Sounds like...

I woke up this morning with a headache and a smile as seemingly distant memories of the previous night flooded back to my mind.  It was a night of rustic, locally-inspired dishes paired with great wine, great wine, and even better company.  All food came from a morning trip to one of the greatest farmer's markets in the country, Green City Market, and new premier local butcher, The Butcher and Larder. 

The evening started out with pork rillettes and a terrine of beef spotted with hidden treasures of liver accompanied by a savory blueberry mostarda.  The rich charcuterie was washed down with my favorite beer for such dishes, Monks Cafe Flemish Sour Red Ale.  Next, was a follow up salad course worthy of its own post, micro greens tossed with fresh shallots, wild mushroom conservas; tossed with a vinaigrette of the leftover mushroom oil, sherry vinegar, capers, dijon mustard, crack of pepper, and seasoned with truffle salt.  The entree was a highlight of the night as it was the first time anyone could notice the music that had been looping for the previous few hours; a whole chicken braised in a ragout of pork belly and trotters.  But my proudest achievement was dessert, scratch profiteroles.  

Click to read more ...

The Melding Pot

Two reasons for this post.  The first includes an adventure where one of my seniors ended up melding two of his sauce pots together trying to make a double broiler, and the second is that all the guys out there need to focus on their inner chocolatier for next month.

"But eventually after some time left on the stove, the pots fused together. Since I'm the man of the house, I was given the task to seperate the pots. I started with my medium strength and just like a peanut butter jar, I failed to pry them free. Gradually I increased the force, added a hammer, a few grunts, and alas, I was able to break the handles and admit defeat."

Click to read more ...