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Pasta Salad and a Pool

Yesterday was one of those perfect Sunday afternoons. Kitty was in a "curl up with a book" kind of mood and gave me a yard-pass to hang out by Peter's pool. I packed up a sixer of Abita Turbodog, grabbed my swim trunks and wasted no time high-tailing it over to Rosehill Circle. It was hot and sunny. The beer was so cold that it hurt my teeth and the pool was shimmering wet perfection. After an hour or, the boys started trickling in and we had a genuine all-dude swimfest, complete with cannonball contests and some "throwing of the Zak" for exercise.

To say "thank you" to Rose and Peter for the hospitality (in the only way I know how) I whipped up a big bowl of Pesto Chicken Pasta Salad with fresh basil and wild garlic from my yard. It was good hot, but much better after we let it chill for while.

How could this night get any better you ask? Well...I'll tell you. After dinner and a glass of wine, Peter informed me that he had the DVD of the latest UFC bouts and we watched MMA fighting while we polished off a pottle of Ghost Pines Cabernet.

Thanks Peter! Let's do that again.

A Bit Too Much Rosemary

To quote Britney Spears...DING DANG Y'ALL!*

After the lovely Kitty and I checked out the matinée of Get Him to the Greek (which was a really good movie, by the way), we dropped in on our friends at Colony Wine Market and picked up a few bottles of my new favorite wines made by Chris Ringland and R Wines. This guy does something very special with grapes and I have loved every wine of his that I have tried. Tonight we picked up bottles of Luchador, Strong Arms and Southern Belle. All of these Shiraz beauties have different notes and bite. Kitty loves the jammy and solid Luchador and with the roasted chicken we ate, it was a perfect pairing. My fave is the Southern Belle, a kick-in-the-head, fruity, alcohol bomb that really needs red meat or BBQ to stand up to it.

We got a late start to dinner and I made a compound butter of rosemary, garlic and bacon. It was the first time for this combination and I really overdid it with the rosemary. It gave the breast meat a piny twinge that was overbearing. I want to try this again with about half as much rosemary. I think it will be a winner when I get the mixture figured out. Oh well...you can't win 'em all.

*That is a quote from my favorite Britney, the plump, on drugs, pink wig-wearing, paparazzi car-smashing, Britney who proudly served Doritos to her toddlers and let them wash it down with Dr. Pepper in their bottles. She had the best grocery store feet I've ever seen on a pop star. Man I miss her.

Once More Unto the Breach...

With the muck and mess in the Gulf of Mexico slowly, but surely wiping out the harvest of the best shrimp on Earth, I have lately been craving those scrumptious crustaceans. A few weeks ago, I whipped up one of my signature dishes, Shrimp with Chili Oil and Toasted Sunflower Seeds for an upcoming TV segment for At the Cook's Table and this past week, I've tried two versions of a new recipe, Sautéed Shrimp with Coconut Apricot and Chipotle Reduction. The first time, I used only the milk from a fresh coconut and then I tried it with about a half cup of the fresh coconut flesh. both times I served them over a Bacon and Squash Hash, but the second time, I added chopped Brussels sprouts and cooked it longer to make it browner and hashier. Both were quite good, but something is still missing. I'll keep working on it and keep you abreast of the progress. Any Guinea Pig volunteers?

Here is v1.0

And v1.1

Nice Work Dan

A few weeks ago, my good friend Dan Blumenthal was on the inaugural broadcast of At the Cook's Table. One of the dishes he brought with him to eat on-air was the new croque monsieur he recently added to the menu at Broad Street Baking Company. So, when Kitty and I dropped by Broad St. to grab a quick bite to eat, I figured I would try it again, but this time piping hot and fresh out of the kitchen. I made the right choice. It was great. I'll definately order it again. You should go eat one of these right now.

More Tacos

The tacos at the Trent Walker fundraiser were so good, Kitty and I decided to whip up some more at home. These were of the uber-simple variety...Flatiron Steak seasoned with Ivy & Devine Coffee Rub (soon to be available at McDade's) on a warm tortilla with cilantro and a bit of horseradish mayo. Yum.

The Pro-Am

My beautiful wife, Kitty, enlisted me to cook for a political fundraiser last week. I never mind helping her out, particularly when it means that people will be eating my food, but this one was particularly exciting gig. I've recently come to know and love the guys from Parlor Market, Craig, Gary, Jesse and Ryan and at this event, I got to share the kitchen with them. The event had a Latin "Fiesta" theme so we met for drinks and decided to make some great Mexican street food. With trips to McDade's and Carneceria Valdez, we put together a menu of Pork Tacos, Chicken Tacos and Watermelon Chipotle Salsa.

The night before the event we all gathered at the private event space of Parlor Market and knocked out the prep work and made the salsa. We also made the decision to braise the pork overnight in a braising liquid with plenty of Rogue Mocha Porter and Chipotle Ale.

The day of the event, we made the sauces, cooked and shredded the chickens, pulled the pork, packed everything up at set up at the sky terrace of the Electric 308 Building. About ten minutes after we got everything set up, the rain started and we had to make a double-time effort to move it all to the main lobby on the first floor. We served the pork tacos with a redeye gravy mayo and the chicken tacos with a tomatillo salsa verde. We also gave the party-goers the options of pickled onions, pickled radishes, chopped cilantro and lime.

The food was a big hit and everything went beautifully with Kitty's red wine sangria. And best of all...I got to hit the kitchen with the hottest new pros in the Jackson culinary scene. Perfect.