I could go sentimental explaining how of a great influence he has been in my life but then that would be boring, predictable and corny, and in the kitchen we take blood, sweat, fight, anything but corny! not even when pastry folks do the sweetest prettiest desserts, we eat them like a man!

Now these pics you see here he sent me over a year ago and I am finally organizing some labels & filters on my email and found them, I  only added few colors touchings depending on how each pic made me feel.

I was going to write a story for the all the photos but I think it will be more fun if you the reader write below whatever story you feel like… more fun or am I just lazy?  ha! either way the point is Who says you can’t have fun with your food?

Stalk Chef Andy on Twitter @ChefAndyBennett

Usually when I work on these dinners I donâ€t have a station I just come to support the Chef cooking the garnishes or prepping and when the moment arrives I work on plating, and taking pictures at the same time.

Details that one would think are just meaningless become so important at the moment of the action, and by that I mean from heating up the plates hot enough the food goes to the guests deliciously hot, but not hot enough to burn anyone, sauces on the temperature, steady hands when you’re plating, follow the rhythm, don’t stop (most of the times for these dinners 6 cooks are working on each dish, one slices the meat, the other one spreads a sauce, etc), and then we put the plate on the window, and the Runner takes it to the waiter/waitress.

The process starts from the moment Chef decides whatâ€s going to the be Farmerâ€s dinner about.  This time I asked, “Chef whatâ€s the theme?”, Chef responds “Game”, I say “Yay” (then think, what do I even know about game).

I go home and google the word “GAME”, run the library to check out tons of books and people think Iâ€m some sort of crazy hunter who has lots of wild rabbits, squabs & buffalo meats at home.

For this particular dinner I didnâ€t suggested anything to Chef, I had my mind in other things and it makes me sad, but itâ€s ok I did ask for the Menu and he shared the draft with me, (in my little head I usually plan a Farm dinner and what I would serve to people).

At the end Chef always amazes me and I realize, yes Iâ€m creative and I think I have good taste, and I have read so much and cooked for so many people, but the life of a Chef, takes you where my boss is, developing ideas where it knocks your head off and you think, this is the work of a genius.  You know the person whoâ€s called Chef among the rest of the cooks has earned that name, not because of school or because he/she yells louder than the rest of the kitchen staff, but because that person, the Chef, knows his shit, and knows it well.

I used to think my best Sundays were the ones when I wake up early to make bread, or go and hang out with Family and cook for them and fool around, or even the ones I would play volleyball for hours, now my favorite Sundays are the ones where I go, watch, help and learn from Chef on these Farm dinners.

Thanks Chef.

Now back to work.
—

Venison Carpaccio, herbs, Pickled Ramps & Black Pepper Vinaigrette (1st course)

Join DCâ€s food bloggers for our first happy hour of 2011! Weâ€ll be meeting at Lyon Hall, a French brasserie in Clarendon.

Happy Hour deals include house-made franks & brats for $5,

$5 SJF Cocktails,

1/2 price Wine by the Glass,

$3 Session beers from Draft Beer Menu.

Weâ€ll be there from 6:00pm to 9:00 pm; Lyon Hall will be extending their happy hour for us until 7:30pm.

RSVP here.

Jenna of Modern Domestic and I are co-hosting this happy hour, and we can’t wait to have this first one with all of you food lovers, food blogger, reader or friends, you are all more than welcome, stop by grab a Frank & beer and say hi!

¡a comer!

A good friend from the Chowhound community always organizes such amazing lunches, and he is great finding a “a hole in the wall†type of places, this time we went to Golden Bankgkok, a Thai restaurant that most of the group have tried already, except for me and one Canadian Chowhounder that joined us today.

The way the meal started made sense, with the softest and sweetest flavors, getting us to sour & bitter lands to end our meal with hot, pungent spicy craziness.

We started with this khao piak sen (chicken soup with homemade noodles), everyone liked it and to be honest it was good to start, the starchy soup opens your appetite, not salty, a touch of sweetness and bitterness thanks to the crispy garlic.

khao piak sen

Now this dish rice paste wrap was so simple yet so filling, wrapping in romaine lettuce pieces of Thai eggplant, ginger, peanuts, tomatoes, this sweet & savory rice paste and sliced lemongrass. It was just combination of aromatics and flavors still you feel light after having so much going on your palate.

rice paste wrap

I was very excited when I saw this dish on the menu Orm Lam (eggplant curry stew with beef) and yes the beef was tender and had a great texture, but the flavour was too mild, perhaps Iâ€m comparing it to the Vietnamese Goat Curry Stew I had a couple of weeks ago at Eden Center, but this dish didnâ€t deliver much flavors but for a non spicy Thai food person, this is a safe dish.

Orm Lam

The Banana Flower Salad, had tons of citrus touches with cilantro, it was very balanced, I wouldnâ€t order a whole bowl for myself, but it is great for sharing if ordering as a side dish. As you can see on the picture everything is mostly shredded so I didnâ€t get to make a distinction between the banana flower and the other elements on this dish.

Banana Flower Salad

Nam Khao (rice ball salad with pork), out of this world, personally this dish didnâ€t impress me on paper or when I saw it, then I had crunchiness of the fried rice (just as a good Panamanian Concolon!) then lime touches, cilantro, sweetness of the pork, it was heaven in my mouth and I could have had more and more of this dish, it is a must!

Nam Khao

Soup nor mai (bamboo shoot salad) I donâ€t even know if how to mention this, I feel terrible because my experience at this restaurant was really positive, this dish wonâ€t bring me down, and it wasnâ€t a matter of they missing something or poor execution, this dish was just Iâ€ll put it this way, I thought this salad was made of Durian, and I have never had Durian in my life, except for the candy my sister brought me from Nepal. this was serious, kind of smelly, I just tasted with the tip of my tongue and put a napkin and didnâ€t eat… some others at the table, as Chowhound warriors ate a spoonful and said it was ok but they couldnâ€t have a bowl or would order again.

The texture of the Koi Pa (shredded fish salad) threw me a little off at first, but its flavors were amazing, I am a huge fan of ceviche but I have to admit that the flavors on this salad were beyond the ones of a ceviche, it has so much going on without overwhelming the dish. there is galangal, lemongrass, touch of palm sugar that gave such complexity to the Koi Pa I just canâ€t wait to try it again.

Koi Pa

The Poon Pa (pounded fish) was just ok a little of the usual citrus flavors, lime & cilantro and the fish, nothing fantastic I can pass the next time.

Poon Pa

It was a revelation to try the Ping Ling (grilled tongue), you see my mother has cooked tongue so many times and even myself I have prepared it on dinners because of itâ€s demand by guests.  But I have never, ever even crave beef tongue, and yet I can still remember how I forgot to ask what dish it was while I was trying this Ping Ling I asked afterwards mentioned how soft and tender and tasty it was and someone “Itâ€s tongue Helena” and thatâ€s when I had this revelation, I had a slice of it without the sauce, and then with it. The bitter sauce I can live without tasting it for the rest of my life, the second sauce was amazing I even dipped my sticky rice in it, it was delicious, sweet, sour, citrus, pure tasty. Right now while typing this I want tongue and I want lots of it!

Som Pa (fermented fish) reminded me of a piece of beef jerky but with more texture and less chewy, it was another dish that at first sight I wouldnâ€t think it would tasty, but then this restaurant proved me wrong again with its fermented flavor and acidity it was another refreshing dish I would love many people to try.

Som Pa

Grilled Chicken the “Ping Kai” was served with a papaya salad which was really different and really HOT in compare to the ones I have tried before, it was not my favorite but I canâ€t say much because itâ€s heat was more that I could take, this dish was also served with a sauce that everyone called the soup because by itself with just some rice it was amazing.  Going back to the chicken itâ€s the closest I have tasted to my favorite kind of chicken the Jamaican Jerk Chicken, so yes it was as good as it sounds and as good as it looks.

Ping Kai

The last dishes Sai Oua (Lao sausage) it was nothing amazing for me itâ€s difficult to describe a dish that is safe and tastes just OK after having some disappointments and also so many great dishes at the same time. Forgettable is the word that comes to mind.

Sai Ou

At the end the kitchen sent a closing dish, it was a super ultra HOT past, I am not sure up to this moment what it was but it stayed in my mouth for a good few minutes, i tasted some sweet and salty but then the heat hit me like a bomb and I am very happy this was at the end of my meal because I wouldn’t have been able to taste anything after this dish.

A couple of ladies and I ordered white and dark Thai beers, I am not a huge beer fan but with this cold weather and so much spicy going on I would rather a glass of dark beer or I would suggest for non-beer fans, young coconut drink!

Rest of the pictures on my Facebook Page! CLICK

The next time I’ll make sure to check out their desserts!

¡a comer!

This month’s food blogger happy hour is at Northside Social!

The happy hour this month is hosted by Capital Spice and the Arugula Files.

Come and join us!

Northside Social is a coffee shop, wine bar, and cafe located in the Clarendon neighborhood of North Arlington and the people behind this great place are:

Alison Christ
General Manager & Sommelier

Liam LaCivita
Executive Chef

Rob Valencia
Pastry Chef

RSVP here.

This month Iâ€ve picked Bon Appetit mostly because I was taking a look at Barbara Fairchildâ€s book on the Cookbook section of the Books-a-Million Bookstore and well thatâ€s the magazine I bought and it was 4.99 plus whatever the tax is in Old Town Alexandria.

I think Iâ€m one of the few people obsessed with Food Magazines, theyt have everything I think about most of the time, Food, Photograhy, Design & stories, there is usually people behind each project working their butts off to bring new things, ideas and concepts, reinventing oldies, cooking I hope.

This is going to be a naked truth because I will be very honest. I think not even once I have tried a recipe from a Food magazine, maybe once a sweet potato brownie because I was starting a diet, and it was good, but I ended up serving it with whipped cream and ice cream so I broke the whole recipe goal. Shame on me.

This time Bon Appetit is showing several interesting recipes, and I will refuse to try a recipe thats calling for fancy stuff, at this point of my life I have almost NO money so I will do as much as I can afford, I apologize for this, to whoever reads my humble and unknown Blog.

So this it how it starts.

Wild Mushroom Risotto
Chicken, Vegetable and Dumpling Soup
Maple-Apple Pie with Walnut Streusel or
Maple-GingerBread Layer Cake with Salted Maple-Caramel Sauce
Beet and Carrot Salad with Coriander and Sesame Salt
Quick Coq Au Vin (very worried about this one)

Once I am done with this magazine I will count the recipes and hopefully make these or more or less before the end of October.

If you want to propose which magazine I should test recipes and read completely for November shoot an email to littleladycook@gmail.com and I will check it out.

Iâ€ll say goodbye for now, gotta run to work, 3 days more of work and then 2 lovely days off, hopefully it will be me, the kitchen and some volleyball if possible, they boy is going to NYC, long story.

¡a comer!

So this trip. I went with the boy.  As usual I have a thing for motorcycles and more if they are in big groups, I wonder what do they eat while they’re road tripping’

I did not know the Quantico exit takes you to FBI facilities, I also wonder what they eat while they are working in such a remote area.  But then again I would think they have a cafeteria, could I work there? By the time they finish with my background check there will be no FBI no more.

The plan was this, Chef Liam told me to visit the Farmers Market, and to do that without wasting time in traffic, I would have to be on 95 around 7am, and I did, I woke up around 6am, the night before I worked until midnight but still I woke up the boy and we got our things, some chocolate, some fruits on our way to Old Town Fredericksburg.

OK, so we arrived to this less than 12 vendors Farmers Market (few days after this trip Chef told me I went to the wrong Farmers Market, awesome!) so much for a weird Saturday off, and waking up so early, still had a great time and bought some things at this Market.

Farmers Market info–> 715 Princess Anne Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401 – (540) 372-1010

I tried this Pumpkin Cream Cheese Whoopie Pie, too sweet the filling to my taste, but good & huge!

I bought a Mint-Chocolate Plant, it didn’t survive more than 10 days, I surprised my starter is still alive, I pray to the God of the Bakers everytime I see it about to die. I can’t have a dog or a plant, if they don’t eat what I eat, I won’t feed them, shame on you JC!

This cute girl, sold us a Lemon-Blueberry Muffin at $1, it was nice, and she made it!

What am I doing in front of a Church you may ask yourself? Well it was very sunny, too sunny, the only big building giving a huge shadow so we took a break in front of it, no I did not go inside, it was closed.

Hyperion Espresso was our coffee break spot twice that day, it’s huge & comfty, it broke my heart to see they sell coffee from Costa Rica, why can’t I ever find a product from Panama overseas?

Their Menu, again I just had coffee, they boy had a cappuccino, we shared the muffin & the whoopie pie

So many antique shops, and weird shops, like this one, creepy & cute the perfect combination for a store!

Whenever I see a cemetery I look at the stones for the oldest person, 1815 was the year this time.

If you are visiting Old town with a bunch of girlfriends this is the place you want to hit for Tea, pastries & sandwiches, you guessed I was with the boy so no tea but pizza & cheese!

My favorite name for a Shop in this town!

Place I want to have dinner at the next time I visit!

Give me a break it was a Saturday off the first in a long time, we wanted fried pork skin & real Coke with real sugar, it almost killed us but it was fun!

This Pastry & Coffee place used to be a Church, it is gorgeous & have so many option for bread, pastries and it was so, but so comfortable & lovely.

Very nice Prive event, it was just starting and we were about to leave but everyone seemed so excited, I hope it was a total hit!

Loved the outfit! So much respect it was above 90F’s!

We asked many townees about where to eat, there was a French restaurant but we declined it looked too fancy for the kind of day we were having, so we decided pizza, and this is a place the boy wanted to try since he lived in Fredericksburg before and never actually tried it.

How was the Pizza and the cheese sticks? It wasn’t terrible, but if you are looking for an Italian Store version of pizza then this is OK, nothing for Neapolitan style pizza lovers.  I must add most of the college students who wait the tables are super duper friendly!

It was a great Saturday, we drove back and behaved really bad, we had a burger in a fast food place, try to guess where!  The lady at the Drive-Thru (hint) was adorable, so nice it made me forget I was committing a sin by eating such a burger & fried & coke.

I can’t wait to go back to Frefericksburg, every single person in this town was adorable, respectful, nice & attentive. Not that I am complaining about DC area folks, but trust me there is no hurry in a Saturday in Old Town Fredericksburg.  I like to think that everyone is in pause, waiting for me to go back and invite me over their stores, their tips of where to visit, to pet their dogs. I can’t wait to visit again.

This time visit also the right farmers market!

The boy is waiting for me at home, I have a long week coming seven days straight of work, plush the bread baking on the mornings, we also start brunch this week.  If I’m still alive after this week you will see me somewhere in Annandale, hopefully munching at A&J’s.

They’re kicking me out of the coffee shop so goodbye… for now…

¡a comer!

A very hectic way to start my day, we had to wake up very early, left home without breakfast but brought snacks with me at least and my sweet folks got me a water bottle to take along with me.  I also left home without my wallet but it was a good thing to have my Dad nearby; he brought me some cash so I am not penniless the whole day.

Arriving to the Hotel El Panama (where the festival is taking place), I am so excited to see everything set up already, I take a seat on the first row and there it was Chef Elena apologizing for the event starting passed the scheduled time.

Chef Collins started the Conference, explaining the “tomate de arbol” and how his family brought this and “naranjilla” from Ecuador, I got so excited to hear this that after the conference I requested him his email so I can obtain more information on this and I can write an article about it, he promised he will tell me the story.

He made a dessert of Tomate de Arbol, cooked them in water, sugar and lemon juice.  Used this juice to make a shot with vodka, and also blended the tomatoes to make a sauce.  Baked some sort of Baklava but a thinner version and cut them in very long triangles as you can see on the picture.  Then he made foam with the goat cheese and milk.

I wish Avi Barak’s presentation wouldn’t have been cancelled.  Maybe next year we will hear from his tropical flavors.

El Chicheme from Chef Melissa was a really informative segment, she shared with us a documentary she made on bollos and tamales in Chorrera, where the Chicharron Bollo was the star (a bollo is a dough made of cooked “old corn” that has butter and some seasonings, the chicharron is pork fried skin, it was chopped and mixed along with the dough).

Little details such as we wrap our tamales in Panama with Banana leaves and then Bijao leaves, you should not use aluminum paper, etc, where taken by the audience with a lot of enthusiasm.  She recommended to wrap the bollo in a Palma Real leaf, and after her presentation everyone went almost running to the Stand outside the conference where the lady who was in the documentary was actually selling those bollos, my parents loved it, me I didn’t try them, I had more ceviche that night!

Las Curbitaceas de André Lestienne, Pastry chef at the Club Union.  one of the thing I remember the most of his piece was the comment on how Zapayo came from Egypt, from there this Chef really surprised me that with the little time he has been here (I think less than 2 years), he has worked so much with tropical fruits, and really fell in love with them, I actually asked him about his favorite vegetables or fruits and he mentioned the “Chayote” I was in shock, he said it is almost like a pear, and I tought and remembered we usually use it for salads and that is it!  Now I wish I bought the marmalade he was selling at his stand.

(correction, the Chef Lestienne has lived in Panama for 12 years and he is the Executive Chef at the Club Union, apologies Chef! =)

Chef Elena (organizer of this event) and Chef Luis Young, these two Chef brought the Cocina del Barrio to Panama Gastronomica. I believe Cocina del Barrio translation could be “Ghetto Food” or something like that.  The food that comes out of a necessity to cover expenses, which is very interesting since my grandma has already mentioned me in the past how the days she didn’t have a penny in her pocket, she would ask for corn and work on empanadas and tortillas to sell, because she had to.

Chef Elena presented a video on Rio Abajo’s Saus (pickled pig’s trotters), and Chorrillo’s fried fish, though she explained El Chorrillo was a very dangerous area so she went to a different place to get the video shot.  They were both very traditional and I liked the touch of garlic the lady added to the Saus on the video, on the other hand I felt the fried fish was a different one than the classic one offered in El Chorrillo, still it looked delicious.

Chef Luis did a deconstruction of both dishes, Sous-Vide technique for both and on the picture I hope you can see the different way he composed his dish.  They looked interesting, I am sure because of the technique the flavors were amazing, though I am still not sure if I want my Saus boneless!

Another big fan of Chef Jose Andres, this was Chef Alvaro Perrino from El Bodegon, he may be the first Chef that I know who will have a tasting room in Panama, and it really breaks my heart I won’t be here by the time he opens it.  His theme “Nuestras Tapas” was a new take on classic tapas, without falling in the classic deconstruction he went with inspiration and smaller portions with cuter presentations, on the picture you will see how he served both gazpachos on test tubes, the Gamba (shrimp) was serve in a stick, the Tortilla Española was served in a shot and he also made potato chips explaning how when in his childhood in Spain he and his friends would go running after football to buy these chips, it was a fun presentation.

Everyone knew Chef Pedro was running a little behind nobody cared when he started his presentation it was that fun and hilarious!  Before his segment I was so tired but once he started talking it was better than a Capuccino with 4 shots of espresso.  He explained how he is self taught, how he doesn’t care about rules, he is just a rebel and I loved every bit of it.  I had so much fun I couldn’t take picture of his dishes, they were a risotto and a paella.

The last presentation, by the Chilean Chef Guillermo Rodriguez. He mentioned so many good things, how we have to work with what he have already, how when we travel abroad we should always share some of our beautiful and tasty gastronomy.  He took 2 traditional Chilean dishes who aftewards would never look again like comfort food.

Overall on the first day of this event.

I know I am quite late uploading this post, and I still have 3 days of the event to cover, but for now I can say that I won’t think too much about it and just enjoy the time until I get all my posts up.

All the pics are without name. if you have any questions sent me an email at littleladycook@gmail.com

¡a comer!

 

El día antes  del Festival Gastronómica decidí hacer pan Challah (pan de moña) con algunas amistades.  Trabajamos con lo que pudimos encontrar en el supermercado.  El Super 99 ofrece menos de 4 opciones para Harina de Todo Propósito, y todas son blanqueadas, pero el resto de los ingredientes los encontré sin problema alguno.

Una vez terminado el pan llamé a la Chef Melissa para saludarla y me invitó a visitar el Hotel para mirar tras bastidores todo el trabajo que se está realizando para la Inauguración del Festival.

Llegué y me tomé con una gran sorpresa ya que por primera vez he visto un evento culinario con tanta organización, incluso el tema de los Chefs suenan muy interesantes.   Trataré de tomar nota a los detalles más importantes que se den durante la conferencia y ver si puedo compartir con todos ustedes.

Conocí a las Chefs Elena y Cuquita, mujeres muy cálidas que aunque estuviesen tan ocupadas, aún así hallaron el tiempo para detenerse y dedicarme unos minutos para conversar un rato.  Espero poder conocer el Chef Phillipe y Luis Young antes de que acabe el festival, me he encariñado con ellos todo gracias al Facebook (por cierto deberían seguir al Chef Phillipe en Facebook un trabajo pastelero fabuloso.

—

The day before the Festival Gastronomica  I decided to make Challah with some friends.   We worked with what we found at the nearest Grocery store.  Super 99, they had less than 4 options of AP flour and they were all bleached but I found everything else I was looking for.

Done with the bread I called Chef Melissa to say hi and she invited me over the Hotel to take a look behind the scenes to the whole work they are doing before the big opening of the Festival.

I arrived and the big surprised I got, for the first time in Panama I saw such a well organized culinary event , I felt that way also because of the different Chefs and their subjects for the that will be presented.  I will try to take note on the highlights while listening to their conferences and share all of that goodness with you.

I got to meet Chef Elena Hernandez and Cuquita Calvo, very warm ladies even while they were super busy with their own projects.  I still hope to meet Chef Phillipe and Luis Young before this festival is over, I have grown fond of them thanks to dear Facebook (btw you should all follow Chef Philllipe, great pastry work!)

Chef Cuquita

 

Luego de las 2pm todo seguían muy ocupados y yo ni había almorzado, así que fue el momento perfecto para que mi amigo José Luis me llamara para saludarme.  Quedamos almorzando en el Causeway en Amador y ordenamos delicias. José Luis ordenó  Sancocho, cerveza Balboa y un Pulpo Al Ajillo con Patacones.  Por mi lado yo ordené un ceviche mixto y una Corvina Frita con Salsa Criolla, yuca frita y un Jugo de naranja natural que hubiese preferido la naranja no tan ácida, pero en resume todo fue fantástico así que si estás por el área de Amador y se te antoja un pescado frito, definitivamente que el lugar para ir es Mi Ranchito.

—

After 2pm everyone still busy and me with no lunch, it was the best timing for my friend Jose Luis to call me to say hi, so we ended up going to the Causeway in Amador and ordered deliciousness.  Jose Luis had a Sancocho (Panamanian style chicken soup), a Balboa beer and a Pulpo al Ajillo (sautéed Octopus in a garlic sauce).  On my side I ordered a mixed Ceviche and a Whole Fried Corvina Fish with Criolla sauce (some sort of refried tomatos, peppers and onion sauce).  It was all great, I washed it down with a natural orange juice I wished would have been sweeter overall if you are around the Causeway you should stop by Mi Ranchito.

 

Mixed Ceviche

 

Mi Ranchito 

Corvina Frita con Salsa Criolla (Fried Corvina w/ Criolla Sauce) 

Pulpo al Ajillo con Patacones (Octopus in Garlic sauce w/ fried green plantains)

Mi amigo me llevó al Mercado de Abasto, tal vez otro día lo visitaré nuevamente para comprar frutas y vegetales; aunque soy panameña no me sentí cómoda en ese momento así que la próxima vez iré más temprano y con más personas.

José Luis me dejó por Vía Argentina para que otro amigo y yo luego nos encontráramos en Manolo´s  para compartir un café y unos churros, pero eso mis amigos es otra historia porque yo ni siquiera pude comerme mi churro y ahora me arrepiento muchísimo.

—

My friend drove me to the Mercado de Abasto, maybe another day I will go back to that market and purchase some fruits and vegetables; even though I am Panamanian I did not feel comfortable at that time, so I may try again to go this time earlier and with more people.

He dropped me around la Via Argentina so another friend could then share some Churros and great coffee with me at Manolos, but that my friends is a story I shall tell another day because I didnâ€t even had my churro and now I regret it very much.

¡a comer!

 

Churros!