my favorite of the desserts, though. A deadly combination of chocolate pate choux, chocolate pastry cream, ganache, and several other forms of chocolate, it had everything; crunchy/smooth textures, rich/light flavors, great looks...

And a millefuille, but this one was sugar-free. I was really impressed though, I would have never guessed it was sugar free. The raspberries on top with the crumbled pistachios really made it for me.

I have only one more project and two more final exams to go before I can relax prior to my overseas voyage. Unfortunately, I also picked up a cold in Ohio (I think that's where it came from) so for now all I feel like eating is warm tea with honey and maybe a fruit smoothie, my throat feels really awful. I'm hoping this clears up before I have to do any wine tasting. It's getting slightly better, but I'm still not up to par.

Adios!

A rehash of the week

This past week was a bit strange for me, and I apologize for not updating sooner. But between final exams, my grandfather's passing, and a last-minute trip to Ohio, I haven't been able to muster up any creative words.

So, this shall be a quick recap of "Last Week in Food", and then I'll get back into my normal blogging schedule. Being done with a 20 page research paper on the history and impact of French cuisine is also freeing up a lot of time.

Last Wednesday, as a kind of belated Basque Stage victory dinner, Michael and I went back to RM Seafood for another go at some tasty fish. This time, he agreed to try sushi, another big win. Above is a spicy roll with crab, yellowtail, and tuna, with some kickin' spicy Sriracha mayo. After this dinner, boyfriend declared "from now on, if you say it tastes good, I'll try it.", which opens him up to a beautiful world of organ meats and raw fish. ~Sniff~ I'm so proud!

He also really enjoyed this beautiful duo of tuna, tartar and lightly seared, with ponzu and cucumber. This was really a nice execution- I liked how both versions of tuna were fused into this dish, really making the fantastic texture of the fish the focal point.

On Thursday evening, I flew into Ohio to be with my family. Friday night, my father, mother, Isis and I went out for sushi in Columbus,. I enjoyed the tempura soft shell crab, and a nice selection of nigiri. (Any kind of fried seafood + lemon = awesome)

My brother arrived later on Friday night, and we snacked and had some beers at Tip Top, on Gay street in downtown Columbus. The bar is Ohio-themed, and features Midwestern fare, stuff like these crispy, sweet-spicy corn fritters, that went really well with the great list of micro-brew beers at excellent prices.

After the service on Saturday, a big group of about 15 of us went to Cap City fine dining on Olentangy River Road. It was great to have so many family members around the table, I had the most incredible time. And I'm also now very impressed by my family's ability to hold their liquor...

Anyway, the pecan crusted pork chops were excellent, very moist and with a satisfying, nutty crunch. I also enjoyed a Rouge Dead Guy Ale (micro brews are a ridiculous value in Columbus- $4.50? That beer would be at LEAST $7-$12 out here) and ahem, a delicious wave of hot buttered rums.

I wish I could have seen my family under happier circumstances, but I'm glad I got to spend time with them regardless. So many people congratulated me on Basque Stage... they're all really proud. I got to hear some really amazing stories about my grandparents from my aunts and uncles, and I think I've convinced them to start putting some of these stories together so we can keep them for future generations. My grandparents- and by extension their children- really lived and experienced some extraordinary things, and their spirit of restlessness, adventure, and family has really shaped who I am today. My grandparents are both very missed, and they both made a big impact on many people's lives, far more than they would ever have guessed.

I hope to carry on with their spirit of adventure, and I know they would have been really proud of me. Every time I do something that I'm proud of, my grandmother is the first person to flash into my head, she really believed in me and what I'm doing, and several people have told me that towards the end, she loved to talk about my cooking and how excited she was for me. Whenever I have a moment's doubt, the thought of her forces me to push through and really strive.

Well, now I'm teary-eyed again. Tonight, I have to make a quick appearance at class, then we're going to dinner, something nice. I'm going to attempt to get reservations at Julian Serrano in Aria... my sommelier instructor highly recommended their tapas and paella...

Adios!

In rememberance

Kenneth and Joanne Thickstun. I love you both.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the traditional food, sharing a meal, and connecting with family.

For the past several years, we haven't really been able to celebrate it as much as I would like. When we first moved to Las Vegas, we didn't know very many people, and we've spent the holiday either working, or making way too much food for two people.

But this year was awesome. We came out to Los Angeles to celebrate with my brother and his wife, who cooked up a feast. Surprisingly, I wasn't on kitchen duty, but I did supply wine and desserts. It's nice to have someone else do the cooking every once in a while, and Kristine did a great job.

After dinner, we relaxed and watched a movie, then took a walk down to the beach and had some cocktails at a local bar.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I've been really fortunate, and I've been able to do a lot of traveling and had some amazing experiences. I have a great family, and I have so much more to look forward to next year with Basque Stage.

There were some rough times too; the death of my grandmother was a major blow to me, but if she were here now, I'm sure she'd be really proud.

I hope everyone else had as wonderful a holiday as I did.

Adios!

Spain!

I'm still reeling from the news that I won Basque Stage. I'm so excited and happy, I haven't been able to stop smiling for the last two days.

Last night I celebrated with a bottle of Rioja, and made a nice pasta with a Piment d'Espilette infused sauce.

I still don't know the details about when I leave and all the other specifics, but I'm going to Spain!!

I'm so thankful for the judges and for Sammic and Martin Berasategui putting on this competition. This is such an amazing opportunity.

My next blog will be a bit more down-to-Earth, I swear, I'm just too happy to even think clearly right now!

Sorcerers, soups, and staging

For those of you who may not have heard, the latest Harry Potter movie, Deathly Hallows part one, came out on Friday. Of course, I had to see it. And it was awesome!

Anyway, before the matinee, lunch was required. We had originally planned on Thai, but we missed the window for lunch at Lotus of Siam, so decided to get Vietnamese food at Lemongrass instead.

Lemongrass is a charming little place here in Henderson. The location's a little strange; it's in an old 50's style diner building in a parking lot on Pebble and Eastern, not really visible from either road. But they have really great food, so I end up there quite often.

I got creamy Thai iced tea, the milkiness is always needed to combat the spicy for me. Plus, it's yummy!

Please excuse my spelling if I get any of these wrong, I don't actually speak Vietnamese... anyway, above is banh mi, a sandwich. It was made with home-made sausage, pickled vegetables, pork liver pate, herbs, and mayonnaise. Served on crunchy French bread, these are very bright and flavorful sandwiches, and a great bargain.

The egg rolls are made with ground pork, taro root, daikon radish, glass noodles, yam, and wood ear mushroom. You basically wrap the searing hot egg roll in a lettuce leaf, and throw fresh basil and shiso leaves in there, dip in a vinegar based sauce and have at it. They have a really unique flavor from the taro and a nice earthiness from the mushroom, brightened by the fresh bite of the herbs. I love the hot/cold contrast too.

This was a lemongrass and chile sauced chicken dish that Michael got, spicy, but had a great depth of flavor.

Of course, I got Pho ("fuh"), a noodle soup with sliced beef, in a consomme-like broth scented with spices. You spice it to your preference with jalapeno, lime juice, bean sprouts, and more fresh herbs, and a bit of Siracha or the mystery pepper sauce in the bottle at the end of the table that tastes great, but destroys you from within via capsaicin. This is the kind of tasty soup that haunts your dreams, the one you find yourself craving at odd times when nothing else will do.

Vietnamese cuisine is an interesting blend of Indonesian, French and Asian influences, and has unique flavors.

On the flip side, Jean-George Vongerichten's (man his name is hard to spell!) cuisine is French technique with beautiful Asian influences, and I staged at his restaurant in Aria again on Saturday.

It also happens to be one of my favorite steakhouses ever. Above is their wood grill, they use a mix of mesquite charcoal and apricot wood to grill their steaks.

I got to try a lot of the food, the short ribs came with an apple-jalapeno puree, apple and micro celery salad, and rosemary panko. Delicious, the puree was especially flavorful. I also highly enjoyed the miso and yuzu crust on the sea bass with maitake mushrooms, though I usually won't eat sea bass because it's not a sustainable fish at all.

The food there is fantastic, I blogged about visiting them for restaurant week about two months ago, where we all had an amazing meal. Being in the kitchen again was really educational, and I plan on going back to stage again some time in the future.

Now, I'm exhausted, and I have my sommelier class in the morning, so I must get some sleep.

Adios!

Basque Stage jury and Slider vs. Slider

So I checked Facebook just a minute ago, and surfed over to the Basque Stage page (as I do quite often) and saw that they had posted the names of some of the jury members.

All I can say is... wow. I'm shaking a little bit right, now that I know the people who are reading my essay and blogs. I'm humbled and in a bit of a state of shock.

Pedro Subijana and Hilario Abelaitz are representing from Spain, and THOMAS KELLER is on the panel.

Yes, THE Thomas Keller. He's... reading my essay.

I've mentioned before about staging at his Bouchon Bistro here in Las Vegas (two times now) and I'm going back in there to stage on Tuesday. I'm a huge, huge fan of chef Keller. His food is thoughtful and so exquisitely prepared, so much attention to the finest details...

So... I don't know what else to say about this. Working at the French Laundry has been my secret goal for at least 3 years now, a lot of what I do is in pursuit of the day so far off in my dreams that I could stage in that kitchen. I only hope that the judges can see my passion, see that this really is everything to me.

And now, on to bloggy things!

Wednesday morning was my Advanced Restaurant Desserts class. We made souffles... above is the milk chocolate souffle I had for breakfast. It was poofier pre-photo, but you have to angle plates a little bit to get them into the light box, so it was an effort to keep it lofty whilst turning the plate ever so slightly sideways.

I also made this mandarin orange semi-freddo, with caramelized hazelnuts and mandarin orange sauce.

But the real point of this blog; battle slider!!

This was of course, a self-imposed challenge, and the judges were myself and my boyfriend, but I think I held my own quite well.

Entry #1: sliders by Hubert Keller, the ones he made while I was working on the set of "Secrets of a Chef", his PBS television show.

Salmon sliders with smoked salmon (in lieu of bacon,great idea).

Sea scallop sliders with bacon. Chef Keller definitely wins hands-down on presentation, his style is beautiful.

After class yesterday, I saw this truck in the parking lot next to my school. Called "Slidin' Through", this is Las Vegas' only mobile mini-burger truck. They have such a great paint job, and the staff are super-friendly. This was the true impetus of the slider vs. slider challenge, I threw in pictures of Hubert's sliders because, well, they're so pretty!

On the left; feta cheese and tzatziki, on the right; caramelized onions, blue cheese, balsamic reduction, and arugula.

On the left; eggplant caprese, on the right; pulled pork.

I took a nap after lunch, and I awoke to a boyfriend who had gone grocery shopping. He had picked up a random assortment of goods from Trader Joe's, among them mini slider buns and organic ground beef. He just showed them to me and said "I think you can do better".

Mind you, the Slidin' Through sliders were really good, but this was a challenge I just had to accept. Plus, it involved tasty mini burgers. Boyfriend set to work making flavored bacon (by adding toppings, then slowly caramelizing them in a low oven) of his choosing, then showed me what I had to work with.

Voila. My entries into the slider challenge.

Up first: Caramelized onions (I cooked mine in duck fat, the most heavenly of fats), pecorino-Romano frico (crisp cheese rounds) duck confit, haricot vert, and balsamic jelly from Italy. These worked out really, really well. They actually tasted even better than they sound, not trying to toot my own horn here but; damn.

Roasted garlic, goat cheese, Fresno jelly (a super-amazing jelly made of red Fresno chiles... my secret recipe), Fresno bacon, goat cheese, and Dijon mustard straight from France. The jelly has a really complex, roasty sweet flavor, with a slow burn of spice. The goat cheese was a great foil for the spiciness, cutting it and mellowing all of the flavors together.

Cinnamon-laced Tuscan cheese, maple bacon, maple mustard (a mix of the French mustard and grade B maple syrup), and the piece de resistance; shaved Brussels sprouts, quickly cooked in brown butter and tossed with a pinch of Piment d'Espilette. I'm going to keep the sprouts in my arsenal for a while now... I'm thinking a big bowl of them with lardons and a poached egg would be an incredible winter salad.

Oooh, this one was yummy; sauteed tri-color peppers, jalapeno bacon, Gruyère cheese, French mustard and shallots. For the shallots, I cooked them the way we cooked red onion slices for a sardine salad when I worked at Batali's B & B; I cut thick rings, then seared them in olive oil on really high heat weighted down from the top. This causes the cut sides to be nearly blackened and caramelized, but leaves the inside of the rings with a sweet flavor and a hint of crunch. I had never tried it with shallots before, but it was definitely a success.

It was a day full of happiness on mini buns, and I was very proud of my flavor combinations.

I'm super excited to hear the Basque Stage winners announced on Monday, I'm nervous as well. This would be such a monumental step towards reaching my dreams.

Wish me luck!

Adios!

Another stage at Bouchon, and a late-night rendezvous at RM Seafood

Today I went back to Bouchon bistro, Thomas Keller's only restaurant in Las Vegas, to stage again. It was definitely an educational experience, and they asked if I wanted to stage again next week, so of course I said yes.

After my stage, I had a strange urge for seafood. My boyfriend hated seafood, but he said that he would try it (reluctantly) only if we went to Rick Moonen's restaurant here in town. (He became a fan after seeing chef Moonen on Top Chef Masters.) He had never before agreed to try it, even when I offered to buy it and cook it for him, he's a pretty stubborn guy.

So I decided that I would take him up on that offer, and to get there in time, we literally ran through Mandalay Bay to the restaurant. (The place is HUGE!)

He's now a convert. I love seeing the wide eyed look of wonder as people discover a new flavor, and he had that look on his face all night.

I didn't have my new fancy camera on me (I didn't want to leave it in the car while I staged) so you'll have to excuse the cell phone pics.

Blue Crab cakes. The crust was perfectly browned, and the crabmeat was barely bothered with breadcrumbs. The sauce underneath was a chipotle aoli (I didn't tell him that it was essentially mayonnaise, another thing he refuses to eat), and it was served with a jicama salad.

It's hard to explain, but Moonen has a way of adding a punch of unexpected flavor, in this case dill. It was assertive, but not overwhelming, and married surprisingly well with the smokey spice of the chipotle. The jicama salad added a nice crunch to the tender cake.

I wanted him to try crab in its simple glory, with nothing but a squeeze of lemon or a splash of butter, because it's my favorite way to eat it.

I had a zen-like experience once on Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, where I bought a freshly steamed dungeness crab from an outdoor setup by the bay. I put nothing but lemon lemon juice on it, and with a hunk of sourdough bread, it was one of the best, most simply delicious meals I have ever eaten. I remember timidly trying to get the first fork-full out of the shell, not sure where to start, and when that sweet, juicy meat hit my tongue I had an epiphany. I proceeded to tear into that delicious crustacean with a primal vigor, all thoughts of presenting a genteel facade went immediately out the window. It was me, a crab, a lemon, and the sound of the lulling ocean and humming crowds. It was bliss.

Anyway, I had to get him to eat crab like this, and I watched him nervously part the shell (it's a nice restaurant, no wooden hammers here) and dig out a bit of the meat, then delicately dip it into the drawn butter. When he took the bite, his eyes lit up, and I just smiled. Later, I tried to be nice and crack the end of the leg for him, but he immediately said "Stop! ...I want to do it.", then proceeded to tear into it with gusto. He later told me it felt primal... and I just smiled.

I had a lovely piece of Alaskan Halibut with carrots and celery root. Remember how I said Moonen has a way with adding an unexpected punch of flavor? Well, this time it was cardamom, and it was delightful. There was also a playful hint of chervil... a nice dish.

Michael had the best fish and chips ever. Seriously, those chips were addictive. The batter was crunchy and flavorful, and the fish was so moist and flaky... I'm most assuredly going to be back at RM Seafood soon, just to have fish and chips and beer. Awesome plate of food.

Now, he's a seafood convert, and I think he may even try sushi (gasp!) with me soon. I'm really happy he enjoyed it.

I wish I could share amazing food with everyone in this country, to show them how good things could be if only they would try the brilliant flavors to be found all around them. It's an adventure, an exciting experience, to discover new flavors and combinations, to see the myriad ways good ingredients can be prepared and served.

One plate at a time.

Adios.