Lunch!

A little snack from the Farmer's Market.

Bonne Anniversaire, Mon Chéri!

Happy Birthday Joelle! To celebrate I made our dear friend a tarte aux framboises with white chocolate. Bisous Joelle!

Practice Makes Perfect, Hopefully

Been practicing my dish for the competition. Since I had never made this recipe when I submitted it, I thought it was about time. The plate consists of Pastis-marinated pan roasted halibut, citrus glazed roasted beets, and crispy potato and creamed fennel napolean with a pomegranate-blood orange reduction. Of course a little horseradish and tarragon oil thrown in for good measure. It came out really nice, but still needs a little work before perfection. i also need to purchase a few new tools- my mandoline gave out on me and I melted my pastry brush on the first trial. The flavors worked well and I am very pleased with the overall dish.

Almost Famous...

Well, I made it to the regionals of the San Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef competition. The first round was a mystery box competition last September in which we received a sheet tray with a variety of ingredients and had 2 hours to complete a dish. I created a spinach crusted rack of lamb with herbed israeli cous cous, baby artichoke puree, and lavender oil and won with a score of 89. We had to submit an original recipe upon entering, which I will dish up 8 plates of this Thursday for the Pacific South regionals. I'll let you know how it goes.