apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I had the best meal of my life on my honeymoon at the gallatin river lodge (http://www.grlodge.com/)

It was a tenderloin that was soft as butter, a strawberry and goat cheese salad with honey walnut balsamic dressing, and ultra rich chocolate cheesecake. To die for!!

3 great dishes I've had for the first time this year: Enfrijoladas from Cafe Tacuba, Mexico City (made with rich bean sauce and the best tortillas I've ever had!); Bombolotti all'Amatriciana from Angelini Osteria, Los Angeles (rich yet light pasta dish made with guanciale--dried, salted pork cheek); Sisig made by a guest for post-funeral reception (a provincial Filipino dish I've never heard of until then, made with boiled-grilled-then fried chopped pieces of pork cheek and ear and prepared with vinegar, garlic and of chopped, fresh onions and chili peppers; served sizzling, it's spicy, piquant, salty and slightly sweet all at once).

Unfortunately the best meal I had this year was not one that I cooked. When I was in NYC this spring I ate at BLTSteak....was one of the best meals of my life! I have gone back once more since and it was amazing again!
The steak was something like $40-pricey but worth it.
Their popovers are soooo yummy too. Has anyone else been there?

This year I started baking. I have always cooked (alot) but I was never a baker. I have a new kitchen and more spare time on my hands and I am so excited about baking. I have made some great cakes, but my favortie thing out of the oven is still the first thing I baked... my dad's bisquits.....mmmmmmm.

Oh and there is this amazing Pizza place owned by these Italian guys in Frankfurt Germany that makes the best Eggplant Pizza ever. It is called the Juve and is a super thin brick oven pizza topped with Carmeliz-y roasted eggplant, parmesan shavings and a obsene helping of whole basil leaves......oh gosh.....

This is rather goofy and dumb, but I loved it -- for Christmas 2005 I made marshmallows. They were surprisingly easy to make. The whole concept of making something so... ridiculous, I guess... made me happy.
Recipe is on epicurious.com

i know i've said it before, but the dish i loved the most (and that i am the most proud of) is my "fresh" version of chocroute with spaghetti squash
fresh cabbage cooked down in riesling with smoked pork and spag squash served over some raw cabbage
simply DIVINE!

bestest things cooked in 2005 . . .

leg of lamb marinated in coconut milk and spices, grilled
(from Bittman How To Cook Everything), served with red lentil sweet potato dal and something else fabulous that is slipping my mind

chicken molé (with molé paste from Oaxaca) and poblano rajas con crema

"chicken with shoes"
it's in the Gourmet Garage cookbook, and involves fennel sausage and pepperoncino greek peppers

Hanoi shrimp cakes. One of the many great recipes in "Pleasures of the Vietnamese Table" by Mai Pham, along with lemongrass grilled shrimp and a steamed fish with a lovely ginger/cilantro/garlic/nucmam topping

and
xmas cookies

happy cooking in 2006 for all!

I just got a mandoline and "Washoku: Recipes From The Japanese Home Kitchen" by Elizabeth Andoh, so that's where I'm headed in '06 . . .

Has anyone else tried to make the Tunnel of Fudge bundt cake? Since the inventor of the bundt pan died this year, I thought I'd make it for my New Year's get-together. Click my link for the recipe.

Also, I made Hoppin John yesterday for the new year . . . improvising from a recipe I found on the back of the dry piegeon pea Goya can.

i'm making hoppin john for the new year, too!
how'd yours turn out??

So I bought my very first little house last summer and, though the kitchen came without a dishwasher, I splurged and had one installed. It's the first time I haven't had to wash my dishes by hand since I lived with my parents! Certainly came in handy this morning when cleaning up the evidence of last night.

Best food-related decision of 05 -- to join a cooking club that has turned into a whole group of new, diverse, yet similarly sociable friends AND minted my sister a fiance who has weaned her off her previous diet of protein bars.

Best restaurant meal of 05 was at the Butcher Shop in the South End of Boston. Sitting at the bar sipping prosecco within view of house-made sausages and pate had a magically calming effect on me.

Best health-related food decision of the year was to shoot for the nine fruit and veg serving recommendation most days, up from five. I don't always (okay, rarely) make it, but the outcome has still been remarkable in terms of health, weight, and so on.

Karizma, can you tell me more about your cooking club? How does it work? Sounds like it could be lots of fun....

i bought a cupcake stand and then threw a party at which i served rose cupcakes with rose icing and edible flowers, white chocolate peanut butter cupcakes with chocolate icing and white chocolate piping, red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing, and plum spice cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese icing.

Confession: With all the gourmet gadgets we all seem to have, I bought a crock pot. Simply no time to cook and clean during a weeknight. Friends made me a memorable meal with a slow cook method. So here I am now owning a Rival. I happily spent New Year's Eve alone. Made my first meal. A simple beef stew. I felt like being humble. Garlic, red wine, carrots, shitake mushrooms and some fresh thyme and rosemary. Added some new potatoes. Drank Pino Noir. Two glasses. Stayed up late. Ended the evening with fresh hot chocolate with a shot of Creme de Cocao. Went to sleep like a Queen. Simple. Nice. May not have been the best I've had this year; sure was the most relaxing and fun.

Enrique, you ran across two new dishes that BOTH happened to have pork cheek?