Switching Roles

So I think that anyone can really sit at a computer and write about dining experiences. You can go to all the restaurants you want and be as cruel as you want. I can keep dining at all these restaurants and tear them apart or gush about them, but I want to be different from your average food critic or blogger. I do take pride in my own cooking and I consider myself a cook, not a chef considering my lack of culinary school. So for this blog, I want to take the time and critique some of my own cooking because I can admit I am not a master chef.

This first meal I made was for a close friend and I wanted to make it as perfect as I could get it. The picture above is the candle arrangement that I made for the table to really set the mood. I was at Michael's and I was looking for a candle centerpiece and nothing was speaking to me. I turned the corner and found these floating candles and was just going to use a big bowl and use that. When I got home, I was looking in my cabinets, and I realized I have all these different types of glasses and put those together instead. The place setting was a bamboo place-mat with a green charger and black plates. I served a Chianti with the meal because it is my favorite type of wine and it pairs well with most dishes.

The first course I made was a version of a tomato tower. In between were layers of a goat cheese and marscapone mixture, drizzled with a basil oil and toasted walnuts. Overall the dish did taste really good. The presentation was beautiful with the Italian flag colors and it was a dramatic dish. My only problem with the presentation was the oil on the edges of the plate. This was a more texture problem I had was how thick the tomatoes were cut. I feel that because of the thickness, the tomatoes really overpowered the dish, but overall a great dish I would use again.

I did want to be fancy so I did have a palette cleanser that I thought was very inventive on my part. It was incredibly simple being served in a high martini glass. I put a scoop of a lemon sorbet in the chilled glass and topped it with Cava tableside to give it that extra class and crispness. There is not really too much else I could say about that.

The entree I made was a champagne risotto with grilled Mahi Mahi. In the risotto, I actually did use that cava so I did not have to open another bottle, and I included butter, shallots, and Parmesan cheese. Making the risotto was not difficult, it was just one of those dishes that you have to constantly stir and you cannot walk away. The Mahi Mahi was not perfect to be completely honest. It was not evenly seasoned and a little overcooked. The hard part was that I could not make both dishes at the same time. So I cooked off the Mahi Mahi and tried to make it under done and put it in the oven to finish, but it overcooked. The risotto did turn out great though and it was so simple.

Unfortunately, for this meal my friend and I were too full for dessert and my version of dessert is getting a couple slices from The Cheesecake factory since I do not bake. Overall the meal was a great success and I was really happy about it. There are pieces that I wish I could change but every meal I make is a learning experience for me and I will continue to keep doing it.