guest post Archives - Taste With The Eyes

5 Fabulous Bloggers: Proud Italian Cook

Windowpane Pasta with Basil Pesto
Sautéed Cherry Tomatoes & Tiny Cubes of Fresh Mozzarella

Hi everyone, it’s me Marie, from Proud Italian Cook, I’m excited to be guest posting here today for my friend Lori Lynn. I was honored when she asked me along with four other bloggers to be a part of her fifth year anniversary celebrating her exquisite blog Taste With The Eyes.

Lori Lynn and I both started our blogs back in 2007, and since then I have had the pleasure of meeting her in person and sharing a fabulous meal with her and her wonderful family here in Chicago. I’ve always said to Lori Lynn from day one, that she couldn’t have picked a more appropriate name for her blog.

Taste With The Eyes is a visual feast, from the moment you arrive you’re instantly drawn in by all her gorgeous photos, her fabulous food and glorious surroundings, and every time I leave here I feel like I’ve just experienced fine dining at it’s best and can’t wait to come back!

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Lamb Medallion Stack, Warm Anchovy-Pine Nut Vinaigrette

Leg of Lamb Medallion, Dijon Mustard Anchovy Crust
Polenta Cake, Spinach, Parsley, Tomato
Warm Anchovy – Pine Nut Vinaigrette

I’ve been testing leg of lamb recipes for an upcoming event. One of the requirements of the challenge is that the entire recipe use no more than 10 ingredients (not including salt & pepper). So my goal is to get as many colors, textures, and memorable flavors into the lamb main-course dish as possible. Another guideline stipulates that all ingredients must be commonly available – so no Italian summer truffle, no foie gras (now banned here in California).

Leg of Lamb Roast
Olive Oil
Polenta
Spinach
Parsley
Tomato
Anchovy
Pine Nuts
Dijon Mustard
Sherry Vinegar

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5 Fabulous Bloggers: Foodalogue

“A 5-Tapas Cocktail Party for 5-Years of Blogging”

No, it’s not me. I’m only approaching 4 years. But my friend, Lori Lynn of Taste With The Eyes, is celebrating her fifth anniversary by inviting 5 bloggers to guest post on her blog. If you know LL’s work, you know this is an honor with a capital-and-bolded H.

Lori Lynn is a goddess of good taste, a high priestess of entertaining, a hostess with the mostest. I’ve been following her blog since 2008; I guess shortly before we met at the first FoodBuzz Festival in San Francisco. To visit Taste With the Eyes is to have an open door to Lori’s warm and inviting home and gardens, and to meet her family and friends. I feel like I’ve celebrated holiday dinners with the family … attended a seasonal Sunken City Supper Club event … sat at the table and enjoyed creative and exquisitely presented recipes (some of which use ingredients I haven’t heard of) … and vicariously dined at the top notch restaurants she takes us to … and, to all of those I’ve often said, “I wish I was your neighbor!” (Of course, taking the big leap that if I were her neighbor, I’d be invited.)

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5 Fabulous Bloggers: Just One Cookbook

Gyutan | BBQ Beef Tongue

Hi everyone! My name is Nami, and I share quick and easy Japanese home cooking at my blog, Just One Cookbook.

I’m really excited to be here today to celebrate Lori Lynn (LL)’s 5 year anniversary for her blog! Congratulations LL! For the past year I’ve followed her blog and I’ve been continuously inspired by her beautiful and unique creations. Each week I am really excited every time I receive recipe updates from her. Working together in the food blogger community, she is someone special to me because I truly admire her culinary talents and magical photography skills. I feel very honored to be invited by her today for this special series of guest posts she’s having. Thank you LL!

The only request from her for this guest post was that I cook something exotic. For someone who is not familiar with Japanese food, it’s possible to think many dishes in Japanese cuisine can be exotic, such as sashimi (raw fish). Being a Japanese myself, I had to give it some thoughts and I finally came up with one, which might be too exotic for some readers.

I prepared gyutan, which is grilled sliced beef tongue. Until I did a bit of research for this post, I didn’t know that beef tongue is used not only by Japanese cuisine, but enjoyed in many other cuisines such as American, Mexican, Romanian, German, Persian, English, Russian, Italian, Filipino, Korean and many more (source). I was very surprised when I found this out since I don’t typically see beef tongue on restaurant menus (except in Mexican Taquerias).

The Japanese word gyutan is a combination of the Japanese word for cow (gyu) and the English word tongue (tan). The region in Japan that first started to cook gyutan was Sendai and it was initially considered a rather unusual dish, but gradually gained popularity throughout Japan around 1950s.

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For Your Next Party: The Black Course

the black course:
negra modelo beer braised beef short rib with chile de arbol
wrapped in a grape leaf with oaxacan black mole sauce
black mission figs, shiitake mushrooms
crispy grape leaf chip, sesame ash, black sesame seed, cacao nibs

Of the seven courses we served at our fundraiser dinner, the black course is my creative favorite. I looked to Mexican cuisine experts – Chefs Rick Bayless, Patricia Quintana, and Javier Plascencia for inspiration. I learned about making sesame ash while Guest-Chef-for-the-Day at Moto Restaurant in Chicago last January and had been wanting to try Chef Homaro Cantu’s modernist technique in a dish ever since. What appears to be ash is black sesame seed oil converted into a powder. It serves visual interest as well as a flavor complement to the sesame seed in the mole.

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