Monday, December 14, 2009

Dinner Party

My birthday was last week on the 9th so now I'm 17. It's kinda hard to believe. Now I can see R-rated movies without parent supervision ;) I changed the blog name once again to Foodie at Fifteen (now 17), though I'll definitely have to change it for good. I really screwed myself over by putting my age in the blog name when I created it, but Foodie at Fifteen does have a nice ring to it. Something I'm considering is making it foodie since fifteen, but I'm not completely set on that yet. My friends keep reminding me that I don't wanna be Foodie at Fifteen (now 75) so i'll think of something.

Anyhow, the couple that I cooked for a little while ago just sent me the pictures from the meal that I cooked.
This is a kabocha squash soup that I made but roasting the squash then pureeing it with homemade chicken stock, roasted garlic, caramelized onion, baked apples, and a touch of brown sugar. I finished it with a bit of butter to order and some nutmeg grated tableside on top. You cant see it, but in the bottom of the dish is pulled apart chicken confit and sauteed shitakes.
Here's some homemade focaccia with olive oil.Here are seared scallops, roasted broccoli and chorizo sauce. The sauce was my favorite component of the whole meal.

This is homemade fettuccine with a pork shoulder ragu. I couldn't stop eating this ragu, nor the pasta. For the pasta I used Thomas Keller's egg yolk-rich recipe which you need until you bleed, and for the ragu I cooked down tomatoes with red wine, chicken stock, thyme and some veggies and then braised pork shoulder in it for about 4 hours. I pulled apart the shoulder in the sauce then tossed in the pasta with some pecorino and a large amount of ricotta along with butter olive oil and pasta water to order. I think I'll do a separate post where I detail the creation of this dish (post the recipe).
Here's an apple tart made with some beautiful honeycrisp apples that I saw at whole foods from Lancaster. The crust is all butter.
And here's the wonderful couple that I cooked for!

11 comments:

Shaina S. said...

Well, you will always have been a foodie at 15, so I think it still works, but if you want to change it, maybe Foodie From Fifteen so you get to keep that alliteration? It's a little more ambiguous that Foodie Since Fifteen though.

Susan said...

How about "Foodie Since Fifteen (Two Years And Counting)"?

Tino said...

I had the exact same problem. I started my first blog, Breads My Way, and realized after about four months that I had been writing very little about breads, even though they are a passion of mine. I bit the bullet and started a parallel blog, Exploring Food My Way and basically kept both going in parallel for a month while I advertised the switch over on my old blog. Once the month passed, I made a final announcement on my old blog with a link to the new, turned off comments, and proceeded from that point forward with the new blog. The old blog is still around and generates a few hits every day, but for the most part, it worked surprisingly well.

Good luck!

limoncello said...

Happy belated birthday, and congratulations on the chefing gig - everything looks/sounds fantastic!

I vote for sticking with Foodie at Fifteen - branding, branding, branding. And a foodie AT fifteen is more of an attention grabber than someone who's been a foodie *since* fifteen. If I see "Foodie at Fifteen" or "Foodie since Fifteen" on Alltop, I can tell you which I'm more likely to click on.
My second choice would be Shaina S.'s suggestion, Food from Fifteen. JMHO
Congratulations on your ongoing and growing success with the blog!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful dinner! What an amazing gift to give to those you care about.

Erin said...

your ragu looks incredible! and by the way, thanks for the sweet potato salad recipe.

i also vote for sticking with 'foodie at fifteen'. it's really catchy, and it will always be true that you were a 'foodie at fifteen'. just adding my 2 cents!

Anonymous said...

Belated Happy Birthday. So...it was legal for you to cook and feed me...with all the responsibility of not poisoning me, but you could not see a Tarantino film without being accompanied by an adult? Welcome to the "grown-ups' table". Its not as much fun as the kids' table!

Anonymous said...

Is this a paying gig Nick?

figtree said...

What a great dinner..just stick with foodie at 15..even at 45 it will be cute.

Anonymous said...

I have always thought Foodie at Fifteen was fine. There is no need to be literal.

Trig said...

Happy birthday Nick. When you stop being Foodie at 15, I'll stop being a Trainee Chef. Can you convince my parents to buy me a home sous vide machine for Xmas?