In the Kitchen: Birthday Edition

This is a special entry as today Amanda celebrates her birthday. The day in which this whole culinary adventure began. I decided I would "build her a cake" to commemorate the occasion. To make it even more meaningful I called upon a recipe that we dreamed up about a month ago. Intially I thought of surprising her, but instead gave in and sought out Amanda's amazing dough-making abilities. The steps are fairly simple but the ingredients you use make all the difference. It utilizes the following:

-dates (we get ours as fresh as can be from Neomonde Baking Company in Raleigh
-walnuts
-cinnamon
-Brie
-pastry dough

As I mentioned before I relied on Amanda to create the dough which would serve as a canvas for the rest of the ingredients. I diced the dates and spread them across the dough.



At this point we decided we would make it into a rustic tart therefore concentrating the filling at the pastry's center. We added the chopped walnuts before hitting it with a dash of cinnamon. Finally, we topped it all off with slices of a French Double Cream Brie.



After folding over the bare edges of the tart, we placed it in a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes. We utilized a tin foil shield over the filling for the last 10 minutes to make sure the brie did not burn. After the crust reached the height of its golden goodness, we transported it to the Big Boss Brewery where we would be meeting with friends to celebrate the occasion and of course, indulge in the evening's culinary pursuits.



A month ago we discussed just how delicious this idea could potentially be knowing full-well how much we enjoyed each ingredient on its own. I'll be honest and say that the flavors present in the tart exceeded my suppositions. The much desired sweetness of the dates starred heavily while being joined by Brie who brought its combination savory/salty creaminess which was well complemented by the nuttiness and texture of the walnut pieces. The rustic style of the tart was a perfect mode in which to eat the pieces of tart by hand. A maneuver deemed entirely acceptable being that we were enjoying it in the presence of beer imbibers reveling in the moment at hand.

Happy Birthday Amanda!

The Synthesis of a Salad

What is it that defines a better-than-average salad? Is it the lettuce? Is it the dressing? Is it the toppings? I am willing to bet that if you polled a group of people, most participants would point to either the salad dressing or the toppings when trying to recall a mouth watering memory of a recently consumed salad. Do they mention the romaine...or God forbid...iceberg?? I am going to bet not. That's because these people are missing out on both nutrients and dancing taste buds. In order to have a truly heart-captivating salad, it needs to have an appropriate balance of all three components.

Ok...I won't lie...I haven't always been of this school of thought. I definitely used to be a person who got excited over a spicy balsamic vinaigrette, an addition of buttery avocado, a pop of a caramelized pecan, or a little bit of crispy bacon. Every once in awhile I would notice the degree of freshness of my usual romaine lettuce (usually only in the negative sense), but honestly, I never considered it to be a true player...that is until recently. Of course I still love all of the above mentioned components to a show stopping salad, but it goes so much deeper than that.

Because Ryan and I have been drawn to farmer's markets recently like mosquitoes are to those bright summer porch lights at night, we have been testing new greens that I have never before had the pleasure of tasting. I have even found some new favorites such as kale and mustard greens. Why have I been missing out for so long? The experience has even grown deeper since Ryan started helping New Grass Gardens harvest some of their goods on Friday to sell at the Five Points Market today. Luckily for me, Ryan came home with a couple of different greens, and even luckier was that he was willing to share.

Pictured above are mustard greens with a slightly red tinge. They are a bit more bitter, but have a really powerful horseradish-like finish. Below is spinach that was fresh, earthy and extremely welcome.

We added some ripe May strawberries, leftover arugula, toasted almonds, a strong-handed brie-blue cheese, and my Spicy Tahini Soy Sauce Dressing.

*Ingredients:

tahini

soy sauce

lemon juice

honey

fresh basil

fresh tarragon

freshly grated ginger (I don't think this added too much)

serrano chile

hot sauce of choice

This was the perfect salad for a dinner that will make you feel good and will keep your taste buds dancing a rumba. It was meaty and nutty due to the arugula and almonds, with the bitterness of the mustard greens, cheese and tahini, sweetness of the berries and honey, freshness of the spinach, herbs and lemon juice, and the spiciness of the chile, hot sauce and mustard greens.

Here is a close-up, just so you can salivate a little.

Que Rico!

Some ripe and ready Ataulfo Mangos were the inspiration for Wednesday's culinary endeavors. The morning kicked off with some slices of rustic multigrain bread by way of the Yellow Dog Bakery that we fashioned into a simple pain perdu. Chunked mango was the perfect topping for this already appetizing breakfast. The sweetness of the mango was a good balance to the 'whole-graininess' of the bread.



We spent the early afternoon at the Downtown Raleigh Farmers Market where creativity would eventually manifest itself into the idea for that afternoon's comida.



It was the red potatoes from Amanda at Jackson Farm in particular that acted as the impetus behind the tortilla española we fashioned for lunch. This was a dish I had been longing to recreate ever since spending a summer in Spain.

It went a little something like this:
-4 eggs
-3 small sliced red potatoes (carefully placed at the bottom of the skillet after being lightly precooked in grapeseed oil, salt and pepper)
-3 cloves of garlic
-1 diced Spicy Italian Sausage (from Coon Rock Farm)
-1 sliced green onion stem
-chopped basil and rosemary (from our garden!)
-salt and pepper

and finally, top the whole mixture in the skillet with some chunks of honey goat cheese...



There are just times when your love for a specific dish, the flavors of the ingredients and the care that went into preparing it all come together into one transcendent food experience. This was one of those. And I have to say...it was well worth the wait.



The evening's dinner would build upon the Latin theme introduced in the afternoon with the creation of a dish rarely if ever seen in kitchens across the world. We call it...Manguac (pronunciation: Main-gwak). Essentially we contributed chunks of the last Ataulfo Mango to a fairly traditional guacamole recipe. This recipe consisted of a mixture of:

-2 ripe avocados
-fresh cilantro (purchased from our friend Ben of Farm Front Gardens at the Downtown Raleigh Farmers Market)
-lime juice
-Sriracha
-rice vinegar
-salt

And of course to put the Mang in Manguac...a diced mango. Amanda quickly whipped up some small flour tortas with which to taste the Manguac. It was amazing how much just a simple mango in the guacamole changed the taste structure of this delicious bright green dip.



Do note that the fructose from the mangos will give this dish a real sweetness so an acid and/or salt will best serve to balance this. So go ahead...try out our newest creation or better yet, whip up your own version that aims to satisfy your own favorite food passions!

Hasta pronto!

It's a celebration!

Sometimes you've just got to open a bottle of bubbly. And we had good reason tonight with Amanda completing the first year of her Master's program this afternoon. A bottle of Louise d'Estreé would serve us well.



This French Brut drank mildly dry yet very smooth with just the right amount of fruit to please the palette. It also exhibited the appropriate amount of effervescence that you expect from a proper sparkling wine.

The wine's qualities were just the right balance to complement the meal...Ah yes, the meal:

It had always been decided that we were going to make pizzas on this night but the logistics were left as usual to spur of the moment creativity. We decided that La Nuit au Fromage would work it's way into this meal. The cheeses that we chose to experiment with were a Goat's Milk Brie and a Castello blue.

The sourdough bread that we picked up at the Five Points FM from the Yellow Dog Bakery would act as our canvas upon which we would paint the cheeses. The Brie pizza was then topped with chopped uncrystallized ginger, fresh sliced strawberries, arugula and finally, ground pink peppercorns (slowly becoming a favorite in the kitchen for both its gentle bite and pleasing aesthetics). On top of the Castello we layered fresh minced garlic, caramelized red onion and crispy ham bits. After sitting in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese and form a nice crust on the bread, we indulged in our layered creations. The Goat's Milk Brie had all the properties of a traditional brie with just enough of the taste and smell of a goat cheese to make you remember from which animal's milk it had been created.



This being a good thing of course. The sweetness of the strawberries and the sporadic bite from the ginger made this pizza uniquely pleasing. The Castello blue is a cheese that rivals most blue cheeses that I have ever tasted. It's creaminess makes it idea for spreading while its blue veins give you the aromas and strong flavors that blue lovers long for.



This cheese mixed with the meatiness of the ham and the delicacy of the onions gave this pizza an overall traditional feel with a poignant twist.



We complemented the meal with some grilled asparagus topped with olive oil, tarragon (a culinary must), pink peppercorns, salt and crushed red pepper. Smith's Strawberries and Nursery provided us with these delicious green shoots.



The meal ended with a special bit. Something that was a long time coming for Amanda who can rightly uphold the title of bacon aficionado. The postre that we found ourselves anxious to try was Mo's Dark Chocolate Bacon Bar from Vosges. The bitter-sweet characteristics of the chocolate paired with the occasional delight of smoked salt and bacon proved this particular treat to be every bacon and chocolate lover's dream.



Stella oversaw the entire meal preparation.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Because I am hundreds of miles away from my Mom for this Mother's Day, I am doing more of an homage than an ensemble celebration. My favorite breakfast that my Mom always made for me before tests, on Saturday mornings, or continually makes for me whenever I find myself back in Cincinnati is French Toast topped with berries.

This morning I decided to celebrate by making my favorite breakfast. I used the sourdough bread from yesterday's farmer's market, the classic batter including cinnamon and vanilla, and an iron heating venue. When it was almost finished cooking, I threw on some dark chocolate morsels so they could melt ever so slightly. The pain perdu was topped with fresh strawberries, a bit of Ryan's homemade yogurt, and a hit of cinnamon. Mmmm it tastes like love!

Happy Mother's Day!

Tuna Belly Sushi

Dinner last night starred a steak of tuna belly from Jason and Southport Seafood Company, gathered from the NOFO Farmer's Market.



After much salivation, we started preparation for the meal by making a fiery ginger sauce and gently slicing the tuna.



The meat was extremely fatty and made natural perforations in its own meat. The tuna flavor was clean and meaty, with a cool and soft texture. It paired perfectly when dipped in the ginger sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced finely
1 t freshly grated ginger
1 red Thai chili pepper, minced
3 leaves fresh basil, minced
1 small leaf fresh mint, minced
1 t sesame oil
1 t rice wine vinegar
1/2 t fish sauce

Mix together and let set while preparing the rest of the meal. The flavor is a nice fusion of Indian and Thai influences, robust, acidic, slight heat, herbaceous, and wholly firecracker-like.

Along with the tuna, I made a simple fried rice including rainbow chard stalks, green onions, and brown jasmine rice. We also sautéed up some rainbow chard greens in olive oil and added salt and pepper.





The wine was a Joseph Handler Riesling, a slightly sweet, but flavorful wine that played well with the delicate balance of the tuna and fire of its sauce. The accompaniments were rather tame, but it was necessary to let the tuna be the star.

Can I have this dinner every night??

Aeneas's 3rd Birthday

Today was my friend Kelly's cat, Aeneas's, third birthday.
To celebrate we waded into a kiddie pool and drank a delicious mango, kiwi, blackberry, blueberry, and raspberry sangria. It was the perfect drink for a hot day by the (kiddie) pool.



Then we munched on some stealthy carob chocolate chip cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Delicioso!



Happy Birthday Aeneas!