Rockin' Ribs

I've told you all before that I was intimidated by ribs for many years.  I finally broke down and tried them when an issue of Bon Appetit's cover beckoned me.  That recipe was ridiculously easy and delicious and not nearly as time consuming as people tell you. I've made it numerous times now, but I'm still a rib-cookin'-newbie.  I am constantly perusing other recipes for different flavors and techniques to try.  Recently, I found baby backs on sale and grabbed a rack.  What to do, what to do?

I went to my new favorite website (and cookbook publisher), www.AllRecipes.com for some guidance.  Neil was working late that day, which means he probably skipped lunch, and would arrive here starving.  This recipe caught my eye because of the flavors, the time involved and the good ratings.  Decision made.

Look at these babies!

I know, right?

Collards, field peas and BBQ...they eat this way up North, right?

My Southern Belle...in her motorcycle jersey.

I served the ribs with collard greens and field peas.  I really think I surprised Neil with this kind of down home meal on a weeknight.  The little gourmand also loved it.  Happiness all around!  If you're like me, wrestling with the intimidation of cooking ribs, and cooking them well, try this recipe.  It worked just as it promised and the result was tender and delicious.  

Lake Carolina Wine & Food Festival

I love this time of year.  The main reason is the weather.  You see, living here in SC, we operate at 80+ degrees the majority of our year.  Or at least it feels that way.  Maybe after 6 months of sweating profusely, watching our plants wither and die, suffering mild heat strokes from time to time and being kind of irritable because we're hot and slightly delirious causes us to jump for joy and breathe a sigh of relief when October finally arrives.  I got married in October, there's Halloween, mums and decorative kales show up in our yards and gardens and the festivals kick into high gear.

We were invited to attend the Lake Carolina Wine & Food Festival on Saturday, October 13th.  This was the 10th year of this festival, and I'm embarrassed to say that I had not attended it before. The festival is held in the lovely Lake Carolina neighborhood and proceeds benefit Children's Charities of the Midlands.  

The festival was held from 2-5 p.m.  We got there right at 2:00 so we could have plenty of time to try everything and take our time.  As we checked in, we received a commemorative wine glass and a one of those cool plates that has the notch cut in it to hold your wine glass while you eat.  We walked onto the "town square" and surveyed the scene.  The first thing we noticed was there was tent set up with athletic team flags attached and underneath there was a big screen TV playing the games and big, comfy leather couches for the sports enthusiasts to enjoy.  I've never seen that done and thought it was a cool detail.  Next, we noticed that the tasting stations were basically alternating from food to wine to food to wine, etc.  At the end of the square was a live band called Two for the Road.  

We started with a glass of Rex Goliath.  I chose to drink red this day while Neil was going to handle the whites.  My first glass was a "free range red" which is a blend.  Very nice wine.  I tasted it and came back later for more of it.  Neil chose the chardonnay and also returned later for more of it.  

We started our nibbles with a restaurant in NE Columbia called Polliwogs.  We sampled pulled pork spring rolls, a pimento cheese/fried green tomato/bacon sandwich and chicken gumbo.  Yum all around, but I must say, the BLT was the bomb-diggity.  Next, we wandered over to Cafe Caturra and had a bite of guacamole and hummus.

My next wine was a Malbec called The Seeker.  Another good wine that I'd never tried before.  Neil again went with Chardonnay leading to a thumbs-up.  Earthfare had a beautiful and classic hors d'oeuvres display.  Along with pouring wines, they offered a salami, cliantro-lime pesto crostini, Zola (a hard cheese that I learned is a 24 month aged gouda), buffalo (like wings) crostini and a gingersnap topped with mascarpone and a scarlet raspberry. 

The Zola was an interesting cheese; dry and crumbly like a parm, but sharper.  Even though I'm not a big sweet eater, I loved the gingersnap.  In fact, I think next time I have friends over for dinner I'm going to serve that with coffee.

Another really interesting element of the festival was a cooking demo by Chef Bertrand Gilli.  He made crepes Suzette and then served them to us hot out of the pan as soon as the flames subsided.  La nourriture des dieux! Those French really know what they're doing.    

Next, we visited Sweet T Gourmet.  Again, I'm not a huge sweet freak, but I know good desserts when I taste them!  Holy bakery!  These ladies have got it goin' on.  We tried the pumpkin gooey butter cake (my fave), dark chocolate tartlet with ganache, shortbread pecan tartlet, and the decadent fudge cake.  I loved the rich and prominent flavor of good quality butter in the gooey cake.  The decadent fudge was also great...chocolatey, soft, gooey and well, decadent.

Let me comment at this juncture about the band, Two for the Road.  What a great musical choice these guys were!  When we arrived, the first thing that caught our ear as we stepped out of our car was a "bluegrassy" version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."  Yeah, you heard me right.  Who would have ever thought to take a cult classic song, by my all-time favorite band btw, and add a twang-i-ness to it?  Brilliant!  We also appreciated their version of Tom Petty's "Last Dance with Mary Jane."

Mr. Friendly's/Solstice/Cellar on Greene was probably the culinary star of the day.  Chef/owner Ricky Mollohan was there on site cooking up a storm and had the folks lined up!  I think his smoked gouda & bacon mac 'n cheese stole the show.  It was fantastic.  One bite sent you into that creamy, rich, decadent mac 'n cheese place where people go, while at the same time you felt a little naughty and guilty by eating and enjoying it so much!  And, like I said, our fellow festival goers were lined up for this little dish of golden pasta.  They also offered a pumpkin bisque that was simply delicious.  Once the festival got going, Ricky broke out some gorgeous pieces of pork belly and seared away.  Once the word spread about pork belly, the folks were lining up again!  

Pork Belly sizzling!

Delightful pumpkin bisque

Smoked gouda & bacon macaroni and cheese

Our belly...yumm!

Neil's getting impatient with the picture taking:  I wanna eat this pork belly!

I mean, really...look at that smile!

The Fresh Market had a booth serving Ravens Wood and Hogue wines.  I sampled the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Zinfandel.  Both were really nice wines, but the Zin was my favorite.  Neil tried the Hogue and Ravens Wood Chardonnay.  He liked both but felt like the Ravens Wood was a bit lighter, which for a day out in the gorgeous sunshine was what hit the spot for him.  Turns out, my new friend, Sandra was the lovely lady pouring at this booth (and the rockstar who invited us to the festival). As Neil and I sat down on a park bench to sip and munch, we noticed that she was working like crazy with lines of her own, and she was all alone.  Neil set off to make a plate of food for her and I joined her in the tent to pour wine.  We had so much fun talking to all the wine tasters and with each other.  In fact, I realize now that I'd love to volunteer for that job sometime.  I loved it!

In short, we thoroughly enjoyed the Lake Carolina Wine and Food Festival and will definitely return next year.  If you are unfamiliar with Lake Carolina, check out their website.  It's a master planned community with a family lifestyle built into their vision. Most of you know that I am a Realtor and I have had the pleasure of helping numerous clients buy homes in Lake Carolina. It's a beautiful place and worth checking out if you're in the market for a new home in Northeast Columbia.  Thank you Lake Carolina and Wild Honey for putting on a fantastic event.  And, thank you Sandra for inviting us to attend!  

Two very happy festival-goers!

Incarnation Does It Again!

You guys may remember my post from last year about Incarnation Lutheran's first annual Oktoberfest.  It was one of the most impressive events I'd been to in all of Columbia.  Because of that, I've eagerly awaited their second annual Oktoberfest, which finally got here this past weekend.

My buddy Andy (left) is a very convincing Martin Luther!

 
The festival opened on Friday and ran through Sunday.  Once again, it was fantastic!  If you live in Columbia and haven't been yet, you simply must put it on your calendar for 2013 and beyond!  It is one of our best festivals, by far.  Incarnation goes all out and really delivers.  An awesome bier garten, schnitzel plates with your choice of homemade red cabbage, sweet & sour green beans, spaetzel or potatoes with onion and bacon. You can actually see the full menu by clicking here. If schnitzel isn't your bag, choose from bratwurst or simple hot dogs for the kids.  And speaking of the kids...the festival takes place in the backyard of the church.  So, they have their playground back there, jump castles, and a live German band, which just gets kids moving. It always does.  In fact, the Vivver was all over the dance floor until about 9:30! I mean, really what kid doesn't love the Chicken Dance?  What adult for that matter?

My mom and I shared a jaeger schnitzel plate with potatoes, cabbage and we added an additional side of green beans.  The schnitzel is made with pork and was a tender, high quality cutlet.  The sauce was packed with mushrooms and flavor.  The beans were delightfully sweet and sour, and the cabbage was nicely pickled but had a more subtle, light flavor than what you're probably used to.  The potatoes, onion & bacon dish was magnificent.  I would've eaten it with a shovel, if they'd provided me with one.  That's not weird, right? 

Woefully, I ran out of my house this year sans iPhone so I have no photographic evidence of this year's fest.  I guess I was so eager to get my schnitzel on, I lost all sense of reason. No biggie though.  It's not like schnitzel is the most photogenic meal out there, but man is it delish. Like, with a capital D and a capital ISH.  

The festival features free admission, $3 gets kids unlimited time in the jumpy things, beer and wine are reasonably priced, the food is awesome, the bands are fun and the atmosphere is one of happiness and frivolity!  If you haven't checked out this festival, I'm telling you PUT IT ON YOUR  CALENDAR!  If you don't, you're just cheating yourself out of a good time.

Unbelievable!

Are you familiar with AllRecipes.com? I have loved this website for quite some time.  If you don't know, here's what they are all about.  Recipes are submitted by REAL people, then other REAL people rate/review them.  The cool thing is that I've never made a recipe from this site that hasn't worked and worked well.  The coolest thing though is that you can plug in how many servings you want and the site will adjust all of the quantities for you.  Awesome.

I have a client who is preparing to move as soon as we get a buyer for her house.  One day, I stopped by and saw stacks of books in her dining room.  Curious, I inquired.  They were all cookbooks that she was going to donate.  I guess she saw my expression change, prompting her to say something like, "Should I donate them to you?"  Touchdown, goal, SCORE!  Even though I knew I don't even have enough bookcase space, and that Neil and my entire family would give me hell about adding more cookbooks to my bursting-at-the-seams collection, I happily loaded them all into the backseat.  

One of them has become my new favorite:  all recipes dinner tonight.  Basically, it's a "greatest hits" of the website.  The editors compiled a "Hall of Fame" of 20 recipes who all received 150+ ratings and reviews.  So far, I've made 5 of these 20 and haven't been disappointed at all.  The latest one is a recipe that I've read, re-read, re-read, contemplated, re-read.  I finally decided to jump off the cliff and try it and man, am I glad I took the leap.  So glad, that I wanted to share with you all.  Now, be prepared...when you see this title, you're going to be intrigued yet a bit quizzical.  Maybe even a bit cynical.  You might experience disbelief.  But, trust me.  Take the leap like I did and you will make yourself and your family/friends very happy.

Photo from www.AllRecipes.com

Addictive Sweet Potato Burritos

• 1 Tbs vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 cups canned kidney beans, drained
• 2 cups water
• 3 Tbs chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 4 tsp prepared mustard
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• 3 Tbs soy sauce
• 12 (10") flour tortillas, warmed
• 4 cups cooked & mashed sweet potatoes
• 8 oz shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat oil in a medium skillet and saute onion & garlic until soft.  Stir in the beans and mash.  Gradually stir in the water and heat until warm.  Remove from heat and stir in chili powder, cumin, mustard, cayenne and soy sauce. Spread sweet potatoes evenly over the bean layer and top with cheese.  Roll up burrito style and place in a single layer on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake for about 12 minutes. Serve with sour cream, salsa, green onion, whatever on the side, if you wish.  

To me, this was like the best bean burrito ever, but with that little touch of "je ne sais quoi." Amazingly, the sweet potato married so well with the spiced bean mixture.  I NEVER would have come up with this on my own.  It works and it works so well!  I also was just plain feeling good watching the Vivver eat this meal packed to the gills with protein and beta-carotene!  Please trust me and put your hesitation aside and make this recipe.  And, I'd really love to hear your feedback about it.  Sorry I didn't take any pictures.  We were all starving and dug right in.  Photography be damned!  But, the good people at AllRecipes made this great video:

 

Food & Wine Festival...Here I Come!

What better pairing of words is there than "food" and "wine"?  This coming Saturday, Lake Carolina hosts its 10th Annual Wine & Food Festival. (I like that wine is named first!)  Well, I am flattered and pleased as punch that I have been asked to attend the festival and then share my thoughts with you guys, my faithful foodie friends.  I happily accepted this invitation and am so excited about the festival.  I mean, three hours of food, wine, fun & frivolity...my kinda afternoon.

If you're interested in joining up with the Wanna-be and the Neilix, message me here or via Facebook.  Then, stayed tuned to the blog for our food wisdom and witty food for thought.

Gearing up for Fall & Winter

Before we get started, I need to get something off my chest:  I really hate the term "comfort food." Living in this current world where we are constantly combatting our weight (I'm totally in this crowd), we're lamenting childhood obesity (yet, how many Americans happily own McDonald's stock?),  and our Land of the Free is actually contemplating outlawing sugary drinks (really...protect us from ourselves, we know not what we do), the characterization of ANY food as comfort completely flies in the face of what we preach about proper eating, eating disorders and the obesity epidemic.  Food isn't supposed to be a source of comfort, happiness, love, acceptance, or stress relief.  At least, that's what we're told. Yet, it is all those things to most of us, in different ways at different times and under different and ever-changing circumstances.  Even so, I hate that term.

So, kids, on with the show!

Neilio loves the cool months and all the comforting foods that come with it.  Before I met him, I was afraid of crockpots.  My worst fear is having my house burn down, so am I leaving an appliance on when I'm not home?  Heck no!  But, once he and I became an item, he wore me down and got me to give it a try.  Now, I look for crockpot recipes, not only because they certainly make life easier, but most of the time, I just like the idea of him coming home after a long day, opening the door and inhaling a comforting aroma that makes him happy he's home.  (Yes, I realize how sappy that sounds, but dammit! it's true.) Of course, not all comfort food has to come out of a crockpot.  Think back to walking into a house filled with the smell of a slow simmering spaghetti sauce, or soup, or a big ol' pot of chili, pot roast, homemade bread.  Well, try this on for size:  beef short ribs simmering away in a red wine reduction sauce with onions, garlic and carrots!

Finished product...short ribs, super rich gravy over mashed potatoes & green beans!

I used 2 lbs of short ribs that I found on sale at Publix.  I seasoned them, dredged them in flour and seared/browned them in olive oil over medium-high heat.  

Seared and ready to rock and roll!

Removed them from the pot and added 1 cup chopped onion.  Sauteed a minute or two and added 1 cup chopped carrots, 1 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 bay leaf and 1 Tbs chopped garlic.  Next, I deglazed the pot with about 3/4 cup red wine (yummm!) then added 4 cups of beef broth.  Brought it up to a boil and then cut to low for a simmer of about 2 hours.  

I just want to dive into this and swim around.

As I was nearing time to serve, I added a cornstarch slurry to thicken my gravy a bit then plated it all up.  The coolest part of it all was the reactions I got.  Upon returning home from karate, the littlest gourmet walked in and said "Wow, it smells YUM in here!"  One of my favorite compliments from the Vivver!  Then, the subtle, yet excited look on Neil's face as he entered and was greeted by the YUM factor. As we made it to the table, Viv was already declaring this as one of her top favorite dinners...and she hadn't even tried a bite yet!  Comforting, indeed!