today was quite the day. And really, if i just posted what I ended up eating for dinner it wouldn’t tell the whole story. At 8:30 this morning we left for Epcot and “kitchen memories’ event featuring brother chefs Michael and Bryan Voltaggio. The event started later than the advertised 10am because as we heard while waiting to be let in to our tables there were three pours of wine to get out before we were seated So, at 10:30 we sat down to three glasses of expectation. After a bit of storytelling from the winemaker owners of Schweiger Vineyards as they explained the first glass of Schweiger Vineyards chardonnay. They don’t oak for that buttery thing that chardonnay usually has and it was definitely higher on my list of chardonnays. Then the Voltaggios came out and Michael proceeded to talk about his memory of grilled cheese and tomato soup but served it to us in a very atypical way. It was a super fun dish of cuttlefish and sea beans with gazpacho and ink gruyere gougeres with tomato pates de fruits. The cuttlefish was chewy like noodles and the sea beans were definitely a salty taste They served these on top of seaweed and shells because they like to garnishes to make sense with the dish. The shells and seawood were a bit lost under the blue (reading as water) glass plates but all the tastes together were really interesting and definitely did elevate the grilled cheese tomato soup experience. 
The second course was done by Bryan and was roast chicken. As they prepped and discussed this course Michael worked as hard as he could to push his brothers buttons. Messing around putting the obviously not ‘just cooked’ chicken on his face – they discussed poking a lemon up the butt (their words) of the chicken so that it doesn’t dry out and is full of more aromatics. He showed how to make a pumpernickel topped creamed spinach and gave a brief lesson on smoking guns as he discussed the grits (smoky cheesy) under the chicken. He talked a little about pan gravy from the juices and generally gave tips about his course and how the smokey Cabernet Franc wine would be a good match for it.
The final (and gigantic) course was dessert and was served alongside Schweiger Vineyards Port X. First came out a little tray of peanut butter ice cream and dark chocolate pops to hold us over (as though we needed it???) with our port as they discussed halloween candy and caramel apples. The final plate was a deconstructed candy apple. Little drops of applesauce (not sweet), smunched cookie crumbs and the most delicious caramelized lady apple. I could eat a dish of those apples every day! Then, as if it wasn’t enough they sent us home with a goodie box of chocolates-two fun swirly pops, fruit bark, truffles and some caramelly looking things dipped in chocolate! So, three glasses of wine before noon-can i call that dinner? We walked out of that fun meal happy to have paid the price and it having given us some new things to think about. We took a stroll through Food & Wine and made our way out of the park. It was far – FAR beyond the funny little dinner I made myself. Z is a bit sick and lying in bed – something that kind of developed this afternoon. So, I pulled a frozen crust out of the freezer and made a quick cheese pizza and ate a few truffles out of my box. I’ve probably had more than my share of fun today.
dinner #22
I totally don’t know what to write. Comfort food? I guess so. Tonight we had gorditas – what does that mean? Little fatty? Anyway, our thick flour tortillas were filled with lucsious comfort-pan fried potatoes, bacon lardons, huge shreds of cheddar, avocado chunks and hot sauce. Z opened up a bottle of boccalone hot sauce that freaked us out when it surged out the top of the bottle. It’s a grainy sauce, maybe better suited to roast meat than tacos but it was tasty. Fresh and fun cooking at our house tonight.
dinner #21
longest week ever. I don’t know why. It’s only Wednesday. I have been going through a lot of change at work and trying to maintain what I consider a high level of output. I think it’s begun to wear me down. Today they took the door off my office and the back wall down while I worked. I took that as a good opportunity to do some of my favorite work, merchandising in the Village Shop. I’ve been working on a new online store all summer and you can see it here and make purchases to support the work of Wycliffe – shop.wycliffe.org – I’m proud of it! The cold still lingers and I’ve had an on and off headache long enough that I’m going to tell a doctor about it tomorrow. Z took me out to the easiest quickest and closest dinner to our house for dinner tonight, Outback. I always get one of two things and neither are a ‘giant’ steak. Always a burger or a filet focaccia (sort of french dip) sandwich. Always a side salad instead of fries. I really wouldn’t even need to look at a menu. Z always gets a six ounce steak and some sort of green vegetables. Tonight I added in a blackberry sangria which was super sugary. I could probably live without it but it was nice and Kool-aidy.
dinner #20
I can’t handle it. I was thinking about something to write and could only think of writing from the perspective of my cat. While he is a super smarty pants (takes after Z) and loves his dairy (mainly butter and cheese) he also is a very poor typist so all you get is me. He is yowling in protest at my feet and just actually bit me on my kneecap. I came home a bit late after running some errands tonight and more or less the last thing I really wanted to do was make dinner. I did it anyhow. We had cauliflower & gruyere soup and french dinner rolls. It’s supposed to be creamy cauliflower & gruyere soup but I forgot to swirl in the cream at the end. I also ran short of gruyere and supplemented that with white cheddar. We ate it anyway and lived to tell the tale. I even made a batch of rice crispy treats while it bubbled away on the stove.
dinner #19
two recipes that probably shouldn’t be cooked for dinner in the same night-both with heavy hits of acid to either cut through richness or enhance natural sugars. It turned out to be an interesting thing to cook these two dishes together and eat them side by side. First, the chicken. I actually used a fish piccata recipe that I have often made by Melissa d’Arabian of the Food Network. It’s a simple recipe and I just subbed in pounded chicken fillets in place of the tilapia. The acid in this dish is lemon juice, quite a lot of it, alongside capers which are also brined. Everything becomes super savory with the addition of white wine and a knob of butter. For the side we had sort of agro-dolce Brussels sprouts. My friend Karin made some the other day and it made be want to eat some! She variously roasts them or uses them for an ice pack for her dog. She calls them veggie candy and in one of my favorite oldie but goodie recipes from Martha Stewart the sweetness of fresh brussels is enhanced with sauteed red onions and balsamic vinegar. If you leave them in and let them crispt a bit they are just phenomenal. I sort of combine step 2 and 3 so that everything gets crispy and melds together plus you don’t mess up an extra bowl. If you think you don’t like sprouts, try this recipe. It will change your mind.
My Urban Pantry 