Celebration!: Dungeness crab layered with a pineapple, mango, and grapefruit salsa. This is paired with roasted butternut squash and brussel sprouts tossed in cumin, cinnamon, and nutmeg and the plate is finished with an oregano crustini, a balsamic, maple reduction, a meyer lemon buerre blanc and micro greens.

Leaning tower: Firm tofu marinated in soy, honey, turmeric, smoked paprika, ginger, garlic, lemon grass, salt and white pepper roasted along with yam marinated in similar ingredients with the addition of lemon thyme. This is built up with fresh tomato and has a sauce that is created from silken tofu, avocado, hybrid citrus juice, wasabi powder, olive oil and salt and pepper. The dish is finished with thinly sliced jalepeno, jabenero extract and parsley.

 Healthy and simple: I pan seared a 7oz piece of Icelandic cod in an EVOO and butter mixture with s+p. I simmered some jasmine rice with chicken stock, diced tomato and thyme and the beans were blanched then sauteed in butter and finished with hybrid citrus juice. I made a sauce for the fish that consisted of chicken stock, heavy cream, sour cream, chipotle mustard and rosemary. I finished the fish with a spritz of hybrid citrus juice and garnished the plate with minced parsley. 

In my off time: All leftovers… Beef tartar (“London broil”, soy sauce, curry, dark chili powder, cumin and EVOO) with orzo that was simmered in chicken stock and jabenero extract and sauteed vegetables which is made up of mirepouix and asparagus. That mix is seasoned with salt and pepper and jabenero extract. The tower is finished with celery leaves. 

Split-pea my way: Started off by sauteing smoked ham and bacon… rendered that and then added mirepouix, ground garlic, fresh thyme amd then sweated that mixture. I added my split peas and then added 1/3 a bottle of red wine… let that simmer for a couple of minutes and then add your chicken stock and water. I seasoned this with a little turmeric, ground bay leaf, dried oragno, s+p. After I let it boil for a while, I pureed about 1/3 of the soup for perfect texture. I finished it with minced parsley.

New tumblr

I take photos too!! obviously…. New tumblr is vividlucidity.tumblr.com 

They are a mixture of subjects, places, ideas and settings. I use a Nikon D60 with multiple lenses, a SB-400 flash with a diffuser and a tripod from the 50’s. Check it out ;)

Brunchy: I made crab cakes from lump Dungeness crab meat, minced onion, celery, ground garlic, lemongrass, lemonjuice, egg, mayo, cajun seasoning, s+p, and panko bread crumbs. I made a hollandaise traditionally but not so traditional by making my vinegar reduction with equal parts red wine vinegar and apple cider vinegar and reposado tequila. This was finished with a poached egg, english muffin and micro greens.

Champion breakfast: Soft boiled eggs… real simple. Boil eggs for seven minutes straight to ice bath or cold water. Leave them for ATLEAST 10 minutes. Delicately crack the shell and then peel under running water. Perfect every time. These gems were served on a bed of crispy bacon, russet potato, asparagus, garlic, thyme, oregano, and salt and pepper. The plate was finished with micro greens.

Refined: Grilled ahi-tuna that I marinated in a wet rub…. which was a combination of ground lemongrass, garlic, sesame seed, sesame oil, jabenero extract, white pepper, ground ginger, and cajun seasoning. Grilled to rare. It came with a shitake rice pilaf.. I let the shitakes soak in vegetable stock, EVOO and salt and pepper and when the rice was cooked through I finished it with soy sauce. The plate came together with a sauteed veg mixture of shaven carrot, zuchinni, and yellow squash. It also had serrano, jalepeno, thyme, oregano, chiffonade surrel, garlic, lemongrass, salt and black pepper. I literally cooked this mixture in a super hot pan one minute, flip, one minute and then put it into a circle mold. The plate was finished with a drizzle of hoisin and a pinch of micro greens.

Veg-head: I marinated some tofu in garlic, thyme, oregano, s+p, and sesame oil and put it on the same pan as the yukon, red, and purple potatoes which were marinated in the same thing except EVOO instead of the sesame oil. That was done at 375. I made the sauce from vegetable stock, marinara, garlic, jabenero extract, s+p, and Dolce Igor gorgonzola that I melted in at the last second. The plate also came with sauteed asparagus and sauteed spinach which was seasoned with garlic, nutmeg, vegetable stock and s+p. This plate was finished with chiffonade surrel 

All-American: Bacon-wrapped filet mignon… Same thing as scallop but sear on both sides for 4 minutes and then I topped it with Dolce Igor gorgonzola before I put it under the broiler. This gem was paired with roasted red, purple, and yukon potatoes that were marinated in fresh thyme, oregano, garlic, jabenero extract, s+p, and EVOO. I trimmed the asparagus and marinated it in the same mixture as the potatoes…. I added butter to a hot pan and then sauteed. The sauce was equal parts cranberry compote (pink lady apple, orange, cranberry, orange juice, orange zest, pumpkin pie spice, sugar, water, and coconut milk) to beef stock and Cupcake red velvet red wine, garlic, oregano and thyme sprigs, s+p and honey… REDUCE. I added shitake to this as well. Finished the plate with dabbles of thyme, oregano, and micro greens.

Exquisite: Bacon wrapped scallops. Wrap and secure with a toothpick, season, and then broil on high… flip half way through cooking process. This is paired with a Guillote double cream brie and parsnip puree which has white pepper and garlic, then also has a tri-colored grilled pillar made from zuchinni, squash and carrot. I made a simple shrimp stock, strained it, reduced by 1/3 and then added clover honey, jabenero extract and chiffonade surrel. I finished this plate with micro greens and serrano, cilantro oil.

Straight forward: My try at some udon…. I sauteed some gulf shrimp, bok-choy, tofu, garlic, and lemon grass. Once I got some color on the bottom of the pan I added vegetable stock and dried shitake mushroom. In a separate pan I heated some sesame oil and began to get some color on the udon itself. I added the udon seasoning packet and some sesame seed and got some nice color on the noodles… I then added two whole gulf shrimp and some whole pieces of bok-choy, added a few ounces of stock and covered. Gave it three minutes and everything as perfectly cooked through and then composed. 

Simplicity: Simple salad made from bibb lettuce, grape tomato, shaved pecorino romano cheese, a grapefruit vinaigrette and serrano, cilantro oil. 

Seafood and cheese DO go together: This is home made wasabi fettuccine in an alfredo sauce made from heavy cream, vegetable stock, aged sharp Cabot cheddar, gruyere, and white pepper. I seared some U-10 sea-scallops and some turbot fillet in serrano oil, salt and white pepper and paired it with a saute composed of Japanese eggplant, heirloom pepper, and grape tomato… I deglazed the pan with some creamy sherry and finished the plate with sauteed bok-choy( Sesame oil and white pepper), brown clam-shell mushroom and sorrel.