As some know, FOJTE and wife were able to visit us for a few
days last weekend. Back in the day, when I did extended travel for the company,
I used to have a “rule” that said it takes at least half the time you’ve been
gone to return to “normal”. In kind of
a reverse to that, it’s taken a few days to resume our lives, missing them a
lot. After a wonderful couple of days, this was the last we saw of them.
During their stay we did a lot of things, some fun and some utilitarian. For instance, they mucked out the garage for
us. Didn’t have the foresight (or guts)
to take a “before” picture, but after their efforts, it looked like
Which is a vast improvement, and shows my newly created
“bird feeder office” where I can fill the feeders on the near side of the garage
instead of on the far side, a most welcome station for me. And the “cabinet”
which was piled high was reduced to
(the tub contains the yellow name boards for the Oyster
Festival cook-off, which I routinely lose)
Perhaps the highlight of the trip was a “tour” of the first
distillery in St. Mary’s County
At this year’s Sotterley, gala, we and another couple “won”
a mixology class from the Social Coffeehouse and Speakeasy in Leonardtown (nee "Behind the Bookcase"). I used to work with
one of the organizers, who also happens to be one of the founders of the
distillery. He offered to give us a tour
of the distillery.
So, oiginally this posting was to be about that tour (which turned out to be so much more than just a "tour") and Bourbon making, but didn’t want to show just a bunch of
pictures of tanks and pipes, so started looking into the making of
Bourbon. The more layers of the onion I
peeled back, the more I realized I didn’t know as much about the process as I
thought I did. Usually the case…. SO… I have a little more research to conduct
in order to give you the most accurate knowledge I can about
So as not to look like I’m doing nothing, another aspect of
the "kids" visit was about…..
FOOD!
After the “tour” and
the exhausting work of sampling bourbons, we were invited back to their lovely
home to have a little restorative. We
were offered the cocktail of our choice, and also what they called an Aperol
Spritz. I, of course opted for a DMOTWAT,
kind of your duty at a Bourbon house. Those that tried the Spritz loved it, a
perfect libation for a summer’s day.
Composed of Aperol, Prosecco, and (Club) Soda over ice, a lovely drink
both for the eye and palate. To offset
the alcohol, they also offered a (country) ham biscuit with 4 year old ham
which was lovely (I just sampled, vary of the Sodium) and also Shrimp in
Remoulade. I never think of taking the picture before
messing up the dish, but here it is:
Alert readers (and chefs) might say: Hey! That doesn’t look like “remoulade” and
indeed it doesn’t. Most remoulade sauces
are based on Mayo, this one is not. All
thought it was a lovely accompaniment to the cold shrimp. While the recipe was shared with the “tour group”
I will not publish it at this time. I am
always skittish about putting recipe out there without permission of the owner,
so I will hold off until I receive clearance to share it. Upon returning to STL, FOJTE made a batch
And served up a platter for their cocktail enjoyment
Where’s the Beef?
Another piece of luck on “the visit” was that I got a call (Sunday
morning) from a friend who is also local chef and restaurateur letting me know he was going to
make up a batch of Steak Tartare and Chicken Diane and would I like to
watch? Sure! and said to be sure to bring along FOJTE as they
hadn’t seen each other for a few visits.
So we went down to the restaurant to watch him work.
As you (should) know, Steak Tartare is raw beef (or
horsemeat). There are some food
historians that say Tartare was a product of Mongolian horsemen who put raw
strips of (horse)meat under their saddle to be tenderized by a day of riding. Mercifully, these days prime beef steak is
more commonly used, although purists apparently still can get horse meat at some places. It
is prepared ground or thinly sliced, and uses an egg for binder.
Ours started out with
an aged prime steak
Which he prefers to slice thinly. Since we were taking some home for our
cocktails that evening he made us a “kit” Including the beef, the egg, some
capers, onion, and an addition he prefers: sun dried tomatoes.
Up to the consumer to decide whether or not to eat it “deconstructed”
or mix it all up, which we opted for.
FOJTE added a cheese board (Huntsman and Blue)
we also reserved some of the capers, got some baguettes which we
toasted, assembled all, and sat down for cocktails
( photgrapher's hazard of glass topped tables, also a nice view of one of my “bird books”).
to add to the celebration, we had special treat, a bottle of
Which we received as a gift. It was luscious.
That was a prelude to dinner of the chicken Diane
prepared by chef after making the Tartare.
Basically Chicken Diane is thinly sliced chicken breasts which are sautéed,
and dressed with a pan sauce which varies according to the chef. Ours likes one based on demi glace.
Anyway, one of the skills possessed by accomplished chefs (not the feeder) is
that they know (and use generally) one burner setting: high. And in a commercial kitchen you can
certainly get that!
So into the pan goes
the chicken
For a brief stay (maybe 30 seconds per side)
Leaving the fond for the start of the sauce
It went home with us and the Tartare and made for a great
evening.
What a couple of days!
The “Bourbon” edition to come.
Meanwhile if you go out to eat, or even at home
DFD
And NMMJ
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