(January, 2013):
You may be wondering why I'm quoting the Eagles right now..
The farmer's salad, complete with pickled radishes and pistachios. Hiding under the carrots in that salad are sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes. Do not confuse these with artichokes as sunchokes, much like hickory root extract, are vile ingredients. Most people find them innocuous, but not I. This is the only time I've found fault with Farm and Table since sunchokes, for maybe half of us if not more, can cause stomachs to rumble and bumble about for the rest of the day. It turns out that we can't really digest sunchokes fast enough, so they start to ferment inside of us. True story, go and google it if you don't believe me. Unlike me, Kim loved the sunchokes at first, and insisted on trying to cook with them for the next few weeks since they grow extremely well in Albuquerque. But, fortunately, like all good and bad things, that phase came to an end.
The special of the week was a boudin with poached eggs. Boudin, in Farm and Table's rendition, is a creole sausage. This particular dish was served with a Cajun hollindaise sauce.
Guessing by the number of dishes we had, we must have been hungry (there are three of us, including Kim, but still...).
One of their iconic dishes, more so for style than anything else, is the Catalina salad. Yes, it is a cube. Yes, it tastes pretty darn good too.
Salmon, grilled with a red chile puree, vegetable risotto stuffed poblano pepper, and crispy blue corn strips.
The dinner special, a pepper crusted trout served with a bell pepper sauce over a bed of riso.
And dessert, a strawberry shortcake I'm guessing. At this point, I had started taking some notes of the meals I was eating, but things became lost during my move later in the spring.
As the weekend of mom's visit drew to a close, it was time to take her back to Elizabeth (as I had work and she had houses in Phoenix to look at still). So, we planned on meeting Elizabeth halfway in Winslow, Arizona at La Posada. This grand hotel certainly is a sight to see. Where to begin...the Tina Mion gallery, with paintings such as “A New Years Eve Party in Purgatory for Suicides.” I kid you not:
Keep in mind that the front row is all life size in this 18 foot wide painting. See how many people you can identify. The rest, well, you'll just have to see for yourself to take in the full awe of this hotel. On one side of it, though, is the Turquoise Room, where we stopped for lunch. It was good. Authentic in some ways, creative in others...
Piki bread with Hopi hummus. Two Piki breads made by Joyce Saufkie of Second Mesa, served with the Turquoise Room's version of Bad- dap – suki. A hummus made with reservation grown Tepary beans pit roasted corn, corn and sunflower oils. Garnished with sunflower seeds.
Squash blossom quesadilla. Whole wheat tortilla filled with Jalapeno Jack and Oaxaca cheeses, torn squash blossoms, grilled squash and roasted corn salsa.
Crispy pork carnitas platter. Large pieces of crispy pork carnitas, with red and green salsas, white tortillas, black beans and sweet corn tamale.
Cured salmon, sprouts, cherry tomatoes, and slices of pickled radishes. Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed her dish.
And just like that, we're through January.
Well, I'm running down the road
tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on
my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see...
tryin' to loosen my load
I've got seven women on
my mind,
Four that wanna own me,
Two that wanna stone me,
One says she's a friend of mine
Take It easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own wheels
drive you crazy
Lighten up while you still can
don't even try to understand
Just find a place to make your stand
and take it easy
Well, I'm a standing on a corner
in Winslow, Arizona
and such a fine sight to see...
You may be wondering why I'm quoting the Eagles right now..
It all started with another
visit from my mother
who flew into Albuquerque.
She had been visitin' my sister
who needed some space from her
and that's when she came to me.
Take it easy...
So, in order to spell my sister (who had been hosting mom for 2 months at that point), we set off to visit some of my favorite restaurants in the area (don't worry, we'll get to the Winslow, Arizona bit soon)...
First off, one of my favorites is Farm and Table. Just as the name sounds, they specialize in fresh, local cuisine. Heck, sitting on their patio, you're less than a stone's throw away from the farm, and by the front door is a list of what their current crops are. I don't often highlight Albuquerque restaurants here (since I see them so often), but I think that Farm and Table has crept up quite a few times. That is no accident!
The farmer's salad, complete with pickled radishes and pistachios. Hiding under the carrots in that salad are sunchokes, aka Jerusalem artichokes. Do not confuse these with artichokes as sunchokes, much like hickory root extract, are vile ingredients. Most people find them innocuous, but not I. This is the only time I've found fault with Farm and Table since sunchokes, for maybe half of us if not more, can cause stomachs to rumble and bumble about for the rest of the day. It turns out that we can't really digest sunchokes fast enough, so they start to ferment inside of us. True story, go and google it if you don't believe me. Unlike me, Kim loved the sunchokes at first, and insisted on trying to cook with them for the next few weeks since they grow extremely well in Albuquerque. But, fortunately, like all good and bad things, that phase came to an end.
The special of the week was a boudin with poached eggs. Boudin, in Farm and Table's rendition, is a creole sausage. This particular dish was served with a Cajun hollindaise sauce.
Farm and Table's version of Eggs Benedict changes just about every
weekend. Sometimes it's served on green chile biscuits with pork, other
times on sourdough with steak. Here, its served over a slice of tenderloin.
And, let's not forget the pastry of the weekend. Usually they have some irresistible sounding bread pudding or coffee cake (such as raisin bread bread pudding marbled with chocolate and etc.). As I'm usually famished by the time we get to a weekend brunch at Farm and Table, the pastry is the first thing we have come out in order to stave off hanger (hungry + anger = hanger, hungry + angry = hangry...great words that should have been included in the OED instead of things like Srsly. I mean, seriously, srsly?). This week it was a bread pudding coffee cake. At first I thought that this was two separate pastries, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had taken the best of both pastries and combined it into that delectable morsel you see above.
And, let's not forget the pastry of the weekend. Usually they have some irresistible sounding bread pudding or coffee cake (such as raisin bread bread pudding marbled with chocolate and etc.). As I'm usually famished by the time we get to a weekend brunch at Farm and Table, the pastry is the first thing we have come out in order to stave off hanger (hungry + anger = hanger, hungry + angry = hangry...great words that should have been included in the OED instead of things like Srsly. I mean, seriously, srsly?). This week it was a bread pudding coffee cake. At first I thought that this was two separate pastries, but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that they had taken the best of both pastries and combined it into that delectable morsel you see above.
A second stop for us was Indigo Crow, which is just up the river from Albuquerque in Corrales.
Guessing by the number of dishes we had, we must have been hungry (there are three of us, including Kim, but still...).
One of their iconic dishes, more so for style than anything else, is the Catalina salad. Yes, it is a cube. Yes, it tastes pretty darn good too.
Salmon, grilled with a red chile puree, vegetable risotto stuffed poblano pepper, and crispy blue corn strips.
Duck breast, pan seared with a cherry zinfandel glaze, potatoes, and grilled asparagus. Here, they do the duck breast right. A little crispy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. But I've gone to great lengths describing the perfectly cooked duck breast before...
The dinner special, a pepper crusted trout served with a bell pepper sauce over a bed of riso.
And dessert, a strawberry shortcake I'm guessing. At this point, I had started taking some notes of the meals I was eating, but things became lost during my move later in the spring.
As the weekend of mom's visit drew to a close, it was time to take her back to Elizabeth (as I had work and she had houses in Phoenix to look at still). So, we planned on meeting Elizabeth halfway in Winslow, Arizona at La Posada. This grand hotel certainly is a sight to see. Where to begin...the Tina Mion gallery, with paintings such as “A New Years Eve Party in Purgatory for Suicides.” I kid you not:
Keep in mind that the front row is all life size in this 18 foot wide painting. See how many people you can identify. The rest, well, you'll just have to see for yourself to take in the full awe of this hotel. On one side of it, though, is the Turquoise Room, where we stopped for lunch. It was good. Authentic in some ways, creative in others...
Piki bread with Hopi hummus. Two Piki breads made by Joyce Saufkie of Second Mesa, served with the Turquoise Room's version of Bad- dap – suki. A hummus made with reservation grown Tepary beans pit roasted corn, corn and sunflower oils. Garnished with sunflower seeds.
Squash blossom quesadilla. Whole wheat tortilla filled with Jalapeno Jack and Oaxaca cheeses, torn squash blossoms, grilled squash and roasted corn salsa.
Crispy pork carnitas platter. Large pieces of crispy pork carnitas, with red and green salsas, white tortillas, black beans and sweet corn tamale.
Cured salmon, sprouts, cherry tomatoes, and slices of pickled radishes. Elizabeth thoroughly enjoyed her dish.
And just like that, we're through January.
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