Smoked Trout with Chipolte Hollandaise from Nectar

Tonight there is a wine tasting on Fountain Square.  I can’t comment on what the wines will be, but I am sure you will find a few gems in the pack.

Tomorrow morning there are two events that any a gardeners will enjoy. Hamilton County will be selling composters. There will only be 1000 at both locations so you will probably want to get there early. Jess and I will be paying a visit to Cincinnati State to pick ours up.  Also, there is the Herb Society’s annual Herb and Plant Sale. If you are still in the market for herbs there will be over 100 varieties for sale. I had no idea there were so many different herbs that you could grow here.

Sunday is Mother’s day so I am sure many of you have brunch plans. If you are looking for something to do afterward head over to Second Sunday in OTR. Main street will be closed and all the shops will be open. Or you could check out the wine tasting at Market Wines. I hear that they will be doing a special 5th wine just for Mother’s Day.

I wanted to give Gary what he wanted but as the same time not take his request too literal.  As I was doing my normal Saturday morning ritual of watching cooking shows, drinking coffee, and making a shopping list, I saw it. An episode of Secrets of a Restaurant Chef where she was  making chilled asparagus soup.  I immediately thought to myself, how perfect! I can easily add bacon and have bacon wrapped asparagus in a bowl.

The soup is creamy and light.  The asparagus flavor is up front and strong.  It would be perfect for a light lunch or the start of a dinner.

Chilled Asparagus Soup

Olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 ribs of celery, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

2 bunches of asparagus

2 Idaho potatoes, peeled and diced

2 quarts chicken stock

1 (4 oz) log of goat cheese

kosher salt

Coat a large saucepan with olive oil. Add the onion, celery and garlic and bring to a medium heat. Season with salt and sweat until the vegetables are very soft and aromatic, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove the tips from the asparagus and reserve. Cut the stalks of the asparagus into 1-inch lengths and add them to the pot. Sweat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the potatoes and the stock. Taste for seasoning and add salt, if needed (it will). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

On a separate burner, bring a small pot of well salted water to a boil over high heat. Have a small bowl of well salted ice water on standby. Cook the asparagus tips in the boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove them from the boiling water and plunge them immediately into the ice water. When the tips are cool, remove them from the water, pat dry and reserve.

In a blender or with an immersion blender, puree the asparagus stock mixture. Strain through a mesh strainer, if desired. Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed. Chill.

Garnish with the reserved asparagus tips and crumbled goat cheese

Notes:  When I served this soup I substituted the Silverlake Chevre from Blue Jacket Dairy for  the goat cheese.  I crumbled a few pieces of bacon on top for a smoky flavor (really not necessary). I also added added a little white pepper for a mellow spiciness.

Please take the time to sieve the soup because it makes it so much more smooth and silky.

Steelhead Trout with Vegetable Orzo for 2

1  lb filet of steelhead trout

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 squash, diced

1 zucchini , diced

2 garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

1 lemon

1 cup orzo cooked to package directions

handful of grated parmesan

For Trout:

1. preheat your grill (I placed the charcoal in an even layer)
2. rub olive oil on both sides of trout, then salt and pepper flesh side generously
3. place filet skin side down for approximately 3 minutes
4. lay a single sheet of foil on grill next to the trout
5. flip flesh side onto foil and grill for 2 – 3 more minutes
6. move to a serving try. starting at one end, slowly peel skin back (it will come off in one piece)

Orzo:

1. put a generous amount (a couple of tablespoons) of olive oil in a a frying pan and heat over medium heat.
2. saute squash, zucchini, onions and garlic for about 5 mintues
3. mix squash and zucchini mixture into orzo
4. add a sqeeze or 2 of lemon, the parmesean and pepper to taste
5. lastly add salt to your liking

This is actually the first time that we went into the festival with a plan. After talking to Mike from Market Wines about a few booths that we had to check out, we quickly looked over the entire list and marked our map. This was probably the best decision that we made, besides the comfortable shoes. This allowed us to focus on what we were really interested in tasting…. FYI, I am not a wine connoisseur. I drink what I like, so my descriptions will be pretty none existent.

We started at Cline Cellars, which was surprisingly not busy. The two stand outs were the Late Harvest Mourvedre and Mourvedre Rose (perfect on a warm summer day). From there we moved on to Truchard Vineyards for their Roussane, probably our favorite white of the day.

This is where we stopped taking notes and moved on to taking pictures. Which I am questioning if this was a good thing. Toward the end you can see how our choices might have started getting questionable.  The pictures are in the order that we tasted them.

2007 Clos Du Mont-Olivet Cotes du Rhone, Varene, was our favorite of the whole day (top left of the collage).  A surprise was the the Biltmore Estate Pas de Deux–Sec. It is much sweeter than we normally drink, but good. Jaqk Cellars (middle bottom) had excellent marketing materials but their wines were a little lackluster.  Their labels are interesting. Their promotional items are good, except for having to pay for them (6.00 for a deck of cards). Unfortunately the wines seemed young and thin. My final wine of the afternoon was the Zinzilla. At the time I thought it tasted good, but I am thinking I probably should revisit.

In honor of our anniversary and because I almost stole a deck of cards (I am not kidding, they were just sitting out like all the rest of the freebies), I will send the first person that comments with the correct answers a set of bicycle cards…What is the name of the room that Jess and I got married in and it’s original use?

Cincinnati International Wine Festival: Technically it started a couple of days ago, but the grand tastings start tonight.  You can find the tasting guide on Cincinnati Magazine’s website.  If you have already bought your tickets my only words of advice are to wear comfortable shoes.

Greater Cincinnati Restaurant Week: March 22-28 a slew of locally owned restaurants will be offering 3 course meals for 26.10. This is a perfect chance to get out and try some place new. I think we might head up to the View and possibly to 20 Brix….if anyone knows why 26.10 is the cost, I would love to know. Just seems like an odd amount.

Cincinnati Beerfest: March 26, 27, and 28 at the Duke Energy Center. According to the website they have 130 different beers to sample.  I am not familiar with this event, but pretty much anything that involves beer sounds fun to me.

I have never gone back and added to a post, but there is always a first. I realized last night that I had forgotten to mention Taft with a Twist.  Taft with a twist is a chocolate and wine tasting that accompanies the Taft Museum’s Dutch Utopia exhibition.  This event is March 25 from 6pm – 9pm.  This event is hosted by Julie from Wine me Dine me.

The day of the showdown started out well. We felt pretty confident. All of our ingredients were top notch. We even brought our own spices from the Colonel, because we didn’t want anything to be different from the batch we made at home.

I guess you could say we did pretty well. Out of 7 chili’s ours came in number 2.  You can find the winner’s recipe on epicurious.com. No, he did not write his own recipe, but I can tell you that it was pretty tasty. If you’re looking for something a little different you should check it out. He described it as being Cuban, but Jess and I were both getting a Moroccan vibe.

As for our chili, it is pretty traditional with a slight twist with the addition of lamb. It is shredded which creates a much different texture than ground meats. It has a smokiness from adobo sauce, spiciness from jalapeno and poblano and a subtle sweetness from the chocolate.

Ingredients:

olive oil

1 1/2 lbs beef, cubed

1 1/2 lamb, cubes (I used boneless leg of lamb)

2 red onions, diced

5 garlic cloves, minced

4 jalapeno peppers

3 poblano peppers

2 Tbl chili powder

1 Tbl cumin

2 tsp mexican oregano

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup tomato paste

2 chipolte peppers packed in adobo

1 Tbl adobo sauce

1 bottle of beer (newcastle)

chicken stock

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

about 1 tsp. shaved chocolate

salt and pepper to taste

1. generously salt and pepper all the meat,add about a tablespoon of oil to a  dutch oven over medium heat
2. brown all the meat on all sides (add more oil as necessary) and set aside
3. add the onions, garlic, jalapenos, and poblano to the pot. Saute until the onions are translucent. At the same time scrape up the fond that is stuck to the bottom of the pot
4. add the chili powder, cumin, oregano and cinnamon to bloom their flavors. This will take about 30 seconds and the herbs will be very fragrant
5. Stir in the tomato paste chipolte pepper and adobo sauce. saute for about a minute and the color deepens slightly
6. the mixture will be thick, loosen with the beer. then add the beef back to the pot and stir to incorporate
7. add chicken stock just so that is covers the meat and bring to a boil
8. lower the heat to a simmer and cover and cook for 3 hours (stir periodically)
9. at this point the beef and lamb should be very tender. Take a wooden spoon and shred the meat by gently pressing it against the side of your pot and stirring.
10. to finish stir in the beans and chocolate and cook over low heat until the beans are heated through (about 20 minutes), salt and pepper to taste

notes: chili is a layering of flavors and salt is the best flavor enhancer. I would suggest salting as you go.

]]> http://cincyeats.com/389/chili-showdown/feed/ 0 http://cincyeats.com/371/spam-singles/ http://cincyeats.com/371/spam-singles/#comments Wed, 24 Feb 2010 17:57:48 +0000 jess http://cincyeats.com/?p=371 I know this blog is normally dedicated to local foods and dining spots, but I ran across something yesterday that was so bizarre and so terrifying, I just had to share it.

Spam.  Singles.

I suppose in the world of ultra processed meat product the fact that the consumer had to slice the product before eating was hurting hormel’s bottom line.  The answer:  pre-sliced spam slabs packaged singly in vacuum sealed envelopes.

I have not tried this stuff, nor will I, but their website offers more on the product:

It is the same wonderful treat with the same tongue-splitting amazing taste as always. But also, a SPAM Single is very different. It can easily fit in a pocket. It is just enough for one person. It has more aerodynamic and perhaps shiner packaging. A SPAM Single is alone, fighting a bland world, shouting “I am but a single slice! I taste good! I am convenient! And I am PRETTY!”

I think the phrase “tongue-splitting” pretty much sums it up.  For extra terror, they also have a “turkey” version.

On Valentine’s day Jess and I wove our way around the west side to the quaint little house that is home to Vitor’s.  When we arrived the place was packed.  Since our family was already there we sat down with them and they immediately said they wanted to get the chef’s choice three course.  I didn’t even open my menu when I said, sounds good to me.

Our first course was an omelet of bacon and collard greens. As a woman that does not eat as many greens as she should, this was amazing.  The crape like eggs were wrapped around the filling like a little gift. The peppery collard greens were layered with the salty bacon. The subtle vinegar flavors rounded out this dish perfectly.

Next we had a thai scramble topped with a jumbo shrimp and fried wantons. The spiciness was calmed by the sweet red peppers that were spotted through out the eggs.  The eggs were a mix of textures, soft onions and celery, crunchy cabbage and carrots.  The tempura shrimp was crispy and tender, if we could ordered a dozen we would have.

The last course was the french toast that Vitor’s is known for. The texas toast is dredged in frosted flakes which makes the outside crispy, but leaves in the inside soft and chewy.   Mine had sliced bananas that were covered in creme brulee and topped with whipped cream.  Jess’s was topped with a mocha creme brulee, whipped cream and chocolate sauce. If you are a sweets person this is the dish for you.

I wish that I could recommend a dish off the menu, but of the dozens of times I have been to Vitor’s I don’t ever remember ordering. Maybe it is a sign that I trust the chef. Maybe you will trust him enough to create something special for you too.

FYI: If you like bubbly with brunch you will need to bring your own. I believe there is a small corkage fee.