Archive for the ‘Alcohol’ Category
Divorcee Vacay: Blue Cheese Brandy Burgers
And now part deux of the divoreee vacay extravaganza..
Obviously no 4th of July celebration is complete without that culinary American icon, the burger. And don’t get us wrong, we love juicy, meaty burgers (along with apple pie and freedom). But, it is equally obvious that divorcee vacay calls for a bit of panache, something beyond the red meat and yellow cheese standard. This last point is especially important, as no cheese connoisseur with any street cred is going to slap a Kraft single on a meat patty and call it a day.
Divorcee Vacay: Cocktail Hour With Coconut Mojitos
Editor’s Note: Please give a warm welcome to AMF’s good friends and newest contributors, Sparkles (Allison) and Master P (Paula). Being the wine drinking, sunloving, danceaholics that they are, I’m really pleased to have them share their culinary adventures and cocktail making hotness.
To be clear, we are not divorced (from each other or otherwise). Excluded from a college boys weekend, unable to convince two other bffs to join us and desperate to leave our respective cities (DC and NYC), we are vacationing just the two of us on the small, quaint island of Anna Maria, Florida. Hence, we feel like divorcees and intend to drink, eat and sun bathe accordingly. 
Once you get on the island, it’s hard to leave (and not a good idea after wine in the afternoon) so we make sure to shop for the whole trip. Brilliantly, we acquire ingredients that can be re-used in innovative ways (ie if you buy enough different cheeses, you are pretty much set for days.)
Cocktail Hour Menu:
Libation – Mojitos with pineapple infused rum and coconut water
Appetizer – Grilled, halved peaches with honey vanilla ricotta
We begin our late afternoon with a cocktail “project.” Located in the fruit aisle, next to the peaches, we found coconuts, silly, fury little guys, just begging to be taken home (despite the obvious question: what does one do with a whole coconut?) Before we do anything, we slice up pineapple and throw it in a bowl and cover it with rum to let the rum seep in. (Snacking on rum soaked pineapple is pretty fantastic, as well.) We then take our coconut into the garage and discover a power drill! We hold the coconut over a bowl and drill! until we pierce through the shell, then add another hole for air flow and drain the coconut juice into a bowl to be thrown into a mojito with rum soaked pineapple, fresh crushed mint, more rum, simple syrup and a little club soda. Perfection!
Onto the appetizers! We preheat the grill on medium heat, then take a peach and half it, pulling out the pit and coat each half in olive oil, then throw them face down on the grill and close the cover. We mix ricotta with honey and a little vanilla while we wait. Once grill marks appear on the peaches, after about 10 minutes, we brush balsamic vinegar on them and then add copious amounts of the ricotta mixture and devour with a fork and knife. The result is as warm and delish as peach cobbler without as much guilt. (It is just the appetizer, after all.)
Cocktail Hour Recipes
Mojitos:
2 parts chunks of pineapple
1 healthy pinch mint leaves
1 part simple syrup (1 cup water to 1 cup sugar)
1 part rum
1 part coconut water
Splash club soda
Peaches:
1 peach (pitted)
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon vanilla
Balsamic vinegar mixed with honey for drizzling
Olive oil for brushing
Soon to come: Chorizo and BlueCheese Brandy Burgers..
Taking a Whiz with Peaks of Otter
Now I know what you’re thinking: “Blake, it’s great you have these beautiful women up on your site, but why the fuck do they have cheese whiz on their hands?” That’s a fair question I suppose, but I’ll answer that in a bit. First, I have to confess that a while back when I wrote up my adventure to Vintage Virginia Wine Festival I always felt like I left something out. The wineries covered are solid spots without question, but there was one “vineyard” that really stuck with me, and I finally got around to sitting down an checking out more of their products. I’m talking about the gang over at Peaks of Otter.
In the middle of a quasi-hoitie toitie local wine event with talk of tannins and mouthfeel and sundresses, a gang of dread lock rocking, punkishly dressed “sommeliers” were pumping up their crowds like it was Mtv’s Spring Break. Our first pass, we spotted them pouring shots of habanero infused wine while making their tasters hoot before giving them a sample of their desert wine to cool their heated palates. I was curious initially, and we laughed at the novelty, but it wasn’t until our 3rd pass that we decided we had see what the fuss was all about.
More girls after the jump..
5 Chefs, 5 Pigs, 5 Wineries: Cochon 555
You know, there are days when I question the merits of running a food blog. It’s a time consuming, frustrating, often unappreciated process. Juggling HTML code, photography, cooking and writing can consume a considerable amount of one’s time. Sometimes it’s bit too similar to real job than I’d prefer my hobbies become. This is natural I suppose, especially when you have to turn down a happy hour with friends. But then, once and a while, you have a day like last Sunday. Or more specifically, when Foodbuzz hooks you up with free tickets to check out an event you’d normally wouldn’t be able to afford. So from here on out, when I start balling up my fist and shaking it furiously my computer, I’ll just lean back in my chair, close my eyes and think back to Cochon 555.
Cochon 555 got it’s start down in Atlanta as a benefit to showcase local chef skills, ecofriendly farm raised animals, and to help raise awareness for ICompassion. I was really lucky to have a chance to attend as well as bring a few friends. With a $125 price tag per ticket this was a luxury all of us would probably pass on despite the fact FIVE different top notch DC chefs compete with a whole pig Iron Chef style. Oh and did I mention wine? Well, that’s intentional. After Vintage Virgina I was a bit drained on wine note taking, but I took more issue with the fact that most of the wines were flown in from California. What the fuck?! This fact was made all the more annoying given that I had just spent the entire day before surrounded by 50 local wineries. But this event was all about pig, and by god Cochon 555 did not disappoint on that promise.
Featuring Brian McBride’s team from Blue Duck Tavern, RJ Cooper of Vidalia, Nicholas Stefanelli of Mio, Jamie Leeds from Commonwealth Gastropub and John Manolatos of Cashion’s Eat Place, Cochon 555 very much delivered on showcasing some diverse, local culinary talent.
Vintage Nothing; VA Winefest Whole New Terrain
Saturday AMF went on a little field trip out to Virgina. Making it outside DC is a rare occurrence these days for me given my lack of transportation, but how can you not when good friends, good weather, free flowing alcohol, are all in abundance. Is there any way better to spend a Saturday? Ok, fine, I’m sure there are valid answers to that question, but if you’re a yuppie, scratches by to build a “career,” looking at a picture just a tad bit larger than your immediate-post college counterparts, this is a good day. So lets talk a little wine shall we? Vintage Virgina Wine Festival was a great chance to pay homage to our local guys, and worth waiting in traffic. I was glad to see some really good things going on once I finally cut to the front of the line.
Honestly, I’m not going to hate on any VA vineyards, because they all had something to contribute. I enjoyed at least one varial at every booth, was treated well by each and every taster. It was a welcoming and enticing event, and it’s really great to see the VA wineries really start coming into their own.
Also, the live music had some exceptional talent. Thankfully the country cover bands stayed home and we were treated to some quality jazz under a few different tents, not to mention the main stage provided patrons with good bands to sit and relax to when they needed to give their palates a break. Think I even saw a mosh pit forming in front of the stage towards the end. Also, how can you not love the county fair selection of food vendors?! Fuck caviar and bruscetta (not really), give me funnel cakes, foot long corn dogs and the biggest mount of jambalaya I have ever seen in my life. It was a perfect trifecta of quality music, excellent vino and greasy carnival food. Enough foreplay, lets talk wine.
As I said, I don’t want to be critical of the various wineries. If I had not found a single decent wine at any of the booths I visited, I would make note of it, but that thankfully was not the case. Not to mention given the length of the day, varying crowds and my refusal to spit out any wine I tasted my experiences would vary I’m sure from others. Overall, was really happy to see a variety of Cab Francs and even a few appearances of Petit Verdot in a couple of blends. Here are my Top Three vineyards and my Top Three wines from each.
First reaction: “Only three wines? Seriously? Kind of a jip.” Reaction after the first taste: “Holy fuck..”
These guys sacrificed quantity for quality in all the right ways. Maybe I’m a sucker for the Petit Verdot grape which adds an almost syrupy richness and body to any wine it touches, but Mountfair’s blends were simply excellent on all three of their offerings. These guys are small time, about 100 cases of each wine produced, but they certainly make up for it in quality. All three need a taste, so I’ll just list them and you go find them.
Inagural ‘07 (60% Cab Franc/25% Merlot/ 15% Petit Verdot) – Lush and fruity
Engagement ‘07 (60% Merlot/20% Petit Verdot/ 15% Cab Sav/ 5% Malbec) – soft but well structured. Hints of berries and chocolate
Wooloomooloo ‘07 (60% Petit Verdot/20% Merlot/ 10% Cab Franc/5% Cab Sav/5% Malbec) – almost a true Bordeux blend including all five of the major grapes. Well balanced with fruit and earth. One of my favorites.
I won’t lie. I have a soft spot for irreverant branding and interesting labels. So I could be bias here, but I really dug a lot of what these guys were putting out. Don’t let the names fool you, these are legit blends that would hold up well at any dinner party.
Yesterday – A bright, crisp Sauvignon Blanc. Not too fruity or herby. Inspired by youth apparently.
Erhoneous – I’ve always really enjoyed the Rhone wines, so when I saw that this was a Grenach/Syrah blend I was excited. Very smooth, lush and fruity. The Grenache isn’t overwhelming at all.
Franc the Tank – A Cab Franc that is advertised as “so good you’ll drink it by the pint.” My notes betray me here. All I can tell you is that I circled “pint” and ”so good” and then added a bunch of “!!!” after the name.
I’ve actually had the pleasure of visiting this little vineyard outside of Charlettesville a little while back, and I’d highly recommend the trip. If you’re an American History fan, you’re in luck since the house on the hill was designed by Thomas Jefferson. He also brought over a lot of the grapes from Italy to take root, but failed miserably. Lucky for us, that didn’t keep the people who owned the land from trying again. I really enjoy Italian grape varials, so I’m always excited to see what they’re putting out.
Nebbiolo – a Northern Italy grape clone, a tannic wine with a lot of body, well suited for roated meats and cold evenings.
Octagon – Barboursville’s signature blend. It’s a solid sturdy wine, but if your really want to learn a thing or two about this wine, and digg some tunes check this link out.
http://www.barboursvillewine.net
Also, it should be noted Valhalla and Breaux both did impressive jobs and deserve more attention than I was able to give here.
Mussels to Die/Risk Severe Food Poisoning For..
There’s something about having a not so sober conversation with the old school, neighborhood lush about the quality and freshness of your local seafood that’s both amusing and troubling. On the one hand you’re thinking maybe this guy knows a thing or two and I should heed his advice; on the other (and this is coming from years of bartending experience) you want to just write the guy off and chalk it up to drunk banter. “No, I get it, check the eyes, yes I understood the first 37 times you mentioned it.”
Either way, it did get me thinking, there’s a few ingredients out there you do really need to be careful about when purchasing and storing. Fish: clean eyes and fresh smell = good. Crustaceans: moving around and smell fresh = good. Other major meats are fairly obvious as well, but clams and mussels. That’s a bit trickier. Freshness with those guys is very much necessary simply because a dead one can lead to a horrible world of pain and the red flags aren’t as obvious.
But have no fear mussel lovers! A little prep when coming home with fresh mussels means you can eat well and safe all week long. Top things you need to know about buying and storing mussels:
- Check your mussels, they should be tightly closed! If cracked or stay open after tapping them, that’s a deal breaker ladies.
- Mussels need to breath, so if wrapped in a plastic bag they will suffocate. The good stuff is in a mesh bag, rinsed with water and ideally displayed up front and not in a back room out of eye shot.
- If you’re not cooking your mussels immediately, place them in a bowl with a layer of aluminum foil and wet paper towel or newspaper on the bottom, as well as another paper towel on top and they’ll keep in your fridge for about 5 days. ALWAYS check them again before using to discard the opened, dead ones.
Pork Shoulder: The Perfect Midnight Snack
Why the hell would you be munching on shredded pork at 1 am you ask? Well, my initial reaction would normally be, “I don’t understand the question and I won’t respond to it”, but I suppose another reason could be because you enjoy the Spanish style of eating dinner in the late evening. Or maybe you take the initiative to prepare a large amount of pork and package it up for easy access when you’re so inclined. Or you’re like me, you can grossly underestimate the amount of time it requires to braise down a whole pork shoulder while your friends happily hang out and drink all night until the food is ready.
Don’t get me wrong, braising is pretty dummy-proof even for me, but there is one tiny bit of calculation that needs to be factored into the process: the weight of the meat.
A good rule of thumb to consider with most tough cuts of meat is braising for a solid 3 hours for 3-4 lbs of meat, plus an extra hour for each additional pound. You need at least 2-3 hours for even smoall cuts just to break the tissue down enough to tear apart easliy. With this dish, we braised it at 350 degrees in the hopes of a slightly faster cooking time which turned out great, but I’d really recommend 300-325 degrees as the ideal temperature to set your oven. You want that connective tissue to break down and dissolve into the meat to really give it that amazing melted texture. Too hot or too cool, the connective tissue doesn’t break down properly and the meat remains chewy. The braising liquid is best if fat skimmed off and reduced to thicken as a sauce.
Also, one good thing about the long cooking/drinking time was have a chance to throw some bottles around and coming up with new shot/cocktail. Next time you’re looking for something to do with that Southern Comfort, cheap tequila and triple sec you’ve had sitting around collecting dust, pick up a can of guava juice. Mix equal parts each spirit and juice, shake with ice and pour into shot glasses or martini glass. Bonus points for adding a dash of whipped cream to an already very girlie shot. Not the best cocktail for the scotch drinkers out there, but the cosmo drinkers of the world will not be disappointed.
Apologizes on the lack of photography on this post, it was not a sober evening.
Keep in mind that ingredients are very interchangeable and this recipe is more of a guideline. You can vary the vegetables, braising liquid, seasonings to your liking. The only thing i would add to this recipe is hotter peppers and/or some spices to give it some heat.