Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Amy and Ed's Wedding in Vail, Colorado

My first trip to Vail, Colorado... Brad's sister, Amy married Ed on the mountain top (we took a Gondola to get there!), and it was truly the most gorgeous wedding I've ever been to. Pushing the wedding over the top was all of the delicious food we were served. From a homemade meal of perfectly grilled chicken, rice, beans, salad, and guacamole, to an outstanding down home BBQ rehearsal dinner, to a wedding dinner of the softest and thickest filet mignon steak I have eaten, with *2* desserts--tiramisu and the chocolate wedding cake. What a gastronomic paradise.

Homemade guacamole. I couldn't stop eating this...



Grilled chicken, brown rice, black beans, salad... A homemade meal!



Rehearsal dinner



My BBQ plate (I went back for seconds, of course!):



Brad's BBQ plate:



Wedding dinner flowers



The Wedding dinner menu



The gorgeous cake!



a HUGE slice of tiramisu

Shibuya at the MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas

On my second trip to Vegas, I won some money, lost some money, did a little outlet shopping, but the best part of the trip was when we were treated to an AMAZING meal by B's sister and husband! There isn't much to say except "wow". We started with edamame, which was brought out warm and lightly dusted with feathery salt crystals. It was followed by a delicious lobster miso soup. I had to try this soup because it had Maitake mushrooms in it--and ingredient which I always heard about on Iron Chef Japan. It was a very delicate mushroom--think Shiitake, but not quite as earthy. The soup broth itself was perfectly balanced--not too salty like most miso soups are. This was followed by the kobe beef tataki, which was perfectly melt in your mouth, and came in a nice sauce. The white fish sashimi was the highlight for me--it came garnished with crispy rice balls, and had a light citrusy yuzu sauce. Finally, we topped the dinner with a bunch of specialty rolls and sushi. The standouts were the Mifune and the Dragon. Who would have thought to put mango in an eel roll? genius. Furthermore, the soft shelled crab in the Mifune, as B's sister pointed out, was not overwhelmed by the other ingredients--it really let the flavors of the crab shine through! What a treat this dinner was. Can't wait to go back to Vegas again :)

LOBSTER MISO SOUP
Maitake Mushrooms and Lobster



EDAMAME
Okinawa Sea Salt



WHITE FISH SASHIMI

Miso Yuzu Emulsion, Crunchy Rice, Black Hawaiian Salt


MIFUNE
Soft Shell Crab, Tobiko, Scallion, Daikon Katsura With Spicy Aioli
NIJI (RAINBOW)
Crab meat, Avocado Wrapped in Tuna, Yellow Tail, Salmon, Fluke, Shrimp and Young Yellow Tail
RYU (DRAGON)
Freshwater Eel, Cucumber, Mango with Avocado
SPICY TUNA
MACKEREL



Plums on the side



AUSTRALIAN KOBE BEEF TATAKI

Red Onions, Lemon Tamari Soy and Tarragon Oil