Quintessential Chocolates

I love pulling into my driveway to find a package at the door. Today there was a big brown box awaiting me. Inside, deep inside, was a mylar insulated package which revealed yet another package. Chocolate! This unexpected gift came from Quintessential Chocolates out of Fredericksburg Texas. Lecia Duke,a former architect and graphic designer founded Quintessential Chocolates in Nashville, Tennessee in 1984 after apprenticing under a Swiss master-chocolatier to learn the almost-lost confectionery art form known as liqueur praline (sugar crust). Duke has made liquid-center chocolates with over 150 storied beverages including Frangelico, Amaretto, Crown Royal, Crème de Menthe, Hennessy Cognac, various Kentucky Bourbons, Tequila, and Tennessee Whiskey plus wines of the world including Champagne, Bordeaux, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and Port. I read a bit about the process of forming a capsule of cornstarch to house the liquid and the process of enrobing it in chocolate. Fascinating.

The California cabernet was mellow but not overly flavored with the wine (which I would have preferred). The chocolate has just the right amount of richness to blend with the filling but not be too overbearing. I learned a valuable lesson with this first one; take one bite unless you want liquid running down your chin.

The Tennessee whiskey packed a punch. It was an explosion of newly distilled whiskey that ended with the crunch of crystallized sugars. She has really put her knowledge of architecture to use. The liquid centers of the chocolates are unmolested by sugars or additives and enter your mouth in their purest form. I have tasted many liquor filled chocolates but never like this. I may need to call up Ethel M and compare for comparison.

My favorite so far is the Tawny Port. Its smoothness compliments the rich, dark chocolate perfectly.

JCT Kitchen lunch

(Photos by Thomas James Photography & Video Productions)
On a very wet and dreary day a trio of foodies sought refuge in a self described southern bistro. Out of the rain and into the impeccably designed space of JCT Kitchen we were refreshed and renewed and ready to have our palates awakened by chef Ford Fry and Chef de Cuisine Brian Horn. As always, nothing was amiss. Food, service and atmosphere did not disappoint.

Sharing all of our dishes allowed us to experience more flavors. Family style is the way to go especially in a bistro serving traditional southern food (with flare). First up, JCT salad-romaine, green beans, spiced pecans and apples. This is usually served with a buttermilk dressing, but I opted for a lighter vinaigrette which enhances the flavors more. I was already aware that JCT makes every effort to acquire fresh from the farm ingredients that are local and my first fresh bite proved as much. Enter a glass of St. Supery Sauvingnon Blanc and the salad reached new heights. Napa Valley St. Supery is crisp, velvety (how can it be both? dunno but it is)and a go to wine for salads and spicy food. It is very fruit forward, zero oak. I always taste something different with this wine; Sometimes pear, sometimes apple and always mineral notes (which I love). There is a scent/taste (you know, when you taste a smell or smell a taste) that is floral, grassy. Tastes of outside like honeysuckle off the vine.

We also tried the Shrimp and Avocado salad with fresh Georgia white shrimp. This was a perfectly composed salad of bibb lettuce and fresh herbs, shrimp, avocados and a lemony vinaigrette. The shrimp were incredibly fresh, perfectly grilled and popping with flavor. About this time Ford came to our table to see how our food tasted. He really is a nice guy. He cooks great food, creates great restaurants, supports local farms AND he is a good guy. We only wished Brian Horn had been around today so we could say hi.


Pimento cheese toast came next and we all agreed that this was a hearty serving. The table was silent as we feasted on the thick toast piled high with perfect pimento cheese and fresh arugula. Were those shaved sunchokes on top? I saved a few pieces of my bread for what was next.


I have heard a lot about the angry mussels at JCT but I have never ordered them until now. I knew that Ford sourced his bacon from Alan Benton and that alone meant it would be delicious. The bacon is house cured and perfect alone but in a sea of serrano chiles and the juice of the mussels it melts in your mouth. The mussels were great, fresh, not overdone but what I really remember is the smoky bacony-serrano sauce that we sopped up with the crusty, rustic bread. When our server took away the bowl there was not a drop left.

We headed out the door with a lemonhead in hand to face the dreary day with full bellies and happy taste buds.

rhubarb

I am craving rhubarb. "Rhubarb," such a funny word. I decided to read about it. Details about rhubarb have been recorded since ancient China (2700 B.C.). In ancient times it was used medicinally for its purgative effects as well as aiding in digestion and improving appetite. By the 18th century, it was grown for culinary purposes in Europe and the U.S.

Rhubarb is a perennial with large fleshy rhyzomes. It has large leaves with long thick stalks called petioles. It is rich in vitamin c and dietary fiber.

This is all good and interesting, but for me rhubarb tastes like summertime. Hot? Thirsty? Tear off a huge stalk of rhubarb and you are instantly rewarded with a tart, juicy snack. Sure you can make it into pie, jam, jelly or even a cocktail but the best part is straight off the bush.

There is a great recipe for rhubarb pie in Jannette Haase's book "From Seed to Table":

Fresh Rhubarb Pie
Servings: 6-8

2 9” pie crusts
6-8 cups chopped fresh rhubarb
1 ½ cups sugar
½ cup flour
1 tsp grated orange rind
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C). In a large bowl, mix together rhubarb, flour, sugar, orange rind and eggs. Place in one pie shell and cover with the other. Seal the edges and brush with butter if you wish. Bake for 10 minutes and then reduce heat to 350 F (175 C) and bake for another 20-25 minutes or until pastry is golden. The moisture content of rhubarb depends upon the amount of rain it’s had, sometimes the pie can be quite runny but the juices are delicious so I never worry about it.


My craving came out in a quick chat to Jake Rothchild of Jake's Ice Cream. He said "would you be open to a combo of strawberry/rhubarb?" Sounds good. I said "do you think it will need something for texture? Graham cracker crumbs, perhaps?" He said "are you thinking what I'm thinking? StrawberryRhubarb Piescream?" And then he made it. I will be heading down to Jake's at Irwin Street Market to try some summertime. I am hoping it will taste like my youth which is what I fear I am craving more than rhubarb. I scream, you scream, we all scream for piescream!

chicken with roasted poblano-cilantro cream

What is for dinner tonight---Chicken with roasted poblano-cilantro cream sauce. I'll get the cilantro fresh from the garden but there are not any peppers yet. I woke up with this craving for poblano cream and need to make it happen. Hoping to find some early sweet corn to top a microgreen salad from the garden. Seasonal fruit, sauvignon blanc and the patio will round it out.

what is a weed?

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I ran across this quote in my journal and it reminded me of a day when I saw a roadside filled with cornflowers (chicory) on a morning excursion only to have it mowed down by late afternoon when I drove by again. Mowed down because they are weeds. But what if cornflowers are not weeds to me? What if they are the loveliest of flowers, the color of my favorite crayon in the box of 64?

How can they be considered weeds when they are the essence of delicious Community Coffee? Chicory (Cichorium intybus) frissee is a spicy addition to a salad as well.



Another roadside beauty is Queen Anne's lace, often mowed over without thought. I love that it has such an in interesting history to it's nomenclature. As a little girl, I always thought it was named after a fancy queen who wore lacy dresses and once pricked her finger on a thorn, dripping a drop of blood on the flower. She was so very special that from that day on, all the flowers grew with a red dot in the center. When I googled it seems there are many stories.

Queen Anne's Lace is not only beautiful, it is tasty and good for you. Also called wild carrot, it's root tastes like...wait for it... a carrot. They can be eaten as any root vegetable or in soup and are packed with vitamin A1, B1 and B2. The flowers can be fried for a tasty, pretty treat. It can even be made into a delicious jelly.


Dandelions are often viewed as a noxious weed by some and an endless source of outdoor entertainment by others (who hasn't made a wish on a dandelion?) Who knew they are a tasty and healthful salad green nutritiously filled with vitamins A &C, iron, and more calcium than spinach. They are commonly used as a salad green, but can also be braised, stewed, and sauteed. This much maligned "weed" has edible roots, flowers and greens.

I could go on and on. Wood violets--love to place them on top of the buttercream icing of a chocolate cupcake. So pretty.

Sweet peas, chickweed, day lilies, purslane, clover... The terms "beautiful flower" or "noxious weed" are subjective points of view imposed on plants. I try to stay clear of the good or evil outlook and instead seek out the positive. Caterpillar? Butterfly? Come have a salad with me. I won't judge you or the ingredients.

Cochon 555 atlanta

( photos by Thomas James Photography)

I hummed Pink Floyd all afternoon.

I had the privilege of attending Cochon 555 in Atlanta this weekend and I am still dreaming of the flavors created by the invited chefs and wineries. Cochon 555 is the brainchild of event planners Brady Lowe and Carolina Uribe. This coast to coast 10 city tour invites 5 chefs who are supporters of local food and who support the heritage breed. Pigs are locally sourced from sustainable heritage breeds. Need to brush up on what "heritage breed pig" means? Click here for a great article describing heritage breeds as a rough equivalent to organic. Brady hopes this tour's purpose will be "building new relationships between chef and farmers." Along with the 5 chefs and 5 pigs are five wineries that are family owned.

I arrived at the swanky W hotel in Buckhead at 3:30 for the VIP "meat and greet" held on the 16th floor pool area. First stop, a 2006 Evenstad Reserve from Domaine Serene. This Willamette Valley Pinot Noir was smooth and round with notes of spice, berries/cherries and cedar had a long finish and was perfect with pork. BLT Steak had a beautiful offering of super fresh bluepoint and greenpoint oysters that tasted of the sea. Next was a stunning array of cheeses and accompaniments, notably Emily G's jams. The light shown most brightly on a mason jar filled with perfect slices of Benton's bacon. My first pork of the event and it was perfect!

After a chat with the affable Mr. Lowe I ventured out into the sun to see the butchering demonstration. We watched the talented knife skills of chef Craig Deihl of Cypress break down an entire guinea hog for charcuterie. I had a few more oysters, another glass of Domaine Serene and another slice of lamb salumi before we headed down to the 4th flour for the competition.

The lowdown on Cochon 555:
5 of the best regional chefs, each with a 125 heritage breed pig
5 family wineries join to showcase their wine
foodies, food critic, fellow chefs and bloggers indulge
guests and 20 professional judges determine the winner based on presentation, utilization and best flavor

I rode the elevator with a writer, photographer and cheese trays. We were all having such a fun experience and we had not yet entered the competition. On our way, I was thrilled to run into Taste network's Carolina Uribe and talk a little about the event and its vision. The 4th floor space was industrial-spacious with open ceilings, cement floors, sunlight streaming in from three sides. I reached for a glass for wine tasting and delighted in seeing tiny piglets in each one. It's the simple things.

I chose a 2006 Columbia Rediviva of the Stones from Buty Winery from the Walla Walla Valley. This cabernet syrah blend, much to my liking, was dominated by syrah. It was earthy and like the description, sensuous. I tended to go back to this spot throughout the evening. I began my quest for pork, where some chefs offered one choice and others offered 13.

Kelly English (“2009 Best New Chef” by Food & Wine Magazine) of Restaurant Iris in Memphis smoked a Gloucestershire Old Spots breed from Freckle Face Farm in AR for 24 hours and created 700 banh mi tamales. What a fantastic start. The tamale, topped with coleslaw and pork cracklins was spicy, smoky and a mix of Asian and Mexican flavors.

I made my way over to Mike Lata of FIG restaurant in Charleston. His food is ridiculously delicious, sustainable, locally acquired and seasonal. I'll admit I have created a weekend vacation around reservations on more than one occasion. He's also a really cool guy. Lata presented 10 cohesive offerings from his Tamworth breed from Keegan-Filion Farm in SC. Nestled among the sunflowers were the following dishes: Banh mi pickled ramps, headcheese and liver pate; corn hogs with rhubarb ketchup (presented in lovely paper cones), boudin blnc chow chow, pork skin "ala parmegianno" polenta, bbq ribs with coleslaw, pork belly with watermelon pickles, crispy trotters gribiche, lard crackers (pig shaped even!) with pimento cheese, porchetta tonnato and bourbon lard caramels. You could really see and taste the amount of effort and creativity that went into this oblation of pork. My favorite was the crispy pork trotter and I could have eaten 10. Lata said that he expected this to be the next trend in food. His diners love them. I visited Lata's space many times for another pimento cheese and another bourbon lard caramel. Praise the lard, those were delicious.

Next to Lata's area was the Hirsch Vineyards tasting. The lovely Jasmine Hirsch poured me a glass of Bohan Dillon “Family Blend” Pinot Noir. This smoky, tobacco tasting wine really brought out the flavors in my next couple of dishes.

Todd Mussman of Muss and Turner's serves food that is always fresh and local. I like his restaurant because I can go in jeans and flip flops and have amazing seasonal food and an incredible wine without any fuss. Todd had a Yorkshire hog from Gumcreek Farms in GA. You could smell the smoky pork from a distance and that is what drew me over to him. Todd handed me his "entire pig in a bowl" which was smoked roasted porchetta over smoked pork consomme with bitter herb salad and ham jerky. It was delicious, smoky, satisfying.

We headed back towards Hirsch Vineyards for the wine and also so my companion could talk with Jasmine again. I stopped at the Anne Amie Vinyards table for another pinot. Boyd Pearson poured me a glass of the 2007 Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. It was dense, heady, mushroomy, herby and complimented the smoky meat perfectly. I would quickly be back for another glass.

My next stop was with last year's prince of porc Kevin Rathbun of Rathbun's and Rathbun Steak. He looks amazing by the way. Kevin had a Berkshire hog from Riverview Farms in GA. My first bite/slurp was a steamed pork dumpling in 5 spice consomme. Meh. It was good, but simple compared to dishes I have eaten at Rathbun's. I then took a bite of the pork belly flan. Others around me were a little hesitant, saying that they do not like the consistency of flan and can't imagine it with meat. When I say this was mouth-watering goodness, it is an understatement. My palate was awakened by a combination of flavors it had never experienced. Like a fine wine, I rolled the flan around on my tongue. It was smooth, smoky, with notes of cherry, chocolate and had a nuttiness i later found to be candied cashews. This was my favorite dish of the event. Hands down.

Meanwhile, Ryan Farr of 4505 Meats San Francisco held everyone's amazement as he broke down an entire hog neatly. I couldn't help but hum Weird Al Yankovich's "Like a surgeon."


Moving over to Sean Brock's station, I was in awe. Artfully settled before me on straw were 13 treats. Sean comes from McCrady's restaurant in Charleston, a favorite of mine not just because they are ecologically sensitive (check out their recycling, local and sustainable, but because Sean's food is delectable. Sean chose an Ossabaw/berkshire cross from Ecofriendly Foods in VA. and turned out such creative dishes that they were disappearing as they were laid out. I stood next to chef Kevin Gillespie and wanted to chat with him more, but really wanted to lay my hands on Sean's bites. First off, I had the pork fried funnel cake with pork lard sugar. Have I said "praise the lard" already? Well, can I get an amen? Next, a "noodle" bowl where the noodles were made from pork skin cut very thin. The johnny cakes topped with braised bacon, a quail egg and whipped sorghum were a hot ticket. I heard from a judge or two that liked this the best.
He had pickled red hot sausage, an incredible coppa pastrami with secret sauce, bibb letttuce and pumpernickel, a creamy pork liver over soup, chicharrones even. I loved the pastrami, but my favorite was actually the garden radishes with braised fatback wrapped on a stick. It was farm to table and to my mouth.


To say that I was satiated at this point would be an understatement, but wait, there's more. Guest chef Nick Melvin of Parish rolled through the crowd with an entire roasted pig that had been injected with 12 pounds of hamhock butter. Sandwich bread and sauce was provided and as he began chopping the crowd dug in. Parish is a staple for me and I inched closer for a bite. Much to my delight, Nick picked up "the best part," dipped it in sauce and hand fed it to me. Incredibly good.


The event came to a close with a presentation of gifts and bourbon to the 5 chefs. Guests were treated to Benton's bacon brittle with chocolate covered chicharrones. I think I will dream of this sweet and savory concoction for quite a while. We waited anxiously for the prince of porc announcement and the winner was...Sean Brock. Sean gave a touching thank-you speech and held his trophy high. His prince status enables him to compete in the Aspen Food and Wine Classic on June 2oth where someone will be crowned King or Queen of Porc.


On to the afterparty.....

Cochon 555 Upcoming dates:
4/24 Des Moines IA
5/2 Washington DC
5/16 Portland
5/23 Seattle
6/6 San Francisco
6/6 Aspen Food and Wine Classic

Bording Pass Shiraz

Not only did the whimsical packaging entice me to impulse buy this wine, but the little review taped to the bin read "...and notes of bacon or smoked meat." It's on. How could a libation have a great review with a bouquet of blueberries AND bacon? I was intrigued to say the least.

I was a little leery to open such a gimmicky wine and expected it to be a victim of great packaging per usual. The first pour revealed a dense, almost inky red color. I did faintly smell the roasted meat scent I read in a preview. Interesting.

The wine was delicious and layered with jammy bacony flavor. It just doesn't sound right to write that, but it worked. The finish was short but as I sipped, I got more mineral notes (which I love) and even cocoa. It contains 5% Viognier which gave its density a floral lift.