Biblical

My birthday was a week ago and I got the one gift I really wanted

Thanks Mom & Dad

I am not a religious person, so in my world this is about as "Biblical" as I want to get.
The Silver Spoon is considered to be the Italian equivalent of "The Joy of Cooking".
I might second that sentiment if "The Joy of Cooking" had been written by Thomas Keller. I am looking forward to Italian meals that provide a religious experience.

Meat, Cheese, Vegetable

Friday a wine group I belong to celebrated the event we call "The Feast of St. Vincent".
If you are really interested you can click the link and get a quick run down of who St. Vincent was and also some info on our group (Confrerie de Vignerons des St. Vincent de Macon).
We hosted our dinner at the Oregon Culinary Institute and what a great dinner it was. OCI is a teaching restaurant and with a group of our size we can have their restaurant space reserved as a private event. A four course seasonal dinner is $18.00 + gratuity (a phenomenal bargain).
In the past OCI had done appetizers for our group, but due to a change of policy we weren't able to make that happen this year.
So what do you do when life gives you a lemon? You make lemonade. I decided as the outgoing Chanclier (President) of the group to take our budget and see what I could pull together. I knew that with our budget we couldn't realistically pull in another caterer and the thought of a Champagne reception with a Fred Meyer veggie/lunch meat tray gave me the motivation to step up and prepare appetizer platters for 40 people.

Charcuterie Platter

Cheese Platter

Vegetable Platter

Cold Smoked Salmon Crostini

The three platters turned out wonderful and was really pleased with the presentation.
I even got cocky and did some individual Salmon appetizers as well.
Prep for these four platters + some nuts, olives and condiments took about 3 hours. This little exercise gave me a huge appreciation for what a caterer does. A big shout out goes to Chop of Portland for their pate, smoked duck and house made charcuterie.
I got nice compliments all night about the appetizers, but the biggest pat on the back came from the chefs at the restaurant when I was pulling these out of my car and setting up. When they asked "who did your appetizers, those are awesome"! and I could look them in the eye and say: " I did them".

Iron Foodie 2010

Foodie Blog Roll is sponsoring a Iron Foodie competition. The contestants will chosen by who has the best answers to the following questions-wish me luck!

Drum roll, and the questions are: Why do you want to compete in this challenge? I grew up playing sports and am very competitive. This foodie challenge appeals to my love of food and competition. Limitations of time/space notwithstanding, whose kitchen would you like to spend the day in & why? Julia Child, Thomas Keller, Ferran Adria, James Beard, Marie-Antoine Careme, or The Swedish Chef? All of the food celebrities above would be great to spend the day with, but if I had to choose one it would be Julia Child. Her late life introduction to cooking and French culture have inspired me to realize how much you can create in the second half of your life. What morsel are you most likely to swipe from family & friends’ plates when they aren’t looking? Artisan bread Sum your childhood up in one meal. Meatloaf with Tomato Ketchup, Green Beans (canned) with Bacon and Mashed Potatoes (lumpy). The one mainstream food you can’t stand? If it were up to people like me to support McDonald's they would have a single store and a sign that said: "Thousands Served"- I hate fast food burgers.

Shakshuka

This week the local alternative newspaper (Willamette Week) in Portland, Oregon came out with their 2010 restaurant guide where they named their restaurant of the year. The winner is a place called Tasty n Sons. What is remarkable isn't that the food is great. What makes this a wildcard choice is that this place is only open for Brunch.
In homage to the winner and their amazing chef John Gorham, I had to make their specialty egg dish called Shakshuka. This dish has its roots in Morocco and it is a spicy/savory /tomato/pepper/onion melange that gets a couple of eggs poached (soft & runny) just before service. This is quick, easy and it kicks serious flavor ass. The only thing that made this better was some toast and some fresh ground Stumptown Coffee.

Yum!

Portland on Dwellable

Bacon & Egg Bruschetta with Spring Greens

It seems like forever since I have posted. I have been grilling a ton lately and Now that Fall is here I am starting to dust off my LeCruset Casserole pots for some braising action.
Anyway, tonight I was craving something "fun", but just a bit lighter. I had some nice Spring Greens (from Fresh Express via Foodbuzz) and some Sourdough bread that needed attention so I thought I would do a quickie warm bacon dressing . I keep a homemade Balsamic vinaigrette around at all times so I tossed in a couple of spoonfuls of that into a sauce pan that I had crisped a single slice of minced bacon. An assortment of greens, some toasted bread (please note, I make the best garlic bread on the planet...really, just ask my son. Recipe: toasted bread, rubbed with a piece of raw garlic, butter a dash of olive oil plus some kosher salt...I think I am more than ready for a Bobby Flay Garlic Bread Throwdown!) and a couple of 3 minute poached eggs. This came together in the time it took to get the two eggs poached.
Not too shabby for a Wednesday, eh?

Bon Appetit