After talking to the awesome staff at Aquitaine for a small Q&A and tasting with beer, Todd and I stayed for dinner. We were invited to do a small tasting and talk to the staff about beer to help answer any questions the staff had in preparation for the Things We Love Summer Of Beer dinner series being hosted at Aquitaine. Life is so hard drinking beer and talking about it with awesome people. We worked up quite an appetite.
** I chose this image in doing a search for Aquitaine's logo. This is an awesome picture due to the fact that not only does Aquitaine support the community in the South End of Boston, but because that flag is still up.
Appetizers:
Summer corn and clam chowder.
Rich and divine summer corn chowder with fresh locally sourced corn and clams. Fantastic and filling. Good balance of cream and wine. And as you can see, meaty clams.
Journeyman in Union Sq. Somerville, helped kick off BeerAdvocate's "Things We Love: Summer Of Beer beer dinner series being hosted through out Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville all summer long.
What an epic dinner to kick things off. Working with Meg Grady-Troia was an absolute joy. Her excitement and love of beer was clearly evident. They were just as excited to work with us as we were to work with them.
Chef's Diana Kudjarova and Tsi Wei Lim really came through for this dinner too with some excellent pairings. The food worked so well with the beers. This dinner was all about comfort foods. Rich, delicious, and remarkably simple dishes.
Pork Skin Cracklings for the table.
First Course: White gazpacho, spring greens, and ricotta cheese.
Beer: Sixpoint Brewery "Sweet Action" 5.2% abv
The cream ale and the creamy cool soup. Delicious peas and pea tendrils with a ricotta cheese foam. Just the right balance.There was quite a lot going on with this course, not only was the ale creamy and delicious but the soup also had a lovely lemony flavor to it. Fresh earthy greens and sweet pes with the malty beer were wonderful together.
Second Course: Pig's Head Torchon with condiments and white beans.
Beer: Russian River "Pliny the Elder" 8% abv, and Stone Brewing Co. "Ruination" 7.7% abv.
Oh delicious course, how I loved thee. A special treat sent courtesy of Vinnie Cilurzo of Russian River Brewing co. A special favor asked for and received just to make this beer dinner that much more epic. We pitted against some very fresh Ruination from Stone Brewing co. Quite a battle indeed since the Pliny was sent to us the day it was bottled. 10 days old and amazing!
We called this our fatty course. Fats verses hops. Alpha acids in super hopped Double IPA's and grapefruit flavors of the Pliny with slightly stickier malts on the Ruination verses fatty pigs head torchon and white beans. The condiments were a spicy celery salad, kimchi mayonnaise, and a divine miso-butterscotch paste.
To be honest, as epic as the torchon was, the best flavors for the pairing were the Pliny and the white beans. The cleaner, more crisp flavors of the plny and the delicate flavors of the beans were a match made in heaven, while the sweeter and maltier Ruination was better with the spicier kimchi and spicy celery. They both worked well with the miso-butterscotch paste.
Third Course: Fried blue fish with allium and potato.
Beer: Cisco "Pechish Woods" 4.9%
Fats versus acids again. Lovely fatty blue fish with a lightly tart, wild peach ale. Allium is the proper name for the onion genus. It's fancy for spring onions in this case. The sweet onion flavors added the right balance for the lightly tart peach ale, and the salty, fatty blue fish.
The real winner on this plate though, was not the fish, not the beer, not the onions. It was the potatoes. Thin mandolin sliced potatoes, layered and cooked in lard. Yes, lard! Crispy cooked, soaked in delicious lard. It tasted like scalloped potatoes.They look like potato chunks on the plate, but they are sliced out of a pan like a lasagne and layered.
The Pechish Woods is exactly how I like sour beers. Lightly funky, lightly sour. I know most beer nerds want the harsh sour and super funky beers, but that is not enjoyable to me. I don't enjoy having my throat burned out by super tart acid in sour beers. I don't enjoy beers so infected with funk, that one sip makes you bloated to the point you look like the guy who blew up in Big Trouble in Little China.
No, this beer is perfect for me. Like the Cherry Woods, it's lightly effervescent, and flavored just beautifully. The tart was just strong enough to work through the fats, and just smooth enough to feel like you have had your throat ripped out by Patrick Swazye on Road House.
Fourth Course: Beef Wellington with curry and braised greens.
Beer: Pretty Things "December 6, 1855 East India Porter" 6% abv
Fantastic family-style Beef Wellington with Chinese 5 spice, curried potatoes, braised greens, and rice. A nice fusion of English and Indian that compliments the style of the thick beer, East India Porter from Pretty Things. A recipe for an English porter recreated by Dann Paquette, emulating the style of English beers being drunk in India in the 1800's.
This beer was a lot more full than I had remembered from the first time I tried it. It went perfectly with the curried potatoes and the rich meat inside the Wellington. The braised greens added a good layer of earthiness and the rice tied everything together. The beer had rich coffee notes, and roasted malts and just the right amount of bitterness.Rich, hearty, filling, and completely satisfying.
And if this wasn't enough to send us all over the edge, dessert comes out.
Dessert: Treacle Tart and Shoofly Pie with Elderflower Whipped Cream
Beer: Schlenkerla "Helles", 4.3 abv
These may not look like the fanciest of desserts, but they didn't need to look fancy with the way they tasted. Treacle tart is a basic short crust with a lemon juice, golden syrup (treacle), lots of butter and bread crumbs. It's like a pecan pie in a way, but with all butter. It was so rich and divine. A very classic English dessert.
Shoofly pie is classic Dutch-Amish, American classic pie made of molasses and brown sugar. Again, super rich, filling, and so delicious. Paired with the Helles, a smoked lager beer from Germany, the house favorite of Journeyman, the smokey flavors that taste like bacon with the warm molasses and warm buttery treacle were just a miracle of a food combination. The crisp lager cut through the richness while the smokiness played with the butters and sweet flavors of the pie and tart. Unbelievable finish to an amazing dinner.
And just to make sure we were fully pushed over the edge, macaroons filled with black treacle ice cream.
And that's how Journeyman rolls. Things We Love was quite a success. Full bellies and big smiles on everyone's face as the left.
It's taken me a while to put this post together getting sidetracked with other projects. I think it was a good thing that I waited. Journeyman recently suffered an unfortunate accident with a vehicle that crashed into the front of their building causing the restaurant to close while they fixed the structural damage. Now they that they are open again, this post is exactly what you need to see to whet the appetite and drag your butts over there to support an amazing local gem. They will not disappoint you.
Just wanted to post some fun food pics taken from my phone. Yeah, yeah. Some of these were taken with my old phone. Okay most of them were. But I have long since retired that phone. Bare with me as we go back into last summer with some of these pics.
Buttermilk fried chicken with mashed potatoes, sawmill pan gravy, and peas and corn. Look at those huge breasts in that first pic! Shit was banging yo!
Green Street: Fry of the day of Queso Fresco Taco and the Charcuterie of the day Pork Rillette.
I just spent a spectacular weekend in New York. Did some pretty awesome food touring. I did bring my good camera down with me, but unfortunately there were some technical issues with the camera and I wasn't able to get high resolution images. I did have my iphone with me though. Sadly it's first generation and it just doesn't do any of these places justice. But we will get through it as best as we can.
A quick flight from Boston to NY and we took a tour of Union Beer Distributors as our first stop. One of the largest warehouses for craft beer. Then we were whisked off to grab a quick lunch at this amazing taco joint near the warehouse. Los Hermanos. A tortilla factory in Bushwick where they have begun to include making some tacos, quesadillas, and tortas.
A little carnitas and pollo tacos. These were delicious.
Then we went to the Astor Center for a quick class on cocktail infusions with oils and hydrosols and some distillation demonstrations. Taught by Dave Arnold, Director of Technology, FCI and Audrey Saunders, Mixologist and owner of Pegu Club.
This was a fun class to taste how you can distill flavors into alcohols like peanut flavored bourbon, and assam tea flavors with chocolate, and blue cheese flavors infused. To the instructions of how oils are to be used in cocktails and what exactly are hydrosols. Johnny Iuzzini, the Executive Pastry Chef of Jean Georges and from Top Chef: Just Desserts came and sat in on the class as well.
I thought Audrey Saunders was extremely knowledgeable and gave a great presentation. Dave Arnold was a crack up. Trying to focus on talking to the class while maintaining his distilling device. Shows how much I learned I can't remember the devices proper name.
We skipped the mingler after the class and went straight to Momofuku Noodle bar. All I am going to say is that we were treated very well here. The food is amazing. It's a ramen noodle bar with some off centered offerings that don't exactly fit with a noodle bar theme but still rock non the less.
Jars of pickled veg and kimchi.
Hamachi and Arctic Char plates.
Amazing beat salad with bacon and a yuzu yougurt and chicken wings.
The greatest thing on planet Earth. Pork Buns Momofuku style. Two pieces of pork belly with pickles and sauce wrapped up like a taco with a steamed bun. Un-fucking-believable. Trust me.
Spicy sausage and cashew ramen and Momofuku house ramen with pork, nori, fishcake, and poached egg.
The aftermath. We decimated our food. Great hospitality at Momofuku and amazing food. For some reason I didn't take pictures of dessert, but yes we did have some. Apple pie cake truffles, and pecan pie ice cream with spiced pecans at the bottom. Salty pecan pie ice cream was amazing, and the apple pie truffles were pieced of pie, battered and deep fried. Once again, simply amazing food.
Katz's Deli.
Saturday afternoon at Katz's Deli in the Lower East Side is a fucking mad house. It must said. It's organized chaos of rude, fat, pushy assholes all cramming in for a sandwich and a knish. But it's a classic iconic place and once you get a bite of that hot pastrami on rye, you would soon rather kick a kid in the eye just to get back inside and grab a sandwich. The place is legendary.
And yes it's the place where Meg Ryan had her orgasm scene in When Harry Met Sally.
Psssht. You betta ax somebody. Hot pastrami on rye with mustard. Matzo ball soup and a sweet potato knish.
Sunday Morning we took an awesome tour of an underground train system found in Brooklyn to be the oldest in the world. Amazing tour and a great way to say you know Brooklyn inside and out. This was us going into the tunnel by the Trader Joes on Atlantic Ave.
After this we went to Prime Meats in Brooklyn for a late brunch.
Punch of the day and house made warm pretzels with butter.
Poached egg on mushrooms with bratwurst and toast, spaetzel and mushrooms.
Steak and frites and grilled German Leberkäse with eggs an frites. Note the orange yolk color of these beautiful farm fresh eggs.
Thick cut bacon.
Red cabbage and celery salad.
Prime Meats Manhattan. Probably the best Manhattan I have had in a while. Even Sara Hougaboom would approve.
A little Underberg never hurt anyone.
And some chocolate cake and creme brulee. And despite all this food, we didn't feel gross or weighed down after the meal. That's how you roll in Brooklyn. Full bellies full of fine food and amazing drinks. And then you are ready to rock it for the night.
Monday comes along and it's time for a radio interview on Cathy Erway's show Let's Eat In. Shane and Todd took the reigns for this one.
And since the radio station is at Roberta's, we stayed for some banging pizza.
And that is a fine way to eat through New York. One thing that is missing from this post is a special trip to Manhattan to Sushi Yasuda for some of the best sushi in America. That deserves it's own post though as there are so many pictures of the most delectable sushi I have ever had in my life.
Red, juicy, delicious, sweet cherries. Just playing around with my camera and taking pictures of cherries for when I made Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream. I love the colors and I love my new camera.
I attended American Craft's very first beer dinner last night featuring rare beers from Rob Tod of Allagash Brewing Co. and American-style comfort food.
American Craft has been off to a really great start. Their focus is on local foods and ingredients, with American craft wines and beers. The food is really good and comforting, the beers are great, and this first beer dinner was spectacular.
You can see a couple of their menu items here. This was from their opening night.
I don't want to waste anytime here, so let's get right into it.
We were first welcomed with a glass of Interlude. An American-style wild ale with about 9.5% abv.
Allagash Interlude
(via Allagash's website)
The first release in our new experimental series, Allagash Interlude
pushes the limits of beer. An innovative brewing process, special
fermentations, and French oak barrel aging all contribute to a beer that
has remarkable wine-like qualities.
Two yeast strains were used to create this unique 9.5% ABV Belgian style
ale. The first, a Belgian farmhouse yeast, establishes the flavor
foundations of a classic Belgian-style ale. The second, a house strain
of Brettanomyces yeast, brings it to the next level contributing an
intriguing myriad of flavors including pear, apricot, graham cracker,
and bread crust. Finally, a portion of the Interlude is aged in French
Merlot and Sirah oak barrels, which impart a distinctive vinous plum
character and a drying, almost tannic finish. Try complementing its
audacious character with food pairings such as sausages, salami, smoked
meats, and bold cheeses.
True to traditional Belgian-style brewing, we bottle condition the
Interlude. Just prior to bottling, a fresh dose of sugar and yeast is
added to the ‘still beer’ (at this stage there is no carbonation
present). After bottling, the beer is aged in a warm room, where the
fresh dose of yeast ferments the sugar and naturally carbonates the
beer.
Available in: 750 ml bottles
Original Gravity: 1080
Recommended Serving Temp: 40-50°F
Recommended Cellaring Temp: 50-54°F
I am not a Brettanomyces fan in general, but I have been coming around to Interlude for a while now. It's a delicious beer. A little fruity and bread-y, and a hint of tartness.
First course: Confit Beef tongue with Foie Gras Mousse
Vagabond is the second offering in our limited 375 ml series. With only
500 bottles made, this beer is from one of the only barrels to move with
us into our new brewery three years ago. Aged four years in American
oak barrels, it boasts a complex aroma of maple syrup and port, with
background notes of marzipan, plum and dill. Flavors of tart, unripened
plum and caramel give way to a warming, toasted almond finish. As
always...an adventure.
Topped with micro greens and a hit of a sea salt. This course was decadently rich. The beef tongue was thin and rich. Sadly for me, I was only able to eat the beef tongue and greens and one or two small bites of the foie gras. It was so rich and fatty and I could feel my arteries clogging on the spot. This sort of indulgence shouldn't exist.
However, this pairing worked amazing with the beer. Vagabond has a deep rich dark fruit aroma and toasted almonds, a light carbonation, a bit of tartness with a nice oak flavor and a deep dried fruit taste like figs or dates.
The flavors just worked so well with the fatty foie gras. This pairing also worked with the Interlude. I still had my welcoming beer in front of me and the tartness helped cut through through the fats and allowed some of the grape-y flavors to present itself on the beer.
This is some of the last offerings of Vagabond. This super indulgent pairing was the right way to go with this beer.
Second Course: Braised pork belly with bacon vinaigrette.
Our interpretation of a traditional Belgian wheat beer, Allagash White
is unique and truly refreshing. Brewed with a generous portion of wheat
and our own special blend of spices, this beer is light and slightly
cloudy in appearance, with a spicy aroma. Overall, it is a beer that is
very drinkable and smooth any time of the year.
The menu description was a little deceptive here. It was braised pork belly, but breaded and deep fried and it had a dab of apple puree on top.
The transition of beers was a bit awkward at first. A sip of Vagabond and then a sip of a refreshingly light witbier flooded the palate with yeasty banana flavors. I wasn't sure at first how this pairing would work out.
But when the pork belly arrived, this pairing was fantastic together. Bright carbonation and spices from the beer helped cut through the fat, and add a delicious pop to the pork flavor. The apple puree added a nice balance of sweet to this course.
The pork belly was rich, meaty and fatty at the same time. Delicious and well executed. The Allagash White was a surprisingly good pairing for this course. Sometimes you are just not sure if a lighter beer will hold up to a heavier course, but the effervescent carbonation and spicy character held up well and took on the fatty pork to make a nice contrasting paring.
Third Course: Tuna with parsnip puree and black truffles.
Beer: Coolship Cerise
Cooled in a traditional Coolship and fermented in oak barrels w/ tart local cherries; 5.5%" I was at the inaugural brewday for this beer ... around 3 years ago.
The stainless steel coolship is in a shed off of the brewery w/ stainglass windows that open to allow wild bacteria and yeast to infect the beer.
Todd Alström
January 2008
Always an adventure… Allagash is taking experimentation to the next
level by brewing a 100% spontaneously fermented beer in the tradition of
the Belgian Lambics.
Last month we brewed the first two of our spontaneously fermented beers
at Allagash. In brewing these beers we are using an authentic,
traditional process honoring the classic Belgian Lambic tradition,
including the use of a cool ship, which we built specifically for these
spontaneous beers.
The process begins with a specialized decoction mash, which utilizes the
addition of both two row barley and raw, unmalted wheat. After the mash
and sparge, we add aged hops during the boil, which are
traditionally used because they impart many of the beer stabilizing
benefits of hops without contributing bitterness. The use of aged hops
(aged a minimum of three years) necessitates an unusually long boil of
over four hours.
After boiling, rather than cooling the beer in a sterile environment and
adding a brewer’s yeast culture, the hot wort is pumped to a cool ship
in a special room designed specifically to make these beers. The cool
ship is a commonly used tool in Belgium, but is rarely seen beyond
Belgium’s borders, if at all. It is a large, open tray that is 12 feet
long, 8 feet wide and 1 foot deep. Once in the cool ship the hot wort
spends the night cooling from near boiling temperatures to about 60
degrees Fahrenheit. To facilitate the cooling process, windows in the
cool ship room are left open overnight. The cool Maine air, containing
natural bacteria and wild yeast, drifts in and cools the wort. As soon
as the wort is cool enough, the natural airborne yeasts and bacteria are
able to survive in what will eventually be the spontaneously fermented
beer (it is these natural yeasts and bacteria which will ferment the
beer, rather than a yeast added by the brewer). Next, the wort is pumped
back into a brewery tank, where it will spend one further day before it
is pumped into special French oak barrels. Within one to three weeks,
spontaneous fermentation begins in the oak and will continue for over
one year. After the yearlong fermentation this traditional beer will age
in French oak for at least one more year, sometimes with the addition
of fruits, before it is finally bottled.
This was my favorite course. The tuna was cooked perfectly and the sweet parsnips added an unbelievably good balance to this dish. Everyone else was savoring this course, while I foolishly ate all of mine in about two minutes.
The beer was quite amazing. It had a very, very funky and robust nose. All the hallmarks of a dank and nasty sour beer. For sours heads, they will understand what all of this means. It doesn't sound very appetizing, but it the nature of sour beers. It smelled like a stank-ass barnyard, small hints of mint and medicinal notes, baby diapers, but underneath all of that, was a quite peculiar aroma of cinnamon.
The cherries presented themselves after it had warmed a bit. They added a lovely kick without being overpowering and did not make this a typical fruit beer. A tart beer but not overly sour. One thing I can't deal with when it comes to sour beers are the ones that are so acidic and sour they burn your throat. Some people love, that but I prefer to enjoy my beers without psychical pain. This funky beast was good for that. The nose is disarming as it is so funky on it's aroma, but almost delicate in it's taste.
This pairing was interesting. The parsnips added the sweet balance while the sour tartness on the beer mixed with the tuna giving the tuna an almost creamy texture. Sounds strange, but man oh man was it good!
This beer is not for sale any where and will be very different with each batch brewed. It's meant for special occasions at the breweries discretion.
Fourth Course: Duck breast with cider and peppercorns. Beer: Victoria, Belgian strong pale ale with 9% abv.
To create our unique, Belgian-style Victoria Ale, the brewers drew on
references to Bacchus, the Thracian god of wine, in the history and
artwork of the Victoria Mansion as inspiration for this new beer. One
hundred and fifty pounds of Chardonnay grapes were brought in, crushed
on site and added directly to the mash.
Victoria Ale's aroma is of fruity spice with a hint of the Chardonnay,
and the taste presents subtle notes of green banana, black pepper, and
fresh-crushed mint. With a focus on the subtle, wine-like character of
the grapes, the 9.0% ABV brew boasts a pale copper color, Belgian yeast
influence, and a medium body with a long candied fruit finish with hints
of honeydew melon, and, of course, Chardonnay.
Allagash Victoria Ale is a tribute to the historic Victoria Mansion here
in Portland, Maine. Also known as the Morse-Libby House, it is one of
the greatest 19th century houses in the United States. Designed by
architect Henry Austin, the mansion was built between 1858 and 1860 and
survives as a unique example of the princely palaces created for
America’s wealthiest citizens in the pre-Civil War era. With superb
architecture and well-preserved original interiors, the Victoria Mansion
is an unparalleled document of America’s highest aspirations in
architecture, interior design, and the decorative arts.
Perfectly cooked duck breast served nearly rare and incredibly juicy. This was one of those pairings where I wasn't sure how the beer would hold up to the rich gaminess of the duck. The sweet Belgian yeast profile worked well with the steel-y game taste of the duck.
The peppercorns added a nice spicy kick and flavor that played with the sweet beer. The cider added a nice sweet and tart balance while the puree gave it another added layer of depth with it's creaminess.
I wasn't a huge fan of the beer. Chardonnay's are not my style of wine and having the grapes in the beer didn't do anything for me. I also found the beer to be a little too sweet. But this is all personal preference because my palate only wants dry, bitter, and hoppy beers these days. Technically this is a very cool beer which did work wonderfully with the duck.
I was wrapped up in conversation, and managed to forget to take a picture of the beer for this course.
Fifth Course: Braised short rib with pickled ginger.
Gargamel, a Belgian Style sour ale, is the
first offering in our limited release 375 ml series. Our brewers used a
blend of American 2-row barley Malt, Raw and Malted wheat and selected
caramel malt to brew this beer. After primary fermentation the beer was
inoculated with our house Brettanomyces aged in French Oak wine barrels
with a generous amount of local raspberries for over 18 months.
Gargamel's aroma is full of un-ripened raspberry, vanilla and citrus
notes. This medium bodied beer has hints of biscuit and graham cracker
with a clean, fruity and refreshingly tart finish.
Gargamel is the first in the hand-filled, 375 ml series that Allagash
will release throughout the years. More exciting barrel-aged beer to
come!
This was one of the first entrees I had when American Craft first opened. They serve you a huge slab of short rib that is so tender it's a miracle it keeps it's shape.
This was served a bit differently with the pickled ginger on top. The pickled ginger really brought this pairing together. Again all the textures were present with a beautiful fatty and super tender short rib, creamy mashed potatoes and sweet and tart kick of the pickled ginger coupled with the tart beer. Slight fruity hints on the aroma with some fruity hint in the flavor. The slight fruit notes on the beer really worked with the rich beef flavor while the sourness on the beer helped cut right through those fats.
Once again I managed to not get a picture of the beer. But the short rib picture was enough for me. That thing was so tender and delicious.
Rob Tod discussing Gargamel. What's your buzz level Rob? On a scale of 1-10?
Allagash Confluence Ale is created with a mixed fermentation; utilizing
our house primary Belgian style yeast in combination with our
proprietary Brettanomyces strain. The two yeast strains work in tandem
creating a marriage between spice and fruit flavors that ultimately
leave a lingering silky mouth feel.
Confluence is brewed with a blend of both imported pilsner and domestic
pale malts as well as a portion of caramel malt, resulting in a complex
malty profile. Tettnang and East Kent Golding hops are added in the
brew process to balance the intricate malty profile while adding a sweet
and spicy citrus aroma.
After fermentation, Confluence undergoes a lengthy aging process in
stainless steel tanks to enhance the flavors. Prior to bottling, it is
dry hopped with a Glacier hops, providing a pleasant balance of aromas.
Confluence is then bottle conditioned and aged in our cellar prior to
release.
This seems like an odd choice to have served scallops last or after the braised short rib. But, these scallops were so fresh, soft, and flavorful. They really held their own after the deeply rich and fatty courses before it. And without a dessert course it was a nice softer way to end the meal.
The quintessential contrast pairing for the night. Sour, lightly fruity beer with big sweet scallops and a gorgeous creamy artichoke puree. The beers mild carbonation allowed for more of the sweet creamy texture of the scallops to come through. Just a fantastic and lovely way to end the dinner.
Sadly there wasn't a dessert for the dinner. The restaurant will be introducing them soon to the menu. This menu was so rich and to top it off with some more rich chocolate cake and some Allagash Odyssey could have pushed us all over the edge, but it was have been worth it. But I am not complaining about an amazing six course dinner. Those scallops were sweet and rich enough to have acted like a dessert. We had a conversation for a few hours after the fact about this dinner. Everyone was satisfied and everyone had good detailed thoughts about what they got out of the dinner.
Besides, we all took a walk down to the Publick House afterward to drink "Larry" from Wachusetts. Can't say there is anything wrong with ending the night with some DIPA's.
If you still think American Craft is like the former Roadhouse or possibly isn't any good after seeing this menu, you're a fool and the joke is on you if you avoid this place. Hears to many more wonderful beer dinners that are on the way from American Craft.
I didn't have time to go through and take step-by-step pictures of all the foods I made for Christmas. But I did get some good pictures of the foods I made. Enough for a food porn post.
The first thing I made were truffles. I followed this awesome recipe for Cookie Dough Truffles from a FoodBuzz friend Kristen King or user KrisKishere.
Then I made a batch of Bourbon Pecan Truffles. I put so much Buffalo Trace bourbon in them, I thought the ganache wouldn't set enough for me to form in to balls and dip in chocolate. But I learned a good lesson that you can never use too much bourbon. A recipe that called for 2 tbls. of bourbon was amped up with nearly a full cup!
Then I made the stuffing. Originally I was going to make smoked oyster stuffing. But when I went to make the Sweet Potato and turkey bacon stuffing, it yielded me two large and very full 9x13 pans worth. Naturally I nixed the oyster stuffing. The stuffing was awesome. It originally called for bacon, but they folks I was making the stuffing for, the head of household doesn't eat bacon. But she is quite fond of turkey bacon. No problem at all in substituting. I also added fresh sage to go with the fresh thyme the recipe called for.
And lastly, I made Pfeffernusse. A German black pepper spice cookie. These are so yummy and fabulous they should be made all year round. I even had them a few days after Christmas with hot mulled cider with rum. They are wonderful. There are many variations to this cookie. I have used this recipe several times now and it's just fine.
And that was my contribution to Christmas. The only thing missing were chocolate cupcakes. The head of household requested a chocolate cake of some sort. As I went to make them, I discovered I had no more cocoa powder. Had plenty of hot fudge for frosting, but no cocoa powder for the cupcakes.
I realize this is my second post on dinner at Green Street, but I can't help it. It's my neighborhood bar and restaurant and I love this place. This is what a typical dinner at Green Street is like.
Braised short rib with citrus on a bed of creamed cabbage.
There was no
bone for the short rib which was fine with me since it only gets in the
way at presentation time anyway. The meat was so soft and rich. You
barely had to use your fork to cut a bit out of it. This should be an
entree portion. It tastes so amazing. And the creamed cabbage was so
soft and delicious. The orange added a good little pop to the dish.
House made franks and beans.
Oh man this was delicious! The beans were good and sweet. The franks were nice and soft and flavorful. The mustard added a nice tangy kick to balance the sweet from the beans. Not to mention mustard is classic with franks.
And now one of my favorites.
Chicken Schnitzel with brown butter, mashed potatoes and greens.
This is my absolute favorite. It's pan fried chicken schnitzel with brown butter perfectly fried and juicy. The potatoes are delicious and creamy underneath the chicken. And the greens with a light vinaigrette, cherry tomatoes and fennel add freshness to the dish. God I love the chicken schnitzel.
Macaroni and Cheese with bacon and tomatoes.
The mac'n'cheese is awesome. It's a bit pricey for mac'n'cheese, but its really creamy, rich and delicious. Plus it has bacon in it. Bacon makes the whole world go around, and makes something like this fantastic. It's so rich and delicious that it's hard to finish it all. But that's worth it to me. I want a meal that makes me satisfied and is filling. It's a great adult version of a kids classic.
After dinner, the owner Dylan Black surprised us with a rare beer offering.
A Russian Imperial Stout from Brouwerji De Molen in the Netherlands. 11% abv with a strong Belgian influence in nose and steel-y malty taste. Very big and rich but drinkable. Notes of toasted malts, vanilla, caramel, and chocolate. Nice little night cap from the dinner above.
Clearly you can seen why I keep writing about Green Street.
Just a quick post about breakfast I made for dinner with some modified buttermilk cheese biscuits with sausage gravy, and fried eggs.
The biscuits were modified by using lemon juice in milk and letting it sit for a bit to compensate for not actually having buttermilk. And with the addition of a cup and half of shredded cheddar cheese.
I was told by several people, if you want to get the best buffet on the strip in Las Vegas it's either at the Belagio or at the Wynn. We went with the Wynn. We did not lose on this deal. And although I haven't seen the Belagio's Buffet, I feel confident enough to say that Wynn Buffet was the best.
The Wynn hotel is amazing. It's gorgeous, has all the high end shopping and beautiful gaming areas. The only problem I had with the Wynn is that you can't win on their video poker machines that well. Their Black Jack video poker removed the double down feature. Total bullshit and scam. Nothing was paying out for me over there.
But this post isn't about the gambling. It's about the food.
The Buffet at the Wynn is huge. It has a whole separate room for just desserts. Of course it has meat carving stations, but everything is super clean and steril and broken down into regions. Asian section, American food, Italian, ect.
Before we went over to the brunch, we stopped to have a drink at Up Parasol while waiting for a friend to join us. I was in the mood for a Dirty Martini and they made me the best Dirty Martini ever. It was so smooth and tasty and I could have had 50 of them.
Up Parasol is a beautiful lounge in the middle of the gaming area. It's bright, colorful, and comfortable with sofas and couches everywhere. The waitress was the friendliest person we had come across in Vegas. And that's saying something because everyone is cool in Vegas. At least to us anyway.
Our friend finally came and joined us and it was off to the buffet. Keep in mind it was a Sunday at noon and the lines to get into the buffet were long. It didn't take too long, but be prepared anyway.
They also offer a cool deal. For $60 bucks you can eat there all day. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's a good way to economize while you blow all your money on gambling or drinking.
I went the hot route first.
Okay there is a lot going on on this plate. Let me break it down. Sausage, bacon, scrambled eggs, french toast, pancake, waffle, eggs benedict, stir fried shrimp, cornish game hen in southwestern sauce and corn, pulled pork with cole slaw on corn bread, and a cheese and beef enchilada.
Every last bit of it was awesome! And you better believe I ate it all.
The cold route.
Shrimp cocktail, Mediterranean tuna ceviche, Tropical scallop ceiche (in cup), sushi rolls, Chow Shao Bao, and smoked salmon.
There was so much more food to be had, but my belly only had so much room. My husband managed to get some carved meats. Although I wanted them, I am glad I didn't get any carved meats. It would have sat like a lead brick in my belly and I wouldn't have been able to taste all the desserts we had.
Now for the dessert. A small disclaimer is that I did not, I repeat did not eat all that is pictured. I had a bite of each and shared. After the last two plates, there is no way anyone could eat all things I am about to show you.
Grasshopper Mint Slice and Banana Cream Slice.
Blueberry tart and Oreo Mousse slice.
Bailey's Panna Cotta and Hazelnut Chocolate Decadence.
Caramel, Chocolate parfait and Lemon Meringue Pie Parfait , Mango and Lychee Parfait with Tapioca Pearls, and Strawberry Parfait.
And Caramel and coffee ice cream. The coffee ice cream came highly recommended and was amazingly good and creamy.
After this we were the walking dead. Zombies who have succumbed to the dreaded food coma.
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