Whoopie Pies

Ten days since the last post and in that time I have eaten a ton of shit....
On a recent trip to Costco, yeah be snooty but they have everything and in very large quantities and I like it, I stumbled upon a dozen perfect Whoopie Pies that called out for me to bring them home. With my buddy and co-worker at my side we waited just minutes (after splitting a chicken bake) to dig into these perfect little chocolate cake discs which flanked a heavily yet heavenly lard laden vanilla frosting. Shit it was good, but I do not recommend doing this without milk. In the last couple of days I've ended dinner with one of these heart stopping beauties and I am now down to only two. Tonight I will eat them both and most likely minutes later regret the entire experience.

Doc spelled backwards is...

We love Cod so much here at the apartment that if we could we'd eat it thrice a week but realistically we eat it as often as possible. Being in New England the fish with the greatest advantages for us is the Codfish. It's local, cheap and fresh. Fished off the New England coast for centuries the Codfish + New England marriage is one made perfect by the fact that this fish is one tasty mother. We also had two scallops each, just pan seared and a couple pan seared trumpet mushrooms BOOM dam it was great.
For one nice dinner all you need is a nice piece of Cod, Whole Foods (yeah they are expensive aren't they) sells locally caught Cod, never frozen, super fresh, white and tasty for 14.99 per lb. a half lb. fillet runs around $7 bucks and will generously feed 2. She and I were full to the gills after I made a little cheesy mushroom polenta and a Boston bib lettuce salad. Pictured above is some onion garlic foccacia I baked up BOOM it was really good shit. Listen there was cheese in the polenta, but that was about it. So yeah I eat alot of cheese but the lady she isn't exactly into every cheese.

Having said that she does like one particular cheese...

• Las Mil Ovejas a sheep's milk cheese from Extremadura Spain, it is very similar to Manchego but younger, creamier, and much more fruity. I gave her a chunk of it with her favorite beer, Pinkus Organic Hefe-Weizen

V Day

So I'm no tough guy or anything but I'm also no sap and of course I do love my lady but we usually don't do that much for Valentines day. This year, not much different than the rest, I made dinner...

I went to Whole Paycheck and started browsing around looking for some good eats to make me little lady. Honestly I wanted a nice thick steak. She likes skirt, hanger, or flank steaks, and even then red meat isn't her favorite. I make fish all the time, and she never eats chicken because she thinks its dirty and raised inhumanly and I do agree, but man when it's fried up right with some mashies and gravy, MMMMMmmm good.

I decided on pork chops, bone in, thick cut center jobs cause you know how I do it. I purchased some more this and thats, but the menu went as follows.

Date and Walnut breaded chops with white wine honey garlic gravy.
Mashed quartet of potato, yam, celeriac, and beet with acacia honey and sage butter.
Fried broccolini with lime.
Fresh baked white rolls.
and for dessert her favorite Creme Brulee - oh yeah I got some.

The chops got brushed with honey Boom then I covered em with date walnut bread crumbs I made in the food processor. The potato, yam, celeriac, and beet got boiled mashed and then hit with cream, sage butter and honey, salt and peppered and to the table. Broccolini into the blanching water out into the pan then a squeeze of lime, done. Bread rose for 6 hours, was formed into little balls, brushed with melted butter and finished with Maldon salt then into the oven, so they were steamin hot for soaking up, the gravy - roux then chicken stock then white wine then garlic from the pan the chops finished roasting in then all into that pan for a nice deglaze, lots of pepper, some more honey and then a lump o' butter to give that shiny sexy texture. She literally sopped it up and then we watched SNAKES ON A PLANE which I loved and she hated but the Creme Brulee was a hit and I got SOME.

Our last Class

Cheese and Poetry class

This was a fun one and very unique. Check it out. below

1. Valencay Valencay, France
This (chopped off) pyramid goat cheese is ash covered, crumbly lightly and tangy. With age it will develop blotches of grey and blue mold and a stronger, more intense flavor.

Gran Gesta Cava Brut Reserve Spain

Paired with Louis Napoleon by Oscar Wilde

2. Tomme de Chevre au Muscadet Loire, France
France’s Loire Valley produces sweet, milky, and sparkling cheeses this ones been washed with Muscadet wine making it more robust and full.

Clos du Tue-Boeuf Touraine Sauvignon Touraine, France

Paired with Shhh by Brian

3. Trois Lait Pyrenees, France
Full figured farmhouse cheese with cow, goat, and sheep’s milk mixed to into a lightly washed rind wheel. Slightly unctuous while creamy and citric and perfect balance of three animals over varying soil compositions.

Txomin Etxaniz Getaria, Spain

Paired with Redwood by Christin Drake

4. Taleggio Castagna Lombardy, Italy
Sometimes love stinks, this saltwater washed rind gem is made from fresh cow’s milk and one of the only raw milk Taleggio’s in the U.S. creamy and thick with nut and hay.

Monferrato Freisa Piedmont, Italy

Paired with Recycling in Manhattan by Sue MacMillon

5. Grafton Gold 2yr Cheddar Grafton, Vermont USA
This creamy sharp cheddar is made in a cooperative and aged in the small Vermont town with care. A great value for cooking, melting over hot apple pie, or just for snacking, American through and through.

Foret Belgium
Belgium’s 100%, certified organic ale, brewed from 100% organically raised hops, barley & pure well water.

Paired with Apple Pie and Cheese by Eugene Field

6. Mil Ovejas Extremadura, Spain
This sheep’s milk is similar to Manchego but much younger, fruitier, and smoother. With notes of citrus and grass a playful tang in the mouth occurs when eating this FK exclusive beauty.

Pinkus Mueller Hefe - Weizen Germany

An organic wheat ale made with some barley but mostly wheat malt and hops. Citric flavors and an astringent mouth-feel make this beer a perfect match for drier cheeses

Paired with So Maybe… by Stephen Bar

7. Castagna Gorgonzola Dolce Oranavasso, Italy
The Cadillac of Gorgonzola, this cream bomb is silky and full bodied. Made from the traditional Red Cow in Piedmont and enriched with cream for a soft supple texture and less intense bluing.

Banyuls Pyrenees, France
Aged in Oak casks for several months this viscous fortified wine has notes of cinnamon, vanilla, and spice a real warm you upper for those cold winter nights.

Paired with There is a Gentle Thought by Dante Alighieri

8. Espelette Pepper Chocolate Truffles FK Made in MA, USA

Our expert chocolatier Christine makes each of these truffles by hand (with love) she mixes the smoky Basque pepper flakes into Belgium bittersweet chocolate. The AOC chili brings out the true essence of the velvety chocolate, a real aphrodisiac.

Paired with 1986 by Bonair Agard

Uncle Ed

Yesterday morning my father called me at work to inform me that my Uncle had passed away in his sleep overnight. He was rather young, in this early 50's, didn't drink, didn't smoke or drug. He was a walker, a rocker, and a generally quiet man, unless you got him talking about cars, nautical history, antique furniture or anything dirty or funny. He loved crude T-shirts and ate French fries and hamburgers and kernel corn and baked potatoes. He laughed loudly when he found something funny and never complained, at least I never heard him. He lived next door with his wife (my godmother) and two cousins and he took care of my car, told me what not to do with it and always told us to wear shoes while on our bikes. I love him very much and miss him terribly already. Below is one of his favorite T-Shirts.

Quailed my Hunger

Tonight's dinner: Quail. Six little fellows from Vermont made their way to my apartment, jumped into my enameled cast iron pan with a splash of oil a sprinkle of salt and cracked pepper. Their skin crisped up to a light golden brown as they jumped from the pan to a dish. One of them told me to throw in some onion, fennel, garlic, carrot, and celery and to deglaze my pan with a slush of red wine. So I did. I ate the smallest of the six as the vegetables and wine turned translucent and began to give of one hell of a heavenly aroma.
As I went for another quail the object of my hunger eagerly mentioned that some fresh herbs might be nice. So I put him down and threw in a couple sprigs of thyme, rosemary, oregano, and sage. He was right so as I at him I responded that the kitchen was really smelling wonderful now. The last four little birdies had the honor of resting on a lovely white plate while I poured over them the scalding wine and vegetable reduction. Shit the steam was enough so make my cheeks start to tingle. I ate them all drank some more wine and used an onion ficelle to sop up any wayward juices. This one was a yummer.