An evening with Carlos and Paradiso

You have probably heard about the fine art of pairing wine with dinner. An up and coming alternative trend is to pair other types of beverages (such as beer or whiskey) with food. Last week I was privileged to attend an exclusive private dinner at The Phoenician Scottsdale starring the premium tequila El Tesoro paired with luscious gourmet cuisine prepared by their world-renown, award-winning culinary team.

Before we began our evening, the reception featured three cocktails to choose from. Always ready to sample, I had a bit of each – the El Tesoro Platinum Margarita (a margarita with Cointreau and a base of fresh lemon and lime juice), the Silvestri Suizo Sueco (a drier margarita with lingonberry puree, served very fittingly in a martini glass), and a twist on one of my favorites, the 5ive P (a fruit-infused bellini containing El Tesoro Paradiso, Pomegranate Liquor and prosecco).

After taking our seats in the dining room, before us we noticed two things that I never thought I would be served at a sit down dinner - a shot of tequila next to a trio of sushi made with baby octopus. Neither was very tempting to me, so I politely declined. During this time, Carlos Camarena, the owner of the El Tesoro distillery spoke to our small crowd of 60. He explained how his grandfather began making the fine tequila in its current location in 1937 and how his father, and now he, continued the tradition.

As owner and Master Distiller, Carlos’ stories held us captivated. He explained how his family’s tequila was crafted: The care that went in to selecting the right agave, how the product is pure and organic, and how much pride he and his family take in their business. For example, rather than mass produce tequila to 140-160 proof then adding water to make it 80 proof (as most distilleries do), El Tesoro is distilled by hand to be exactly 80 proof. El Tesoro was the first to do this, and is only one of two distilleries in the world who do.

After the wait staff removed the octopus which in all honesty was not easy to look at, but hard to look away from, they replaced it with a much more welcome treat – a Phoenician Tequila Sunrise (the traditional beverage enhanced with Pomegranate Liquor and a touch of sour mix) paired with mini quesadillas filled with roasted hot peppers and a sort of corn fungus that resembled truffles. The sweetness of the drink was the perfect match for the spicy dish. I nearly licked my plate clean and left not one drop in the glass.

Next up was our third course consisting of flaky seabass. Now if you know me, you know I am not a fish-eater, but this dish was actually delightful. Accompanying it was a bloody maria. The fourth course was the most tender pork tenderloin imaginable, in a spicy mole sauce. The beverage served was a traditional margarita made with Reposado tequila, nearly as delicious as the Tequila Sunrise.

As we awaited our next course, Carlos returned to tell more stories including another example of his groundbreaking techniques. A few years back, when he introduced the idea of aging tequila in oak barrels, his industry colleagues laughed at him. Once he tasted the product of this practice, he knew he had a hit and now has a selection of tequilas processed in this manner. Due to its brandy-like nature, the Añejo tequila was presented to us in miniature brandy snifters meant for sipping though doing so made my lips feel as though they were on fire! The accompanying dish was a delightful plate of Mexican cheeses, meant to clear the palate for what was to come – dessert.

The finale was a fabulously-crafted chocolate tequila cake. It was so beautiful – with a lemon custard meringe-like topping, gorgeous sugar work and layers of tequila-soaked dark chocolate cake, I almost didn’t want to touch it. Of course, I devoured it in about a minute! Another mini snifter was included, this time with the collectors-edition, extremely rare Aniversario tequila.

Carlos’ story of the Aniversario tequila is truly fascinating. You can read it in his own words here – the Coincidence of the Lucky 7s. Although I only had a bit of the cognac-like liquor, I knew it was something very, very special – only 2007 bottles were produced in honor of their 70th anniversary last year.

Fortunately I had the good sense to refrain from overindulging (in alcohol anyway) or I could have been in big trouble during the 45-minute drive home. I do feel that the experience was somewhat wasted on me, as someone who doesn’t know enough about tequila (or care to drink it much).

By the way, we did go home some goodie bags which had shot glasses and cocktail shakers. At upwards of $150 per bottle, there was no chance we’d all be taking the tequila home with us (though three lucky people did win bottles as a door prize). Nor is there any chance that I’ll be purchasing some myself. But – I did walk away with the privileged gift of having had a unique experience and a very interesting evening in the company of a master craftsman. For that – I will always be grateful.

Banana Bread Recipes for my friend Debs…

…and anyone else who wants them. I ended up making a chocolate chip banana bread for the church bake sale and it looked so good we were tempted to buy it back from them (but someone beat us to it – darn!). Here, I’ve adapted a recipe from Calumet Baking Powder (Kraft Foods), eliminating the nuts and substituting milk chocolate chips for chocolate chunks (click the link for the original recipe – my adaptation follows).

However, the best ‘regular’ banana bread recipe I’ve found is from Philadelphia Cream Cheese (also Kraft Foods)

Favorite Banana Bread

1 Package  Softened Cream Cheese — 8 oz.
1 Cup  Sugar
1/4 Cup  Butter
1 Cup  Mashed Ripe Banana — about 3 medium
2 Eggs
2 1/4 Cups  Flour
1 1/2 Teaspoons  Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon  Baking Soda

Combine cream cheese, sugar and margarine, mixing until well blended. Blend in banana and eggs. Add combined remaining ingredients, mixing just until moistened. Pour into greased and floured 9×6″ loaf pan. Bake at 350F 1 hour 10 minutes or until wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean. IMPORTANT: Check for doneness early (at 45-50 minutes) to avoid burning. When done, cool 5 minutes in pan; remove from pan and cool on wire rack. Serve with additional cream cheese if desired.

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2 Eggs — lightly beaten
1 Cup  Mashed Banana — about 3 medium
1/3 Cup  Vegetable Oil
1/4 Cup  Milk
2 Cups  All-purpose Flour
1 Cup  Sugar
2 Teaspoons  Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon  Salt
2 Cups  Milk Chocolate Chips

Heat oven to 350F. Stir eggs, bananas, oil and milk until well-blended. Add flour, sugar, baking powder and salt; stir until just moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Pour into greased 9×5″ loaf pan. Bake for 55 minutes or unitl toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes; remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Peanut Butter (Kiss) Cookies TNT

Looking for an easy and delicious peanut butter cookie recipe? Look no further. These are my favorite and sooooo quick and easy you won’t believe it. Make them with the Kisses or without – they’re just as scrumptious!
* Exported from MasterCook *

                       Peanut Butter (Kiss) Cookies TNT

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 0     Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    : Candy                           Cookies

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
  1                Can  Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk — 14 oz.
     3/4           Cup  Peanut Butter
  2               Cups  Bisquick® Baking Mix
  1           Teaspoon  Vanilla Extract
                        Granulated Sugar
                        Hershey Kisses — optional

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In large mixer bowl, beat Eagle Brand Condensed Milk and peanut butter until smooth. Add biscuit mix and vanilla; mix well. Shape into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar. Place two inches apart on ungreased baking sheet. Cross flatten balls with fork. Bake 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly browned (do not overbake). Cool. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

Variation: for kiss cookies, do not flatten – bake in ball shape. When you remove the cookies from the oven, immediately press one unwrapped Hershey’s kiss in each cookie; cool.

*TNT = “tried ‘n true”

Interview with a budding chef

We sat down recently with up and coming chef Justin, and asked him a few questions. Here, he provides insight into one of his favorite pastimes.

Desert-Drivel: Justin, how long have you been cooking? Who taught you how to cook?
Justin: I’ve been cooking for about a year. My Mom and Dad taught me what I know about it.

DD: Have you ever considered taking a cooking class?
J: Maybe someday.

DD: What is your favorite dish to cook?
J: I really love to make scrambled eggs. They taste great. I also love grilled cheese. My Dad taught me how to make it one time before a football game and man, it was the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had.

DD: What is the most difficult thing you’ve ever made?
J: Lasagne. I cooked it with my Mom about a week ago. It was fun and delicious, but it was also a lot of hard work.

DD: What is something you’d like to learn to cook in the future?
J: Family meals. I think it would be nice to learn how to put everything on the table for dinner. I really like spending time in the kitchen cooking a meal, then enjoying it once it’s done.

DD: Have you ever had an accident in the kitchen?
J: Once, when I was about five, I burned my hand on the stovetop. I didn’t know much about cooking at that time, but since then I’ve learned a lot more about safety in the kitchen.

DD: Have you ever considered making a career out of cooking?
J: Not really. I’d like to just keep it as a hobby.

Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cheese Bars (tried ‘n true)

I made these for the family last week. They turned out terrific. The flavor combinations are just perfect. And so easy – I think they may be a nice addition to next season’s Christmas cookie list. Brown sugar, butter and oatmeal, combined with chocolate chips and cranberries, all fused together with a cream cheese filling. YUM!!!

* Exported from MasterCook *

                   Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cheese Bars

Recipe By     :
Serving Size  : 36    Preparation Time :0:00
Categories    :

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient — Preparation Method
——–  ————  ——————————–
  1                cup  Butter — 2 Sticks/softened
  1                cup  firmly packed brown sugar
  2                cup  all-purpose flour
  1 1/2            cup  quick or old-fashioned oats
  2           teaspoon  grated orange peel
  2                cup  Nestlé® Toll House® Semi-Sweet Morsels -
  1                cup  Ocean Spray® Craisins®
  1            package  Cream Cheese — 8 Oz. Softened
  1                can  Sweetened Condensed Milk — 14 Oz

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

Beat butter and brown sugar in large mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in flour, oats and orange peel until crumbly. Stir in morsels and cranberries; reserve 2 cups mixture. Press remaining mixture onto bottom of prepared baking pan.

Bake for 15 minutes. Beat cream cheese in small mixer bowl until smooth. Gradually beat in sweetened condensed milk. Pour over hot crust; sprinkle with reserved flour mixture. Bake for additional 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set. Cool in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars. Makes 36 bars.

Pursuit of pork chop perfection

I’m sure you already knew I was a dork, so the title of this post shouldn’t come as too much of a shock to you. The truth is, I’ve always been one of those cooks who almost fears pork chops. Sure, I can do them in the slow cooker, but so often they come out tasting bland. Any attempt at stove-top simmering or baking usually ends up with overcooked, dried out chops – primarily due to the fear instilled by my 10th grade biology teacher who informed us that undercooked pork often results in trichynosis, a stomach ailment too scary to describe.

Recently I was watching the Food Network and saw Giada diLaurentiis prepare them in such a way, it made my mouth water. Taking tips from her and infusing my own style, I’ve come up with what hubby calls “The best pork chop I ever tasted. So juicy and tender!” That’s a direct quote, folks. Here’s what I do, based on four servings:

• Get boneless sirloin chops if possible, but bone-in will work too (they’re just a little harder to work with)
• Get thin – but not paper thin – chops. Thick ones are just trouble if you ask me.
• If you absolutely have to use thick ones, put them in a Zip-Loc bag and pound them flat with a rolling pin first.
• Remove chops from the fridge about 20 minutes before cooking. This allows them to shed some of the chill and help them soak up more of the delicousness to come.
• When the chops are ready to cook, put your frying pan on the stovetop and set your burner to medium. Pour in about 1/3 inch of olive oil and let it heat up, about 3-4 minutes.
• While you’re waiting for the oil, get three shallow cereal-sized bowls out and in each, put grated Parmesan cheese, 2 whole eggs (slightly beaten) and seasoned Italian style bread crumbs. Ordinary bread crumbs just will not do.
• When the oil is nice and hot, prepare your first pork chop. Using tongs, grab the chop and set it in the Parmesan, coating both sides. You may have to shake the bowl a bit.
• Next stop is the beaten egg, but be careful when you swish it so that you don’t lose any of the cheesy goodness along the way. Again, both sides should be soaked.
• After the egg coating, place the chop into the Italian bread crumbs, covering liberally.
• Carefully place the chop into the hot oil, then repeat with remaining chops.
• Cook up the first side til they’re nice and golden (carefully checking as necessary, if for no other reason, because a burnt pork chop will stink up your kitchen for days), about 4-6 minutes. Turn and cook the other side to match.
• Serve to drooling family but be sure to warn them, they will be HOT. The oil in these babies causes them to hold in their heat for quite a while.
• Our favorite sides are pierogis and applesauce, with an obligatory green veggie. I think something cheesy (potatoes or macaroni, perhaps?) would be an equally delicious accoutrement.

If you try this out, please let me know what you think!

Austin: What we do part II

Our visit with Danielle and Allison continued with more fun, as promised. I was determined not to make this blog so much about eating and food, but it just turned out to be that kind of a visit. On top of our visit to Whole Foods, we went to Culver’s a second time, mostly because I just can’t get enough of the stuff. The second time it was “only” for ice cream and not so much lunch.

This is my adorable niece Avery and energetic nephew Caleb enjoying their favorite concoctions.

To help make up for our ice cream consumption, we went to the gym where Allison is a member. After a rigorous workout (I did the stationery bike for 20 minutes before climbing 30 flights of stairs on the Stairmaster!), Justin and Caleb took on the rock wall. Then we all went to the pool, which was a fabulous reward. Justin went on the water slide and I got to sit in the hot tub for a while. We got back late, but thankfully Danielle and Chris (Allison’s hubby) had already started dinner for us.

Despite all attempts, we weren’t able to eat ice cream every day, but we did manage to do it most days. On Friday we went to Benham, Texas where we took a fascinating plant tour of the world-famous Blue Bell Ice Cream factory after enjoying lunch at a local diner (I had fried pickles!). We learned how the 800+ employees at this headquarters location create our favorite frozen delicacies, watched many of them at work, and then afterwards enjoyed a larger than expected helping of our favorite flavors. Justin chose Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and I decided to have the Brownie Explosion. Let me tell you, I have never had such fresh, delicious ice cream, and probably won’t ever again.

Justin and Caleb in front of the plant; big silos filled with granulated sugar, cream and all sorts of scrumptious ice cream ingredients.

Before heading home, we went a little further up the road to Washington, Texas where we visited a working farm. I’ll write more about that later, but here’s a tease.

After a long and loud drive home (hey, it’s a lot to ask the little ones to sit in the car for such a long ride), Danielle, Allison and I went out to dinner at Taverna downtown. It wasn’t as good as we remembered it, and our service was not so hot, but the company more than made up for it.

Saturday, our final day, came too soon. With an 8pm flight, we were able to make the most of it, and went downtown to Congress Street to visit an old fashioned candy store called Big Top. They had modern-day candy mixed in with old-time confections, so Justin & I stocked up on a few of our favorites.

Justin in front of his namesake boot shop on Congress.

After that, we browsed a couple of the other area shops and finished off the trip with a stop at “Hey, Cupcake!” an Airstream converted into a roadside cupcake stand. After all this food, it’s time to get my “run” on!

Surprisingly, we did not get barbecue – probably the first time I’ve visited Texas without doing so. I didn’t really miss it, but when Justin and I had to catch dinner at the airport, the Salt Lick kiosk was the one and only food outlet open. I was able to have a chopped brisket sandwich after all. It was then that I knew, my trip was complete!

Devil, thy name is Coors Light

Since befriending our neighbors last year we have become generally more spontaneous when it comes to meals. When my friend Barb phoned at 3:30pm yesterday to “find out how Jen’s interview went and see if she was ready to get her drink on” I quickly responded, “It went well, and HELL YES!” The kids were farmed out til at least 7pm, so we hopped over to Buffalo Wild Wings. With all thoughts of warmed over turkey leftovers escaping our minds, we proceeded to pig out on things like Ultimate Nachos, Queso Dip, Buffalo Chicken Salad and Jerk Chicken Wings. Oh yeah, and beer.

As you might have guessed “Drunk Jen” made an appearance this night. She also proceeded to inform everyone that “Drunk Jen is also Fun Jen” as the beer continued to flow. Fortunately “Plastered, falling-down Jen” never did find a need to arrive, though I think she was dangerously close to joining us. The party of four soon turned into a party of nine as more neighbors joined us and truly it was a lot of fun. Fun until this morning when “Hungover Jen” reared her ugly head. She is still around, though slowly promising a departure, surely before we go to church at 4pm followed by a party I apparently agreed to in my drunken state. Friends are coming over to help us cheer the Giants as they attempt to ruin the contemptable Patriots’ chance at a perfect season. (Sorry Debs) And don’t laugh – stranger things have happened in football, no? Well, one can always hope.

I also seem to remember last night there was some discussion about this blog. Friend Barbara for some reason refuses to visit it, which is OK with me – I mean, it’s here if you want to read it and if not, I still love ya man. But I think part of it is that she doesn’t really realize what the blog is. I summarized it to her as a sort of online diary where I also post recipes, photos and whatever odd thoughts enter my mind. Husband summed it up as “a place where Jen writes about food and how much she drinks.” Hmmmm… that would be an accurate description I suppose, but I would hope it is more than just that!

I also write about traveling. I do. And next week I’m flying to Austin with my little guy to visit my sisters. We are planning on going to First Night Austin and maybe an amusement park, and of course the visit won’t be complete without at least one stop (hopefully more) at my favorite place Culver’s. They truly have the best fast food burger on Earth. Even though their Butter Burger is the famous one, their “regular” burger (especially if it has swiss cheese & mushrooms) is like heaven in your mouth. But you must save room for dessert as the frozen custard puts premium ice cream to shame.

Whoops, there I go talking about food again.