Birthday With A View!!

It's a New Year and time for a new blog! 2011 promises to be an outstanding year for A Thyme to Cook and we want to keep you up to date with all that's going on.

AND--what better way to kick of 2011 than with a spectacular meal at PolytechnicON20 in Hartford. The ATTC team gave me the BEST birthday gift--a tasting menu at "ON20"--what a memorable night! The 10 courses were exquisite and each one offered a whole new explosion of mouth flavor!

But you need to hear about my favorite--"Scallop Ceviche"--presented on an individual champagne-colored salt plate (pure salt--ask us about those later--very cool but you do NOT want to wash these!) My first thought was that it was not an actual ceviche, as it was not icy-cold--but then the flavors and sensations wafted! The transparent slices of scallop were accompanied by my new favorite, "flavor adjunct"--espelette--in gelee form. It's not suprising that I loved this French chili pepper as it's renowned for being a staple in French Basque cuisine and the cornerstone for French Piperade, which made the combination of shaved scallop, citrus, shallot and ice-wine vinegar meding with the musky saltiness of the plate--devine!! And that was only 1 course!

Thanks to executive Chef Noel Jones and staff of "ON 20" for knowing how to stimulate a New Year with a BANG of flavor and taste!!