Sunday, June 15, 2014

Recipe: Mussels with Chorizo

I love making mussels in the summertime.  It is so easy to make and not only is it delicious, but it's also very inexpensive!  I usually pair my mussels with a simple white wine and butter sauce and pasta, but I decided to change it up a little and try a spicy tomato sauce from a recipe I found by Martha Stewart.  If you have ever had the angry yet incredible mussels at JCT Kitchen with the bacon and spicy broth, that was the inspiration for this Sunday night dinner.

I went to the Dekalb Farmer's Market, easily one of my favorite places on earth, to find me some delicious fresh mussels.  While I would like to call myself a foodie, I definitely had what my brother tells me often a blonde moment while in the seafood section and this one was foodie related.  I thought I would pay the extra dollar a pound to purchase the Prince Edward Island mussels while never understanding what PEI stood for on menus next to the mussel dishes.  While wondering out loud what was so special about this island of princes, I still wasn't able to put the two together until my brother so kindly pointed it out.  Maybe this isn't something I should admit on a food blog, but I pride myself on being honest.  Anyway, after spending $6 on 2 pounds of mussels (told you they were cheap), I gathered the rest of my ingredients:

1 large shallot
2 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups dry white wine (I used a chardonnay)
3 cups canned crushed tomatoes with juice
4 ounces of chorizo sausage (I used fresh sausage but you could also use cooked bacon or dried sausage for a crunchier taste)
3 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

First you must clean the mussels and take off the "beard" of the mussel.  I usually just run the mussels under cold water and brush off any particles stuck to the outside of shells as you don't want any crunchy ocean remnants in your food.  Also throw out any mussels with broken shells and ones that are dead on arrival as it is important to cook them alive.  If the mussel is open and you tap on the shell a couple times and it doesn't close in the next couple minutes, then it's dead.  Then, if there is a brown rough patch of seaweed sticking out from the inside of the mussel you will need to remove it.  This is called the beard.  Just take hold of it and pull down to the bottom of the mussel until it comes out.



Once the mussels are clean, put them back in the fridge as you want them to be cold when they hit the pot!

One of the best things about mussel dishes is the bread.  The bread is a way to sop up the delicious broth that we will create.  I just used a baguette from the farmers market, added a little butter, and popped it in the oven for a few minutes to brown and crisp up and it was ready to dip!



For the sauce:
Mince the garlic and shallots.


Cook the sausage in the casing to get a good sear and then chop it up once it is two thirds of the way cooked, about 7 minutes on each side, and continue cooking for another couple minutes.  Set aside.


Heat the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat and then add the shallots.  Cook the shallots for a couple minutes until they are tender and then add the garlic and red pepper flakes.


After the garlic has cooked for a minute or so, add the two cups of white wine and bring to a boil. 


Once the wine is boiling, add the tomatoes and the chorizo and bring to a simmer.  You want the wine to cook out in order to eliminate the raw wine taste.  Let the sauce simmer for about 15 minutes on low heat and stir occasionally.  The sauce should reduce by about half during that time.  If you taste the sauce when it first starts cooking and then after the 15 minutes, you will notice a huge difference.  Less bitter and more flavorful.  While tasting, season the sauce with salt and pepper as needed.



Now turn the heat to medium and add the mussels!  Stir them a little to make sure they submerge in the sauce then cover for 5-10 minutes.  The mussels are ready when most of the shells are open.  There might still be dead mussels that you didn't catch which are the ones that didn't open after cooking.  No big deal, just don't eat them.  


Now serve with the bread and make sure you get a lot of that sauce in the bowl and garnish with the chopped fresh parsley!



Bon Appetit!

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Atlanta Food and Wine Fest 2014

Here's a glimpse of the 2014 Atlanta Food and Wine Festival tasting tents!  The festival began last Thursday night with a kick off dinner at Rathbuns and ran through Sunday with more dinners and classes throughout the day and, of course, the tasting tents.  This festival hosted by Food & Wine magazine celebrates southern food and the chefs who are inspired by the fresh ingredients and traditions of the South.  While I wasn't able to venture to any of the classes or special dinners, I got to sample food from some of the best chefs in the southeast...along with 900 other sweaty, hungry people.  Not the best Food and Wine fest of my career, but there were definitely some memorable moments like the guy who threw up in a trashcan next to a vendor's very nice looking spread (don't worry, I did not take a picture of that), but also some great foodie moments as well.







This mac and cheese was insane from Grand Champion BBQ!

My favorite wine of the day!




I actually quite enjoyed this fried oyster!  The apple slaw was perfect as well.

Not a fan of this Asian style gumbo.


The freshest peas!


Acre from Auburn, Alabama!!


Chicken pot pie form the new Trace at the W midtown.  If everything of there's tastes like this, I am already a fan!


Sassafras ice cream!  Crazy delicious!


Pimento cheese via spoon? Yes, please!


After these and many other tastes, my best foodie friend and I were both full and tipsy to say the least.  While the festival seemed more spread out in its new location off West Peachtree, the venue still seemed too crowded and the tents were incredibly hot making the hoards of people even more undesirable.  Maybe next year we will try one of the dinners and skip the tasting tents all together.  At least we would be guaranteed to have a celebrity chef sighting since we didn't see ANYONE at the tasting tents which is almost just as fun as eating their food.  Almost.


Thursday, June 5, 2014

St. Cecilia, You're Breakin' My Heart...In a Good Way

I finally made it to St. Cecilia!  I have been wanting to try the new Ford Fry restaurant for quite some time, and I finally made plans to eat at the former residence of Bluepoint last weekend.  The experience was superb.

For starters, I have to give major props to the host at St. Cecilia.  I spoke to him three times on the phone to make our reservation, change our reservation, and finally confirm our reservation, and not only did I feel special because my name was already in their Ford Fry directory because I am some what of a Ford Fry groupie, I felt like we bonded and became friends in the whole process, but maybe that was just me.  Once we finally met face to face at the restaurant, it was as if we were long lost pals at that point, and I'm pretty sure he gave us the best table in the restaurant as well as the best server.

There were six of us in our party, which gave us the opportunity to lavish ourselves in the many different courses and plates on the menu.  We started the night off with some crudos.  In a nutshell, raw, fresh, and tasty. I'm not a huge connoisseur of anything salmon, but I did like the salmon crudo with the pistachios.  The fish was so fresh and clean tasting it's hard not to enjoy it.


King Salmon with Rhubarb and Pistachio 


 Crab with Black Truffle and Brioche

While I love tuna, I think my favorite crudo plate was the crab.  The tuna was very fresh and the basil combo was different, but the crab was so flavorful.  I mean you can't really beat truffle and the crunchy croutons with the sweetness from the crab with the right amount of acid....I can just taste it now.


Yellowfin Tuna with Serrano, Basil, and Watercress


We then moved on to the Antipasti and ordered the octopus, which I am quickly becoming a huge fan of, and the burrata.  The octopus was phenom.  It was very tender and the charred, smokey flavor made it taste more like a piece of meat rather than a squid.  We talked a lot about the burrata before it even got to the table trying to describe it to the others who had not yet tried this amazing cheese.  While I really enjoyed this version of it with the sweet, tangy peach (I do love my Georgia peaches) and the porcini, I still compare it to the burrata the Boo and I had in New Orleans at Domenica (John Besh) and it just doesn't live up.  Maybe my memory has put that amazing, gooey cheese on a pedestal, but I'm pretty sure it changed my life.  

Octopus, Charred with Bean Salad

Burrata with Peach, Arugula, and Porcini Mushrooms

On to my favorite part of the menu, the pastas!  The squid ink spaghetti was by far my favorite of the night quickly followed by the agnolotti, which is similar to ravioli, and these were stuffed with braised short ribs.  I mean, come on.  Stuffed with braised short ribs.  The spaghetti was sweet from the crab and the tomato sauce, but also spicy from the chilies and not too rich.  I love spicy tomato sauces on pasta, so this was right up my alley, but then they added crab so it was like on my street maybe even in my garage.  If you've never has squid ink pasta, it is a must.  The agnolotti (not pictured) was so savory with the red wine braised short ribs packed in the mini raviolis which were tossed with a brown butter sauce.  Rich, but not over-powering. 

Also the mushroom risotto was fabulous.  There's something about mushrooms and creamy pasta.  They are just meant to be.  The lobster ravioli was a table favorite as well.  It was creamy and brightened by the fresh veggies, but the handmade pasta was the star as it melted in your mouth.

The gnudi was definitely lacking.  Gnudi is supposed to be similar to gnocchi or some-what like the filling of ravioli, which both sound delicious, but I could not get past the mealy consistency.  I think it could have used more cream and less acid, which was all I could taste.

Mushroom Risotto

Squid Ink Spaghetti with Crab, Calabrian Chili, and Mint

Ravioli with Spring Peas, Spinach, Lobster, and Marscapone

Gnudi with Basil and Brown Butter 


The entrees were just as surprising and delicious as the starters.  I ordered the arctic char and the Boo went with the whole fish, which that night was sea bass.  I must admit I made a rookie mistake ordering the arctic char and not knowing it was pretty much salmon, so I was pretty shocked to see the pink fish in front of me, but the fish and artichoke combo was surprisingly quite tasty.  A bit too meaty for me after such a huge beginning to the meal, but good nonetheless.  The whole fish was another level though.  From the glorious presentation to the grilled flavors combined with the fruit and almonds, I couldn't stop eating it.


Arctic Char with Artichoke and Capers 


Whole Grilled Sea Bass


Finally we topped the meal off with a sampling from the dessert menu.  We pretty much tried 75% of the dinner menu, so why stop there?  We didn't.  Each dessert we ordered was so different, yet they were all good in there own right.  The Budino di Cioccolata was like a chocolate mousse - light but creamy.  The tart was rich, but the sweetness from the apricots and the creaminess from the ice cream made it well balanced.  The apricot foam....I can't.  Amazing.  Lastly, the panna cotta with the strawberry gelato and balsamic drizzle was perfect.  It looks big, but it was layered thin in the bowl, so you could spoon the perfect proportion of puddin', shortbread, and the sweet strawberry gelato.  I kept changing my favorite dessert of the night after I took a bite of each one, so it's a toss up.  I don't think you could go wrong with any of these.   

Budino Di Cioccolata 


Valrhona Dulcey Tart 

Panna Cotta

We had such a great night at St. Cecilia with good friends, good service, and great food and wine.  I don't think we could have asked for a better night.  On to the next Ford Fry venture!