Take a peek at this dish from Providence on After Hours..
Artichokes from our garden:
The first harvest from our artichoke plant was amazing. So tender, I need to use a lighter touch steaming our next batch.
Shrimps:
This was attempt number 2 of trying the tableside salt-baked shrimp that I saw on tv a while back. The salt-baking technique didn't work out too well, but they are SO tasty. That last picture is a bowl of the shrimp roe that we collected from some of the shrimp. My oh-so-brave daughter ate a bunch of the roe as an appetizer, saying 'mmmmmmmm'.
We got the shrimp live at Ranch 99 which is like an aquarium that does take-out to my girls.
I wish I had pictures of the waffles we made on Sunday morning...
Hello-
Please pass this note on to Michael. I saw the Providence After Hours again and I have to admit that the salt-cooked shrimp scene is my all-time favorite on that series. That dish clearly slayed the room, everyone was blown away on-camera. Wow.
One question though: Why didn't the shrimp twitch and spray 500 degree salt over everyone at the table? Those guys are pretty muscular, very fresh, every time I've handled live fresh shrimp they've jumped out of whatever was holding them. What was the trick? I want to perpetrate that dish on my friends, but the idea of a group visit to an ER to treat salty burns won't fly.
Even if your secrets are under lock & key, I enjoyed the scene and look forward to visiting your restaurant sometime soon!
Thanks.
CG
If you know me, you know how much I love shrimp. I'll get to the bottom of this through some trial-and-error in the new year.
While some eaters debate about the merits of apps vs. entrees Boulud's mastery of large-format dishes is refreshing. Think: whole lamb (butchered and trussed to ensure even cooking) carved tableside, tete de'vaux, all produced from scratch, from memory -- no cookbooks on these counters.
In Season 1 Daniel introduced us to restaurants and friends in New York. Season 2 is all about LA. Most of the this season's chefs have worked for DB at some point in their careers. Season 2's menus seem to go above and beyond most of the New York episodes (except maybe the season 1 finale).
I can't wait to try Michael Cimarusti's salt-cooked shrimp dish sometime soon: table side preparation of fresh shrimp buried in 500 degree salt and fresh herbs. See Russ Parsons' description in the LA Times. I can't wait to have some budget to throw at a trip to visit some of these places.
Whether you're in the biz or are a diner, if you're into 'da foodz' you'll want to throw down the $$$ for a HD Plasma and upgrade your cable. Check out the vids on the mojo site. There should be 1 full episode and a few selected scenes.
