new year's eve
65 food… 35 wine
1.
oyster stew with fennel, turnip, cream,
radicchio, lemon and parsley
Chardonnay, Scarbolo, Friuli, Italy 2006
rabbit and dumpling soup:
mirepoix, bacon and black truffle bits
Pinot Noir, Eyrie Vineyards, Dundee Hills, OR 2007
butterhead lettuce, pickled sunchoke, smoked trout
fingerling potatoes, creme fraiche & caviar dressing
Gruner Veltliner, Hugl, Austria, 2008
tuna tartare with grapefruit, sesame, charred scallion,
citrus ponzu and sesame crackers
Domaine du Salvard, Cheverny, France, 2008
2.
baked local egg in piperade...
pork belly, tiny croutons, manchego
Verdejo, Bodegas Pedro Escudero, 'Fuente Elvira' Spain 2007
seared dayboat scallop with whipped cauliflower,
pomegranate, crushed almonds and a lime brown butter
Chardonnay, Stuhlmuller, Alexander Valley, CA 2007
seared foie gras with raisins, port gastrite,
toasted brioche and buttered leeks
Sauternes, Chateau Roumieu-Lacoste, France 2005
leek risotto with cauliflower cream
and burgundy truffles
Bourgogne, Rene LeClerc, France 2006
3.
roasted arctic char with romesco, chopped caper buerre blanc,
crisped Red Mule grits, butternut squash with almonds
Bourgogne, Paul Jouard, 2004
roasted Newfoundland cod: flash cooked brussels, leek whipped potatoes,
vermouth emulsion and crushed pinenuts with lemon, parsley and basil
Bianco, Damijan, Collio, Italy 2001
rack of lamb with braised lamb leg, polenta,
artichoke and olive ragout, salsa rossa and a rosemary jus
Cotes du Rhone, Clos Chanteduc, France 2007
beef tenderloin with parsnip and potato gratin,
carrot, celery and scallion, Van Winkle Bordelaise
Cabernet Sauvignon, Long Meadow Ranch, Napa CA 2005
4.
White chocolate mousse,
hazelnut dark chocolate truffles and carmel milk chocolate tart
Tawny Port, Fonseca, 20 Year, Portugal
Spiced orange creme brulee
with mini tart tatin and candied kumquats
Vidal Icewine, Pilliteri Estates, Niagara, Canada, 2006
Champagne Sorbet with grapefruit,
Rum baba with raisins and roasted grape tart
Demi-Sec Sparkling, Gruet, New Mexico, NV
Caramel Cake, candied pecans
and butterscotch Jameson pudding
cognac, Kelt, VSOP, France
I am competing in the Athens Dancing with the Stars to raise money for Project Safe, an amazing 501c3 working to end domestic violence and provide support systems for the victims of domestic violence.
The Athens Dancing with the Stars event is their marquee fundraiser for the year and gets a ton of attention. My wonderful partner for the evening is Natalie Cox who is a local attorney and ballroom dance instructor. Natalie and I will be raising money for the event throughout the next three months in a variety of different ways.
The easiest way to support us is to go to the project Safe website and click through to support our team, lucky #7!!!
http://www.project-safe.org/Dancing-with-the-Athens-Stars.html
But as time flies by we will be having t-shirt sales, drink specials, wine dinners, tip jars, cooking classes and corporate sponsorship opportunities!
If you can directly support us then write a check to Project Safe and we'll put your logo on the back of our t-shirt! Unlike many charities we'll give you a lot more than a cheesy mug!
$1000 level
A four course Five & Ten wine dinner for six at the restaurant! Gratuity for the waiter not included.
$2000 level
A wine tasting for 12 people with tapas at GOSFORD WINE!
$5000 level
A six course wine-matched dinner for six cooked at YOUR HOUSE by Hugh.
Must be in Athens.
$10000 level
A six course wine-matched dinner for twelve cooked at YOUR HOUSE by Hugh.
Must be in Athens.
Thanks for helping me help Project Safe and our community!
The southern staple of oyster pie is a legacy item of Thanksgiving around these parts but I also love to cook this version as well (and lobsters are really inexpensive right now). It's a decadent treat that makes a great side or appetizer. The shiitakes could be chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, porcini... whatever the season is showing off.
serves four
oven to 375F
8 slices of sourdough boule, 1/3 of an inch thick drizzled with olive oil,
toasted at 375 until crisp, nicely browned but still with a hint of pliability
2 one-pound fresh hard shell Maine lobsters
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Old Bay
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 cups shiitakes, sliced
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1/3 of a cup of flat leaf parsley, chopped
pinch of red chile flake
1 ½ cups minced leeks
1 cup heavy cream
pinch grated nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of water to a vigorous boil over high heat. Season with salt and Old Bay. Cook in lobsters for five minutes in boiling water, then shock them in ice water to stop the cooking. Using a whatever your favorite lobster cleaning tools, shell and clean them, reserving the shells for a bisque or something. You should have two tails, four claws and the knuckle meat. Coarsely chop all and reserve.
Heat a large frypan over high heat. Put one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of unsalted butter in to the pan. Add the mushrooms and sauté until fully cooked. Mushrooms like to give off liquid and you should cook them until that some of that liquid evaporates and some returns to the mushrooms. At this point turn off the heat and add vinegar, chopped parsley and chile flake. Set aside.
I like cream but I am not a big fan of cooked cream sauces so this is a different way to thicken a sauce using pureed leeks instead of reducing the cream or (aghast!) using flour.
Heat a saucepan over medium heat and add one tablespoon of butter. Let the butter bubble and froth and then add the leeks. Add a teaspoon of water, season with a touch of salt and then cover pot. Lower heat to low and cook until leeks are tender, about fifteen minutes.
Puree the leeks with the cream and then set aside.
SO now we have all four elements: The toasted bread, the lobster, the crema, and the mushrooms.
Butter a 8 inch by 8 inch (or so) baking pan and place a bit of crema in the bottom. Arrange two or three boule slices in the bottom and then put a little more crema on top of that. Put down a third of your lobster meat down and then a third of your mushrooms. Repeat until all ingredients are exhausted, making sure you finish with bread and then crema.
Bake at 375 F for twenty minutes. The crema will be bubbly and a bit browned, all yummy like.
What we have learned:
1. I love Old Bay. It is the only prepared spice mix that I use because there's something timeless about the combination. It makes seafood sing!
2. As we learned, par-cooking lobster is pretty dang easy. You could take the same lobster method used here and make a risotto or a poached lobster salad. The trick is to remember that you have only cooked the lobsters half way and they need that next gentle step before gracing that plate.
3.
If you have not stopped by Red Eye Coffee on Prince Avenue, go! This is a shop that celebrates the craft of making coffee and tea. Red Eye serves a variety of teas and fresh coffee Counter Culture Coffee. Counter Culture Coffee is a company based out of Durham, North Carolina that only produces coffee that has come directly from the hands of farmers. This company is dedicated to fresh, delicious, and sustainable coffee that educates consumers by making the coffee chain transparent. Take some time and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea at Red Eye on this beautiful fall day.
Hakurei turnips are those beautiful, ivory white, smooth skinned little turnips about the size of a golf ball or even smaller. They take about five to ten minutes to cook and are just about the best thing ever. It's another one of those things where people say to me, "I don't like turnips... yuck." I feed the naysayers these turnips and they have a quick change of heart. And don't you dare throw away those greens, mostly because you need them for the first part of this recipe.
Mahi mahi is a great home cooking fish because it lend itself well to many different styles of cooking, it's sustainable, it's local to many of us Southerners and it's some fine eating too.
Don't be afraid of pan roasting. Just turn on your hoodvent and have at it!
turnip greens and potlikker jus
1 tablespoon bacon fat or olive oil
2 tablespoons minced country ham
1 bunch turnip greens, washed & torn into two inch squares (about two quarts torn greens)
1 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
pinch of red chile flake
pinch of salt (remember that country ham is salty)
In a medium sized pot heat the bacon fat or olive oil over medium heat. When hot add the ham and the greens. Add the chicken stock, vinegar, chile flake and salt. Cover and cook for 15 minutes until the turnips are tender and cooked through. Remove from heat while you cook your turnips and mahi.
soy braised hakurei turnips
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
8 turnips, greens removed (and cooked above), cleaned and halved from north pole to south pole
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon chicken stock
tiny pinch of salt (the soy is salty as well so balance)
1 sprig fresh thyme
Add the soy, stock, salt and thyme and cover the pot. Cook for five minutes and then remove lid. Reserve warm until mahi is done.
pan roasted mahi mahi
Preheat oven to 450.
four portions of mahi mahi, about 5 ounces each (about one inch thick)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Heat a large frypan to high heat. Add the olive oil. Season the fish and then add them carefully to the hot oil. Don't fiddle with the pan, rather let the fish brown nicely for about three minutes and then turn it over to the other side. Cook for three minutes and then place in the oven for three to five minutes, or until the fish is cooked through but not overdone. Mahi turns a beautiful ivory white when cooked.
plating
Drain off about four tablespoons of the potlikker (the juice from your turnip greens) and place in a small pot. Bring to a boil, turn off heat, and while its still hot whisk in about a tablespoon of butter and some chopped parsley. That's your sauce.
Four plates. Equal sized piles of greens on each plate, then turnips, then the fish, Then a touch of sauce.
Eat.
If you didn't get a butternut squash in your CSA box this week, go pick one up at the Athens Farmers Market, open 'til noon on Saturday. Or if you don't live in Athens, I am sure there is a farmers market nearby. Check out this site to find local foods in your city.
Once you get your squash, make this tasty soup to warm yourself up on this chilly Saturday.
roasted butternut squash bisque
2 pounds butternut squash
2 T brown sugar
2 T unsalted butter
2 T water
2 T unsalted butter
½ cup yellow onion, diced
½ cup leek, cleaned and minced
1 piece celery, minced
1 T fresh sage, chopped
pinch of allspice
1 small apple, cored and diced
1 quart chicken stock
bouquet of thyme, bay and parsley
zest of one lemon
salt to taste
oven to 400
Cut and scoop the squashes. Place in roasting pan and rub with the butter and the sugar.
Pour water in pan, cover with foil and roast for one hour. Remove foil and roast for 15 minutes more to lightly brown squash.
Remove squash and let cool.
In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, leek and celery and sweat until translucent. Add apple, sage, allspice, chicken stock and bouquet. Cook until apple is tender, about 15 minutes.
Scoop cooked squash, discarding the shells. Place cooked flesh in soup base. Remove bouquet. Season, puree. serve. Enjoy!
October 27th
Fisher Vineyards Wine Dinner
Five & Ten, 6 PM
The dinner will be delicious, wines phenomenal, and evening memorable. Not only will we be enjoying wines from Fisher Vineyards, but Juelle Fisher, the matriarch of this family-owned and operated California winery will be in attendance. Juelle and her husband Fred founded Fisher Vineyards in 1973 on 100 acres in the Mayacama Mountains on the western slopes of Spring Mountain.
The winery began with this mission....
"To grow and produce wines of consistent, world-class quality that express their unique mountain or valley heritage in the truest sense of terroir; the resulting wines should pay tribute to the land we are fortunate to care for, as well as each member of our team, which together will yield classic balance and style that transcends time." http://www.fishervineyards.com/winery/winery_and_cellar.php
Today, Fisher Vineyard's wines are given some of the highest ratings and best reviews....
Whitney's Chardonnay 2005
90-92 Points http://www.erobertparker.com/Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
"From an older (33 years) Chardonnay vineyard, the 2005 Chardonnay Whitney's Vineyard possesses attractive notes of honeyed lemons, poached pears, white peaches, and spices. Medium-bodied and elegant with expressive aromas as well as flavors, it should drink well for 2-3 years."
Unity Cabernet 2006
92 Points Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar
"Bright red. Sharply focused redcurrant and cherry scents are complemented by tobacco and brown spices. Deeper cassis and bitter cherry on the palate, along with spicecake and succulent herb qualities. Combines power and depth smoothly, finishing with slow-building sweetness and excellent clarity."
http://www.fishervineyards.com/trade/coach_insignia.php
The Menu...
1.
butternut squash bisque with raisins, bottarga and yogurt
Whitney Chardonnay 2005
2.
country ham wrapped Maine cod with , romesco,‘not your mama’s’ brussel sprouts and sweet onion soubise
Unity Cabernet 2006
3.
corned beef with buttered cabbage, roasted shallots, pomegranate and chopped arugula
Coach Insignia 2005
4.
Peppered and grilled venison with celery root-pancetta gratin, grilled scallions, cranberry compote and port glace
Mountain Cuvee Cab 2006
5.
sticky date pudding with rum ice cream
Join us.
$100 per person not including tax or gratuity
6 pm
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