Templeton Rye Squeeze Play

We have long been fans of “America’s team,” the Atlanta Braves, so named because the team's games were broadcast on the nationally-accessible TBS from the 1970s until 2007, giving the team a nationwide fanbase. Each year we begin the baseball season early by watching Spring Training games played in Florida’s Grapefruit League. Our beloved Atlanta Braves, who have been training in Florida since 1906, moved to their current home in Disney’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in 1998.

What is the Grapefruit League, you ask? In 1915, aviator Ruth Law threw the grapefruit from her airplane to then Brooklyn Dodgers manager, Wilbert Robinson. When Robinson tried to catch it, the grapefruit exploded in his face. This became the accepted version of how the "Grapefruit League" got its name. That same year, the Philadelphia Phillies began training in Sunshine Park. When they won 14 of their first 15 games of the 1915 season and went on to win the National League pennant, Florida's reputation as the nation's premier training ground was sealed and in the years leading up to the great Florida boom of the 1920s, the famous Grapefruit League took shape.

What better way to honor the Grapefruit League and our beloved Braves than a citrus-inspired cocktail with grapefruit juice (of course) and some “good stuff.” Templeton Rye, officially labeled as “The Good Stuff,” and the whiskey of choice for the infamous Al Capone (who was also a baseball fan!) seems the perfect addition to this baseball-inspired adult beverage.

Squeeze Play Cocktail
2 oz. Templeton rye
2 oz. grapefruit juice
1 tablespoon lemon oleo-saccharum
Flamed orange peel

Flame orange peel by squeezing the peel over a lit match and strongly pressing out a lot of oil quickly. Rub the peel around the rim of the glass and coat the rim with sugar. Drop the twist into the glass.

Shake rye and grapefruit juice together with crushed ice, and pour into the glass before garnishing with lemon balm or thyme.

While sample products were complimentary; the recipe, photos and narrative included herein are original and opinions are honest and unsolicited.

How To Guide: Atlanta Food & Wine Festival 2016

In six short weeks, the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival begins with an opening toast in the lobby of the Loews Atlanta. In its sixth year, this festival is not to be missed. Whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned veteran, these insider tips will help you to make the most of your culinary weekend.

Launched in 2012, this “feastival” was created by entrepreneurial friends Elizabeth Feichter and Dominique Love as a way to shine an international spotlight on the rich traditions of the South. “As we get ready to celebrate five years as a festival, we have to make note of how our region continues to grow in awareness, surprise in the kitchen and our talent is influencing culinary traditions across the globe,” says Love. “The commitment these chefs have to educating the general public and our event consumer continues to awe and inspire. In our five years, we have just scratched the surface on the depth and richness of the food and beverage traditions of the South.”

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival takes place from Thursday, June 2nd to Sunday, June 5th with nearly 100 classes, curated tasting tents, exclusive dinners and a new a pop-up Vineyard. The weekend will be organized around three different categories: Learning Experiences, Tasting Experiences, and Dinners & Events. The Learning Experiences will feature cooking and cocktail demonstrations, tasting seminars, and panels with industry professionals. To take full advantage of the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, we recommend the Connoisseur Three-Day Pass, which includes a personal concierge to help with planning your weekend as well as access to connoisseur-only areas, exclusive event invites, and special dinners.

Here are a few tips to make your tasting experience the best that it can be!

• Choose your ticket level carefully: VIP tickets are more costly, but you have access to a special areas and classes with wine, beer and cocktails tastings as well as exclusive restaurant tastings (no additional tasting tickets required). You may feel the extra money is worth the benefit.
• Do your Research: The AFWF has a fantastic planning guide with printable schedules, worksheets, and festival maps. There is also a frequently asked questions page with valuable information on tickets, parking, etc.
• Make class reservations: Take the time and effort to go through the class schedules and reserve a space in the classes that are of most interest to you. Classes fill up, so you may not be able to attend the sessions you want without a reservation made in advance.
• Download the App: Yes, there’s an app for that! A new 2016 app is coming in May which will be available for iPhones and Android phones, will have full schedules, maps and personal options for you to enter your classes and events.
• Plan your Parking: Expect to pay $15-20 to park close to the event. There is limited street parking in the neighborhoods around the festival, however, with all the walking you will be doing, a hike back to your car at the end of the day may put you over the top. Additionally, the police enforce parking aggressively. Consider taking Uber especially if you plan to partake of cocktail samples at the Tasting Tents.

• Check the weather forecast: AFWF is held rain or shine. It is better to be prepared than to be too hot, cold or wet!
• Wear comfortable clothes and shoes: While there is no enforced dress code, you should plan to dress appropriately considering the nature of the event. Shorts and t-shirts are not considered appropriate attire for evening events. You may want a light sweater for air-conditioned class sessions. For the Tasting Tents; do not wear your skinny jeans; you will need some breathing room. The terrain is not optimal for high heels, while they may look great, you will struggle to maneuver through the crowds with ease.
• Consider taking a bag: While frequently there are vendors handing out reusable bags of some sort, you may not have a bag when an opportunity to collect some take home samples presents itself. I take a plastic grocery store bag folded tightly enough to fit in my pocket to use until that better bag presents itself.
• Allot plenty of time: This is not a “I’m just gonna stop by” kind of event. There will be crowds and there will be lines.
• Pace yourself: Maximize your sample to appetite ratio. The same holds true for cocktail sampling. Consider drinking some water between libations. It is a long day and you may have a considerable walk back to your vehicle.
• Water: Whether you take a refillable water bottle or pick up a bottle along the way, drink lots of water. Both the climate-controlled hotel spaces and the outdoor venues can be very desiccating. Stay well hydrated.

• Take advantage of all offerings: Several vendors provide cooking and product demos in the common areas of the hotel during the festival. You can rest your feet and your palate, and who knows you might actually learn something new. There are also evening dinners and sponsored events both at the Loews and around the city; explore all that’s happening during the festival.
• Lastly, cancel your dinner plans! You will not leave hungry.

To purchase tickets, download the app, or obtain other information, please visit the AFWF16 website. 

Root-To-Leaf Chopped Salad with Spring Onion Dressing

Each Saturday, the sidewalks come to life as neighbors scurry by with empty shopping bags headed toward the Morningside Farmer’s Market located in the parking lot adjacent to the newly opened Morningside Kitchen on North Highland Avenue.

On this brisk Saturday, offerings included a variety of seasonal greens, carrots, spring onions, asparagus, beautiful strawberries and fresh meat products from Market regulars Crystal Organic Farm, Burge Organic Farm, Moon Organics, Grateful Pastures, and Riverview Farms. Market customers enjoyed hot coffee from Café Campesino and a nice selection of fresh breads and pastries from La Calavera Bakery.

A large crowd gathered for the first chef demo of the season by Steven Satterfield, Executive chef and co-owner of Miller Union restaurant and Author of “Root To Leaf.” Chef began his cooking demonstration featuring fresh greens of all sorts and root vegetables including radishes, baby beets and carrots chosen from market merchants mere moments before.

Chef Steven hand washed all greens, spinning them dry in a salad spinner. He was very focused as he finely chopped a wide selection of greens like kale, chard, arugula and the tops of carrots, beets, hakurei turnips, radishes. The root vegetables were very thinly sliced on a mandolin and added to the salad. He chatted with spectators about vegetables, his award-winning cookbook, and explained the nuances of the various vinegars used in his spring onion dressing. As you can see from the recipe, the dressing is quite complex with many layers of flavors that bring out the exceptional flavors of the fresh greens.

The dressing is made in two parts and then combined. The dressing base is a mixture of a few specialty vinegars with spring onion, honey and extra virgin olive oil. There is an herbal walnut pesto that is then stirred into the dressing base which adds a complexity and nuttiness to this salad.
Dressing base:
1 spring onion, sliced
1 tablespoons grain mustard
1/2 cup verjus
1/4 cup sherry vinegar
1/4 cup banyuls vinegar
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
1 ½ cups extra virgin olive oil

Combine all and pulse lightly in blender or food processor to fully mix.

Walnut pesto:
1 cup walnuts
1/2 cup walnut oil
Zest of half of an orange
1/4 cup parmesan, grated
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/4 cup basil
1 sprig thyme, leaves only
Pinch maldon sea salt
Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Toast walnuts in walnut oil on 300°F for 8 minutes. Allow to cool. Gather the rest of the ingredients while the nuts are cooling. Combine all in food processor and puree until well-combined. Then combine the dressing base and the walnut pesto and whisk together until incorporated. Taste for seasoning.

To dress the salad, Chef Steven recommends pouring the dressing along the side of the bowl of chopped greens and tossing the salad by hand to ensure that all ingredients are fully coated.

Duluth is Georgia's "Seoul of the South"

Like a good book that takes you someplace you’ve never been, a recent tour hosted by the Gwinnett Convention and Visitors Bureau did exactly that. Just outside the perimeter of Atlanta, Duluth which is home nearly 50,000 Koreans, is one of the largest Korean-American cities in the U.S. To showcase this flourishing community, the Explore Gwinnett marketing team created a Korean food tour cleverly named “Seoul of the South” which includes four stops in Duluth’s K-town area.

Seated in a wooden-adorned trolley, we made our way to the first stop on the tour, Harue Food and Cafe where we enjoyed a generous spread of foods including Gim Bap which is made from steamed white rice and fish, meat, eggs or vegetables rolled in seaweed and served in bite-size slices similar to sushi. They also served Korean fried chicken as well as the popular Korean street food, Tteokbokki, which is similar to gnocchi made from soft rice dough and sweet red chili paste. Their version was smothered in cheese and truly a taste sensation.

We were already full as we headed to our next destination, The Stone Grill where tabletop grills loaded with Cheese Dung Galbi awaited us. These grilled baby back ribs with cheese are one of the most sinful food I've ever eaten in my life and are a Korean variation of American comfort food. We also sampled delicate Gyeran Jjim (silky, delightful steamed eggs,) Jjim Man Du (steamed pork dumplings) and traditional Bulgogi (grilled marinated beef). Interestingly it is customary for scissors to be used to cut grilled meats for serving, rather than knives. Also in Korean restaurants, customers are given metal chopsticks and a spoon with a long handle instead of a place setting of fork, knife and spoon as found in most American eateries.

Tree Story Bakery & Café ample desserts and pastries like their Red Bean Bbang and delicious Korean beverages like Yujacha, a traditional Korean tea made from the citrus fruit yuja (also known as yuzu), and the even more exotic Misugaru. The on-the-go breakfast drink is a blend of 7-10 roasted and finely milled grains and seed powders mixed with water and honey. Some of the grains include barley, brown & black rice, sesame seeds and black beans.

Our last stop was the Breakers BBQ which was recently voted the nation’s top Korean BBQ restaurant by Tablog. Here, too, were table top grills similar to those we had seen at The Stone Grill where friendly waitstaff prepared dak bulgogi, marinated chicken and grilled as well as traditional Korean Ogyeopsal which is of thick (5 layer) slices of fatty pork belly cooked right in front of our eyes and served with a Korean-style salad and a variety of side dishes known as "banchan” which included pickled daikon and kimchi. We also experienced their “Electric Lemonade” cocktail made with Soju, Korea's most popular alcoholic beverage learning that Korean etiquette frowns on pouring your own drink; you pour for others and they pour for you.

Realizing that we merely scratched the surface of the Korean restaurants in Gwinnett, we are looking forward to exploring more of what Duluth’s “Seoul of the South” has to offer. Kudos to the Explore Gwinnett team for putting together such an amazing tour and many thanks to the restaurants for their generosity and hospitality!

While menu items we sampled were complimentary; writing and photos included herein are original and the opinions are honest and unsolicited. 

ReVEALing Excellent Osso Buco

Everything old is new again. For decades, Americans have tried numerous variations on recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation in an attempt to improve them with new ingredients and exotic flavors only to return to the original. As a nation, we are finally embracing what our ancestors discovered early on: impeccable ingredients that are simply prepared are the best.

The overall popularity of ethnic food has never been higher with authentic ingredients becoming more widely available. When it comes to ethnic food in America, no other cuisine is as popular as Italian food, according to a recent report by the National Restaurant Association. We have, for years, tried to reconnect with customary Italian recipes and traditions, so when we had the opportunity to work with Mountain States Rosen on their ReVEALing Excellence contest, we immediately jumped at the chance to cook with safe and responsibly raised osso buco from Cedar Springs Veal.

Veal, produced for centuries as a delicacy, is a perennial favorite among Italian chefs. Famed Italian- born cookbook author, Marcella Hazan, who taught generations of Americans how to create simple, fresh Italian food describes osso buco as “the sweetest and most tender on the entire animal."  Osso Buco, for those uninitiated, is a Milanese specialty of cross-cut veal shanks braised with vegetables, white wine and broth which generally served with a vivid yellow saffron risotto. Osso buco is Italian for "bone with a hole" in reference to the marrow hole at the center of the cross-cut veal shank.

Not only is veal moist, tender and delicate, it’s packed with nutrients with a 3-oz. portion having less than 400 calories! When raised humanely on a nutritious and wholesome diet, veal is more than luxurious. It's simply unbeatable.

2 lbs.  Mountain States Rosen veal shanks, thick cut
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cup flour
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 medium carrots, diced
3 celery rib, diced
2 tablespoons fresh oregano, chopped
2 cups dry white wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups chicken stock
Fresh parsley for garnish
Saffron rice, for serving

Preheat the oven to 400°F.  Rinse veal and pat dry with paper towels before seasoning with salt and pepper. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole or Dutch oven, heat the oil until shimmering.

Lightly coat each shank with flour and add the veal cooking over moderately high heat, turning, until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer the veal to a plate.

Drain the fat from the casserole leaving 2 tablespoons in the bottom. Add the onion, carrot, celery and oregano and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until softened. Add the white wine and bring to a boil, scraping any browned bits.

Simmer until the wine is reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Add the tomato paste and chicken stock and bring back to a boil. Return the shanks to the casserole, cover and braise in the oven for 2 hours. The meat should be perfectly tender. Let stand covered for 10 minutes to allow the juices to retreat.

Serve the osso buco with saffron rice and garnish with freshly chopped parsley. Michelin-star Chef Angela Hartnett recommends eating this dish with your fingers to get every morsel off the bone rather than fiddling about with a knife and fork. She also recommends extra napkins!





While sample products were gifted from Mountain States Rosen; the recipe, photos and narrative included herein are original and opinions are honest and unsolicited.

           

eatingwitherica, eating with erica, erica key, erica angie

Davio's Atlanta Spring Renewal

At Davio’s Atlanta, it is still "all about the guest." While the Atlanta Davio’s recently announced some exciting changes including the appointment of Paul Dunn as General Manager and Timothy Magee (formerly of Community Smith) as the location’s new Executive Chef, the title of owner Steve DiFillippo’s 2013 advice-laden memoir remains the company tenet.

We had the pleasure of attending a menu tasting hosted by DiFillipo and his exceptional Atlanta team last week. After mingling with glasses of champagne, we were seated as a service of the restaurant’s signature popovers arrived at the table just before the first dish of the evening: Mediterranean octopus with purple cauliflower puree, spicy carrot puree and chopped almonds.
The octopus was very tender and the 2013 Davio's Reserve Chardonnay made for a wonderful pairing. All of Davio’s French-style, private label wines are sourced from Merriam Vineyards which is nestled in the warmest edge of the Russian River Valley.

Plates of delicate ricotta-prosciutto ravioli in a Parmesan broth topped with fava beans were next on the tasting menu. The pasta was perfectly prepared with understated yet masterful, flavor profiles that matched well with the 2013 Davio's Reserve Pinot Noir.

Then came the main course: Brandt prime aged sirloin was moist and soft with a rich Barolo demi-glace accompanied by confit potatoes served atop mashed potatoes which created an interesting contrast of textures. The inclusion of morel mushrooms was a nice surprise; making their first appearance of the season. The 2013 Davio's Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was a sensational pairing.

The dinner plates were cleared and replaced by hot cups of cappuccino and coffee and bowls of flan-style panna cotta. The subtle vanilla flavor of the custard was accentuated by local Georgia strawberries and a petite lavender shortbread wafer making for a nice finale to our menu sampling.

Thanks to the Steve DiFillippo and the attentive Davio’s Atlanta staff for a glorious evening on the patio. To experience this Italian hospitality first hand, make Davio’s Atlanta (located at 3500 Peachtree Road in Phipps Plaza) your next dinner destination.

While the menu items we sampled were complimentary, the opinions included herein are honest and unsolicited.

Chocolate Salami Tomfoolery

Our faithful readers know that we like to give you a little history lesson along with your recipe. I had intended to give you some information on the origins of April Fool’s Day, however, it seems that the joke's on us. Many believe that the first mention of the “holiday” was in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales published in 1392, while others debunk this theory. It would take many (many) paragraphs to share what the folks at The Museum of Hoaxes have already done very nicely.

So, regardless of how we got here, April 1st is the day for our loved ones to completely terrorize us and freak us out. I prefer the kinder, subtler form of deception: illusions that will both surprise and delight. And as tomfoolery goes, this chocolate salami is one of the best. Lay these out on a cutting board, perhaps as part of a cheese course, and watch as your guests discover a whimsical and festive chocolate dessert hidden inside the chameleon clothing of cured meat.

In truth, this is not salami at all, but chocolate, nuts, confectioner's sugar and other simple ingredients combined to create a trompe l'oeil illusion of a cured salami. Even after you cut into it, the trickery continues until it is tasted, then all illusions are over. "Salame al cioccolato" is a traditional Tuscan dessert, that is actually a popular Christmas treat.

1 - 12 oz. package of chocolate chips
¾ stick butter
2 tablespoons liqueur (Amaretto, Kahlua, Cointreau)
¼ cup cocoa powder
¾ cup nuts (almonds, cashews, Brazil nuts, walnuts), chopped
¾ cup cookies, crushed
Confectioner’s sugar for dusting



Melt together the chocolate and butter in the microwave on medium for about 1 minute. Remove from the microwave and stir. Repeat heating at shorter intervals, 20 to 30 seconds, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted and has a smooth consistency. Be forewarned, melted chocolate can be messy…

Stir the cocoa powder and liqueur (or extract) into the melted chocolate. We used Amaretto, but if you prefer a non-alcoholic version, simply use vanilla extract or strong coffee instead. Add the nuts, cookie pieces and stir until combined. For the cookies, any dry plain cookie will work. Cover the bowl and refrigerate until it becomes firm enough to form, about 20-30 minutes.

Divide the chocolate mixture in half. Place half of the mixture in the center of a piece of plastic wrap. Using a spatula, form the mixture into a log, about 7 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.


Roll up the log in the plastic and twist the ends to seal. Roll back and forth on a work surface a few times to make the log evenly round. Repeat with the remaining chocolate mixture. Refrigerate the logs until firm, about 1 more hour.

Spread the confectioners' sugar on a baking sheet. Remove the plastic wrap from the logs, then roll them in the sugar until coated. Using a pastry brush, brush away the excess sugar. Let the logs sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Using a sharp serrated knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices and serve.