Had a small catering gig this Sunday. Nice rustic menu

Roasted chicken with wild flower honey and Dijon
Broiled wild salmon with parsley pesto
Braised brisket in tomato sauce and veal stock
Roasted heirloom squash with tarragon gremolata

Had my brother helping out. He did great although his left handed knife skills are definitely interesting.


One of my new favorite food techniques, well not so new, is gnudi or ricotta gnocchi. They are called gnudi or nude because the texture resembles the inside of a cheese ravioli without the pasta. The preparation is simple but the key to a light and airy is to hang the ricotta. Hanging removes a decent amount of water and let’s the cheese achieve a solid texture without too much flour. The Gnudi are poached slowly in a basic marinara with plenty of basil.


My parents have been going to this place for years. I’ve Been a little snobby about going since I’m such a stickler about Peruvian food but I was more than pleasantly surprised. The side dishes (maduros, tostones, and rice) were adequate but the real stars were the incredibly moist roast chicken and the Ceviches. The green Chile sauce was intense. They should bottle it. Great atmosphere and some really tasty food.


Hanging out sippin on some bulldog gin.  Bulldog just made my
top three.  Very good and crazy inexpensive gin.


Clean, sturdy, and creative business cards are An invaluable tool to spread your business’ footprint. I shopped around and eventually was recommended this company. moo.com is a great little printer that allows you to use your own images and pick from a bunch of really well designed themes.  Check them out.


Had to pull some guerrilla warfare tactics to pull these off at work but they were well worth it.

When you want an Eclair, You want an Eclair!  Knowhatimsayinnn..!


H1n1 soup

26Jan10

Ok I don’t actually have the “swine” but I do have some sort of flu. The soup is a basic chicken stock with lemon,
campanelle noodles and boat loads of parsley. I feel better already.


New digs!

06Jan10

Just testing out the WordPress app for the Iphone.  This is my new “workshop”
and If all goes well with the formatting of this post I should be able to update
on the run if you will.  If only someone would code an option to add video.
Imagine the possibilities.


From Marcelo Dinner

Prepping for a small three course tomorrow. Details to come.

From Marcelo Dinner

For now, First Course.

From Marcelo Dinner

Broiled Salmon
Pumpernickel quinua
Preserved lemon
Mustard Bernaise

From Marcelo Dinner
From Marcelo Dinner

I just got my hands on some old school Julia Child
Episodes. I used to watch her on PBS as a kid and
those quirky and gloriously delicious moments of
inspiration are probably the main reason that I fell
so hard for cooking.

From fish and julia

I decided that I would do one of her classic recipes
and try out a couple of other antiquated but still
tasty recipes that I’ve been meaning to eat.

The first is Julia’s Pommes Dauphinoise

The recipe includes only three ingredients; potato, cream
and butter – Ohh and garlic but that’s optional.

From fish and julia

Let me tell you, there is nothing more luxurious. Having
a keen sense of smell, from trying to pull aroma out of
wine recently, I can describe this pretty accurately.

Truffles, Caramel, Vanilla, Crispy cheese and that lovely
smell of browned potato. Absolutely magical. Try it now.

From fish and julia

The next was beef carpaccio. This was one of the first
dishes that I made as a kid. Try to convince your family,
a bunch of well doners, that raw beef can be tasty. Well,
I did and they loved it. This is a less Mediterranean version
which is slightly seared and dressed with a yogurt sauce.
Much less pungent than the original so as to let the taste
of the grass fed beef shine.

From fish and julia

Last but not least, Beef wellington.

From fish and julia

A mainstay on classic fine dining menus, this dish has had a
many iterations but in my case I tried to stick to the classic.
Unfortunately I was unable to acquire any puff pasty so
instead I just threw together a basic pie crust with
a little extra water and kneading.

From fish and julia

Beautiful techniques that stood the test of time for a reason.
Get you’re hands dirty and try one out, you wont regret it.

From fish and julia