eG Foodblog: Susan in FL - Food and Drink Celebrations

[Susan in FL]

Between the spa and happy hour I also went to a new package store. After we had the drinks and appetizer at the Riverview, I took Russ to the new package store and we also went to a couple of other spots new to us. I am so grateful for the existence of Foodblogs on eGullet, or else we might not have discovered these places!

I've driven by this several times, and imagined it was just a dive-kind-of liquor store, but it isn't. It has the best selections of beer, high end wines, and rums I've seen in the Daytona Beach area. I bought a sixer of Dogfish Head Chicory Stout when I first went in, and when we went back together, Russ bought a sixer of Boulder Hazed and Infused Dry-hopped Ale and a couple of bottles of 1997 California wines.

[Susan in FL]

...Isn't this a great store-front sign on the window? ...Espresso, microbrews, used CDs, and candles?! It's only been here for two weeks, and I surely hope it makes it. We were thrilled with the beer selection. We had Shipyards on tap -- Russ had the Stout, and I had the Export Ale. There is no food yet, and so smoking is allowed. My eyes immediately teared up. I am allergic to cigarette smoke and have a strong aversion to it, but this was worth it.

[Susan in FL]

We drank lots and lots of water tonight during happy hours, but still at this point were ready to stop drinking and safely drive home. We discovered another new place called Heavenly Barbecue, and decided to check it out and order dinner to go if it looked good. It did indeed look good. It was very down-to-earth Southern style, and didn't even take plastic or checks, but again worth an inconvenience.

We each got the pulled pork dinner, with BBQ sauce on the side, and three side orders! We drank some of the Hazed and Infused. Then on the porch we ate the food out of the styrofoam containers, and drank one of the wines, a 1997 Zinfandel, out of Riedel glasses. It was really, really good.

[Susan in FL]

That rosemary bush is awesome, Susan.

They say that rosemary helps memory and erases forgetfulness.

I think perhaps I need to sleep under a huge rosemary tree, the way I have been lately.

Lovely blog, am enjoying it.

Shout a big "hey" from the hills to your hubby for a belated happy birthday!

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Thanks!

So rosemary might help memory and erase forgetfulness... I'm afraid that my exposure to it so far is showing no evidence of that benefit. I sure do need that though. I'll go breathe a whole bunch of it. If I remember to, I'll report back.

[Priscilla]

A lovely manicure, indeed.

I had to laugh reading of the talk turning to food during your spa afternoon -- the other week getting my toes done I left unread a massive, juicy W mag to eavesdrop my way into a nice conversation with a German woman leaving the next day to visit family in Germany and the Vietnamese-American proprietess, about, guess what, German food and Vietnamese food. Had some things affirmed and some things I learned anew.

Your indoor picnic looks very good. How was the rosemary in the potato salad dressing? It can so easily become overpoweringly resiny.

Blog on!

[Pan]

This is the lemongrass "patch" ...one of the die hards.

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Tenacious, isn't it? When I was living in rural Malaysia, some lemongrass was growing as a weed at the edges of the yard. Unfortunately, over a period of a few weeks, we snipped all of it for chicken soup and that was that.

[Susan in FL]

Coffee is happening now, as I type. The Daytona Beach Wine Festival starts this morning. I have tickets to all the seminars and events which will include California Sparkling Wine vs. French Champagne at 11:00, the Food & Wine Pairing Luncheon and Meritage Blending Seminar at noon; a Riedel Crystal Glassware Seminar at 3:00, and the Grand Tasting at 6:00.

It is being held oceanfront, at The Shores Resort & Spa, and Russ will come this afternoon to go to the Grand Tasting with me. We have a room for the night, which will make for a real fine Sunday with the beach right there for our morning -- or perhaps afternoon -- walk.

This is where Baleen is located, the restaurant we enjoyed so much for our wedding anniversary celebration.

Hopefully there will be wireless internet access so that I can "keep you posted" from the scene! If it doesn't work out for that, I'll post commentary and photos as soon as I can.

Wishing Everyone a Good Weekend...

[Susan in FL]

Priscilla, I know what you mean about the taste imparted by rosemary sometimes. I took a second look at that recipe before deciding, but went for it. It was OK! What I wish I did differently was roasting the potatoes ahead the night before. It would have been better tossing the vinaigrette with them if they were just cooled from coming out of the oven. I would also add a little bit of garlic next time, too. Rosemary and garlic seem almost inseparable to me.

The lemongrass is something. Sometimes we have to cut it back and we use it fairly regularly, especially when I am on one of my Thai kicks. Lemongrass was one of the topics of food conversation yesterday while I was getting my new feet.

[liamsaunt]

I am so jealous of your beautiful rosemary plants and herb garden! I have been spending today harvesting my basil plants. I don't think we will have more than a few weeks before we get a night cold snap here. A year-round garden would be nice indeed.

[Jake]

Susan, great blog. The dinner party turned out well, started with a variety of cheeses and pates and shrimp on cucumber rounds with wasabi creme fraiche and caviar. 1st course was pan seared scallops (huge fresh ones) with a brown butter and frizzled leek sauce atop a carrot and daikon salad. Main course was the aforementioned duck with sour cherry sauce, potato gratin and french green beens with a compound butter (dijon, chive and thyme).

Alas, we did not make it down to the Daytona 500 this year as we'd planned and were pretty disappointed. However, it is definitely on the agenda for 2006. My family has a place in St. Petersburg, so if we go in November we will base ourselves there. As far as I recall stone crab season starts around the beginning of November.

Hope you enjoy the wine festival and the night away. I look forward to the report.

[snowangel]

Susan, will there be a NASCAR meal tomorrow? Paul, Heidi and Diana have a hot date in front of the TV tomorrow with popcorn and beer (clarify. Diana and Heidi will have juice or water!)

[Jake]

Yes, Susan, what's on the table for NASCAR? We'll be dividing our time between NASCAR and the F1 race I'm currently taping for whenever HRH returns from the boys fishing weekend....methinks I'll be the only one having a beer tonight! Guess I'd better head off to the store to find something for dinner. I think maybe hotpot in front of the TV.....

[Susan in FL]

Belated Good Morning! I'll start, as usual, with a mention of coffee as my first blogging post of the day, and then back up and report on the Wine Festival, and The Morning After. Actually I feel pretty good today considering the quantity I drank and ate yesterday, and I believe I owe that to huge amounts of water consumed throughout.

This morning's first cup of coffee:

Jake and Susan, ahhh yes NASCAR Sunday... practically a weekly culinary event. We just got home, and the race is "TIVO'ed." It's peanuts and beer for Russ. He likes watching the recorded/delayed version so he can fast-forward through commercials, and he is on the porch doing that, even as I type.

On the table for watching the rest of the race later and the first episode of Cold Case for the new season will be a mixed grill, mashed potatoes, probably some kind of green vegetable, and some kind of salad -- last two yet to be determined.

[Susan in FL]

The first event of the Wine Festival yesterday was at 11:00, and I was glad to be able to check in to the hotel before it began. I can't resist showing you the room that awaited me.

...Talk about a room with a view. It was an oceanfront room on the 6th floor.

This was not like other wine festivals we have attended outdoors with food, music, arts & crafts, and with a souvenir wine glass included. It was actually more like a day-long wine conference. It was a beautiful setting, though. It was held on the top floor which has windows all around and consists of rooms for dining, classes, and conferences. I learned a lot about wines in all three of the seminars. Throughout the seminars, participants were poured glasses of wine, rather than tastings only. Saratoga was the water, available in abundance all day and evening.

The first seminar was Champagne vs. California Sparkling Wine, presented by Chad Munsey, Sommelier and owner of Grotto Wine Bar in St. Augustine. Some other people from wineries were there, including a representative from Gloria Ferrer. Attendees tasted six wines, two at a time, blind tastings, and then after each blind tasting were told which was from California and which was French. Before the tastings started, there was a Sparkling Wine 101 type thing, followed by more detailed additional information. Then after the tastings, there was further discussion about the wines served in particular.

First we were poured glasses of Domaine Carneros Brut 2001 and Henri Abele Brut Champagne NV. Following them, it was Gloria Ferrer Rose NV and Piper Heidsieck Rose Savage NV. This was my first occasion to take the time to learn about and truly appreciate sparkling rose wine. The third pair was Gloria Ferrer Carnernos Cuvee 1995 and Taittinger Comtes De Champagne 1995. I enjoyed all of these, and two out of three times in tastings, it turned out that my preference was for the California sparkling wines. I really wanted to drink all six glasses. However, I couldn't, as I would be attending all three seminars, the luncheon with five wines, and the Grand Tasting.

[Pan]

Looks like an expensive festival!

Do you have any professional interest in wine, or is this just for fun?

[Susan in FL]

Next was the Meritage Blending Seminar, and then the Food & Wine Pairing Luncheon. One ticket gave participants both of these events. Before I go further, I want to remind you to feel free to ask questions about the wines or this festival. I don't know how much interest Foodblog readers have in wines, so I'm trying to keep it general in reporting about yesterday. It you want more detail, please ask.

I definitely learned the most from the Meritage Blending Seminar, and what fun it was! We were seated at the tables with five glasses of red wine poured, and one empty glass. This seminar was taught by Mark Fine of St. Supery (likewise, the wines served at lunch were from St. Supery). After a general overview of winemaking in that area of California and similar winemaking in Bordeaux, he presented great information about the blending of grapes in winemaking, and in making Meritage wines.

Four of the five glasses of wine were actual barrel samples -- not filtered, not the finished product -- of St. Supery vintage 2002: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot. We tasted each as he talked about them. Also placed next to the glasses of wine was a long skinny calibrated thingie that we were to use in creating our own blends. That was done by sucking the amount of wine desired into it, and then holding the top and releasing the measured amount of wine into the glass. Most people made about five or six different blends. Paper cups were available if any turned out really bad. After our very own blending experiences, we were all eager to drink the fifth glass of wine which was the 2000 Élu, St. Supery's red Meritage, guess what the grapes were, and guess the percentage of each grape.

An aside.... This seminar was so interesting that I wasn't even distracted by this beautiful west view of the intracoastal and the Daytona Beach area that I sat next to! Of course, it didn't hurt anything, either.

[mizducky]

Also placed next to the glasses of wine was a long skinny calibrated thingie that we were to use in creating our own blends.  That was done by sucking the amount of wine desired into it, and then holding the top and releasing the measured amount of wine into the glass.

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Way the heck back in college chemistry class, we used similar thingies, which at least in Chem were called pipettes.

I'm not asking any questions, but only because I'm just happily soaking it all in.

[Susan in FL]

Lunch is served! We moved from one side of this lovely room to the other, and during the time that a speaker was not talking, a harpist provided background music.

The first course was Blue Crab Salad; Potato Crisp; Smoked Atlantic Salmon; and Lemon Aioli; with 2003 Sauvignon Blanc. On the left is a perfectly peeled cherry tomato. On the right is crab salad with the smoked salmon wrapped around it. The "potato chip," in the middle is served atop a thin slice of apple, and fennel, which were ever so slighty and perfectly dressed. A welcomed change from oaky Chardonnay, the wine was 100% Sauvignon Blanc and it was aged in stainless steel -- no oak.

Second course: Yellowtail Snapper with Shrimp Dumplings; Cucumber Wrapped Radish Sprouts; Watermelon; and Kaffir Lime Sauce, served with 2003 Virtu white meritage... A thin slice of watermelon was overtop the sauce, and the snapper was placed on top of that. In the cucumber wrap were also some matchstick carrots, and something else if I recall correctly. It was all topped with a sea vegetable which had a flavor of sea salt and was just plain tasty. The delicious and expertly fried shrimp dumplings surrounded the work of culinary art. The white meritage contained Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon. It was a harmonious match.

Third course was an "omigod," for sure. It was Roasted Squab and Foie Gras; Herb Crêpe; Medjool Dates, and Porcini Mushroom Sauce. That, listed on the menu, did not do this dish justice. There were two glasses of wine served with it, 2001 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2000 Elu red meritage. The crêpes we called herb crêpes because there were herbs in the batter. They were filled with pulled squab. Think pulled pork... only pulled squab. For the plating, the piece of squab was served on top of the halved crêpe, and on top of that was a generous portion of foie gras. Some sauce was layered somewhere in the middle, and on the side were flavorful carrots and parsnips. AND, the porcini were fresh.

This looked so good, I forgot to take a picture of it before I started eating it. When I thought of that and made mention, the young man sitting next to me suggested that I shoot someone else's who hadn't yet dug into it. I did.

Both wines were very good, and the nuances were evident depending on what mouthful of food the sips of wine followed. Mark Fine told the group that two wines were served with this dish because tastes in wines were different and "you don't have to love every wine." I loved every wine with this meal.

The final course, dessert, was Tres Leches, Cake with Caramel Sauce, and 2004 Moscato. It was an excellent food and wine pairing. There was coconut in the icing and it was garnished with slices of candied dried citrus on top and almonds to the side. The caramel sauce was served on the side.

[percyn]

Susan,

The wine event looks and sounds interesting. Was it one of the Wine Spectator run events?

Besides the Champagne vs Sparkling wine session (BTW, which did the crowd prefer and were they able to tell the difference in a blind tasting?), were most of the wines from California?

Thanks

Percy

[Susan in FL]

The third seminar and last event before the Grand Tasting was billed as a Riedel Crystal Glassware Seminar, but there must have been some hitch in the program or some reason to change, because it featured Stoelzle-Oberglas in the part of the lecture about the advantages of using good stemware. The presenters were Steve Palmer, Sommelier and Robert Mann, Winemaker, Tintara Estates, Australia. The two wines served in this seminar were the Tintara Estates 2002 Shiraz and the Cabernet from McLarenvale, and it was a discussion about several aspects of "tasting" wine, in addition to the use of the specific shapes of crystal glassware. Three glasses of wine were poured, the first two again a blind tasting. Predictably, wine #1 and wine #2 were the same wine, the Shiraz. Glass #1 was the Libby-type glass and glass #2 was Stoelzle Crystal. It clearly illustrated the difference in taste. The third wine, the Tintara Estates Cabernet Sauvignon was served in a Stoelzle glass, as well.

This was also a very good seminar, but taking place immediately after that lunch, even though I carried in a cup of coffee, I felt like taking a nap more than listening for an hour. Fortunately, there were a couple of hours between this and the Grand Tasting, during which time Russ arrived. I rested and freshened up and changed my clothes and managed to revive myself.

[Susan in FL]

The Grand Tasting was held in the ground floor ballroom. There were tastings of over 100 wines available, a buffet dinner, a jazz band, an emcee, and a silent auction to benefit Speediatrics, the Pediatric Floor of Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach. One item in the silent auction was a BMW!

The only disappointment in this event was that seating was not provided, as in the luncheon and seminars, making it awkward to get food from the buffet stations while carrying around a wine glass. There were a few tables available, some regular tables with chairs and some high tops for standing and eating. Due to this set up, I didn't take any notes during the evening. With the lighting in the ballroom, including candles, the pictures did not turn out good and so I took way fewer photos.

The food was great. There were roasts of beef tenderloin, cold peeled shrimp, various vegetable salads such as broccoli and cauliflower, lots of cheeses, crackers and breads, and my favorite, a mashed potato bar! There was also a station for custom made banana splits.

That is me in the picture with the emcee, Mark McEwen, of CBS Morning Show fame. Some of you may know of him if you watched the network morning news shows some years ago. He moved from New York to Florida a couple of years ago and is now an anchor of one of our local stations, WKMG-TV Channel 6.

A fun time was had by all.

[Susan in FL]

Looks like an expensive festival!

Do you have any professional interest in wine, or is this just for fun?

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It was quite pricey, but well worth it. Many attendees took advantage of the room package that included two of the seminars and the Grand Tasting.

No professional interest in wine... This was just for fun, as is my interest in food & drink; and it's part of my hobby of food writing (and my even newer hobby of food photography).

[Susan in FL]

Way the heck back in college chemistry class, we used similar thingies, which at least in Chem were called pipettes.

Why thank you, Ellen! I guess I wouldn't know those sort of things because in both high school and college chemistry, my lab partners did all the work of the experiments and I copied from their notes into our notebooks (I had better handwriting). We got good grades and I learned very little.

I'm not asking any questions, but only because I'm just happily soaking it all in.

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I'm glad you are enjoying it.

[mizducky]

The food was great.  There were roasts of beef tenderloin, cold peeled shrimp, various vegetable salads such as broccoli and cauliflower, lots of cheeses, crackers and breads, and my favorite, a mashed potato bar! 

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Heheheh. I've been at an event with a mashed potato bar--one of the choices for topping the taters was caviar! A lot of people at that event seemed to be overlooking the mashed potatoes and their little fish-eggy acoutrements, but I was more than happy to make up for their neglect.

[Susan in FL]

Susan,

          The wine event looks and sounds interesting. Was it one of the Wine Spectator run events?

No connection with any wine publication, that I know of. It was put on by The Shores Resort & Spa, and also sponsored by National Distributing Company and some local businesses.

          Besides the Champagne vs Sparkling wine session (BTW, which did the crowd prefer and were they able to tell the difference in a blind tasting?), were most of the wines from California?

Thanks

Percy

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Interestingly, most of the group preferred the sparkling wine. One factor might have been that the California sparkling wine had brighter fruit, making it more drinkable without food. I think the preferences might have turned out differently if there had been some food, even if just bread. There were a handful who could usually tell the difference in the blind tasting.

I just glanced over the list of all the wines featured in the festival's entirety, and my initial guess is that about half the wines or a little less were from California and half Washington state, France, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, South Africa, Spain, Portugal (Port), and Italy combined.