The gang

Photo gallery

Imagine the things I could do if only
I spent less time thinking about food!

Favorite recipes

Shanti's inventions

Prufrock friends

Memorable Dinners

King salmon with carrot, parsley root, celery
Fish sausage calzone with yukon gold potatos and sweet corn
Calabacitas Zowie: Anaheim chile, sweet corn, red onion, zucchini
Almond cake with fresh apricots and raspberries
Pork loin with mirin/honey marinade with sherry/Morello cherry sauce
Tri tip with soy sauce/olive oil/basalmic marinade with Bearnaise sauce
Soft grilled japanese eggplant with garlic olive oil
Snow peas with ginger
Grilled red plums with white pepper and macadamia oil
Grilled white pears with cinnamon
Grilled pineapple wiht strawberries
Chateau Ste. Michele Cabernet Sauvignon
Artichoke, smoked salmon, avocado bruschette
Chicken della robbia with black plums and pluots (from the Nelson-Atkins Museum cookbook)
Rosemary currant bread
Strawberry and pluot shortcake with whipped cream, dusted with cinnamon
Ginger tea
Rambutan/coconut appetizer
Grilled corn
Ham/cheese phyllo
Paella with squid, mussels, artichoke hearts, shrimp, shrimp broth
Goat cheese and tomato pizza
Green mango salsa
Grilled asparagus
Rainier cherry pie
Viognier
Pork stew with white beans and green chili
BBQ tri tip with orange-sesame marinade over soft polentao with Thai green chili and coconut sauce
Green salad with grape tomatos and taro chip croutons
Grilled asparagus and steamed artichokes with lemon butter
Raininer cherries
Viognier
Beef and arugula salad
Heriloom tomatos
Blueberry pie
Ice cream with fig goo
Grilled lamb steaks with black pepper and dijon marinade
Garlic cheese poofs
Grilled corn
Grilled stone fruit with white pepper and macadamia oil
Pumpkin ravioli with sage browned butter
Vanilla cakes with peach sauce
Pea soup with sherry and chervil
Fettucini in duck and porcini sauce
Grilled coho salmon
Carmelized shallots, roasted asparagus, eggplant, yellow cucumber
Grilled red plums
Creamy grilled scallops with honey-sesame marinade
Marinade: 1/4 C honey, 1.5 tsp rice vinegar, 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 Tbsp macadamia oil, tarragon, saffron, salt, pepper
Grilled white peaches with honey-macadamia glaze
Oven roasted fingerling and purple potatos
Baked halibut steaks with sauteed leeks
Dungeness crab madelines in sherry vinegar-garlic bugger dressing
Noodles with chanterelles and asparagus
Two tastes chicken
Oven-roasted eggplant
Pineapple upside-down cake
Red and green almond jello
Astrolabe 2002 Chardonnay (Marlborough) and Murray River Sea Salt
* Savory bacon and tomato scones
Persian eggplant goo with carmelized onions
Ahi tuna sashimi with sesame oil, golden beets, and salted greens
Chestnut ravioli
* Pan-seared scallops with pancetta
* Roasted rack of lamb with lamb shank sauce and baked leeks
* Lamb phyllo with beet greens and garlic browned butter
Blue swimmer crab cakes
Chocolate-covered honeycomb
Fresh oyster fritters
Hash browns
Ground pork and white bean soup
Patz & Hall 2001 Dutton Ranch Chardonnay, Huia 2001 Chardonnay, Rombauer Chardonnay, Veuve-Cliquot Rose Champagne

Catastrophic failures

Caltech Iron Chef

2002

TeamShanti Rao, Chi Wang, Martha Kirouac, Jason Cohen
ThemeCucumber
SecretBought food processor, electric skillet.
Food * Cucumber and spicy beef hand rolls
* Cucumber noodle peanut salad on crispy noodles and napa cabbage
Cucumber ginger drink
* Very spicy scallops on puff pastry with cucumber-yogurt sauce
Cucumber-lemon soup with lemon sorbet in cucumber bowls

2003

TeamShanti Rao, Hideo Mabuchi, Rebecca Schulmann, Adeline Seah
ThemeMushroom
SecretsBought every mushroom we could find at Whole Foods.
Expensive fresh seafood
Food Lobster mushrooms with sea scallops on golden beet slice
Wood ear, daikon, and leek broth
Three salads: shiitake/fava bean, chanterelle/sweet corn, something else Shrimp with oyster mushrooms and micro greens

* Bacon fat!