Food photos 8: Perfect meals

One of my favorite meals:
lamb shoulder on the bone, dry marinated with s+p, parsley, rosemary, garlic powder, broiled to medium rare with roast vegetables (eggplant, zucchni, onions with red peppers, kosher salt, olive oil) and stuffing, rock hard 3 day old french baguette, baked lightly with olive oil, added to onions sauteed in olive oil and garlic cloves, s+p, with fresh chopped cilantro. and chicken stock. stuffing absorbed lamb juices, and then baked to crusty finish.


Fresh beefsteak hothouse tomato, with fresh parsley, seasoned rice vinegar, sesame oil, kosher salt.


Close up of the stuffing.


Another nice meal:
Fried chicken thigh with kosher salt, paprika, cumin, corn starch, egg white, panko bread crumbs, bit of lemon, fried in olive oil. Turmeric rice (raisins, garlic powder, salt, pepper, turmeric, beef stock). Wilted spinach and mushrooms.


Pan roasted cashews, dusted with kosher salt, black pepper, chili
powder, topped with a squeeze of lime juice.

Thanksgiving (amazing meal!) pictures soon to come!

Food photos 7: Fancier fare

tuna fritters with wilted spinach in olive oil and garlic: canned tuna, with yogurt, mayo, worchestshire, tobasco, celery, green onion, salt and pepper, and panko breadcrumbs pan fried in olive oil.


beef stew, with papaya (for its papain), assorted baby radishes, cauliflower, celery, red pepper, chicken stock, red wine, salt, pepper, vinegar, mint; beef pre-marinated in lemon juice, basil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, wine. Served over medium shells.

(Stew 2.0: beef stew. with potatos, eggplant, anaheim peppers, onions, cumin, chili, kosher salt, budweiser, shiraz, beef stock, parsley, tomatos, celery, corn, simmered in dutch oven for > 6 hours)


fresh shark steak, marinated in sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper, garlic, lemon juice, broiled to 140 degrees (via meat thermometer), with sauteed/steamed broccoli, flavored with reserved marinade, salt, chicken stock and red wine, and then a pretty rice, yellow color from tumeric, with raisins and salt and chicken stock. and a glass of white wine


turmeric/raisin/salt/garlic/cumin rice (once again) with lamb and cauliflower curry: ground lamb, cauliflower, zuchinni, anaheim pepper, thai chili, onion, tofu, with cumin, chili, papprika, kosher salt, red pepper flakes, curry powder, turmeric, white wine, finished with parsley and yogurt. and a sprig of parsley

Food photos 6: Salades

Spinach salad, crushed peanuts, white mushrooms, baby spinach with sesame oil, and sweetened rice vinegar, topped with fresh papaya, fresh ground black pepper.


Mushroom omlette, with mint, green onions, accompanied with a spinach, mushroom, jack cheese salad with sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar. (Glass of Chardonnay not shown)


Standard baby spinach, mushroom and peanut salad with "asian" vinegrette (soy sauce, sesame oil, sweetened rice vinegar)

Food photos 5: Misc

Fu zhu, cooked with chicken stock, shitake mushroom, soy sauce, sesame oil, crushed red peppers, with a surprisingly good napa cabbage (garlic powder, olive oil, bit of soy sauce, sweetened rice vinegar, kosher salt) with white rice.


Kale steamed in chicken stock, stir fried with ginger.


Persian inspired (redux), ground lamb, eggplant, peas, cashews, dried basil, s+p, held together with yogurt.

Food photos 4: Fried Chicken

Chicken tenders fried in olive oil, breaded with panko breadcrumbs, with yogurt base, s+p spices, mint, garnished with mint and accompanied with battered and fried broccoli, and turmeric dusted rice


Chicken tenders using egg whites, panko bread crumbs, s+p, basil, with zuchinni medalions lightly sauteed with remaining eggs, breadcrumbs and peanuts; accompanied with white rice.


Chicken breast, sliced thin, in half, breaded, with egg white, s+p,
crushed red ppeper, paprika, fried in olive oil, with lightly breaded broccoli,
and white rice.

Some of my favorite photos coming up in the next few batches, and some really exciting dishes.

Food photos 3: Further afield

Persian inspired ground turkey, tomatos, eggplant, parsley, green onions, onions, cashews, yogurt, served over rice.


Light sauce, chicken stock base, ginger, celery, raisins, cashews, used to steam broccoli (ideally broccoli rabe, or broccolini) with hand shredded roasted chicken breasts, finished with green onions, and parsley, crushed red pepper and salt over cappelini.

The ginger and celery flavored the soup nicely, with a nice sweetness from the raisins, fresh herbs, still very nice. Perfect with the thin pasta.


Tuna chili, corn, kidney beans, tofu, diced organic tomatos (canned), cumin, chili, salt, pepper, canned tuna, served over boiled napa cabbage, and topped with lowfat yogurt, green onions, and shredded cheese.


Crudite platter that accmopanies the lamb below. Lavash bread (inferior to Oakville variety), white mushrooms, avocado, campo de montalban cheese (spanish).

Too busy eating, to take a good photo. The dish prepared for R-. Roast lamb, dry marinated with basil, salt, pepper, garlic, rosemary, cooked to 135degrees medium rare, accompanied with roast vegetables, shitake (reconstitued in red wine and chicken stock) onions, cucumbers, green onions.

Food photos 2: Chicken stirfries etc.

Ginger chicken thigh, stirfried with red peppers, zucchnni squash, mushrooms, ciantro, pepper, kosher salt, etc.


Eggplant, blanched, then, stirfried with chicken thigh, peanuts, and fresh cilantro, ginger, mushroom.


Egg scramble with fresh tomatos, garlic, parseley , arugula, and peanuts, chicken bits.


Chicken thigh fried rice with red peppers (lightly sauteed), arugula, green onions, garlic, accompanies by shrimp with green peas and green onions and garlic, lightly sauteed.

Next series get a lot better photo wise anyway!

Found Poetry: Team Aramark

Note green shirt...
Originally uploaded by benho.

On the back of the rather small t-shirt (plenty short enough to expose her yellow thong panties) of the girl sitting in front of me at the Dalam Lama talk was written the following (Aramark is the company that runs institutional cafeterias across the country)

Team Aramark
We keep our promises.
We make a difference.
We do the right thing.
We help each other.
We have fun.
Together we are quite a handful.

For some reason this fascinated me, because it comes from a large faceless corporation, but looks like it was written by 3rd graders. It has a certain guileless, Miro-esque childlike simplicity that somehow seemed very appropriate for the Dalai Lama’s presence.

Anyway, just a random thought perhaps inspired by too little sleep.