The ongoing story of the Chuckster
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Below are the 10 most recent journal entries recorded in the "The ongoing story of the Chuckster" journal:
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03:49 pm
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Epicurean Overload
Last night Julie and I ate out with friends.
What did we have?
Sweet potato beignets, foie gras creme brulee, fried green tomatoes with duck confit and corn cream reduction.
Those items were just the appetizers.
Main courses included:
Filet Mingion in a rosemary bacon sauce; stuffed rabbit saddle; Bone in frenched pork chop with a pinot noir, shallot glaze; flounder meuniere.
Desert was too decadent to list.
Pictures start here, Andy is a much better photographer than I am.
Current Location: 34 56' 32.92" -81 02' 04.41"
Tags: food
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09:35 am
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Beer Dinner
My buddy Angela and I went to our second (my third) beer dinner at Summit's Monday night.
We got to meet the brewery owners/brewers/reps for a few hours before the show started this year. Breweries in attendance were: Dogfish Head, Clipper City, Sam Adams, Highland Brewing Company, Ommegang Brewery, Terrapin Brewing and Sweetwater Brewing. All East Coast brewers, and all pretty darned impressive. Angela and I have had the good fortune to be able to get stuff from Dogfish Head for a while, but they're new to Georgia, so there was a lot of excitement around that. I'd never had any of the Clipper City beers before, and I was pretty impressed with all of their offerings. All in all there were about forty beers there, and by the time I left I'd tried them all (though to be fair I'd tried some of them before and didn't bother having more at the dinner).
The menu was equally impressive. For starters there were Ostrich "Sliders" which were essentially White Castle sized burgers steamed in Chimay Trappist Ale, Mussels Delaware simmered in Dogfish Head beer, Roast Duck and Laura Chenel goat cheese quesadillas and the highlight of the evening for me: Kobe Beef "Pigs in a blanket." The Beef dogs were simply unbelievable. Rich beyond rich.
Entrees included Shrimp and Crawfish cakes served with wasabe remoulade sauce, Venison chops served with a Bordeaux truffle sauce, topped with peach infused caramelized onions (yowza), wild game fried rice and braized bok choy. Again with the meat, the Venison was just outstanding, it was meatier than any vension I've ever encountered.
Desert was a vatted beer ice cream with chocolate mousse and a beer infused Valhrona chocolate sauce.
And then we crashed.
Much inspiration for this year's birthday dinner in June. Hmmmmm.
I miss the punks.
Current Location: 34 56' 32.92" -81 02' 04.41"
Tags: beer, food
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10:50 am
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Marshmallows
So I made Marshmallows from scratch the day before yesterday. The process was very weird and messy, but I want to do it again if only to document the process.
Stuff is clear when you wouldn't expect it to be, it turns white when you wouldn't expect it to, textures change in unexpected ways. Except for gelatin it's essentially the same ingredients as meringue.
I don't like sugar in my coffee, but I had to try one in this morning's cup, just to see what it was like. It was awesome. I think I have an ingredient for a signature drink if I ever decide to get certified as a barista, or even enter a competition.
When I make it again, I'll take pictures of the process, and post them. Promise.
Current Location: 34 56' 32.92" -81 02' 04.41"
Tags: food
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07:33 am
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Beer Dinner
The beer dinner went smashingly.
We had to change venues because our sewer system still isn't back on-line. But Linda was kind enough to offer her place, so that's what we did.
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) yondergirl was kind enough to point out that what perhaps making seven out of eight courses for the first time for eight people was somewhat ambitious (I'm paraphrasing, I believe the exact word was "crazy") but when I told her I agreed, but I was committed anyway, she jumped right in to help. I'm extremely grateful because I could never have cooked and served out all that food and beer without her.
I cooked for about seven hours Friday night (courses one, two, and seven) and off and on about six hours on Saturday. Mostly at my house but some at Linda's.
Everyone had a great time (except Jon who didn't make it, due to a scratched cornea - having had one myself I totally understood his reluctance to go out), and the food was really delicious; every single course. If I had it all to do over again, there are only a few tweaks that I'd make (start the sausages a little later, get all baby spinach instead of just half, crank the air conditioning to frigid an hour before the guests arrive). The menu was... well here:
Amuse
Whole wheat crackers and selected cheeses
with Leffe Blonde – Abbaye de Leffe; Dinant, Belgium
and Peche Lambic – Lindemans; Vlezenbeek, Belgium
Soup
Roasted Garlic and Shallot Soup
with Sweetwater Hummer Blond – Atlanta, GA
Torte
Spinach Torte
with Saxo Belgian Blond Ale – Falmignoul, Belgium
Poultry
Grilled chicken with Bourbon Porter Marinade
with Hooker Imperial Porter – Hartford, CT
Beef
Sausages in sweet and sour beer sauce
with Wychwood Hobgoblin Strong Dark Ale – Oxfordshire, England
Salad
Pear, Oregonzola (yes that's spelled right, it's from the Rogue creamery) and Walnuts with mixed greens
with Terrapin Rye Squared Pale Ale – Atlanta, GA
Dessert
Chocolate Stout Cake
with Rogue Chocolate Stout – Newport, OR
and Chipotle Ale – Newport, OR
and the two former beers mixed together for a Mole beer
Coffee
Ethiopian Yirgacheffe
with Terrapin Wake N Bake Oatmeal Imperial Stout – Atlanta, GA
Man it was a blast. It's hard to believe I was up for a big brunch of steak and eggs on Sunday... but I was.
Current Location: 34 56' 32.92" -81 02' 04.41"
Tags: beer, food
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08:58 am
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Interesting egg stuff
here
Tags: food
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08:21 am
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Just ducky
The fine folks at Pet Village have taken in a duck recently (named Aflak 2 for future consideration) and it recently turned out that Aflak 2 is a "she."
And they were afraid of the eggs.
But I can tell you, that although the texture might be the slightest bit lighter than the eggs from their chickens, it tastes close enough that you'd probably miss the difference.
I ate scrambled duck eggs for breakfast this morning.
Tags: food
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09:08 am
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Beer Dinner
Beer Dinner at Summit's tonight.
I'm bringing my friend Angela, and meeting fuzbal, kindyll, mittio, and Maggie there.
I'm working until noon, but my mind is already road tripping.
Tags: beer, food
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10:51 am
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More Mufins
Again with the wrong consistency, but today it's blueberry, and they're a little cakey. Better than most coffee places though, so that's nice.
Tags: food
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09:19 am
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Muffins
I'm still wrestling with lemon poppy seed muffins.
I have a pretty good handle on the mixing method for muffins, but the recipe I'm using for these muffins involves folding in beaten (almost meringue) egg whites into muffin batter as the last step. It's like trying to get smoke into mud without mixing it too much.
On top of that I baked a little long this morning so the skin is a tad thicker than it should be.
The good news is that even as a failure, they taste pretty good.
Perhaps I should try to handle the egg whites by mixing them with the wet ingredients before adding the dry. Perhaps I should find a less finicky recipie.
I'll have lots of time to work on this next week [squee!]
Tags: food
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10:29 am
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Wag a mama
Last night I meandered through Glasgow, packed for the move into cooler digs today, and met up with Graeme and Alex (his new flatmate) after yoga to eat at Wagamama, a noodle house that WIlliam Gibson says is "the world's coolest noodle restaurant." I had the gyoza and ginger chicken udon with carrot juice. It was yummy.
When meeting the kids for dinner I got a chance to see the famous Anthea briefly, she is as cute as described.
After dinner we headed back to Alex's place and we entertained ourselves with recounting our favorite bands from the 80's. Since she grew up in France, Graeme grew up here, and I of course grew up in America, the differences were pretty interesting.
The bad news is that Frankie Goes To Hollywood has canceled their UK tour. Oh well.
Today we're in for a quick day of work, and then we're off to who knows where. I'm enjoying getting so much done. I'm looking forward to the new hotel.
Tags: food, scotland
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