Early snacks:

Roasted nuts with fresh herbs

Cheeses, bread, and fruit

Pairing Menu:

Spain, Catalonia…Cava

Coca amb botifarra, samfaina, i salsa romesco

A white pizza topped with Catalan-style sausage, ratatouille, and a smoked paprika-almond sauce

France, Burgundy…Chardonnay

Jambon persillé avec “Pets de nonne”

Ham and parsley terrine served with savory cheese choux beignets

Italy, Piemonte…Nebbiolo

Stracotto al Barolo, porri al burro, e patate

Beef slow-braised in Barolo, served with buttered leeks and potato

Chile, Central valley…Cabernet Sauvignon

Empanadas y salsa chancho en piedre

Pork and potato stuffed pastries with a tomato-coriander-aji pepper sauce

Argentina, Mendoza…Malbec

Humitas, parilla de tira, y chimichurri

Corn tamales topped with beef short ribs and a green fresh-herb sauce

Sweets:

Capezzoli di Venere’

Bite-sized flourless chocolate cakes topped with dark ganache and toasted hazelnuts

Panna cotta con limon

Small “custards” topped with lemon curd and praline

Biscotti di zenzero

Triple ginger-almond cookies

Matt Goins photography

I‘ve been looking at this iPhone App and its website for awhile now.  The premise is you simply post pictures of great food as you see it.  It’s not about the place, or the price, or the surroundings.   It’s all about the food, and hopefully, just good food.  On the go, you can launch the App and see the closest foodspottings to your location.

Locally in Lexington, it’s a little slow on the spots, but if you go worldwide it’s fascinating.  From Bangkok to Brussels, new food pics come up every minute of the day.  Pretty neat.

As for the picture of the Five-spiced pork-belly slider, above.  I’ve been fiddling with this dish for the last year and have just what I want taste-wise.  But the simplicity of the presentation at New York’s Num Pang is the perfect final touch to put it over the top.  Thank you Foodspotting!

Looking ahead to our Christmas holiday in Vermont, we’re going to make a short stopover in NYC. For the family, that means a museum visit, shopping, (Ella’s on the lookout for Ben Bailey and his Cash Cab). For me, it begs the question “how many eateries can I partake in, and how many will my family endure?”

One stop I’d like to make is for these, boiled peanuts fried in pork fat.

I’ll just let that last sentence stand alone. Mmmmmm.

Alright I’ve done food and wine pairings forever and sometimes I’ve even paired my food to craft ales and lagers (love that!)…But check this out, it’s time to pair it with diamonds!  My wonderful clients at St. John and Myers have asked me to pair wine & hors d’oeuvres chosen & crafted to accompany the color of diamonds.  Cool!

We’re thinking very local, farm to table ingredients, great flavors, interesting, elegant, simple presentation utilizing sustainable serving pieces.

Here’s the menu (and some stunning photos by Matt Goins)

I love pistachios, I have since I was a little kid.  I remember my dad bringing home bags of the red-dyed nuts after he closed up the restaurant for the night.  We would crack open our little treasures till our finger tips were of the same hue as our late night treat.  They were awesome.

I came across this pastry in a foodblog out of Istanbul (now Constantinople?).  Now don’t get me started on pate choux, I love it, I make it great, and the thought of filling that delicate confection with a pistachio cream is brilliant.  I’m off to find some pistachios (I’ll leave the red ones out this time, forgive me dad).

Now I’m not any guide or Madrid Man but I can tell you about what I’ve learned in Madrid.One thing is that if your in the mood for a regular cup of coffee and a couple of pancakes go right ahead but just to remind you you’re in Spain! Go out to cafe the local market.One of my favorite things are purros, it’s a long swirl of fried goodness that the maker cuts into curved line. Dip it into your coffee or hot chocolate and shaboonb yummy!

For this Friday night party at home, my client wanted an upscale menu that also featured vegetarian and gluten free items.  The resulting menu had a variety of small bites to suit everyone…

Small bites, Asian inspired…

Beef Tenderloin*  Slow roasted, very tender.   Glazed with soy-ginger-garlic.  Sliced thin and served with warm finger-sized yeast rolls for sandwich making.  A wasabi infused horseradish sauce accompanies.

Fritter*A fried-on-site small tangle of julienned winter vegetables lightly held together with a rice flour tempura-like batter.  Served with a Korean chili paste dipping sauce.

Dumpling  Steamed gyoza with pork and cabbage filling.  Served with a ponzu dipping sauce.

Thai Quail* Quartered, boned-out, farm-raised quail, seasoned and seared with a Thai curry.

Spanish Tapas inspired…

Croquette Potato and cheese with a crisp bread coating, topped with aioli and parsley

Nicoise skewer* Skewered cherry tomato, poached quail egg, fingerling potato, and green bean.  Drizzled with a caper-tarragon remoulade sauce.

Palmier A toasted, puff pastry, savory cookie, filled with pancetta and VT cheddar cheese.

Bread pudding A savory tomato and shallot mini pudding with a dollop of basil crème and a sliver of Parmigiano Reggiano.

Sweets

Flourless chocolate torte coin*

Triple ginger pecan biscotto

Almond macaroon*

(* denotes a gluten free item)

• a half sandwich, deli-style (big & tall), Smoked turkey and VT Cheddar with mayo, Virginia ham and Swiss with dijon, Hummus and Feta with pesto (vegetarian) (I really enjoy sandwiches, great ingredients in=great sandwich out)
• a side salad of whole grains (Barley, Quinoa, cracked Wheat) with vegis, fresh herbs, and a light vinaigrette  (nice, light, refreshing)
• a bag of crisps (mmmm, kettle style potato chips, yum!)
• a house-baked brownie (who doesn’t love a brownie?)
• a canned beverage (I don’t like to serve soda, but when serving college kids, this is what they want, ehh?!)

What to make 1st this morning? I vote for the torta Espanole, feels like breakfast.