Taste With The Eyes

10.12.2010

TASTE WITH THE EYES has a New Home

Please visit at the new site:
TasteWithTheEyes.com

Taste With The Eyes moved in February 2010, but I recently removed the redirect so old links could be accessed.

quesadillas florales

quesadillas florales

edible flowers and herbs harvested from my garden this morning

rose, geranium, lavender, day lily, marigold, mint

Once again I turn to John Sedlar for inspiration. After a most enchanting lunch at his restaurant Rivera in downtown Los Angeles, we fell head-over-heels for his Modern Southwest Cuisine. The chef serves tortillas florales with "indian butter," a spread made from avocado. Here, I take his idea to embed flowers into the masa and make decorated quesadillas filled with brie.

making tortillas

2 c. corn masa flour
maiz seleccionado y nixtamalizado
(selected corn treated with lime)

sprinkle 1/4 t. sea salt

add 1 1/4 c. water, mix thoroughly to form a soft dough

form masa into a ball

cover masa with damp cloth, let rest 5 minutes

take a piece of dough

roll between the palms to form a ball

cover masa balls with a damp cloth to keep moist

tortilla press

place a sheet of plastic wrap on the press, place one ball in the center, cover with another sheet of wrap
close lid and press down on lever

open lid, remove top layer of wrap

decorating tortillas

rose and marigold

rose, geranium and lavender

rose and mint

after placing the decoration, re-cover the tortilla with wrap, apply the press again

leave tortillas in individual wrappers until ready to cook

making quesadillas

slice brie, remove most of the rind

heat an ungreased skillet or comal over medium-high heat

add tortilla to the pan, cook about 5o seconds on each side

keep tortillas warm between folds of cloth napkins

cook plain tortillas, top with slices of brie

when brie starts to melt, top with a decorated tortilla

slice quesadillas into quarters

pour refreshing beverages
and serve quesadillas florales!

Project Food Blog

Competition Overview

Project Food Blog is the first-ever interactive competition where thousands of Foodbuzz Featured Publishers are competing in a series of culinary blogging challenges for the chance to advance and a shot at the ultimate prize: $10,000 and a special feature on Foodbuzz.com for one year.

Voting for entries on the first challenge will kick off September 20th, and contestants will be whittled down over the next 12 weeks via exciting challenges related to food blogging.

Entries are voted on by Foodbuzz Featured Publisher peers and rated by our panel of judges including: Dana Cowin, Editor-in-Chief of FOOD & WINE Magazine; Nancy Silverton, Founder La Brea Bakery, Co-owner Mozza; Pim Techamuanvivit, Author of ChezPim.com and The Foodie Handbook

Winners advance to the next challenge, including one lucky Reader's Choice winner who earns auto advancement to the next challenge (solely based on Reader votes; not applicable in the final round).

Join the fun! Follow Project Food Blog for contest updates and help us discover the next Food Blog Star!

(from Foodbuzz.com here)

Challenge #4: Picture Perfect

Challenge Prompt: Sure, you can take a pretty picture. But your task here is to go above and beyond and use photography to create a step-by-step, instructional photo tutorial. It could be anything from how to bone a chicken to how to make your favorite recipe, but your photos need to guide the reader through the steps.

UPDATE:

Votes may be cast now through Oct. 14th. If you are a fan of quesadillas florales, please vote here! Muchas Gracias!

6.23.2010

Cooking Charlie Trotter's Vegetables - Sublime!

Black-Eyed Peas with Haricots Verts

Baby Spinach and Baby White Potatoes

Spicy Curry Emulsion

now @ the new site!

6.21.2010

Eggplant & Spiced Lamb Napoleon

Grilled Eggplant Layered with Spiced Lamb

Roasted Tomato, Feta, Mint

Happy Summer Grilling!

now @ the new site, see you soon!

TasteWithTheEyes.com

6.11.2010

"VEGGIE" GIVEAWAY for Blog's 3rd Anniversary!

Please come help me celebrate Taste With The Eyes

3rd Anniversary!

I've cooked up a unique dish of

Grilled King Trumpets & Shishito Peppers.

And I'm holding a GIVEAWAY for Charlie Trotter's Vegetable's,

the most awe-inspiring vegetable cookbook.

Now @ the new site!

6.06.2010

Steamed Salmon Spinach Salad, Meyer Lemon Cream

Fresh Youngs Bay Spring Chinook Salmon

Baby Spinach, Meyer Lemon Wheels,

Toasted Pine Nuts, Cherry Tomatoes, Kalamata Olives

Meyer Lemon Cream, Parsley Garnish

now @ the new site!

5.31.2010

Springtime Jazz Feast

SUNKEN CITY SUPPER CLUB

FRESH, LOCAL & (not so) SECRET (anymore)

presents

The Lusty Month of May: Springtime Jazz Feast

Our Sunken City Supper Club events feature live music, and awesome location, and a five course fixed menu plus a our signature amuse bouche and unique sherry courses.

now @ the new site

5.29.2010

oloroso sherry/ mini bundt cake/ marcona almonds

One of the signatures of our Sunken City Supper Club events is a Sherry Course. We’re in love with Sherry!

We tested this mini sherry Bundt cake with sherry glaze, garnished a sprig of rosemary, paired it with roasted and salted Spanish Marcona almonds as we sipped Oloroso sherry.

Bingo!

Sweet, salty, crunchy, nutty, creamy, toasty…

now @ the new site

5.27.2010

HeArT-HeAlThY Mango Tapioca Verrine

now @ the new site

5.23.2010

Smoky Braised & Grilled Lamb, Anise Ginger Sauce

Cross-cut Lamb Shank braised until tender

in tamari, water, ginger, star anise, garlic, and sugar.

Finished on the grill and served with

a velvety aromatic sauce made from the braising liquid.

please stop by the new site for the recipe!

5.16.2010

Dreamy Meyer Lemon Salad with Edible Violas

Belgium Endive, Mixed Baby Lettuces,

Garden Fresh Italian Parsley, Violas

Fava Beans, Thinly-Sliced Meyer Lemon Wheels,

Toasted Pine Nuts, Kalamata Olives

Dressed with Meyer Lemon Cream

now posted @ the new site

5.08.2010

Lamb Rack Chops, Agave Mint Sauce

Lamb Rack Chops over Toasted Baguette topped with a Slice of Brie

Rice Wine Vinegar Blue Agave Mint Sauce and Walnuts

I am entertaining a house guest. His name is Stanley Lambchop aka Flat Stanley. So, lamb chops are naturally on the menu!

Darko, the most awesome butcher, was happy to play along and show Flat Stanley with the lamb chops!

South Shores Meat Shop

2308 S. Western Avenue

San Pedro, CA

read all about it at TasteWithTheEyes.com

5.03.2010

Broccolini, Chickpeas, and Harissa

Yesterday I wrote about this Tunisian red-chile-pepper paste as a marinade for swordfish. Here the Harissa is tossed with broccolini and chickpeas, giving this simple pairing of a vegetable and beans a spicy exotic flavor.

Now posted @ the new Taste With the Eyes!

4.27.2010

tapas & sherry @ julian serrano

On this night we sat at the bar at Julian Serrano in the Aria Resort & Casino. Color, food, people, energy! Serrano wanted his eponymous restaurant to offer flexibility and comfort to all guests; from a quick bite to a long meal, small bites to larger portions, and what he calls economics – spend a little or spend a lot, todo bueno!

now posted at TasteWithTheEyes.com

4.24.2010

High Fiber Pasta e Ceci, Soup-Style

I hope you stop by the new site soon, and share your version of chickpea soup!

4.21.2010

EATING CHICAGO (my kind of town)

View from NoMI

Please stop by the new site and take a look at some awesome

Chicago restaurants...then tell us about your favorites!

4.15.2010

Heart Healthy Spaghettini, Lemony Tofu Ricotta

Whole Wheat Spaghettini

Vegetable Protein Italian Style Sausages

Spicy & Garlicky Green Chard

Lemony Tofu Ricotta

now @ the new site!

4.12.2010

Tradition! The Brisket! Tradition!

Tomato Onion Brisket

now posted @ the new site!

Julia Child Quotes - TOUJOURS BON APPETIT!

“You should never apologize at the table. People will think, ‘Yes, it’s really not so good.'"

"In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport."

"It's easy to get the feeling that you know the language just because when you order a beer they don't bring you oysters." Paul Child on speaking French

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate. "

"Life itself is the proper binge."

"It was a Morsel of Perfection."

"I was in pure, flavorful heaven at the Cordon Bleu."

Julia Child sees herself on TV, July 1962, she saw room for improvement, and still she can say it was fun : "There I was, in black and white, a large woman sloshing eggs too quickly here, too slowly there, gasping, looking at the wrong camera while talking too loudly and so on...But it had been fun."

She has her own opinions on kitchen equipment: "Clairborne sniffed at our use of a garlic press, 'a gadget considered in some circles to be only one cut above garlic salt or garlic powder.' I happened to like garlic presses..."

Understanding Julia's captivation by French food: "This is the kind of food that I have fallen in love with: not trendy souped-up fantasies, just something very good to eat. It was classic French cooking, where the ingredients have been carefully selected and beautifully and knowingly prepared. Or, in the words of the famous gastronome Curnonsky, 'Food that tastes of what it is.' "

"You never forget a beautiful thing that you have made. Even after you eat it, it stays with you - always." Julia's instructor, Chef Bugnard at Le Cordon Bleu

"Oh, 'crise de foie,' that French sole was so delicious!"

Julia's passion comes through loud and clear as she describes a fish dish: "La Truite's true glory was the Sole a la Normande, a poem of poached and flavored sole fillets surrounded by oysters, and mussels, and napped with a wonder-sauce of wine, cream, and butter, and topped with fluted mushrooms. 'Voluptuous' was the word. I had never imagined that fish could be taken so seriously, or taste so heavenly."

Julia's unique way with words, on Crepes Suzette: "The creature named Suzette may or may not have been the mistress of the Prince of Wales, but whoever she was, she long ago inspired a magnificent dessert that is still one of our favorites."

"I am probably one of the few people around who saw the real Caesar Cardini making his salad. I was about 9 when my parents took me to his restaurant in Tijuana. They were so excited when big jolly Caesar himself came to the table to make the salad. And it was dramatic: I remember most clearly the eggs going in, and how he tossed the leaves so it looked like a wave turning over."

"With a handsome package such as Jacques's, you can neatly cut the top open at the table with a pair of scissors..." Julia on Salmon en Papillote

"There's no reason to be intimidated by the idea of making pâté. You can just think of it as meat loaf."

From Julia's dear friend Jacques Pepin, "You are what you cook."

"Understanding egg yolks will make you a master of hollandaise sauce."

Julia encouraging us not to be intimidated: "When you know how to saute your meat so it browns rather than steams, you're cooking. What's difficult about that? You heat the pan, you dry the meat, you don't crowd it into the pan, and you're browning it. Is that difficult?"

Food Quotes

"Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch."

Orson Welles

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are."
Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

"Chefs, as a whole, say yes to any project, fundraiser, or tasting because they have such a generous spirit."
Charlie Trotter

"Once you understand the foundations of cooking - whatever kind you like, whether it's French or Italian or Japanese - you really don't need a cookbook anymore. "
Thomas Keller

"I love to make people happy."
Wolfgang Puck

"Fish sauce is to Vietnamese cooking as olive oil is to Italian."

The Little Saigon Cookbook by Ann Le

"I wish, I wish lunch could last forever...waiter, bring us one more bottle of wine..."

Jimmy Buffett

"My philosophy from day one is that I can sleep better at night if I can improve an individual's knowledge about food and wine, and do it on a daily basis."
Emeril Lagasse

"Gordon Ramsay makes me laugh because he knows that I'm not a chef."
Nigella Lawson

"You know, when you get your first asparagus, or your first acorn squash, or your first really good tomato of the season, those are the moments that define the cook's year. I get more excited by that than anything else."
Mario Batali

"I always knew the importance of it, since I was three or four years old my mother used to feed me wine and water. I grew up with wine as liquid food."
Robert Mondavi

"No one who cooks, cooks alone. Even at his/her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, and the wisdom of cookbook writers."
Laurie Colwin

"Food is a central part of our lives. It provides the body with fuel and raw materials for maintenance, growth, and repair. It draws together family and friends, anchors celebrations and rites of passage, and sometimes soothes the soul."
Ethan Becker