Review : The Cygnus 27

Any excuse for me to try a new fine dining restaurant is always exciting. So the Sous Chef and I decided to have our Valentine's Dinner at The Cygnus 27, which is located in the Amway Grand Plaza hotel in Grand Rapids. Because he actually had to work on Valentine's, and a holiday is never a good day to try a new dining experience, we went the following weekend.

One of the main draws of The Cygnus is that it's on the 27th floor of the hotel, one of the highest floors in the city. The views are fantastic, and even a bit disorientating. It's such a unique view of a city that I'm very familiar with. Just about every seat in the house has a nice view with dinner.
I loved the atmosphere of the restaurant as well. It's very hip and chic. It still retains an upscale flair, but is easily a hot spot for dinner and drinks with friends.

Another thing I like about this restaurant, is it's utilization of OpenTable.com. I love how easy this website is to use, and I wish more restaurants in the West Michigan area would use it. It's a serious draw for people who love to dine.

We made our reservations on OpenTable.com for 9:00pm. (The only reservation left for that Saturday.) We didn't mind the late hour because we could take our time getting ready and enjoying the rest of our Saturday without having to rush to dinner.

We got there a bit early, and enjoyed views from the lounge area while we waited for our table. We didn't have to wait long, and we were soon seated. We dove into the menu excitedly discussing what we would order. I'm always challenged by all the things I want to order and try vs. how much I can actually eat. I fill up very quickly on a small amount of food, so I always am very careful not to eat much before dining out at places like this.

We ordered drinks, which were very well mixed, and placed an order for our appetizer. We decided to go with the Raclette Cheese II. It was Leelanau Cheese Company Raclette in an herb batter and slowly fried, served with remoulade sauce. And it was divine.

You can never go wrong with fried cheese. Raclette is a semi-firm, salted cow's milk cheese. It was very savory. The herb batter was crispy, flavorful, and was not greasy at all. The remoulade (similar to tartar sauce) was freshly made and very tasty. It had thinly slice pieces of dilled green beans and other spices that complemented the cheese perfectly.

Because I knew that I could not eat an entire salad with all of the other food I was expecting to order, we decided to split the grilled romaine salad. So here was my half:

The grilled romaine salad featured dried heirloom tomatoes, poppy seed crusted goat cheese, yogurt-chive dressing, and balsamic vinaigrette. It was a perfect balance of fresh flavors. It made me miss summer. Grilling the romaine released it's oils and flavors in a way I have never tasted. The dried heirloom tomato was a treat in itself; reduced and concentrated flavor in a wafer slice. The goat cheese was creamy and rich, and was a perfect complement to the romaine and vinaigrette. It was a generous slice, and it would have been nice to have some bread or crackers to eat the remainder with.

That was one odd thing about our dining experience. We never got any bread. We had bread plates and butter knives, but never bread. Other tables got bread. Why not us? Was it because we ordered an appetizer and a salad? Or was it merely an oversight? It was not enough to ruin our delightful evening, but it was puzzling.

They did serve us a nice intermezzo of fried polenta in a mushroom sauce. I was so excited to try it I didn't take a photo! It was a very good texture and the mushroom sauce was very buttery and yummy.

On to the entree! I ordered the Balinese Duck. It was duck breast rubbed with a mixture of macademia nuts, tumeric, and cilantro served with a root vegetable mash and fruit salsa.

The last time I had duck, it was at Bistro on the Boulevard. I had gotten the duck confit, so it wasn't very fatty since the fat was melted. This time, it was roasted, so there was quite a bit of fat under the skin and a fatty texture in the meat. It was done to an exquisite temperature, and beautiful color, but a little fattier than I like in my meat. The root vegetable mash was slightly sweet and very full of flavor. I could've eaten all of it if I wasn't so full. The fruit salsa had sweet and savory elements as well. Pineapple and garlic is a good combination.

For dessert we ordered "Lava". It was a fudge cake wrapped in phyllo and topped with melting whipped cream that spilled over the sides like lava. The whole thing was topped with 18K gold leaf.

Sorry, these pictures are so orange because of the low lighting in the restaurant. This dessert was really good, but had perhaps a bit too much phyllo dough layers. It was fun to tear apart and to eat the gold leaf. By this time we were pleasantly full and getting sleepy.

Out came our check for the evening with a lovely surprise: chocolate fondue. Perfect squares of moist pound cake and fresh strawberries. The chocolate was a high quality dark chocolate that was so perfect, I used the bare toothpick to scoop chocolate directly into my mouth (classy, I know).

All in all, we had a wonderful evening together. I would definitely recommend The Cygnus 27 to friends, and eat there again. I give this chic restaurant 4.5 stars, out of 5!

★★★★½

Chocolate Crepes with Raspberries

I decided to try something different this Valentine's Day and made a chocolate crepe breakfast for the Sous Chef. I had seen the recipe featured on BrightIdeas.com. I used the recipe posted on there as a jumping off point.

For the Crepes:

• 1½ cups flour
• ½ cup cocoa powder
• 6 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2¼ cups lowfat milk
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 2 large eggs
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Vegetable oil as needed

1. Combine flour, cocoa powder, sugar and salt.
2. In another bowl, 2 cups of milk, butter, eggs and vanilla until blended.
3. Combine butter and flour mixtures, whisking until smooth. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. Cook crepes: Before cooking, whisk remaining ¼ cup of milk into crepe batter. Lightly brush skillet with oil and heat over medium high heat. Once pan is hot, remove from heat, pour in ¼ -cup of batter and swirl pan around allowing batter to evenly coat bottom. Return pan to heat and cook for 40 seconds. Flip crepe over and continue to cook an additional 20 seconds. Repeat process with remaining batter, stacking crepes. Set aside.

NOTE: This recipe makes A LOT of crepes! Probably enough for four or more people, so cut accordingly. Also, stacking your crepes in a 150ºF oven will keep them nice and fresh until you're ready to garnish and serve.

So I was getting excited as I assembled the crepe batter into bowls, loving the person who wrote the recipe for separating their wet and dry ingredients. I put it in the refrigerator to chill out for an hour and then started getting everything else ready.

When I was finally ready to actually start cooking the crepes, it was then I had a "what did I get myself into?" moment. I'm NOT experienced with crepes. I know the theory, but don't have the practice. My girlfriends and I had a crepe party last summer and I learned quickly that I am not good with crepes. Those devilishly sticky disks of goodness are hard to flip. But then I took a deep breath and decided there's no hurt in trying.

The key to crepe making is getting your pan heated through. Then you drop the batter in and take the pan off the heat and swirl the batter around the edges, coating the bottom of the pan. (As demonstrated by my friend Nicole below.)

Crepes are supposed to be thin, so a little bit of batter is the way to go. By the time you evenly coat the bottom of the pan with the batter, it should already be mostly cooked. Set it back on the burner for a few seconds until the top is almost a matte finish. Then the hard part...the flip. These thin little guys are amazingly sticky. I had the best luck propping the edges up with a rubber scraper, and then tilting the pan while getting my spatula under the crepe. This is the part that will take the most practice. After a few clumps of crepe disasters, I finally got the hang of it down.

For the filling:

• 2 cups part skim ricotta cheese
• 1½ cups raspberries
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ cup toasted almonds
• Zest on orange

1. Combine ricotta cheese with raspberries, sugar and orange zest.
2. Spread crepes with filling to within ½-inch of the edge. Fold crepes into quarters and place two on each serving plate.

Here is where I got off the recipe train. I should have gotten off the track all together. I did not use almonds or orange zest. I did use the ricotta. Right out of the refrigerator. These little crepes are no where near thick enough to heat up that ricotta, so if you don't like eating cold crepes, use room-temperature ricotta. It was not very appetizing. (You can also use frozen raspberries, just make sure they're thawed.)
I personally feel like ricotta is not the right filling choice here. A cream cheese- or yogurt-based filling would be much better served with the raspberries and orange zest. I don't really care for ricotta, but even the Sous Chef agreed that it wasn't quite the right combo. Bleh!

Chocolate sauce:

• ½ cup chopped Dove Dark Chocolate
• ¼ cup lowfat milk
• ½ cup raspberries
• 1/3 cup Raspberry Almond M&M’S® Brand Premium Chocolate Candies

1. Before serving, melt chocolate and milk together.
2. Drizzle sauce over crepes, garnish with raspberries and Raspberry Almond M&M’S Premiums.

I departed from this recipe a bit too. I used chocolate chips instead of Dove, because they are just as good for this application in my opinion, and I didn't want richness overkill. I also did not us any M&Ms. The idea of hard shell candy on smooth melty chocolate crepes did not appeal to me, although I'm sure they taste yummy by themselves.

All in all I have to say this recipe is definitely good for the crepes. They are chocolaty, and maybe a bit rich. Definitely filling. As for the filling, make your own! Come up with new creative applications for these. They would probably be fantastic with bananas in the middle. I think they were good for a special V-Day breakfast, and with a few slight modifications, they are something I'll make again.

Black Squid Ink Pasta with Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

First off, I must apologize for my absence. Things have gotten quite crazy lately. I tried to blog a few times, but either the dish wasn't worthy, or the photos didn't turn out well. So here I am, a few months late.

One tool in the kitchen that I absolutely love, without a doubt, is the KitchenAid Stand Mixer. My boyfriend and personal sous chef has had one for a while, and I've spoiled him with a plethora of attachments. However, I was recently blessed with a mixer of my own! I can't tell you how ecstatic I am. Stay tuned for more posts on why I think these things truly are a necessity.
One of my all time favorite attachment genres for the stand mixer are the various pasta attachments. I never knew how good fresh pasta tasted in comparison to dried pasta until I bought the sous chef an assortment of cutters and the roller. Our favorite is home made semolina spaghetti and a meat sauce, but I wanted to kick it up a notch and experiment.
The sous chef has an awesome book called The Pasta Bible. It's an amazing book that has everything you've ever wanted to know about pasta. It has gorgeous photos, and wonderful illustrations and some really great recipes.

It truly is an inspiration when dealing with pasta. There is one spread in particular that is one of my favorites. It shows all sorts of different pastas; flavors and colors both. I was quite intrigued the first time I saw the black pasta dough. It said it was colored by squid ink, which the book claims is purely for color and is virtually tasteless. I've seen the idea incorporated many time into dishes created by Food Network's Iron Chefs. I had to get my hands on some. You can find squid ink at many fish markets, and in the foreign foods aisle of most supermarkets. A jar of it was donated to my cause quite generously by a friend.

Upon first opening of the jar I was quite surprised at the smell. It smelled like fish... and not fresh fish. I thought to myself that there was no way that this stuff could be virtually tasteless. No way, not smelling like that. I dipped my finger in and decided to taste it. It was surprisingly good, but NOT tasteless. It tasted similar to black caviar. I thought the saltiness would actually work well in pasta, but everything I read said the same thing... tasteless. We'll have to see about that.
You can make fresh pasta without any special tools, but using the stand mixer makes it SO much easier. It does all the kneading, flattening, and cutting in no time flat. I would recommend trying fresh pasta to anyone who loves to eat it. One downside to the squid ink pasta is that it is messy. Good news is that it doesn't stain most surfaces. Watch for fabric though!

The stand mixer allows you roll out thin sheets...

and cut into a variety of noodles...

Fresh pasta boils to fluffy al dente in about seven minutes. It floats to the surface, so you have to agitate it often to ensure even cooking. After I boiled the squid ink fettuccine, I tossed it with roasted red bell peppers.

You can roast your own red bell peppers by putting them on a burner, grill, or under a broiler until the skin is black and blistered. Remove the skins by placing the roasted bells into a paper bag and shaking vigorously. Rinse the remaining residue and then remove the seeds and cut into strips. OR you could buy them jarred like I do. Red bell peppers where I live are usually pretty pricey, so it's not much more to buy them roasted in the jar. I like this option because then I always have some on hand to pop into my favorite dishes. We roast our own occasionally in the summer on the grill, but I do enjoy the convenience of jarred once in a while.
After tossing the red bells and pasta together, I plated and topped with the Gorgonzola cream sauce. Here's where I made a small mistake. The Gorgonzola cream sauce recipe I chose was not the type you would normally put on pasta, but more a finishing sauce that you would drizzle over beef tenderloin. What did that mean? This sauce was absolutely delicious, but really rich. We liberally spooned on the sauce and coated all the noodles and dug right in. However halfway through the dish, it became too heavy, and too much. It still would have been a good pairing if we had used less sauce. You need the break of plain pasta in there to mix it up.

The sauce was great, and I'll use it again, but next time I make it for pasta, I'll use a recipe that has chicken stock in it and that starts by making a roux (a balance of fat and flour that acts as a thickening agent). And the noodles? Virtually the same taste as regular pasta. The texture seemed a little different, but the squid ink pasta is an egg noodle base, and we usually do a semolina pasta.
Next time you're feeling a little adventurous, try making your own pasta! It's fun and the results are amazing.

Squid Ink Pasta
3 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus 1/2 cup*
4 extra large eggs
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 ounce squid ink, available in speciality food shops

Make a mound of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs, oil and squid ink. Using a fork, beat together the eggs, oil and squid ink and begin to incorporate the flour starting with the inner rim of the well.

As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape. Do not worry that this initial phase looks messy. The dough will come together when 1/2 of the flour is incorporated.

Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands primarily.

Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up any left over crusty bits. Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 3 more minutes, the dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Continue to knead for another 3 minutes, remembering to dust your board when necessary. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Note: do not skip the kneading or resting portion of this recipe, they are essential for a light pasta.

*I used the stand mixer to do my mixing and kneading with it's specialized dough hook. To do this in a stand mixer, add only half the flour to start, then add more as appropriate to get the right texture.

Gorgonzola Cream Sauce (Remember, this is more of a finishing version)
4 cups heavy cream
3 to 4 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola (not creamy or "dolce")
3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

Bring the heavy cream to a full boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, then continue to boil rapidly for 45 to 50 minutes, until thickened like a white sauce, stirring occasionally.

Off the heat, add the Gorgonzola, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley. Whisk rapidly until the cheeses melt and serve warm. If you must reheat, warm the sauce over low heat until melted, then whisk vigorously until the sauce comes together.

I also added sauteed mushrooms for mine and they were heavenly.

Bon Appetit!

Atlanta Restaurant Reviews

So I had an excellent time in Atlanta, GA with my best friend Marci. And even though food wasn't the reason for the trip, we certainly made it a large piece of the pie. Marci was fabulous and sent me tons of links to local restaurants before I came so we could peruse menus and make plans. She stepped up and made decisions when I simply could not decide. We had a great time and packed a lot in just a few days. So without further stalling, I'll go right into it.

The Shed at Glenwood

The Shed at Glenwood was the very first place we went. We went for brunch, and I was starving when we arrived after an early morning flight. We kicked it right off by ordering drinks made with watermelon and champagne. What a heavenly combination.

I loved the fizzy watermelon foam on the top. The perfect drink for brunch! The brunch menu looked mouthwatering and I had a hard time deciding, but finally settled for the Chilled Beef Tenderloin Sandwich. Beef tenderloin is my absolute favorite cut of beef. (Who doesn't love tenderloin?) Having it thin sliced, chilled, and stacked high on this sandwich was the perfect way to enjoy it for brunch.

The lovely creation was served with a side of perfectly done fries, but forgive me, they aren't in the shot. See the pepper on top? It was grown in their own garden. It packed very little heat, but a lot of flavor. I'd like to know where they get their olives as well. So crunchy and delectable.
For dessert we ordered the peanut butter bars.

So rich and chocolaty in their creamy layers. They were a perfect blend of salty, sweet, and rich nutty flavors. And look at that presentation! Gorgeous. I love the layers and the way they are spaced on the plate.
The Shed has such a friendly and inviting atmosphere, with the food of a fine casual dining restaurant. It was a great experience and I can't wait to go back and try the dinner menu!




ONE. Midtown Kitchen

For dinner that night, we got dolled up and head to ONE. Midtown Kitchen. ONE is a part of the Concentrics Restaurant Family. All of the restaurant sound AMAZING and if I lived in the area, I would review one every week.

Marci and I went a little wild when we ordered and we ordered a bunch of things to try. It was so hard to choose, I think it took us 20 minutes to nail down a game plan. I wish I could remember the name of the martini I ordered. It had something to with grapefruit and champagne and was simply divine.

We ended up choosing to go with, in no particular order, a cheese plate, a fig salad, pasta with Parmesan cream sauce, and a wood-fired pizza with peaches, prosciutto, ricotta, and balsamic. I must say the cheese plate was amazing. One of the best cheese plates ever. The first was Cypress Grove Midnight Moon from Holland which was paired with a balsamic reduction. Here is the description from the website "Aged six months or more, this pale, ivory cheese is firm, dense and smooth with the slight graininess of a long-aged cheese. The flavor is nutty and brown-buttery, with prominent caramel notes. The wheel is finished in a beautiful black wax. Made in Europe exclusively for Cypress Grove Chevre". It tasted similar to a smoked gouda. The second was the best blue cheese I have ever tasted. I can still taste it now and I would love to buy some. It was Point Reyes Blue from California, and they paired it with some sort of crunchy pecans with cinnamon. The flavor was strong, but not overpowering and had a depth that took over your senses. I couldn't stay away from it. The third was Sweet Grass Dairy Green Hill paired with a cherry jam. It's a pasteurized, soft-ripened, cow’s milk cheese that was similar to brie. An excellent balance between the Midnight Moon and Blue. I absolutely adored this course.

The fig salad brought a new concept to my palate. I had realized as I stuck the first fig in my mouth that this was my very first time trying fresh figs. Before I had tried them dried, and it lended no hint as to the breadth of flavor and texture there was hidden in fresh figs. Figs are very popular at the moment, and now I can see why. They seem like the perfect thing to grace a salad with goat cheese crumbles. I'll definitely have to experiment with figs in the near future.

The Parmesan cream sauce on the pasta was so creamy and well put together. They completed the dish with bacon crumbles and it was a nice contrast to the cool freshness of the fig salad. I really enjoyed this dish.

The pizza, in it's own right, was really really good, but ended up being shorted by our other selections. It was our least favorite of the night, but I feel that by itself was a wonderful creation. The peaches were fresh and amazing and played well with the balsamic. My only complaint may be that there was a little too much prosciutto (if there is such a thing!). But I feel that is something purely personal as I tend not to like meat on my pizzas.

We chose brandy-soaked blueberry cheesecake for dessert, and I must say I loved the blueberries. The cheesecake was traditional, and I am not a fan of the traditional cheesecake texture, but the flavor was delicious.

Overall ONE. Midtown Kitchen seemed like a really chic place to go and have dinner with friends or enjoy a night out. I love the warehouse feel. I would definitely recommend it!

The Sundial Restaurant, Bar, and View

After dinner at ONE. Midtown Kitchen, Marci took me to where her fiance, Steve, popped the question. The whole thing went down one romantic evening at The Sundial Restaurant. We decided to hit up the bar for some after dinner drinks and to enjoy the view. The Sundial is one of those rotating restaurants, which I've never been to before. It was amazing. We watched the city go by as we sipped cocktails. (Very pricey cocktails, but I guess we were paying for the view too!) I'd love to bring my boyfriend here at some point for a romantic dinner out. Below is a picture of the fireworks at the stadium.

The Elevation Chophouse

Marci was such a doll and picked The Elevation Chophouse and Skybar for brunch the next morning because she knew I was gaga over aviation. This restaurant happily sits next to the runways at the Cobb County Airport - Mc Collum Field (KRYY for all of those aviation nuts out there); and with floor to ceiling windows gives great views of the little airports happenings. While you dine you can watch Cessnas and private jets take off and land, and even helicopters come and go. It was such an enjoyable meal.

A helicopter taxiing.

I started it off with a blueberry-thyme lemonade. So perfect for the hot GA weather.

After stuffing ourselves the night before, I decided to go with a breakfast flare and ordered the Brioche French Toast.

It was served with a blueberry-caramel sauce that was sooo amazing. The waitress also brought me their rum-raisin syrup and maple syrup. I normally do not like syrups, but these were sooo good. (Which goes to show you that generic brand syrup really isn't all there is). The toast was so light and fluffy and the bacon perfectly cooked. I can't wait to go back here and watch the planes again. I would truly be a regular stop of mine if I lived in the ATL area.


I can't believe all of the places we didn't get to try and how wonderful everything was. It was truly a great time and an awesome culinary tour. Thanks, Marci, for carting me around with my big camera to all those eateries!

The Foodie is Traveling! Atlanta, GA!

Hey everyone! I'll be heading down to Atlanta, GA this weekend to visit one of my BFFs, and that means I'm exploring a new region of cuisine. So how about it? Anywhere I HAVE to try? Leave me a comment if you have something you want to see blogged about, right here on f00die blogspot!

Epicurean Classic 2009

Well, it was a loooong weekend as I was at the Epicurean Classic all three days! It was an amazing event despite the unseasonably cold weather.

Friday, August 28
I decided to kick off the weekend by attending the Great Lakes BBQ Dinner on the bluff of Saint Joseph, MI. The event featured five chefs: Mary Sue Milliken, Carlyn Berghoff, Eve Aronoff, Jennifer Blakeslee and Ted Reader. I must say, the food was delicious and the wine tasting options extensive. The event was held in the main tasting tent with a gorgeous KitchenAid kitchen display overlooking the festivities. It was so much fun interacting with the product and dreaming about an all stainless KitchenAid kitchen!

It was KitchenAid's 90th Anniversary. To commemorate the occasion, they created a gorgeous anniversary edition standmixer. It's candy-apple red with a glass bowl and simply beautiful!

The first thing I tried was pulled pork and coleslaw in a sugar cone. It was ice cream cones filled with BBQ Pulled Pork mixed with Fois Gras, Jack Daniels and Cider Vinegar topped with a shot and a beer coleslaw. What a nice presentation. The pork was very tender and delicious. There was also a creamed spinach that I had to get seconds of. I'm not a huge spinach fan, but this was so savory and creamy.

The next dish I tried was a sort of fish taco. A small tortilla round, shredded lettuce, black cod, a decadent grapefruit salsa, and some cilantro. The fish was simply perfection in the way it was prepared and I loved the grapefruit salsa...however... I had forgotten that I don't care for cod, so I tried to not let that cloud my judgment. Overall it was a very tasty combination.

After a few more wine trials, I decided to call it a night and prepare for a full day on Saturday.


Saturday, August 29

The first cooking demonstration we made it to on Saturday was Anna Thomas : Soup and Accessories. She made two delicious soups and then showed different ways of dressing them up for serving.

In the photo above you will see that she has three bowls of greens. She was making "Green Soup". She used chard, cilantro, and curly kale. She put these in a pot and boiled them down with vegetable broth, caramelized onions, roasted garlic, and a potato. The potato added just the right amount of body and substance, she said. She used an immersion blender (provided by KitchenAid!) when it was all simmered together to get it blended into soup. The photo below shows the different ways she dressed it. Homemade croutons, olive oil, goat cheese...yum! The yellow soup was a ginger squash soup I believe, which I didn't get a chance to see her make. She made her own savory chili paste and placed that in the middle of one. It was a bit chilly outside and this demo was very inspirational and made me look forward to soup season!

After that, my mouth was watering, so we headed to the tasting tent. I must say there were more wines to sample than you could ever dream of! I tried to try things I had never heard of so I wasn't overwhelmed by the selection.

One of the first food stations we tried was one of my favorites. It was hosted by Collins Caviar and they were serving Bloody Mary Gazpacho with Caviar Peppar (golden whitefish caviar cured with fresh jalapeno, serrano, and habanero peppers and accented with Absolut Peppar Vodka). It was heavenly. The spice of the bloody mary-ness in the gazpacho was brilliant with the chill air. The spear of celery cooled of the tongue, and the caviar added dimension and brilliance. Not too spicy at all!

I had to taste each of their caviars multiple times, because they were soooo good! The yellow one is Caviar Citron (whitefish caviar with lemon, lime, and grapefruit combined with Absolut Citrus Vodka). One would think from the description that this would be a sour and sweet caviar, but the flavors were so subtle that the caviar was the most prominent flavor; it was really well done. You got a lingering sweetness on your tongue before the flood of salty, savory goodness. I need to buy some caviar pronto. The black one is Paddlefish caviar. This caviar had a rich and complex flavor. Black/grey caviars are some of my favorites! The green one was – wait for it – Wasabi Tobikko! I HAD to try this brilliant green caviar. The first bite was brilliantly balanced between the savory caviar and the tang of wasabi. My second bite was not so balanced and the wasabi was definitely prominent. Not being a big fan of straight wasabi, I think this would be a great garnish to some california rolls or some such.

One of our next stops was to Patricia's Chocolate's booth. To say these chocolates were amazing is an understatement. Patricia hand-crafts these beauties from the freshest ingredients. My favorites were the lavendar and mandarin ginger. I wish I had tried them all! They were very complex and kept hitting different parts of your palate long after your first bite. Delish!

Our next stop was Zingerman's booth. Zingermans is a conglomerate of small food-related companies in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and boy did they have the best candy bars! They were very tasty and tasted hand-made.

And, of course, there was some local love for Bit o' Swiss Bakery (of whom I've written of before). They were serving these very delicious chocolate mousse cups that were just beautiful.

After glutting ourselves on caviar, wine, and chocolate, we headed over and caught the end of Jennifer McLagen : Beyond Bread and Butter. I fell in love with this chef immediately. Her love and use of butter had me mesmerized.

As you can see, she's not a very big person at all, and yet she preaches a very good message. Eating fat doesn't make you fat. It's all about the kinds of fats you are eating as well as everything is fine in moderation. If you eat low-fat or no-fat foods, there are a lot of chemicals to enhance flavor, and the food doesn't satisfy you. If you eat two slices of pork belly, then you are more satisfied longer, and you won't be snacking between meals, so in the end you'll take in less calories and healthier fats. She also had some other good points about grass fed beef vs. corn fed and how our bodies absorb omega-3's vs. omega-6's. I'll spare you the long lecture. It basically gets down to the thick of it: The more processed and engineered a food is, the worse it is for you. We need to get back to basics and as close to nature as we can to nourish ourselves and enjoy food to it's fullest. And I completely agree with her.

She has a great cookbook out that I would love to have:

I was going to buy it at the bookstore at epicurean and get it signed, but I ran out of time. So if anyone is looking to get the foodie a gift, this would make a great one :).
For the rest of the event, we lovingly called her "the fat lady".

After drooling about butter, we headed over to Andy Pforzheimer : All About Tapas: The Simpler the Better. Andy owns a six-chain tapas restaurant. These two were fun to watch!

They talk about how tapas aren't a food-style, they're an act. It's like glorified snacking. In the photo above they made these amazingly simple tapas that I was lucky enough to try. They took a course bread and grilled it with olive oil and got it firmed up. Then they cut a head of raw garlic in half and rubbed it with olive oil into the bread. After that they took a thick walled softer tomato, similar to a roma, and rubbed that into the bread. A dash of salt, and viola! Soooo good! (I'm not even joking!) I actually had to go home and make some. I never would've thought of rubbing raw garlic into bread, but it's the best because you get a little bite and the garlic flavor. They went on to make other really simple bites of food that had my mouth watering.

That was the end of the demonstrations, so we headed home to warm up before the grand reception that night. I'm super sorry to say that I left my camera in the car accidentally and didn't notice until I went to photograph our first bite of food. :( There were plenty of bites to try, and again, plenty of wines to enjoy. I tried sake for the first time (hmmmm) and also a chocolate-cherry vodka from traverse city that would be heavenly in hot chocolate. One of my favorite things, however, was chocolate tea. (I know, right?) Angela Macke, founder of Light of Day Organics was there with a plethora of her teas. I had tried an earl gray earlier in the day that was so light and fragrant. That night she was serving her cacao-mint tea. Every ingredient in the loose tea is grown on the farm, except one, which is imported. When you smell it, it smells like decadent chocolate. When you try it, the chocolate is in the background, and the tea is light and fresh with other complex flavors. The mint doesn't come until afterward and is very subtle. I fell in love with this tea and cannot wait to order some. She said her inspiration for such a tea was thin mint girlscout cookies. All I can say, is that this is the best tea I have ever tasted.


Sunday, August 30
No camera today either, as I was volunteering at the registration tent. The weather was a bit dismal, but there were still people hankering for some more tastings and demos. I slipped into Jennifer McLagen's demo that day entitled, Bones, Fat, and Beyond: What Everyone Should and Will Be Eating. She spoke more about eating natural fats and then proceeded to demonstrate two recipes. The first was bone marrow. This was very interesting to me, as I can't wait to try some. She made some sort of bone marrow taco with it, but mentioned some other wonderful serving suggestions. It can be spread on bread and eaten (which is the way I want to try first), it can be ground up with steak to make burgers, or ground into sausage, or it could be spread on a steak while it cooks so it seeps into the meat and adds that extra dimension. All of which, sound devilishly delicious. So stick around, because you may see some bone marrow coming up.
Her second recipe was beef heart. Beef heart. A whole one. As big as my face. Now, I'm a hardcore foodie, and I love trying new things...but I have a problem trying things that still resemble their biological functions. As she held it up I could name the arteries coming out of the top and each chamber, but I could not fathom putting it in my mouth. The aorta was so large, it kinda grossed me out a bit. So I watched her dissect it and watched how she cleaned it. She cubed it and marinaded it, and then placed it on the grill. By that time it looked like venison, or maybe even liver, so it was more manageable to picture eating. Would I buy a beef heart? Maybe. Would I be able to clean it and eat it? Only if it cooked for a long enough time that I didn't connect the organ with the end result. At the end of the demo, she let us try the heart. And I did. Her marinade was to die for, and the meat was more tender than I would have thought. Really, not that bad. Do I want to try it in the near future? Probably not. Would I order it in a restaurant? Sure.

If you're still reading by this time, I'm really impressed. I hope you enjoyed the peek into the Epicurean Classic. Can't wait to see what next year's brings!