Last week I went to a wonderfully creative party. Hosted by a local bartender, she invited other bartender friends over for a brown booze party. The rules: Bring any high end bottle of brown liquor (ie. rums, scotch, bourbons, whiskys, liqueuers, etc) and an appetizer or finger food that pairs well with your bottle.
Well, this was right up my alley. I love being a bartender and I love pairing food and drink together! So, a week before the party, I went down to the Palace for a little late night brown booze tasting and a little creative inspiration, so to speak. After tasting a few bourbons and other brown liquors, I made my pick: Pappy Van Winkle, a straight Kentucky Bourbon that is nothing short of GREAT! Finding a bottle of this was another story. Unfortunately, it is made in very small batches and the soonest I might be able to get some– a month! So, I found myself wandering through the enormous liquor store downtown, looking for a comparable bourbon with a similar flavor profile. After much deliberation–Jefferson’s Reserve, a very rare, small batch, straight Kentucky bourbon. PERFECT!
Now, food. What to eat with it? I like citrus with bourbon. Orange brings out nice notes in the bourbon profile. And cheese is always good. So I came up with this canape– a piece of endive, a small dollop of fromage blanc, and sliced honey tangerine with a little lemon thyme on top. I topped it all off with a little freshly ground pepper and sea salt, then arranged my canapes on a platter with some edible flowers and- Voila! the hit of the party! Read the rest of this entry »
March 2nd, 2009 | 1 Comment »
I love the lentil. A humble legume, it is misunderstood by many who fail to consider its homespun charms. The lentil is both small and egg-shaped. It supplies popular nutrients, costs little, and turns up in tasty treats such as dal, wot, and lentil loaf. The peasantry has long relied on the lentil as a staple of the table. My hope for these lean times is that the gentry will now also learn to give the lentil its proper due.
This is an excellent soup recipe that works for any type of lentil. Brown or green lentils will maintain their firm and pleasing shape. Red or orange lentils will break down into a hearty mush. I usually substitute two or three tablespoons of fresh basil for the one teaspoon of dried. But if your fresh winter basil looks a bit bedraggled, as is its wont, a quarter cup of chopped flat-leaf parsley will happily suffice.
March 2nd, 2009 | No Comments »
“Salumi? How hard could that be?” I remember thinking while traveling through Tuscany last summer, enjoying some of the best salamis I’ve ever had. When I got back, I stopped by all the local charcuteries- Salumi, Da Pino’s- getting advice from whoever would answer my questions. What it really came down to was getting my hands dirty and just borrowing a few recipes from some books and trial and error. You’d never know how much work goes into those beautiful dry cured salamis that you see over at Serious Pie, or back in Siena, until you get around to making your own. The road has been a bumpy one, one batch of soppressata turning out great only to find that the same recipe two months later tastes totally different! I’ve done about 12 different batches and each one gets closer and closer to bringing me back to butcher shops back in Tuscany. But, hey, they have recipes that are hundreds of years old and real caves to age their salamis in. I could never compete with that but I sure will try!
Editor’s note: Tommy is a Tom Douglas Restaurant Alumnus (Etta’s), now a line cook at Cafe Juanita, and he’s also Tom Douglas’ nephew.
March 2nd, 2009 | No Comments »
Last week I went to a wonderfully creative party. Hosted by a local bartender, she invited other bartender friends over for a brown booze party. The rules: Bring any high end bottle of brown liquor (ie. rums, scotch, bourbons, whiskys, liqueuers, etc) and an appetizer or finger food that pairs well with your bottle.
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