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

Wine is not Kryptonite

"Wine Guy" to the rescue!

I wrote this wine blurb over a year ago and since it seems like I am being asked the same basic questions about wine by friends and acquaintances alike, I decided to re-post it.

When I go out to a restaurant I often see people treating the Wine List like it has been infected with the Ebola virus. I am sure many uncomfortable diners would love to be able to have a wine super hero "Wine Guy" fly in and make a wine selection . While there are more and more restaurants who have a Sommelier or a knowledgeable Wine Steward who can assist in making a selection, I get the feeling that many of you have a fear of asking for directions when choosing a wine (kind of like not asking for directions to the Freeway and spending an extra hour driving in the wrong direction).
Well, I am here to say that the wine list is not made out of Kryptonite and if you want to think of me as a wine Super Hero (but without the cape and the tights) that is up to you.
The next time you are figuring out what to serve with dinner or are going to dinner and you are looking at the "Wine List", just keep in mind a couple of things when trying to pair your wine with your meal.

1. If it grows together, it goes together. Italian food goes well with Italian wines. Oregon Pinot Noir goes well with Salmon, mushrooms, truffles and game. When eating well prepared fresh local cuisine look for the wines of that region as well.

2. Forget the Red Wine w/Red Meat -White Wine w/Fish or Poultry Rule. While a Bordeaux or a California Cabernet go well with a steak you are absolutely allowed to drink whatever your palate says you should drink. If you want to drink a Sauvignon Blanc with a steak ..... do it! Personally anything that hits my grill is getting paired with a red wine that has the backbone to standup to some smoke and spice.

3. Don't be afraid of asking for directions. If the restaurant has a Sommelier use his/her expertise. These people have spent years training their palate (like a runner training for a marathon) and they can be a wonderful resource. Also, don't be anxious about ordering something less expensive on the list. The restaurant doesn't care if you order the most expensive bottle or the least expensive bottle, they want you to have a great dining experience and they want you to come back.

4. Take your own wine- My group of friends are very wine savvy and we all take wine to restaurants. Keep in mind that the restaurant will charge you to open the bottle. The standard term is called a "Corkage Fee". These fees will range between $10-25/bottle. The reason to bring wine is not to save money, it is to enjoy wines that are not on the restaurants wine list. Older wines, limited production wines, wines from mailing lists, etc.

5. Upgrade your stemware- As geeky as it sounds, different wines taste and smell better in different style glassware. If you want to maximize your drinking pleasure use a proper glass. While you can have an almost infinite variety of stemware if you are just starting out, purchase Cabernet/Bordeaux style glasses. These glasses are the most versatile for both red and white wines and by the time you get around to really enjoying Burgundy or new world Pinot Noir you will already have notched up your glass collection a stem or two just by osmosis.

6. EEE-Experiment, Expand your palate, Enjoy!-The more wine you taste, the better your palate will become and the more you will enjoy what you drink. Not to go all Forrest Gump on you, but the wine world is like a 1000 piece box of chocolates-try them all!

Wine can and should be first and foremost a fun experience.

7. Watch a couple of episodes of Wine Library TV- Trust me, Gary Vaynerchuk is doing more to take the "snob" out of wine than anyone I know. Follow the Three-E's and remember as Gary says: "You, and a tiny bit of me, is changing the wine world".