Had dinner at WD50 back in March and it got me thinking more about plating. Don’t get me wrong — WD50 is about MUCH more than plating but appearance is part of the fun. So I don’t have the gear for sous vide or the thing that vacuum cooks your meat and then drops it into some amazing sauce before letting it come back to pressure and sucking the sauce into the most tender and amazing meat. But plating is free.

Like many of the things your mother told you not to do, playing with your food is really fun. Not many courses are offered on plating nor are there cook books specifically about plating. I’m learning mine from imitating pictures of well-plated entrees, video of chefs plating and pure experimentation.

This is Genoa salami from Hannaford and a simple Vermont white cheddar cheese omlette. Aside: I love to put salami in the oven — awesome. Either by itself like a chip or wrapped into a knot of pizza dough at 400F. I would have cooked off this salami here but I was hungry.

So it helps if you are not hungry and just have time to play around with making stuff look more interesting on the plate. I had some extra purple potatoes so cubed them and steamed them. Piled them up on this plate by Kiroki and garnished with a trilogy of roast green, orange and yellow bell peppers and sea salt. The pasta is Barilla’s angel hair with fire roasted organic tomatoes by Muir Glen, grated parmesan and tellicherry black pepper.