New York Cork Report

My first attempt at pulled pork...

Friday night (more on that in a moment) I smoked my first pork shoulder. I bought a 9 lb. picnic shoulder not knowing that most pit master prefer the "butt" portion of the shoulder to the picnic.

But (pun intended) I had what I had...and it turned out delicious.

I started by trimming off quite a bit of fat (not all of it mind you) and the skin on the lower portion of the roast. I don't have a scale that goes high enough to weigh this size roast, but I'm guessing I took at least a pound or two off of the bone-in piece of meat.

Stormhoek Geek Dinner -- First Course

For the first course of our Old Home + Fresh Wine Stormhoek wine dinner, my mother in law, known as MIL, cooked up a delicious, flavorful goat cheese tart to pair with Stormhoek's equally delicous 2005 Sauvignon Blanc.

First, the recipe for the tart:

MIL's Goat Cheese Tart

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the board
Kosher salt
13 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, divided
3 to 4 tablespoons ice water
3/4 cup chopped shallots (3 to 4 shallots)
10 1/2 ounces garlic-and-herb soft goat cheese (recommended: Montrachet}
1 cup heavy cream
3 extra-large eggs
1/4 cup chopped basil leaves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the crust, put the flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Cut 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) of the butter into large dice, add to the bowl, and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. With the machine running, add the ice water all at once and process until the dough becomes crumbly. Don't overprocess. Dump the dough out on a floured board, gather it loosely into a ball, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Roll the dough on a well-floured board and fit it into a 9-inch tart pan with a removable sides, rolling the pin over the top to cut off the excess dough. Butter 1 side of a square of aluminum foil and fit it, butter side down, into the tart pan. Fill the foil with rice or beans. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and foil from the tart shell, prick the bottom all over with a fork, and bake for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of butter in a small pan and saute the shallots over low heat for 5 minutes, or until tender. Place the goat cheese in the bowl of the food processor and process until crumbly. Add the cream, eggs, basil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and the pepper and process until blended.
Scatter the cooked shallots over the bottom of the tart shell. Pour the goat cheese mixture over the shallots to fill the shell (if the shell has shrunk, there may be leftover filling). Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until the tart is firm when shaken and the top is lightly browned. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve hot or at room temperature.

Next, the wine...which, of the four Stormhoek wines I served with dinner, was probably my second favorite. The wine's balance was impressive...medium-light body, crisp but not overpowering acidity and flavors of ripe citrus with just a little herbal quality. I've been told that the wine will retail for around $10 and at that price it's really a great value. I'd definitely drink it again...especially with this goat cheese tart.

WBW #21 & IMBB #26 Fabulous Favorites Festival -- Wolffer Estate 2003 Late Harvest Chardonnay and Grilled Poundcake with Grilled Peaches

When Alberto and I decided to team up for WBW #21 and IMBB #26, I had aspirations of doing a five- or six-course tasting menu with our favorite foods with our favorites wines.

As happens way too often for my liking, a hectic real life forced me to scale back severely. Instead of multiple wines and courses, I'm offering one wine with one dish. But, this combination more than makes up for the lack of quantity with quality.

Almost immediately upon announcing the event, I wanted Nena to pick the wine or wines we would pair with food. I should have known that when I asked her to pick at least one favorite wine that my small stash (two bottles) of Wolffer Estate 2003 Late Harvest Chardonnay was in danger.

Right I was...and now we're down to just one bottle. And just so you know, Nena, that bottle is not being opened for at least another five years. Got it?

On to the event and pairing.

Nena loves this wine with good reason, it is a rich, alluring gold in the glass, with intense aromas and flavors of peaches, apricots and burnt sugar. Succulent and sweet, it's balanced extremely well with acidity that makes me think this wine will age and improve for years to come. At one point, we had six or seven bottles of the stuff...and despite our best efforts, the stash has dwindled.

Personally, I enjoy this wine by itself...it's a delicious sipping wine after a meal or with cheese. But, that isn't the point of the Fabulous Favorites Festival...so, we tried something new -- Grilled Pound Cake with Grilled Peaches.

My Weber Bullet's Maiden Voyage

Saturday, I fired up my smoker for the very first time. Her maiden voyage if you will.

Around noon, with my spare ribs trimmed, slathered and rubbed, I fired up the chimney starter and got the charcoal and wood chunks (hickory) ready in the bottom of the Weber.

I'll tell you what, I obviously don't have a lot of experience with different smokers, but this thing is almost fool-proof. Once I had everything set up (talk about mise en place...lots to do preparing for a smoking session), it was largely mindless. With the water pan (which holds a gallon of water) keeping the temperature fairly constant, I didn't have adjust the vents much at all.

And as you can see here, I was right in that 225-degree sweet spot and was there for much of the six hour cook.

I will admit, shamefully, that I'm not usually much of a rib eater. Perhaps it was just the vast amount of bad, largely meatless ribs I've had in my life. I have always said that chicken is a much better vehicle for bbq sauce (when you're eating ribs that are thing on meat, it's all about the sauce, right?). But, by inviting John and Al over for the BBQ, I had some experienced rib lovers on hand. Plus, Nena loves em too.

Robert of WhiteTrashBBQ fame gave me some basic recipes and guidelines for cooking using the Weber, but of course I changed the rub recipe some because I just can't help myself. I used less regular sweet paprika and added Spanish smoked to make up the difference. Instead of onion flakes, I used some dried minced shallots I had on hand. And I omitted the cayenne because my guests have tender tongues. At right you can see the ribs just before they went into the smoker.

Again, once everything is set up and the smoker is closed, it's really pretty easy. I checked it once an hour (just the temperature, I did a good job of fighting my incessant urge to open and peek inside), did three hours on the smoker, took them out, wrapped them in foil with a little apple juice, bourbon, dry rub mixture, and cooked them like that for two hours, and then for one last hour without the foil before serving.

The finished product, I'm proud to say, looked great and was deemed "very very very good" by our guests.

But, just as with any other cooking endeavor, I wasn't completely satisfied (and never will be).

So, what will I do differently the next time?

First, I'll track down some apple, peach or cherry wood. I didn't read until after cooking that few use hickory by itself and I can see why...it resulted in a bit of a raw wood flavor I think. No one else seemed to mind though.

Secondly, I really want to use some different stuff in the rub. While tasty, I think some other spices (allspice, cumin and cinnamon) would really be interesting. I can't help myself...I never make anything the same way twice (which is good and bad of course).

As for drinks...I picked up a few bottles of bargain zinfandel (12-bucks or cheaper). The best was Gnarley Head Old Vine Lodi Zinfandel ($12). I didn't take notes, but it was definitely the best of the lot...intense, peppery and delicious with the 'cue.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #21 & Is My Blog Burning #26 -- Fabulous Favorites Festival

The Internet's premier food blogging event, Is My Blog Burning? has inspired an ever-growing number of culinary blog events, including the world's most popular virtual wine tasting Wine Blogging Wednesday.

So, it was only a matter of time before the two culinary juggernauts joined forces to create the ultimate culinary blogging event.

It is with great pleasure and excitement that IMBB's founder, Alberto and I announce that we are co-hosting the May editions of IMBB and WBW.

The dual theme?

It's the Fabulous Favorites Festival and it's taking place on Friday May 19 on a blog near you.

What is the Fabulous Favorites Festival exactly? It's a food and wine pairing event that, we hope, will attract the largest group of participants ever for any culinary blog event. For this one day at least, food bloggers will be "forced" to dive into the wine pool, while wine bloggers will have to uncork their cooking skills.

The concept is simple, with two plans of attack you can choose from.

1. Pick a favorite bottle of wine from your cellar and create/cook a dish that goes with it.
2. Pick a favorite dish in your culinary repertoire and seek out a wine that will pair will it.

Or, if you're feeling really ambitious, create an entire wine-pairing menu of favorites.

Alberto and I are both excited about this joint-venture...and we hope you are too.

Won't you join us?

The Smoker Cometh. Pork Wanted.

In the midst of our more-work-than-I-ever-expected bathroom renovation project, my parents and lovely wife presented me with my birthday present (a bit early, but I'm not complaining) -- a Weber Smokey Mountain Cooker.

I can barely contain my excitement as I think about all of the delicious pork I'll be cooking on it this summer...ribs...shoulder....belly for bacon.

I look forward to experimenting with this bad boy...and you'd better believe that I'll chronicle my experiments here on LENNDEVOURS.

Thank You Very Much-o Mr. Risott-o

Valentine's Day is treated a little bit differently in our house, I think. We don't really buy each other gifts beyond a well-thought-out card. But, we have a few food traditions related to the most Hallmark of all holidays.

First, we never, ever go out to dinner for the occasion. So many restaurants have over-priced, under-delivering fixed menus, and tables filled with people who never go out to nice restaurants and act like it.

Second, in recent years, Nena has started making her should-be-famous banana-chocolate chip pancakes (in heart shape) on the day itself. It's a casual, fun meal that we both love...even if wine pairing is nearly impossible (sweeter bubbly like a Moscato d'Asti?).

Third, I take a day off of work to shop for and cook an involved meal, with wine pairing, for the love of my life. Friday was the day for the 2006 edition of the meal.

This year, I don't need to post any recipes from the meal...because I borrowed (with slight modifications) the first two courses from the king of Internet recipes (to me anyway) Stephen of Stephencooks.com.

To start, I made my own version of his Salad of Pears, Roasted Beets and Three Aphrodisiacs . I replaced the fresh goat cheese with an aged one that I grated over the salad, in lieu of the lime/ginger/shallot dressing, I used blueberry vinaigrette, and I put it all over a small pile of baby romaine. The results were spectacular.

For the main course, I made my own take on Stephen's Butternut Squash Risotto with Sausage, Pancetta and Leeks. The main change I made in this one was to remove the Italian sausage and replace it with some apple-chicken sausage I picked up at Whole Foods. The sweetness of the apples matched nicely with the squash, with the salty and smokey pancetta (and of course salty parmesan) providing balance. Stephen will forever be Mr. Risotto in my mind because of this dish...which was equally delicious the next day when I mixed the leftovers with one egg, formed patties, rolled them in seasoned bread crumbs and pan fried them.

Last, but not least, I made an Anjou pear crumble with old fashioned rolled oats in the crumble. I don't typically bake because I'm so awful at following recipes precisely, but it was pretty simple and it turned out pretty well.

Happy Valentine's Day, Nena...I love our traditions and I love you.

Cheese Sandwich Day...Just a Few Days Late

I swear, I meant to blog about Cheese Sandwich Day on the day itself, last Thursday. But, while we cooked and ate our yummy grilled cheese sandwich, a vacation day Friday and a long holiday weekend spent doing work on our new house has created a bit of a blogging back log.

So what is Cheese Sandwich Day all about anyway? I'll leave that explanation up to my go-to blog when I'm looking for a delicious recipe, Stephencooks.

As for our sandwiches, I stopped on the way home at the local grocery store (greatly limiting my cheese selection) and whipped up the above beauties. The ingredients are all pretty basic, run-of-the-mill items, but sometimes those are the best.

I took some "fancy" bread from the in-store bakery, a scallion loaf, and topped it with thinly sliced red onion, thinly sliced ripe Anjou pear, Monterrey Jack cheese and some white cheddar.

I didn't take any particular offense to the Food & Wine story that started this tidal wave of gooey cheesy goodness...but any excuse for grilled cheese is a good one, right?

The Steelers Win the Super Bowl

Boy what a game! I'm still waiting for Ben to really show up, but the D played a good game and held when it had to, Antwaan Randel El did what the great playmakers do -- made a big play, and Hines deserves the MVP award even if he had a couple uncharacteristic drops.

Jerome Bettis, you've given Pittsburgh ten great seasons. It's been a pleasure watching you punish defenses and I look forward to seeing you pound your way into the Hall of Fame as well.

Now to all things culinary. Since there were just four of us (I can't watch big games like this with big groups of non-believers) I stuck with making my own rendition of Roethlisburgers that I made a bit more healthy by using ground turkey and fresh chicken sausage from Wild By Nature. Delicious and at least a little more guilt-free than the originals. We also had pierogies sauteed with butter and caramelized onions....and a lot if I.C. Light beer.

I'm also happy to report that, with the big win, the Steelers won me this bottle of wine from the Culinary Fool. Unfortunately, her post (and the congratulatory email she sent me) were so gracious that I just can't bring myself to talk the post-game trash that I had planned...damn you Brenda.

As she mentions in her post, I certainly will enjoy and appreciate this bottle.

All in all, a tremendous season and a memorable Super Bowl win. I was four years old for the last one, so I'm glad to have one that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Now that we've won one for the thumb, let's start on the other hand next year.

I'd also like to take a moment to thank my lovingly tolerant wife for putting up with my psychotic Steelers-related behavior over the last forever. Thanks for not having me sent away...

The Ultimate Steelers Tailgate Menu

Thanks to everyone to sent me emails or left comments for the Ultimate Steelers Tailgate menu. Just reading what you all had to say transported me back to my hometown and to Sundays at "church" (what we called Steelers games in my fraternity house in college).

But, without further adieu, I give you the Ultimate Steelers Tailgate Menu.

Appetizers

Snyder of Berlin Potato Chips
Pittsburgh-area potato chips

Polish Sausage Chips with Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce
Polish sausage is a must for any Pittsburgh-themed menu. Cook it how you like, slice it into thin ovals (on an angle) to make the chips. Mix one bottle Heinz Chili Sauce and one small can of crushed pineaplle in a small sauce pan, mix and heat through.

Main Courses and Sides

Primanti Brothers Sandwiches
A Pittsburgh-original. If you can't get the real dea, Kate offers a rendition. I'm going to make these for our party, but I'll be using the traditional thick slices of Italian bread, the right vinegary coleslaw and a fried egg. Let me recommend pastrami, which you have to grill a little too.

The Roethlisburger
Big Ben has taken the city by storm and these burgers belong at any Steelers tailgate.They can also be made into small, White Castle-style burgers and served as a side dish. Yes, that's right...I said a side dish.

Chipped Chopped Ham Barbeques
Kate has her recipe, my mom has hers and there are several others out there too. Experiment and find one that you like. Again, why not make them slider-sized and either as apps or sides :)

Pittsburgh Salad
 We don't like vegetables without finding a way to make them unhealthy. Basically, take whatever salad you want, add grilled steak or chicken (if you want), shredded provolone (not the good aged stuff) and add fries. Drown in your favorite dressing (ranch is my choice on this salad)

Desserts

Klondike Bars
Not everyone knows this, but Klondikes originated in the 'burgh.

Steelers-Style Banana Splits
This isn't traditional. In fact, I'm just making it up off the top of my head...but it's the best way to get black and gold dessert items together. Make your standard banana split, but with the following changes:

• Replace the strawberry ice cream with rocky road or vanilla-chocolate chip
• Lose the strawberry topping and use more pineapple or hot fudge
• Throw on an extra banana, just because they are good

Drinks

Steel-Town Shakes
Make a banana milkshake, drop in some chocolate chips and a swirl of chocolate sauce...and you have a black and gold shake...

Iron City Beer
It's not the only local beer, but for Pittsburgh Steelers' games, it's the beer of choice of any true fan.

There you have it. I plan to make most, if not all, of the items on this list. They will all be delicious as I watch the Steelers dominate, decimate and demoralize the Seahawks. GO STEELERS!

Technorati tags: food & drink | food | steelers | pittsburgh

Steelers Food #3: Pierogies

I love just about anything stuffed inside pasta, regardless of filling. I love ravioli. I love pot stickers. And yes, I love pieogies.

As Kate mentions in her post (I seem to be a step behind her with the 'burgh's best bites) Pittsburgh is filled with Polish, Slavic or Ukrainian communities, and the churches within those communities are the best places to find fresh pierogie.

I've seen them served deep fried with tomato sauce (similar to 'toasted ravioli') and I have a fraternity brother who would boil or steam them and then eat (pretty bland that way if you ask me). I prefer to poil and then sautee them with butter and onions until they are just slightly golden. A little hot sauce is good too.

I'm going to compile the Ultimate Pittsburgh Steelers Tailgate Menu and post it tonight...so stay tuned for more 'burgh bites.

Steelers Food #2: French Fries

French fries. No, they weren't invented in Pittsburgh (or France for that matter) but Pittsburgh has taken these crispy slices of gold to an all new level -- as a condiment.

In the 'burgh, fries are as likely to be on a sandwich as next to it, especially if you're at Primanti Brothers, which is to Pittsburgh what Geno's and Pat's are to Philadelphia. The sandwiches are served on thick slizes of Italian white bread, layered with vinegary coleslaw, tomato, French fries and -- if your a true 'burgher -- a fried egg. Every table has a bottle of Trappey's Hot Sauce for splashing on this king of all sandwiches. You can get any of a number of deli meats as your base...but my all-time favorite is the "pastrami with egg."

Adding fries to a sandwich may not seem that big a stretch. As kids, many of us added potato chips to sandwiches (or Doritos even). But one Pittsburgh-centric use of fries truly shocked Nena the first time we ate out in Pittsburgh a few years ago -- the Pittsburgh Salad.

The Pittsburgh Salad isn't all that different from a typical garden salad you can get anywhere. Iceberg lettuce is usually the base, with other assorted vegetables added to the mix. But then you add shredded provolone cheese (still not weird, but stay with me) and -- you guessed it -- French fries.

I love Pittsburgh Salads, especially with grilled steak and no-frills ranch dressing. There's something about the contrast of the cold, crips salad, the hot fries and the cool dressing that is almost like comfort food. My favorite spot for one is actually in the suburbs (and right near my high school) -- the Log Cabin Inn. (Nena loves their peanut butter pie)

So there you have it...a delicious sandwich (which Kate adapted in a post this week) and a much-less-than-healthy salad. It's a 'burgh thing.

Steelers Food #1: Chipped Ham BBQs

Before I continue with this post, let me just say that I am well aware that this isn't even close to the authenic use of the term "BBQ." Though it is slow cooked (or at least it can be) and includes a yummy pork product, there's no smoke and not even an open flame necessary.

As a kid, one of my favorite sandwiches was mom's ham barbeques. They aren't the most sophisticated or complicated sandwiches in the world but they are a 'burgh tradition and -- frankly -- they are home for me.

You'll noticed the main ingredient is "chipped chopped ham" which I don't think I can order here on Long Island. Well, I could order it, but I would be shocked and amazed if the deli guy knew what I wanted. Basically, it's shaved ham.

This is Mama LENNDEVOURS' recipe...but there are many others out there, including this one from fellow Pittsburgh native Kate of Accidental Hedonist and one from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Mama LENNDEVOURS Ham Barbeques
1 lb chipped chopped ham
1 small can tomato sauce
2-3 T Heinz ketchup (has to be Heinz...it's a 'burgh thing)
1 t French's plain yellow mustard
1/2 stick margarine
Hamburger rolls
Salt and Pepper

In a frying pan melt 1/2 stick margarine, pull apart the chipped ham and add to pan. Stir  for 1-2 minute  until ham is coated and begins to change color. Add the tomato sauce, ketsup and mustard. Turn down heat to simmer, cover and let cook for 10-15 minutes.

Scoop out onto rolls and sprinkle with salt ane pepper.

Serves 5 (two sandwiches per person)

Contribute to the Ultimate Steelers Tailgate Menu

In case you haven't heard, the Steelers are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday, February 5. I'm also a huge fan...I bet you didn't know that ;)

 

Even though the game is in sure-to-be-cold Detroit, there is no doubt in my mind that the Steelers faithful will be turning out in full force, both for the game itself and long before. Tailgating is a bit of a religion in the Steel City. I've gone to 4 p.m. games where we arrived at the stadium at 8 a.m. Tailgating is important after all.

But Steelers fans, what would you eat as part of the Ultimate Steelers Tailgate? Polish sausage? Pierogies? Chipped Ham BBQs? Primanti Brothers sandwiches?

And what do you drink? Lots of ice-cold Iron? IC Light? Rolling Rock? Penn Pilsner?

Let me know by Sunday, January 29 by commenting here on LENNDEVOURS or sending me an email. I'll read through all of them, add my own ideal grub and compile the ultimate menu for this year's Super Bowl.

UPDATE: Pittsburgh native turned Seattle resident, Kate of Accidental Hedonist already has a recipe posted for chipped ham BBQs...and it's different from Mama LENNDEVOURS'...keep em coming Kate.

Wine Blogging Wednesday #13 -- Four Wines for Chocolate?

September's vintage of Wine Blogging Wednesday is here, and our host, the food blogging sensation Clotilde of Chocolate & Zucchini has chosen chocolate cake as our first WBW pairing partner, even providing us with a recipe.

From the moment Clotilde first mentioned her theme idea to me...my mind started to work (harder than usual). I love quality dessert wine, so that was the obvious route, but what kind would be best?

I honestly wasn't sure because I'm the type of person to drink (and even serve) a nice dessert wine in lieu of dessert (instead of with dessert).

So, after a little research, Sauternes popped up as an option. Wanting to stick with my usual wine region (you all know where that is by now), I picked up a bottle of Jamesport Vineyards 1998 Semi-Glace ($20) (a semillon dessert wine) instead.

After a quick look in my cellar I found a couple more dessert wine options, emerging with both a raspberry wine ($18) and a blueberry wine ($10) from Baldwin Vineyards in New York's Hudson Valley. And finally, as I shopped for some cava or prosecco to serve with brunch last Sunday, I picked up a bottle of 2004 Rosa Regale Brachetto d'Acqui D.O.C.G. ($20).

Knowing that my in-laws (who were in town) read LENNDEVOURS and love trying new wines...I thought dinner last Friday night the perfect time to unleash these wines...along with a cake Nena baked following Clotilde's recipe.

The Perfect Roast Chicken

Sorry for the lack of posting this week. I've been swamped at the office and doing my best not to be at the computer when I get home.

But, I wanted to highlight the wonderfully flavored, tender and juicy bird my lovely wife roasted Sunday evening.

It was our first "organic, free-range" bird...and the flavor difference was truly amazing. Of course, Nena can make even a "sweatshop" bird taste good. But this was a particularly succulent fowl.

Hopefully I'll dig out from under this pile of work...and get back to the fun stuff.

Last Night's Largely Local Dinner

This just in -- local vegetables really do taste better.

As part of the Eat Local Challenge, Nena and I had yet another healthy, delicious, largely-local meal (at least in my mind).

First, the pictures:

What's local?

1. The leaf lettuce (local farmstand)
2. The ripe tomatoes (local farmstand)
3. The green tomatoes, which were fried in whole wheat panko breadcrumbs (our garden)
4. Channing Perrine 2004 Cuvee Tropical Chardonnay from Channing Daughthers Winery, which was corked unfortuntely

That leaves the feta, yellow peppers (which were bought at the farmstand, but we aren't sure of their origins), chicken and chicken spices. Not bad...not bad at all.

The Eat Local Challenge

I can't believe that I didn't sign up for this before today...but I'm joining the Eat Local Challenge, brought to the world by Life Begins at 30 and Locavores

For more information, visit the announcement site.

Everyone has heard a lot about the "eat local" movement amongst foodies world wide. But, honestly, I never gave it that much thought. I honestly think it really hit me when we were in Jamaica for our honeymoon...that eating local is important...for at least two main reasons:

The Return of "In Our Kitchen"

Here at LENNDEVOURS, we aim to please and while the LENNDEVOURS Reader and NY Wine Interest Survey is still underway, one thing is already clear: you guys want to see a bit more food/cooking included.

Mrs. LENNDEVOURS has been saying that for a while...I guess I should have listened to her.

With that in mind, I give you the return of the "In Our Kitchen" category. It was never really gone...it just wasn't housing any recent posts.

Saturday night, the missus and I teamed up to create a delectable (and healthy) summer dinner of grilled chicken thighs that were rubbed with a jerk spice mix we picked up in Jamaica, grilled local corn and a salad of blanched local green beans, julienned cuccumbers (from our garden), crumbled turkey bacon, feta cheese and red onion vinaigrette.   

The jerk rub from Jamaica was/is a little disappointing. It's pretty salty and doesn't have that distinctive allspice/ginger flavor I was hoping for. It's more of a seasoned salt with a little heat. The next time around, I'll add some ground allspice myself and maybe a little cinnammon too.

Far and away the best part of this meal was Nena's salad. I've already encouraged her to make it again...and again.

The corn, while local, had clearly not been picked the same day -- featuring more starch than a dry cleaner. It happens, but we were definitely diappointed. Remember, get the freshest corn you can...because every second it sits after being picked, the natural sugars are turning into dry, tasteless starch. Best solution? Grown your own.

Pictures From Our First Catering Gig

Well, thanks to some hard work (largely on Nena's part) we pulled it off...cooking for 125 people or so...doing 95% of the work in our tiny kitchen 45 minutes away from where the actual party took place.

Everyone raved about the food, so we felt really good about that. I even handed out a few business cards to people...of course I'm not sure either of us wants to do this again any time soon. It was much more work that either of us expected...

We had what we consider a pretty interesting menu...a few standards...but some unique things that you'll never see at most catered parties. I'm not going to post every recipe...but if you'd like something in particular, just let me know and I'll gladly email it to you.

Check out the pictures

Valentine's Day Dinner...

Lucky for me, Nena shares my feelings on Valentine's Day...it's just not that big a deal to either of us and we typically don't do anything too exciting or involved.

However, a few years ago...when "wooing" was still happening (hey, at least I'm being honest about it!) I cooked her a great little dinner at my old apartment and she absolutely loved it.

So, this year we're going to revisit that theme...I'm making dinner tomorrow night.

The menu? It's a secret and my lovely lady reads LENNDEVOURS...so I can't reveal anything just yet. But, I will mention that I've got two vintages of sparkling wine from Wolffer Estate Vineyards that we'll be enjoying, a 2000 and a 1993.

To all of you out there...Happy Hallmark Day!

Is My Blog Burning #11 Entry --Southwest Blog Burnin' Bean Burgers

Beans. Nena and I eat them pretty regularly because they're good for ya (and great on the pre-wedding budget). But how to pick one recipe out of probably the dozen or so we use? Should I go with Nena's Italian-inspired white bean burgers? How about our smokey black bean soup? Maybe the new fallafel recipe Nena tried out just last night?

Nope. Our new favorite homemade bean burgers get the honor. And, because I'm using them for IMBB #11 (hosted by My Little Kitchen), I renamed them Southwest Blog Burning Bean Burgers.

They're pretty easy, very flexible and absolutely deliciously healthy.

Is My Blog Burning #11 -- Beans, Beans, Beans...You Know What That Means

After missing out on a couple IMBB events, I'm can't wait to cook up some beans for IMBB #11, hosted by Cathy at My Little Kitchen.

Can you believe we're at #11 already? Simply awesome.

Beans are the perfect theme too...so many ideas come to mind. Plus they are healthy (usually), perfect for those still sticking to their New Years resolutions.

IMBB is January 23rd...but why not go out and get your Wacky Wine for Wine Blogging Wednesday #5, which is on January 26th!?!?

FMIL's Turkey Pot Pie

I'm still trying to write up the recipe...but I just had to get this picture of my future mother in-law's turkey pot pie posted.

It is an amazingly inventive way to use Thanksgiving leftovers (it's actually pretty involved if you don't already have stuffing, mashed potatoes and turkey around).

I'll hopefully get the recipe written up soon, but what really sets this pot pie apart from the norm is the top "crust." Instead of using the same crust you use on the bottom, it's topped with scoops of stuffing, mashed potatoes and unbaked biscuits.

The picture above is a nice cut view...but here it is before it heads into the oven:

The best part is that it's her own invention. She just thought it up one day.

Culinary Arrogance

I consider myself a pretty good cook...better than pretty good in fact. Sure, I'm no professional...but I'd gone a looong time without a meal totally crashing and burning.

Last night's dinner summed up in a word: Bomb.

I got home late, found myself missing some ingredients for my intended creations. Culinary arrogance drove me on...I could make it work. I could create a masterpiece from mere scraps. Gold from sawdust.

The Gods of the Gullet have shamed and humbled me.

I won't even discuss the "menu" or what exactly happened. It was that horrific and unpleasant.

Nena said she still liked it...maybe she was being nice or maybe she just saw how peeved I was. Or maybe she really did like it...and I'm way too hard on myself.

Did I mention that the wine I tried to pair with this ugliness didn't go either? Great wine...but the foul taste of the food overpowered all the nuances...a wine dead before it's time!

We ate pizza...which didn't go with the wine either.

KABOOM!