B.Y.O.B.

Last night, I was invited to one of the Captain's work dinners. The host had picked a nice restaurant on the water that had sweeping views of the bay, the skyline, and (due to a clear night in Seattle) a gorgeous view of Mt. Ranier. The place was Anthony's Pier 66 (for those familiar with Seattle). They specialize in fresh seafood and locally farmed produce.

http://www.anthonys.com/home.html

So, after we are seated, everyone starts looking at their menus. I, of course, grab the wine list. Now, the wine list wasn't a list, per se, it was a book. Several pages of wines, some beers, and specialty cocktails. I am trying to find a "by the glass" Pinot Grigio or Pinot Gris, when another guest places two bottles of wine, that he had brought from home, on the table. The restaurant is kind of fancy, well, fancy enough that they already have red and white wine glasses on the table, and they remove glasses according to what you order.

Those of you who know me, know that I am a wine drinker. But not an educated or snobbish one. I rarely spend more than $10 on a bottle of wine and, honestly, I usually buy my Pinot Grigio (the Bud Light of wines) in a box. But I do know some rules regarding dining. So, I make a few assumptions based on the fact that this man has brought in a couple of bottles of wine to a nicer restaurant.

1. I assume there will be a corkage fee. (I was correct, there is a $25 corkage fee per bottle at Anthony's Pier 66.)
2. I assume that there is something special about the wine. Its either rare, or unusual, or the restaurant carries nothing like it.
3. I assume its expensive.

So, the waiter decants the first bottle of wine and offers some to everyone at the table. Now, I'm not normally a red wine drinker, but I am also not one to pass up a special, rare, unusual, or expensive glass of wine either. I accept a glass. I swirl it around the glass a little bit in an effort to make it look like I know what I doing. I stick my nose in the glass and breathe in as I take a sip. And...

It was okay I guess. But, like I said, I'm not an educated wine drinker. I chalk my indifference up to my lack of knowledge.

Around this time, someone passes the bottle to me, so that I might admire it. It was a bottle of 2005 Chateau Ste Michelle Orphelin Red. I like Chateau Ste Michelle, but I wasn't aware that Chateau Ste Michelle made wines so fine that anyone would decant it, or pay a $25 corkage fee per bottle (actually have your host pay a corkage fee) for the privilege of bringing it in and drinking it at a restaurant.

I'll save you the trouble of googling it, cause I already did. The Orphelin Red is a $15 bottle of wine.

I wonder what the waiters thought of us.

Huckleberry Heaven

The people of the Pacific Northwest apparently LOVE some huckleberries. Now, coming from the land of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, I am kind of ashamed to admit that I thought that huckleberry was just a goofy sounding fictional nickmame until I was in Hannibal a few year ago and I bought some huckleberry honey. The ingredients were: honey and huckleberry. Hmm. Who knew? (Well, maybe everyone but me.)

Anyway, I still have that unopened huckleberry honey. I finally tried this unfortunately named berry for the first time yesterday. Borrowing a description of it from one of our dining companions, the huckleberry is "like a poor man's blueberry".

Huckleberry things I had tried since losing my huckleberry virginity:

• A spinach salad with chanterelles, chevre, pecans, huckleberries, and a poppyseed vinaigrette
• Huckleberry ice cream with huckleberry syrup
• Huckleberry burnt cream (serve as part of a trio of creme brulees:vanilla with a pineapple garnish, huckleberry with a strawberry garnish, and some absolutely KILLER ginger creme brulee with crystalized ginger garnish-to die for)

The bakery across the street from the hotel has a (get this) Lemon Thyme BUTTERMILK cupcake with Huckleberry Buttercream that I think I will try today. At the very least they are adorable cupcakes.

Now if I could just find a region where they honor the farkleberry.

Hey That Corn Looks Familiar

Well, it looks like the Post Dispatch is following my blog and using me as a source of inspiration.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stlouiscitycounty/story/8050C131CD9AA6D08625763B00092FB6?OpenDocument

Well, maybe not exactly. But that's my farmer. I'm excited for the folks of North St. Louis as there really is no source for anything remotely fresh around those parts.

Tuesday is My Favorite Day of the Week

ITS FARM SHARE DAY!

So every Tuesday, for 20 weeks during the summer, I stop by a house over by Tower Grove Park and pick up a box of vegetables that are earmarked for me. I belong to a Community Supported Agriculture Program (CSA).

This is what the box looks like when I get it.

I am absolutely in love with my weekly box of vegetables.

Here's how a CSA program works:

We bought a share of a farm's production for the year. Well, actually, in our case, we got a half share because there are only two of us. We paid the farmers upfront, so they have needed money at the beginning of the season. Then, when fruits and vegetables start producing, the farmers divide up what they have among shareholders. If its a good season, everybody reaps the benefits. If its a more difficult season, the farmers don't go out of business. I never know whats going to show up in the box from week to week. Which is awesome because it forces me to try things like beets, or (my new fave) delicata squash.

The top picture is what was in the box today.

• Dark Red Norland Potatoes
• Yellow Onions
• Tomato
• Green and Hungarian Bell Pepper
• Banana Pepper
• Butternut Squash
• Sweet Corn
• French Radish
• Lettuce and Arugula salad mix
• Sweet Potato
• Green Beans

Our CSA is actual a co-op of two farms - Lee Farms in Truxton, MO and Yellow Wood Farms in Hermann, MO. We get weekly emails where they let us know what to expect and what happening on the farm. They also invite everyone down for an open house so we can see where our food is being made. Awesome.

I love Tuesdays.

I Gave Him My Heart...He Gave Me a Turkey Sandwich

But it was a turkey sandwich from Pappy's, so it was a pretty good trade. And really it couldn't have come at a better time. The Captain was out at a business lunch and I was out in the garden, picking dead branches off my tomato plants, thinking about how starting a "seasonal" food blog on the first day of fall was not such a brilliant idea, and thinking about how my garden was dying before my eyes and how I don't have a job and how in a couple weeks I am going to have absolutely NOTHING to do with myself.

And then he appeared, paper bag in hand. He brought me a turkey sandwich. Now that, is love.

http://www.pappyssmokehouse.com/

If you've never been to Pappy's, its a ridiculously good bbq joint in midtown, right by SLU. They smoke the meat all night and when they sell out the next day, they close up. Leftovers are not served at Pappy's. I find it a particularly nice touch that if you get a sandwich to go, they pack the meat and the bun separately so that the bread doesn't get ooky.

A Squash You Should Know

This is my new favorite squash. Its called a Delicata Squash. I first met him through my farm share. He has a sweet potato-y flavor, but a really, well, delicate flesh. I much prefer its texture to acorn or butternut squash.

A little history for you:
This squash was popular through the 1920's and then fell into obscurity. It has a thin, tender skin that doesn't travel well or store for periods of time, so its not well suited for supermarkets. If you see some at a farmers market, do yourself a favor and get one.

I typically cut them in half, seed them and steam in the microwave. Then I scoop out the flesh, and mash with a little butter, salt and pepper. I finish with a drizzle with maple syrup and throw a few walnuts on top. Good stuff.

The Great Cuban Experiment

I went to Providence, RI this summer and absolutely fell in love with Cuban food. I decided to recreate this excellence at home.



Step one: Cut pork tenderloin into bite sized pieces. Marinate in garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, onion and green pepper.

Step two: Soak black beans in water.

Wait overnight. Dream of delicious Cuban food.

Step Three: Boil beans in soaking water for 45 minutes to an hour (I added some chicken base cause I am crazy like that.) Prepare sofrito. Sofrito is onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Fry OGS&P in some olive oil until onion is transluscent. Take some of the beans, mash them up and add them to the sofrito pan. Fry it all up for about 5 minutes. Dump sofrito into bean pot and add oregano, sugar and bay leaf. Boil for a couple more hours.

Step Four: Cuban Bread. Take 1 packet of yeast, mix with one tablespoon of sugar and two cups of water. Let proof. After 5 minutes it should be bubbly and stinky. If you don't have the bubbles or the yeast stink, scrap the project and start over. Bad yeast will kill this project. Take the bubbly, stinky funk, and put it on the KitchenAid (with the dough hook) and knead it, adding 1 cup of sifted flour at a time. At about 7 cups you should be done. You want a firm dough. Grease the bowl and the dough, cover with a cloth, and let sit, in a warm place until it doubles.

Punch it down, and put it on a floured surface. Divide in half, form into rounds, and place it on pans that have been liberally sprinkled with cornmeal. Let rise for a few minutes. Place in 400 degree oven (that has not been preheated) for 45 minutes. Brush with butter at about 40 minutes.

Oh this bread is soooooo delicious.

At some point, if you had been thinking about it, you would have started some rice. At the same time you would have heated up some oil in a non stick skillet on the stove. In small batches, fry up the pork (and onions and peppers) in small batches until brown. It was really good, although beans and stuff don't photograph that well.