Happy New Year and thanks for your support in 2009! It was — and is — genuinely appreciated.
I raise a ‘virtual’ glass of champagne to you and present the last dish of 2009. It’s pasta with sardines, anchovy, fennel and raisins, among other things. Now don’t click off or wrinkle your nose at sardines and anchovies. This is a Sicilian dish that is truly delicious. With one bite you get salt, crunch, heat and sweet. In fact, it’s a dish worthy of New Year’s Eve and a glass of champagne.
Try it Mikey, you’ll like it!
It wasn’t until we were cleaning up from dinner and getting ready to put out the dessert that I realized I left one of the side dishes in the oven. I had prepped it the day before and all it needed was about 30-minutes to heat through thoroughly. So I popped it in the oven when the roast came out…and promptly forgot about it. The discovery was made a good hour or more after it should have come out. Suffice it to say, it was toasty. But was it salvageable? We decided to put it to the test and bring it back out with the family lunch today.
I’m in a semi-catatonic state today after several days of festivities (read: overeating and drinking). Aside from a few must-do things, I’ve had little oomph to do anything much more than tinker on my laptop so I made a few photo mosaics to share some of the special moments from this year’s Christmas holiday. Pictured here is the all-crystal tree in the lobby of the Fontainebleau Hotel, Miami Beach. I started the holiday season with a fabulous tasting dinner and wine pairing at Scott Conant’s ‘Scarpetta’ restaurant in the Fountainebleau. That dinner helped shape our Christmas Day menu — as did my recent trip to SF for the FoodBuzz Festival. Come see some merry photo mosaics…
When we moved to Florida from New York 15 years ago, we quickly learned that cold weather and snow are not really the criteria for the holiday season…and we happily dropped that notion! Goodbye boots, hello flip-flops.
Now, it’s Christmas trees and palm trees, house lights and boat lights, and sandmen instead of a snowmen; but, most importantly, it’s family, friends, good wine…and great menus! It’s a joyous time of year wherever you are.
In celebration of the holiday season, various cities in FL that border the Intracoastal Waterway host boat parades. Led by a fireworks barge, festively-decorated boats make their way up or down the canal and residents line the docks and cheer the parade…and some, like us, use it as an excuse to party! Who doesn’t love a party? Continue Reading
This post is a riff off my Summertime Eggplant Parm. What makes this technique really interesting to me is the deconstruction of the traditional recipe for eggplant parmigiana. Basically, it’s the same ingredients but served up in a fresher, more attractive and tastier way. Don’t get me wrong, eggplant parmigiana is delicious but by preparing it this way, you really get to taste all the individual flavors. I also like that some layers are cooked and others are crude. It’s a real taste and texture tease to the palate. Continue Reading
In early September I joined a group called Tastecasting. If you’re a blogger and media-savvy/socially-networked, this group is for you!
The way it works is restaurants invite the local tastecasting team for a ‘complimentary’ tasting…the quid pro quo being team members broadcast comments and photos to the social networks via iphones, blackberries and computers. We generally start before the event broadcasting our invitation and all-around “see you there” messages on twitter and facebook. It’s a hysterical sight when we get together at the dinner…in between bites and gulps, everyone is snapping photos and tweeting courses. Afterwards, we generally write reviews and post photos. I’ve made a new group of friends and we’ve shared some absolutely fabulous food and wine pairing dinners at these events.
Most recently, we were invited to a soft opening of Wild Olives by Todd English in Boca Raton. Continue Reading
This is titled “another” because I posted A Colorful Brunch about 6 weeks ago, with totally different items.
This time, brunch was served the morning after a big party…so I made Virgin Mojitos. I’m not a big believer in “the hair of the dog that bit you.”
I muddled lime, mint and simple syrup and then mixed it with chilled water. It was refreshing and everyone liked it.
Come check out the menu.
This post is more about concept than specific recipes. No surprise there, right? I tend to shy from telling you how much salt (or whatever) to put in your food. I don’t know how many people you’re cooking for, what their likes and dislikes are — and, based on the comments I receive, most of my readers are pretty damn good cooks. So, if you’ve been following FOODalogue for a while, you know I tend to tell you the ingredients and technique and let you do the math based on your palate.
Perhaps this post will give you some ideas for your next cocktail party. Continue Reading
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