Saturday, September 1, 2012

A delicious start to mini-vacation

Labor Day trip! Since we had an extra day off from work we booked a flight to Scottsdale, AZ (dirt cheap, especially with our two for one code)!

We arrived Friday morning - a bit too early for check-in - so we opted for a fancy lunch at Technique, the restaurant of Le Cordon Bleu Scottsdale. For those of you not familiar with it, a US company bought the name from the French school and opened for-profit cooking schools around the country. Whatever your feelings are on for-profit vs non-private education, you can't beat a meal at Technique from budding chefs.

For $13 you get a three-course meal, accompanied by bread and three delicious homemade butters: sun-dried tomato, garlic and shallots, and traditional unsalted.

Each course had a handful of tasty options, making it hard to choose. Here's how it went down:

1st Course

Pork Belly Confit (Craig) - A slab of beautiful fatty pork, so tender a fork could cut it. To the right, a small roasted potato sliced in half with a piece of bacon between the halves. To the left a mound of spinach topped with a poached quail egg. Each component was tasty alone, but when combined with a little of the fruit compote beneath the pork it was amazingly good.

Scallop Risotto (Ryan) - A gently pan-fried scallop sitting in a pool of creamy asparagus risotto. The scallop was cooked to perfection and stood up well to the heavy risotto.

2nd Course

Black Truffle Stuffed Chicken (Craig) - Yes, truffle stuffed chicken for $13! The bone-in piece of chicken was tender and juicy, with a layer of truffle and cheese in the middle. It sat over a potato purée, and an assortment of cooked carrots and pearl onions. The truffle flavor was strong and left me wanting even more.

Beef Burger (Ryan) - A medium-rare burger topped with pulled BBQ short rib and a large onion ring. The side of fries were salty and hot. Ryan asked for mayo and they made it fresh for him.

3rd Course

Trio of Sorbet (Craig) - Raspberry, lemon and lime sorbet mixed with some fresh fruit - light and refreshing.

Ginger Cake (Ryan) - Three pieces of ginger spice cake and a scoop of decedent sour cream ice cream. Definitely not a healthy way to end a meal!

And, to top off this wonderful meal we had a beautiful view of Camelback Mountain. I love good food, and I love it even more when it's cheap! Check if there's a Technique near you and give it a try.