The Beautiful Genius of Chef Geoffrey Zakarian

Beet Salad/Smoked Trout Roe/Rock Shrimp/Blis Maple Yogurt

It's getting colder, it's darker earlier, and the school year is in its full stressful swing, all of which means is we have summer on the brain. We had the wonderful experience of joining friends J and T on their "Love and Romance" - themed wedding cruise to Bermuda on the beautiful new Norwegian Breakaway back in July, and reminiscing on that amazing vacation is just one of the many coping mechanisms helping us make our way into winter.

Beet Salad (close-ups)

First and foremost, the wedding itself was just perfect - on a cliff, overlooking the turquoise waters and pink sands of the Bermuda beach, with J and T pledging their lives to each other -- it was the epitome of both love and romance. Their musically talented friends played Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up", and one of the readings was this one, from Louis de Bernieres' Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which we think truly sums up what a wedding is all about:

“Love is a temporary madness, it erupts like volcanoes and then subsides. And when it subsides, you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion, it is not the desire to mate every second minute of the day, it is not lying awake at night imagining that he is kissing every cranny of your body. No, don't blush, I am telling you some truths. That is just being "in love", which any fool can do. Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident.” 

Grilled Prawn Panzanella/Heirloom Tomatoes/Taggiasca Olive Vinaigrette

Plus, it was a cruise! And we were on it! Our room had a small balcony, our steward predicted our every need, there was food and drink galore, and Bermuda itself was a wonder to explore. But seriously, what do we want to talk about here? Chef Geoffrey Zakarian has restaurants on this ship. True, they weren't included in the fare, but the extra cost was minimal when you see what we experienced at the fine dining venue, Ocean Blue, which truly encompasses the beautiful genius of Chef Zakarian. Our words do not suffice...nor do our photos, admittedly. We can say it was in our Top 10 Overall Food Experiences Ever. And yes, Chris was slightly obsessed by that gorgeous beet salad, which explains the additional pics. 

Rolls made with Marscapone and Sesame Seeds

By the way, the latest intel says that the Iron Chef champion and Chopped judge extraordinaire will be present on the December 1st cruise to the Bahamas. We're jealous.

Lightly Roasted Sea Scallops/Guanciale/Grapefruit/Caramelized Pork Belly/White Anchovy

Dover Sole/Whole Roasted/Sauce Meuniere

Selection of Artisanal Cheeses

(Tete de Moine/Membrillo Quince Paste

Cave-Aged Cloth-Bound Cheddar/Fig-Date Bread

Bayley Hazen Blue/Candied Walnuts)

Yeah...that's a flower made of cheese in front!

CHEERS to Love and Romance

and, again, congratulations to J and T!!! xoxo

AND CHEF? THANKS FOR GIVING US SOMETHING TO REMINISCE ABOUT!

"Chili con Caffé" for Secret Recipe Club

When we received our assignment for this month's Secret Recipe Club, the blog from which we needed to choose and make a recipe, we were a little intimidated. You see, we have followed and admired Authentic Suburban Gourmet for some time, and you will understand why once you take a look at that blog, with its plethora of intriguing recipes, unique style, and gorgeous photographs. It's the kind of blog we strive for ours to become, and its author, Lisa, is the kind of fellow foodie we love to follow.

We spent hours going through Lisa's countless recipes trying to find just one. We especially love her series of "Friday Night Bites," a wide array of fabulous snacks and appetizers perfect for entertaining. And we have bookmarked plenty of those, we can tell you. But as we looked ahead to the busy, and according to the local weather report, "chilly" week ahead, we had to go with one of her "chili" recipes. But which one?

Having judged a couple of chili contests for the International Chili Society, the argument over the inclusion of beans, while it amuses us, doesn't deter us from throwing them into our chili pot. While they scoff at "chili con carne" (of course it has meat, they insist, but it absolutely should not have beans!), we add not one but four kinds of beans into ours. But what really drew us toward one of Lisa's chilis was the secret ingredient...one that has proven its worth in another of our SRC recipes. That's why we're naming this particular dish "Chili con Caffé." Yup...there's coffee in that there chili! 

After doubling the recipe, we had a vat o' chili to eat for Sunday night dinner and a few school lunches after that. Plus some to share, of course. It was truly delicious, and perfect for these dark and cozy late autumn days. With the blend of meats, variety of beans, slight chipotle/hot sauce heat, and intriguing dark coffee notes, its had plenty of heartiness and depth of flavor. Thank you to Lisa from Authentic Suburban Gourmet for sharing the recipe. It's a keeper!

Chili con Caffé

adapted from "Coffee Chili" on Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Ingredients:

2 pounds "meat loaf mix" of ground beef, ground veal and ground pork

2 onions, diced

2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

2 15-ounce cans black beans, undrained 

1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

5-6 tablespoons chili powder

3-4 tablespoons tomato paste

2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes

1 cup your favorite salsa

2 chipotle peppers, chopped

Hot sauce (we like Cholula), kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

2 cups brewed coffee

Brown the ground meat in a large pot, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Add the diced onions and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, then turn down heat and simmer for one hour. Serve with chips or cornbread with shredded cheese, chopped green onions, sour cream, cilantro, or any other of your favorite chili accoutrements.

UPDATE: Go HERE to see what Annie of Annie's Noms did with our recipe for Peppermint Bliss Bark.

The Hidden Still, Ellington, CT

Located in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it plaza in the blink-and-you'll-miss-it town of Ellington in Northeast Connecticut is CT's hottest new bar and grill - The Hidden Still. First thing we need to tell you is: don't blink! And definitely do not miss it!

Billing themselves as CT's first restaurant and moonshine bar, The Hidden Still boasts over ten brands of moonshine from around the country, including CT's own Onyx, as well as a host of delicious, unique twists on pub food favorites. We first met some staff from The Hidden Still at Onyx's Gatsby Ball back in October, when they were competing in the Onyx 111 Infusion Challenge. Their Fire Roasted Pear and Sage Infusion, served with a splash of white cranberry juice, while not a challenge winner, was one of our faves, and convinced us we needed to experience The Hidden Still as soon as we could.

That opportunity came a few weeks later, when we had finished proctoring the PSATs at Amy's school and we were starving. The first place we thought of was The Hidden Still, which (huzzah!) happens to be right down the road from the school. We loved the variety we found on the menu, with its many "Bites" sized, and priced accordingly, at "Small," "Bigger" and "Biggest," along with a few salads, and a sandwich "Creation Station." We decided to make a meal out of a few of the small/big bites, and (thankfully!) save ourselves a little room for dessert. 

To start, we absolutely had to try the "Grilled Mac & Cheese," especially since it is inspired by the locally legendary Shady Glen Fried Cheeseburger. Tastes just like it, too, with its creamy mac-n-cheese center wedged between slices of grilled American. Ooh, that's the kind of foodstuff you obsess about forever after, and Amy certainly can't wait to sink her teeth into it again soon. Bonus points? This unique dish is a mere $6, and washes down very nicely with the (dangerously yummy) raspberry moonshine infusion cocktail.

With those years living down South always in the back of her mind, for her second course, Amy happily opted for the "Chicken and Waffles" - a generously portioned "Small Bite" choice coming in at only $7 and consisting of three open-faced "sliders" of Belgian waffle topped with crispy fried chicken and drizzled with maple syrup. 

Chris, as he often does, went for a healthier choice, by way of the fish tacos. Another generous portion at a reasonable price, with three tacos at $9 made from fried cod and topped with pico de gallo, avocado and a fresh and zingy cilantro lime cream sauce.

Yes, we went ahead and ordered dessert. After all, we surely needed to experience everything we could, and we were having a blast chatting with the amiable barkeep and the handful of other patrons seated nearby. Who, as we did, made quite a fuss over the cheekily named "Fudgin' Nutty Brownie," perhaps the fudgiest we've ever had, topped with homemade caramel, fresh whipped cream (because yes, we can tell the difference), and fried candied nuts.  

We were extremely full when we left, and we know, in our minds anyway, that this is not the kind of eating we should do very often. Nonetheless, we will be back again and again, and hope that you, too, will check it out. This is local at its best, the type of place that should be supported well and visited often. The Hidden Still offers daily specials, including a Friday Happy Hour, and Full Moon Parties. And there is more to drink than moonshine (although yes, there is a still!). So convince someone to be your designated driver and get to Route 83 in Ellington (15 minutes off either I-84 or I-91) to experience CT's first, and in our opinion, best, moonshine bar and restaurant. 

Wordless Wednesday: Treva, West Hartford, CT

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Grana Padano Dipping Sauce

The two of us have had a slight fixation with cheese ever since we attended the Connecticut Cheese Festival a few weeks back. We have been meaning to tell you about that, and we promise we'll get to it, but for now, we want to share our latest cheese-inspired appetizer creation - Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Grana Padano Dipping Sauce.

When we learned about the Legends from Europe Market Basket Recipe Contest, we jumped at the chance to use one of these outstanding ingredients in a recipe. There are five "Legends from Europe," and they are Grana Padano, Parmigiano Reggiano, Montasio, Prosciutto di Parma and Prosciutto di San Daniele, all of which are part of a special campaign to celebrate the legendary quality, tradition and taste of these world-renowned products. We were told to email the contest administrators and we would be assigned one of these incredible cheeses or hams, then we were to create and post our recipe to our blog to be entered into the contest.

We were ecstatic to be assigned Grana Padano, one of the world's first hard cheeses, and one of Italy's most famous. It is named after its distinctively grainy texture (grana, Italian for "grain"),  and its region of origin, the Pianura Padana, or the Po Valley in Northern Italy. It is a hard cheese that is cooked and ripened slowly, it can last a long time without spoiling, and its DOP (protected designation of origin) status can be verified by the fire-branded trademark on the rind. It has a mildly nutty flavor, more subtle and less salty than its cousin, Parmigiano, which is actually a type of Grana, as that name refers specifically to the texture of the cheese.

We had in mind a beautiful head of cauliflower, simmered in a lemony-herb broth, then slow-roasted, with a creamy dip made from the Grana Padano. And we think we succeeded. The cauliflower tasted as wonderful as it looked, with the olive oil and butter from the broth clinging to it enough to facilitate the browning. And the cheese sauce was so scrumptious in its simplicity - milk, cream, plenty of grated Grana Padano, salt, pepper and a pinch of nutmeg - that we began to look around for other things to dip into what was left after we conquered the cauliflower (we found Italian bread and baby carrots worked nicely). We served the cauliflower whole on a cutting board with the dipping sauce nearby, and we all oohhed and aahhed over the flavor imparted by this special, legendary cheese.

Whole Roasted Cauliflower with Grana Padano Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

1 whole head of cauliflower

6 cups water

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 large bay leaf

rind from one lemon

3/4 cup light cream

1 cup whole milk

pinch of ground nutmeg

2 cups grated Grana Padano cheese

kosher salt and white pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. In a pot large enough to fit the cauliflower, bring to boil the water, olive oil, butter, bay leaf and lemon rind. Submerge the cauliflower top down into the pot, reduce heat, cover and allow to simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from pot and place on a baking sheet or roasting pan. Roast cauliflower for 30-45 minutes, until tender and nicely browned. In the meantime, make the dipping sauce by bringing to a boil the cream, milk and nutmeg. Remove cream mixture from heat and stir in the cheese until well incorporated. Add salt and white pepper to taste and serve alongside roasted cauliflower as the start to a wonderful meal.

Savory Maple and Sweet Potato Risotto

We love real maple syrup to such a degree that we have never allowed the fake stuff into our home, and when venturing out to a restaurant for breakfast, Amy will bring a small container of her cousins' syrup with her. Yes, it's that important. We even used it in a brownie recipe once. So why not in a savory one-pot dinner dish?

We repurposed an old risotto recipe of ours to make it easier. So easy, in fact, that it can be make in one pot. And this recipe, now, has it all: deliciously creamy rice, slightly caramelized chunks of sweet potato, soft onions, an herby savoriness that comes from fresh rosemary, and a delightful hint of sweetness from - you guessed it! - real maple syrup.

As for using maple syrup in a risotto dish? That's just our way to...

We, and the neighbors we shared it with, loved this dish so much we thought we needed to enter it into Pure Canada Maple's "Think Outside the Griddle" contest.

The recipe, as always, is below. Like we said, it's a one-pot wonder, and here's the best thing - it makes lots of risotto. And we have a great idea for the leftovers - make arancini the next day! To do that, just take the chilled leftover risotto, form it into small balls, roll the balls in Italian breadcrumbs and fry in a skillet filled about 1/4-inch of the way up with vegetable oil. Serve with a nice green salad to make another meal!

Savory Maple and Sweet Potato Risotto

Ingredients:

4 cups vegetable broth 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups (about 1 large) peeled, diced sweet potato

1 medium onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

1 cup arborio rice

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary

salt and white pepper to taste

1/4 cup real maple syrup

Place the vegetable broth into a saucepan and place over medium-low heat to become warm. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced sweet potato and a pinch of salt and cook until sweet potato starts to brown. Add onions and continue to cook until the onions become translucent. Add the butter and allow it to melt. Pour in the rice and continue to cook, stirring, until rice starts to toast. Add the warm vegetable broth to the rice one ladle at a time, stirring constantly, and waiting until all the broth is absorbed by the rice before adding more. This could take up to one-half hour. When the broth is gone and the rice is done (not too firm, not too mushy), stir in the chopped rosemary and season with salt and white pepper to taste. Turn off the heat, then add the maple syrup, stirring gently so that everything is well combined, then serve and enjoy!

Slightly Smoky Ham and Bean Soup

We attended an Oktoberfest celebration thrown by friends C and L, and indulged in some hearty beer, homemade soft pretzels, spiraled ham, grilled brats and other sausages, and fabulous fall desserts (among other things). And then, C and L were generous enough to let us take home the ham bone along with some of the leftover meat. Chris had his eye on that bone all night, so he was delighted, and started trawling the web for soup recipes the very next morning. He finally chose the recipe for "Northwoods Smoked Ham and Bean Soup by Crock-Pot" from ICookbook, an app on his IPad, and as usual, we fiddled with it, adjusted it, and in an effort to avoid errands, did what we could with what we had. 

This recipe has a lot of wonderful qualities. The best part is that this is a slow cooker recipe. That almost all of the work is done for you by that magical little machine, while you are at work, or wherever it is you go during the day. Which is made even more wonderful by the aroma that greets you when you come back from wherever you were. Plus the fact that you are probably tired from wherever you had been, and now dinner is already done. Oh, the fabulousness! 

The ham was sweet, and we wanted a little smoky flavor, so we added a couple of dashes of liquid smoke. We decided against adding pasta, because we felt it was hearty and chunky enough with the beans, and neither of us need the extra carbs right now. It's definitely our kind of soup, similar to, but different enough from our Tuscan Sausage Soup or our White Bean and Leftover-Easter-Ham Soup.

Slightly Smoky Ham and Bean Soup

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

4 large cloves garlic, peeled and minced

6 cups chicken stock (we ran out at 5 cups, so used 1 cup water)

1 leftover ham bone (from a large spiraled ham, with meat scraps still on it)

2 cups cubed cooked ham

28 ounces diced tomatoes, undrained

1 tablespoon dried parsley

4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 bay leaves

5 dashes liquid smoke 

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 15-ounce can canellini beans, drained and rinsed

1 15-ounce can small white beans, drained and rinsed

Heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Place onion and garlic mixture, stock, ham bone, ham, tomatoes, parsley, thyme, bay leaves, liquid smoke, salt and pepper in slow cooker. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Stir in beans, and cook for about 15 additional minutes, or until heated through.

Food Porn and a Favor

The Food Porn: Have you heard the term "food porn"? People like us, foodies with food blogs, might use that term to describe our food photography. And we're not the only ones. TouchVision is an internet news channel that streams a variety of "NewsMovies" on pop culture items, current affairs, weather, and various and sundry other topics including food. And they wanted one of our photos for their "Food Porn: Burgers of the East" segment. Woo hoo! One caveat: all of these burger photos will make you drool, so don't watch if you're hungry. Ours is the fourth one - the Fried Cheeseburger from Shady Glen in Manchester, CT, which is right down the road from us (fortunately or unfortunately, we're not entirely sure). 

The Favor: If we can ask again so soon after last week, two of our recipes are in the running in the "My Fresh Twist" recipe contest over at Fisher Nuts. If you are willing, and have a moment, check out our recipes and vote for one, or both, of them. You get 5 votes per day from October 23 until November 5. The links are below. Many thanks!

Rosemary Almond Butter Toffee

https://www.fishernuts.com/recipe-contest?page=gallery&recipe=933

Sweet Potato Risotto with Glazed Walnuts

https://www.fishernuts.com/recipe-contest?page=gallery&recipe=932