guys i am back and ready to blog. my first wine dinner was a smash. it was with concha y torro winery of chile and it was hot…to all wine snobs out there, i tasted some really great juice from these guys so dont be judgemental!!! remember…even box wine on the table is still wine on the table! if you don’t “get it” go search yourself!!!

here are some near quality photos while we were on the move that night:

Amuse is mushroom ceviche in a classic peruvian key lime leche de tigre. morel, hon-shimeji, blue foot, baby shitake, aji amarillo, micro basil

morel, hon-shimeji, blue foot, baby shitake, leche de tigre, aji amarillo, micro basil

i am missing the first course photo. goats and sheeps cheese of spanish unpastuerized garotxa aged goat, manchego riserva sheep, valdeon blue aged goat and cow, texas “del ciello” goat camabert,                          “la cuesta” chevre

course two: hazelnut puree, poached lobster and texas gulf shrimp, tahitian vanila & key lime vinaigrette, aji amarillo & papaya granita, micro lemon minimint

hazelnut puree, poached lobster and texas gulf shrimp, vanilla lime vinaigrette, aji amarillo papaya granita, micro lemon minimint

intermezzo was chicha morada-cava spritzer…Chicha morada is a beverage made from certain forms of fermented corn and spices, in this case it was purple corn.

third course: raz al hanout braised six point berkshire pulled pork (compressed into a square…thanks randy rucker of tenacity), organic blue corn sopes, texas “oaxaquena” cheese, blackberry-pasilla salsa, blackberry foam, micro comino sprouts, finished with extra virgin avocado oil

black beans, organic blue corn sope, compressed spiced berkshire, blackberry pasilla salsa, mint, blackberry espuma, micro comino

fourth course: cherrywood smoked colorado lamb “sous vide”, poached peruvian giant lima beans and lima bean puree, “carrots on carrots”…baby carrots poached with carrot juice than some were pureéd with carrot juice, cabernet-chicha morada gastrite

cherrywood smoke, colorado lamb sou vide, lima and carrot textures, chicha morada

fifth course: three chile spiced texas akaushi short rib sous vide, wild mushrooms, ramps, baby potatoes ala huancaina (huancaina is a room temperature cheese sauce made with milk,crackers, queso fresco and aji amarillo….i made a play on potatoes au gratin by topping the huancaina sauce with parmesan and torching it than placing the baby potatoes on top…), maca demi-glace (maca is a south american root which is ground into a powder much like gensing…it is considered natural viagra, giving you energy. it has an earthy yet sweet-bitter flavor.)

texas akaushi shortrib, maca demi, wild shrooms, ramps, papas huancaina

well its nice to be back!!

special shout out to: carlos testino, alvaro raffo, valerie schroth, daniel of “osaka”, augusto, senor rey del camera, jose durante and randy “mf” rucker of tenacity