Another great Russell dinner

For my birthday I got treated to a nice SCD (Subculture Dining) Russell Jackson dinner in San Francisco. I was again very impressed and especially as this time the food had a Mexican modern spin on it. Mexican isn’t exactly my favorite food, but very nicely done tacos or flavorful rice can be a craving of mine once in a while. I’ll show you some of my favorites from the night:

To start with we had this amazing bean dip with chips. I am not really a fan of beans, neither the taste nor the texture, but this was the best dish I’ve ever had incorporating beans. This was one of my favorites because I was surprised at the taste of the beans.

Another one of my favorites, and a very inventive idea was a greasy taco in a bag. It was presented very nicely and the flavors came out great.

Following that, another favorite would have to be the chicken with chocolate sauce. The chicken was cooked in the oven and then fried for about 30 seconds and that’s what made the crust taste so good.

I would have to say though small, the palate cleanser was simple yet refreshing. It was the inside of a fried pineapple, and on top a little bit of grated Mexican chocolate cookie.

This is a comparison of me and Russell in 2010 and 2014. It was great seeing him again.

Thanks for reading.

Tina

Flashback @ 2013 – top 5 dining/food experiences

Hello followers, Here is a flashback at the top five restaurant or recipes of 2013 (I have posted about some, but not all):

5) Tavern at Table One – Park City, UT

Table One, is a beautiful upstairs restaurant. Downstairs below it, is Tavern, a ski lodge mimic with a great little bar and some high tables to catch up with friends or have a drink. We went to The Tavern on two of the nights we were in Park City, once for a meal and once for just some appetizers and drinks.  The two nights combined we had ordered a variety of dishes. Some of which included a jumbo shrimp cocktail and carnitas tacos. Definitely recommended!

Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail with classic cocktail sauce and lemon.

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Carnitas Tacos with crème fraiche, cilantro, pico de gallo, and flour tortilla.

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4) Cake Decorating

As many of you know, from an earlier post, I have taken up cake decorating. This new hobby is a great way for me to relax, while getting to eat yummy cake 🙂 For x-mas, I received two great little tins, to make layered cakes, which I am looking to start in the new year. Here is my first cake that I did without any help.

This is a vanilla cake decorated with frosting, and the snowflakes are made out of fondant and decorated with a special mixture that includes blue sprinkles.

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These are some little flowering details I did at the edge of my cake, made out of frosting that I dyed pink.

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3) Dinner with Russell Jackson – Flashback of Food Network Star

Even though I have already posted about this fabulous dinner, I will always remember it. See older post for pics and more info.

2) Raclette – New Years Eve meal

This New Years Eve we celebrated with some friends and had raclette. Raclette is a Swiss dish were you melt cheese and then put it over potato or bread. Then you add on some spices and it is great. I recommend for family dinners and get togethers. Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to take some pictures, although here is a link that will show you some pictures of raclette:

A Raclette cooker (image credit “The Cheese Shop”).

1) Dinner with Russell Jackson & Stacy Poon-Kinney

This was definitely my top food experience this year. Russell Jackson was there of course, but on top of that Stacy Poon-Kinney, another contestant on Food Network Star, was there as well. She did cook as well as talked with all the guests and it was great hearing her experience of being on the show. I was also another big fan of her throughout the show. It was a great birthday surprise and I’m definitely  going to visit Stacy’s restaurant in San Diego (The Trails Eatery). Here are a few photos from the dinner:

Nice slice of bacon with a great BBQ sauce.

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Russell preparing some dishes.

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Russell pouring liquid nitrogen into a bowl.

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Chocolate eclair on top of pig blood ice cream and some breadcrumbs.

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Russell, Stacy, and I: What a great dinner, thanks so much Russell and Stacy!

I hope you liked my flashback of my top 5 food experiences.

Coming up next: Such an simple yet yummy pancake recipe!

 

Thanks,

Tina

Subculture Dining w/ Russell Jackson: a night to remember

Recently I have gone to a spectacular dinner hosted by the one and only Chef Russell Jackson. Since Russell has been on the Food Network Star, he has hosted many dinners through Subculture Dining. Subculture Dining is an underground secret club that hosts many dinners in secretive locations only given out the day before. My mom and I went to one of his dinners held in San Francisco. The food was out of this world AMAZING! I didn’t have anything negative to say about any of the dishes. I loved watching the Food Network Star show, I was rooting for him all the way. The great thing about this specific dinner was that he cooked meals that he cooked on the show. This was a great experience, because I always heard what the dishes sounded like, but I never got to taste them. I am so excited because this Friday I am going to his “Culinary Sinner Series – Veggies on the side” It gets even better because we have VIP seating AND Stacy from Food Network Star is also going to be there! So excited to finally see her. She is such a great chef as well.  Here are some photos from the dinner:

This is a photo of Russell Jackson pouring in liquid nitrogen to make a special kind of ice cream for dessert – it was delicious!

Russell Jackson plating this dish…

Russell’s Spinach wrapped chicken with risotto and feta cheese salsa verde

There were also virgin cocktail specially made for me. This one is a watermelon mojito and I really love the round ice cube, definitely my favorite one. I have been hooked on virgin mojitos ever since!

Bacon candy, so yummy.

Dessert was Russell’s infamous Bacon Burboun Ice Cream. Although rather filling, the culinary sinner god could only make it the best!

This is me with Russell! I loved coming to his dinner and definitely looking forward to the upcoming one with Stacy!

Thanks for reading,

Tina