Member-organized event - 2006 Heartland Gathering

[edsel]

Here's some of the pictures I took at the gathering.  More and captions as I have time.

←

Note the head on the drink. This was supposed to be "U.E.'s Spirit's Fizzy Non-Alky Drink", or something. Jasmine tea and citrus, with a touch of orange bitters and simple syrup to make it a bit less edgy.

The syphon was less than full, so I should have let it sit a while before pouring. For some odd reason I decided to double-charge it. When I poured the first glass the stuff shot out of the syphon like a fire extinguisher. It went all over the place! Luckily it (mostly) missed the people on the other side of the table. This photo is obviously after we mopped up the mess.

[moosnsqrl]

For some odd reason I decided to double-charge it. When I poured the first glass the stuff shot out of the syphon like a fire extinguisher. It went all over the place! Luckily it (mostly) missed the people on the other side of the table. This photo is obviously after we mopped up the mess.

←

Edsel definitely is the 'mad scientist' of the group. I'm guessing that "for some odd reason" you probably decide to "double" everything and, with all of your toys, we're lucky you haven't blown yourself up yet!

Did you, perchance, have a chemistry set when you were young? (Until your parents had to take it away from you, after the 'incident', I mean )

For those who have not had the pleasure of making his acquaintance, Edsel's eyes positively light up when he says the words "Class-Four Laser." The only consolation is that he'll probably never get his hands on one.

[ulterior epicure]

Here's some of the pictures I took at the gathering.  More and captions as I have time.

←

Note the head on the drink. This was supposed to be "U.E.'s Spirit's Fizzy Non-Alky Drink", or something. Jasmine tea and citrus, with a touch of orange bitters and simple syrup to make it a bit less edgy.

Oh, how sweet of all of you to think of my teetotaling absence... but for goodness sake, don't got hurting yourself on my account! Please be careful edsel!

u.e.

[edited to add: what the heck is a "class-four laser?" And what on earth would you do wit it? Sounds like something Cantu would pull out!! ]

Edited August 9, 2006 by ulterior epicure (log)

[tammylc]

More pictures (taken by my neighbor, Jillian)

Ric Jewell and my neighbor Elph opening wine bottles.

Wine tasters.

Another shot of oh-so-adorable Dylan helping Randi with the fish.

My excellent team of sous chefs, helping me get the squash trio components prepped.

Fat Guy plating his contribution to the squash trio.

Plating moosnsqrl's soup

sweintraub does arcane things with Absinthe (see my gallery in ImageGullet for the entire Absinthe action sequence).

[tammylc]

←

Hey Scott- I misplaced the reciept you gave me with the cheese names on it - can you tell us what's what?

[Palladion]

After buying our fruits and vegetables in the farmer's market, we decided to go to Monahan's (the best seafood restaurant in Ann Arbor, says Tammy, and I think we all agreed) for lunch. Monahan's is a small shop, located inside the Kerrytown building right next to the market. It's a seafood restaurant and a fish counter, and they'll cook any of the fish that you can buy right there. In addition to their standard fried fare, they also run daily specials.

Very limited seating, so we split into two groups of four or so people each. Tammy took charge and ordered one fried calamari, one fried fish, and one special, swordfish with mango chutney, for each group. We also ordered a quart of chowder to share.

Here's the fish and chips:

The fries were incredible. They're tossed in herbed butter after frying, but that treatment wouldn't help a bad fry... these are great fries, and the herbed butter just pushes them over the edge.

And the swordfish with mango chutney:

I didn't get a shot of the calamari, which is unfortunate, because it was great, too. I was too busy eating.

-------

Alex Parker

[Palladion]

Looking forward to photos of the dumplings.  Is the dough potato-based or farmer's cheese based?  These types of dumplings are very popular in Austria filled with either small plums or with apricots.

Hope you have some photos of the finished product!

←

I hope someone took a picture or two of the finished product. My camera battery died by that point, and I had forgotten my second battery in Cleveland.

The dough is potato based. I was originally worried because the recipe didn't call for any sugar in the filling or in the dough; the only sugar was simply poured on at the end, after frying some bread crumbs in butter, adding the dumplings and toasting them just a touch, and then removing them from the frying pan. The bread crumbs, butter, and sugar all combined together to make the dessert work. Very comforting food.

Earlier, the dough wasn't working out for me (I was unused to working with that type of dough and I didn't put in enough flour; I think by the end I had added about 3 or 4 times what the recipe called for), and had become quite frustrated, when someone's Eastern European mother showed up to the event and helped me make a couple dumplings. She told me that I was just worrying to much and they'd turn out ok. She was right, on both counts. By the end, I was turning out a few dumplings a minute. I'll have to make them again sometime.

Sometimes all it takes is a lot encouragement.

-------

Alex Parker

[ludja]

Looking forward to photos of the dumplings.  Is the dough potato-based or farmer's cheese based?  These types of dumplings are very popular in Austria filled with either small plums or with apricots.

Hope you have some photos of the finished product!

←

...

The dough is potato based. I was originally worried because the recipe didn't call for any sugar in the filling or in the dough; the only sugar was simply poured on at the end, after frying some bread crumbs in butter, adding the dumplings and toasting them just a touch, and then removing them from the frying pan. The bread crumbs, butter, and sugar all combined together to make the dessert work. Very comforting food.

Earlier, the dough wasn't working out for me (I was unused to working with that type of dough and I didn't put in enough flour; I think by the end I had added about 3 or 4 times what the recipe called for), and had become quite frustrated, when someone's Eastern European mother showed up to the event and helped me make a couple dumplings. She told me that I was just worrying to much and they'd turn out ok. She was right, on both counts. By the end, I was turning out a few dumplings a minute. I'll have to make them again sometime.

Sometimes all it takes is a lot encouragement.

-------

Alex Parker

←

In the Austrian version, which I suspect is very similar to that which migrated over the border to what is now northern Italy post WWI, there isn't any sugar in the dough either. Usually one puts a whole or half sugar cube inside the apricot or plum where the pit used to be. When I saute the bread crumbs in butter which will be used to coat the dumplings I sometimes add a little granulated sugar to the mix at the end when I turn the heat off. Then, the dumplings get dusted with powdered sugar or vanllla powdered sugar just prior to service. They are not extremely sweet as they are often eaten as a meatless dinner. The dough is pretty easy to work with once you tried it once or twice. The amount of flour that gets added can vary according the moisture of the potatoes, flour, the size of the eggs, etc. Glad they turned out well in the end; it was a creative dish to think up for a crowd of people during plum season!

One variation I've done is to also add some ground walnuts to the breadcrumbs when they are sauteed in butter. This adds a nice taste and richness as well to the final dish.

[jmsaul]

We didn't go to the Kerrytown part of the trip (for us, it's our regular Saturday morning shopping, so we didn't want to add to the crowd), but <a href="http://www.kitchenchick.com/2006/03/a_feast_at_monh.html">here's some more about Monahan's, for anyone who's interested.</a> No photos of the squid rings there, because he hadn't started doing them yet at that point. But they're great, and he tosses in a few green beans.

Alex, what the heck is that side dish he did with the swordfish?

Edited August 10, 2006 by jmsaul (log)

[Palladion]

We didn't go to the Kerrytown part of the trip (for us, it's our regular Saturday morning shopping, so we didn't want to add to the crowd), but <a href="http://www.kitchenchick.com/2006/03/a_feast_at_monh.html">here's some more about Monahan's, for anyone who's interested.</a>  No photos of the squid rings there, because he hadn't started doing them yet at that point.  But they're great, and he tosses in a few green beans.

Alex, what the heck is that side dish he did with the swordfish?

←

It's couscous! I didn't try any of it; I think we all gorged ourselves on fries and the fresh, fresh fish.

-------

Alex Parker

[jmsaul]

It's couscous! I didn't try any of it; I think we all gorged ourselves on fries and the fresh, fresh fish.

-------

Alex Parker

←

I know what you mean. He does this <a href="http://leutheuser.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/mohanasszchuansquid72.jpg">Asian-inspired squid dish</a>, and I never finish the rice because we order too many things... that couscous was probably really good, though. His sides are awesome.

Edited August 10, 2006 by jmsaul (log)

[Palladion]

Just a few more pictures after this small set.

Bottles from the tasting

Nancy, Bob, and the double magnum

Ric opening a bottle of wine

Edsel had the misfortune of taking a shot of cherry juice to the chest

Pour

[torakris]

Edsel had the misfortune of taking a shot of cherry juice to the chest

←

Oh dear!

Edsel, I hope that wasn't that one that had gotten away from me...

[sweintraub]

←

Hey Scott- I misplaced the reciept you gave me with the cheese names on it - can you tell us what's what?

←

I wish I remembered all of them. I didn't take notes while I was at the deli, and then couldn't remember half of what I got. I know the soft goat log was a Zingerman's cheese called Lincoln Log, of which there is a small piece in the middle. The top right was a white cheddar, top left, Point Reyes Blue, bottom left, a camembert. The top middle remains a mystery except that it was gruyere-like. All of these were american made.

As a special treat, I added a non-American sample of 7 year aged gouda, bottom right.

Next time, I take notes!

[sweintraub]

Cheese platter.  I believe this is the platter that went out before dinner.

Sweintraub put this together.  I made the fig jam.

Im not familar with the cheeses, anyone else?

and, Tom's( tino27) bread in the backround.

←

This is another view of the Camembert, White Cheddar, and Lincoln Log.

By the way, Palladion and Deborah helped me pick all the cheeses, and Deborah put this tray together while I chopped guanciale for an hour. I put the more obviously-engineer-decorated tray above together.

Edited August 11, 2006 by sweintraub (log)

[VickiA2]

I would be forever grateful if the cooks could post some of the other recipes. While everything was delicious, Judy's (moosnsqrl) chilled heirloom tomato soup and Tammy & Steven's patty pan squash with guincale seem like items I might actually be able to reproduce.

I thought of you all this morning while I was at the farmer's market. I tasted some tiny, sweet tomatillos from Tantre Farms and could only imagine what the experts chefs would do with them.

[tammylc]

I would be forever grateful if the cooks could post some of the other recipes.  While everything was delicious, Judy's (moosnsqrl) chilled heirloom tomato soup and Tammy & Steven's patty pan squash with guincale seem like items I might actually be able to reproduce. 

I thought of you all this morning while I was at the farmer's market.  I tasted some tiny, sweet tomatillos from Tantre Farms and could only imagine what the experts chefs would do with them.

←

I tasted those tomatillos too! So pineapple-y!

All of the squash trio items were exceedingly easy.

Patty Pan Squash

Trim the tops off of baby patty pan squash. I used a tomato corer to scoop out an indentation before cooking them - I realized later that if I'd cooked them first, it would have been easy to make a bigger hole. Toss with a little olive and cook at 350 until tender - about 20 minutes in this case, IIRC.

As Steven has said, the filling turned out a little too salty, so I include below how we actually did it, and what we probably should have done.

How we actually made it: Got sweintraub to cut up a pound-plus of guanciale. Fried until crispy. Drained off most of the fat, and mixed in two jars of fig preserve. There was probably some other seasoning added - Fat Guy, care to chime in?

What we probably should have done: Blanched the guanciale first to remove some of the salt. Or gone with my suggestion of pancetta.

To serve, simply top the patty pan squash with the guanciale-fig mixture.

Stuffed Squash Blossoms

Clean and dry squash blossoms.

In a food processor, combine canned cannelini beans with lemon juice, garlic, parsley, olive oil, salt and pepper. You need to do this mostly to taste, but IIRC I used 2 cans of beans, the juice of one lemon, a generous handful of parsley leaves, one clove of garlic and 3 or 4 glugs of olive oil.

Pipe into squash blossoms, twisting the tops to keep things neat, and serve.

Grilled Zucchini Roulade Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking

Cut zucchini into thin slices with a mandoline if you've got one, by hand if you don't. Toss with olive oil and kosher salt. Grill until charred and limp, lay out on a wire rack over a sheet pan to cool without getting soggy.

For enough filling for about 50 small rollups, I used an 11 oz log of goat cheese, 1/4 cup diced sundried tomatoes (oil packed), 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme, and 6 tbsp of olive oil. Just mix together with a fork until nicely blended.

Using your fingers, spread a dollop of the cheese mixture along a piece of zucchini, then roll it up. These can be made quite far in advance. When ready to serve, simply pop them into the over or under the broiler to heat up.

Of the three, the roulades are my favorite because they are so simple to make and quite tasty. And easy to do in bulk. They'd be great for a summer cocktail party. The filling for the squash blossoms also doubles as a nice dip or topping for crostinis.

[jmsaul]

Kitchen Chick (who hasn't made her way through registration here yet) has posted her writeup of the Saturday night dinner and wanted me to let you know about it. And she says she'll do the registration thing soon... ;-)

Edited August 13, 2006 by jmsaul (log)

[edsel]

Looking forward to photos of the dumplings.  Is the dough potato-based or farmer's cheese based?  These types of dumplings are very popular in Austria filled with either small plums or with apricots.

Hope you have some photos of the finished product!

←

I hope someone took a picture or two of the finished product. My camera battery died by that point, and I had forgotten my second battery in Cleveland.

The dough is potato based. I was originally worried because the recipe didn't call for any sugar in the filling or in the dough; the only sugar was simply poured on at the end, after frying some bread crumbs in butter, adding the dumplings and toasting them just a touch, and then removing them from the frying pan. The bread crumbs, butter, and sugar all combined together to make the dessert work. Very comforting food.

Earlier, the dough wasn't working out for me (I was unused to working with that type of dough and I didn't put in enough flour; I think by the end I had added about 3 or 4 times what the recipe called for), and had become quite frustrated, when someone's Eastern European mother showed up to the event and helped me make a couple dumplings. She told me that I was just worrying to much and they'd turn out ok. She was right, on both counts. By the end, I was turning out a few dumplings a minute. I'll have to make them again sometime.

Sometimes all it takes is a lot encouragement.

-------

Alex Parker

←

Here's a snapshot of the wonderful consultation on dumpling technique. Palladion's Japanese-style dumpling dough may be closer to Eastern European (Polish?) dumplings than you might think.

(Vicki's mom provides wisdom. Danielle's daughter doesn't miss a thing.)

I would be forever grateful if the cooks could post some of the other recipes.  While everything was delicious, Judy's (moosnsqrl) chilled heirloom tomato soup and Tammy & Steven's patty pan squash with guincale seem like items I might actually be able to reproduce. 

I thought of you all this morning while I was at the farmer's market.  I tasted some tiny, sweet tomatillos from Tantre Farms and could only imagine what the experts chefs would do with them.

←

I didn't volunteer for any of the dishes, but I contributed to Nancy and Bob's beef with cherries and peppers. Bob gets the lion's share of credit for the inspiration: there were those gorgeous cherries at the market. We were in Michigan, after all!

Bob, the consummate gardener, started scoping out the market for something that would complement the cherries. He's the ultimate pepper snob. The look on the faces of some of the market vendors was priceless. When Bob evaluated the peppers, most didn't measure up.

I'll give some credit to Ronnie for backing up Nancy when both Bob and I thought the beef was "done". I guess I've been doing too much sous vide cooking, because Nancy was absolutely right that the braise needed more time. Fortunately Ronnie was there to back her up.

My minor contributions were the caramelized cherries used for the garnish, and the veal stock, Maraschino, and demi-glace used for de-glazing the pan. Nancy and Bob will have to provide the proportions of the main ingredients.

[moosnsqrl]

Have you ever wandered so far astray from a recipe that, when you look it up to pass it along to someone, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the dish you fed them? That is definitely the case with the chilled tomato soup. I'm looking at the Charlie Trotter book from which this originated and, between eliminating cilantro/coriander (too many friends have the "soap" issue with it), skipping the fine-diced tomatoes which should be added in at plating (time constraints and laziness on my part at the event) and artistic license (the original calls for yellow taxi toms, so it's a monotone soup, save for the sorbet and garnish dice), it's a stretch to even attribute it back to the original. Between that and copyright laws, I am going to attempt to describe (and pare-down) what I actually did that night, rather than publish Chef Trotter's barely recognizable original.

1 medium onion, finely diced (I used a nice bottle onion from the A2 market)

2 T olive oil

3# heriloom tomatoes, chopped (if you want two-tone, obviously use different colors)

salt & pepper to taste

1 ripe avocado (Haas, I can't see Fuerte or other working with this - too watery)

1-1/2 T lime juice

1-1/2 T simple syrup

1 c water

Wilt onions in olive oil; add cored, chopped tomatoes (before onions can 'color'). Simmer together until most of the liquid has cooked out (~20 minutes). Blend until very smooth (I used an immersion but regular blender works as well); pass through a china cap or other fine-mesh sieve. Season to taste and chill thoroughly.

Mash avocado flesh, add lime juice, simple syrup and water and blend until smooth. Season to taste with S&P (note: I swear this stuff grew saltier during churning - don't know if that's chemically or physically possible, but beware nonetheless). Freeze in an ice cream maker. Depending on time, freezer space and preference, the sorbet can be placed in the freezer until hard after churning. I prefer it softer, so it can be incorporated into the soup more easily.

The original called for a 'confetti' of mixed heirlooms and tomatillos, tossed with a bit of coriander -infused oil to be added at service, as well as a chiffonade of cilantro. I suppose you could use any herb that goes well with tomatoes - as mentioned, some friends have cilantro issues. I pondered adding basil but it seems like so many meals include some combo of tomatoes and basil at this time of year, I decided to omit it. I think, if you plan to add diced tomato garnish, I would thin the soup itself a bit (either with water or tomato water/juice); as we consumed it, it was rather thick to take a chunky garnish IMHO.

Anyway, that's essentially the deal. I'm glad people enjoyed it and thank our talented photographers for making it look better than I thought it did at the time - maybe Adobe products were involved? On that note, had I been doing this for a smaller group, I would have probably used squeeze bottles or the like to achieve a more yin/yang effect, and perhaps manipulated the sorbet with a toothpick. But that's just my rather pathetic attempt to compensate for complete lack of artistic ability.

[NancyH]

The meat course turned out to be my favorite type of cooking - a pure patchker, or improvisation. As best as I can recall it, we started with 3 quarts of cherries, 2 containers of hot chilies (one of hungarians, one of serranos), several onions, and a nine pound beef shoulder roast that practically called to us from the meat case. My husband Bob had the inspiration to pair cherrries and chilies.

Since we had more chilies than we needed for the dish, and since one of the stands had exquisite, but ugly tomatoes, we decided to make a salsa. Finally, we decided to accompany the dish with plain sweet corn, because no one else was going to use it, and it looked so good at the market!

The first order of business was prep - and the cherries took quite a while to pit (Bob started the job, and Kris took over once the wine tasting started). Once the cherries were ready, Edsel and I began to reduce them in a heavy pot, and we chopped the onions. Kris and someone else chopped peppers once the cherries were pitted.

Bob then browned the meat in some oil and added some of the onion and chili during that process. When we were satisfied that the meat was sufficiently browned, we took the pan off of the heat, added the cherries, and then added the rest of the onion, more chili, and some of Edsel's wonderful veal stock. We seasoned with kosher salt and some black pepper, and added a couple of fresh bay leaves (also courtesy of Edsel) and some fresh parsley from the garden.

We put it into a 350* oven, and let it braise. We turned it several times as it cooked over a 3-4 hour period, and thank you Ronnie for convincing the other guys to give it more time. And thank you Edsel for helping me to convince Bob to keep the lid on it!

While the meat cooked, we chopped tomato and sweet onions, then added the remaining chilies and some chopped cilantro and kosher salt to make the salsa.

Once the meat was done, we added some of the fantastic demiglasse that Edsel had made, and buzzed the sauce up with my immersion blender. The demi really cut the spice level, so perhaps we didn't need to serve the sauce on the side, but we decided that we didn't want to blow anyone's taste buds off! So we put platters of meat and pitchers of sauce on each table, with a bowl of salsa. Last came the sweet corn, which was good, but not as good as some of the Ohio corn we've been getting. I do believe that most folks were too stuffed to care by that point!

[eJulia]

But I also just realized, to my horror, that I am missing my Henckels Santuko knife!

←

Did anyone ever find it? My favorite knife is my Henckels Santuko... I am just so upset at your missing treasure!

[tammylc]

But I also just realized, to my horror, that I am missing my Henckels Santuko knife!

←

Did anyone ever find it? My favorite knife is my Henckels Santuko... I am just so upset at your missing treasure!

←

I did find it. And left it on the counter so I'd see it in the morning and take into work, where I can easily ship things. And then my husband "helpfully" put it away in the knife block. Where it still sits. Thanks for the reminder - I'm going to go take it out of the knife block now, so I have some chance of remembering it tomorrow.

[Meez]

So bummed I had to miss this!

I love all the kitchen and prep pictures, but I have to give special props to Ron for that pastrami.

Hope to make the next gathering.

Edited August 16, 2006 by Meez (log)

[moosnsqrl]

I did find it.  And left it on the counter so I'd see it in the morning and take into work, where I can easily ship things.  And then my husband "helpfully" put it away in the knife block.  Where it still sits.  Thanks for the reminder - I'm going to go take it out of the knife block now, so I have some chance of remembering it tomorrow.

←

Yes, I'm sorry I didn't post the happy results -- thanks to tammylc for rescuing my 'old friend' and I look forward to a happy reunion at your convenience!