Sausage with Peppers and Onions Sandwich: Johnsonville’s mild Italian sausage topped with sautéed onions and an assortment of homegrown sweet peppers in a still warm, fresh out of the oven, home baked honey whole wheat roll, with a sprinkling of homegrown oregano on top. Served with Yuengling Beer’s Yuengling Traditional Lager.
Blackened Mahi Mahi with Mango Salsa and Coconut Rice: Butter dipped and herb encrusted fresh Mahi Mahi caught off the cost of North Carolina’s Outer Banks; topped with mango salsa made from homegrown sweet peppers, cubed mango, diced onions, and fresh cilantro; with a side of coconut rice made from jasmine rice cooked in coconut milk with a pinch of sugar, then dusted with toasted coconut shavings. Served with Elysian Brewing’s Dayglow IPA. This American IPA handled the hotter spices in the blackening rub; while the big, juicy El Dorado, Mosaic, and Centennial hops in this brew brought the tropical fruit flavors out to match up with the mango salsa.
Spiced Lamb Sliders with Date Ketchup: honey whole wheat roll from Big Sky Bread sandwiching; baharat (coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and paprika) spiced Lamb Sliders made with home ground lamb meat, chopped onion, ground beef, and fresh chopped parsley, topped in a homemade Date Ketchup made with Medjool Dates and Yuengling Beer’s Yuengling Traditional Lager; garnished with whole dates, homegrown micro greens, and a side of Terra Chips’s Mediterranean flavored chips. Served with ATG Brewery’s Rico Sauvin beer brewed with the fruity Nelson Sauvin hops from New Zealand. The bitterness from this IPA helped to balance the sweetness from the dates while the beer’s grapey, slightly tropical notes elevated the meal to another level.
CoconutCreamPie: milk, eggs, butter, homemade bourbon vanilla bean extract, coconut, and sugar combine to form a rich Coconut Pie, with a side of Talenti Caribbean Coconut gelato made with Philippine coconuts, sprinkled with freshly toasted Coconut Shavings and garnished with fresh mint leaves. Served with CiscBrewers Lady Of The Woods. This beer’s fruity, tart, tropical, Pina Colada-like flavors screamed for a complimentary pairing with this dessert.
Midatlantic Food And Wine Festival: Had some fun and learned a lot at all of the educational courses offered in last weekend’s Midatlantic Food and Wine Festival 2014; where I learned about pairing honey in “The Terroir of Honey: Why Location Matters” with presentation from Gage Family Beekeeping; learned more about salting, smoking, jamming, canning, fermenting, pickling, and charcuterie in “The Art of Preservation” by Chef HariCam of a(MUSE.); witnessed a whole hog break down with hand tools, + learned the proper whole salmon segmentation at “The Craft of Butchering: Swine vs. Sea”; and worked on my food photography skills in the “Mastering FoodPorn” class.
Wilted Dandelion Salad: tender center dandelion leaves freshly foraged from an organic lawn combined with hard boiled egg slices and d’Artagnan’s uncured smoked Duck Bacon; topped in a vinaigrette made from the deglazed pan drippings of the duck bacon combined with sugar, cider vinegar, whole grain mustard, salt, and pepper. Served with New Belgium’s and Red Rock Brewing’s collaboration beer from the Lips Of Faith series, Paardebloem. This beer was brewed with peach juice, grains of paradise, wood aged beer, and then bittered using Dandelion Greens. The sweetness of the peach juice combined with the light sour tartness from the wood balanced the bitterness of the dandelion greens for a tasty Spring beer pairing.
Carnitas with Fresh-Corn Tamales: what better way to celebrate Cinco De Mayo than with some pressure cooked Pork Carnitas spiced with achiote paste and chipotle chili powder; served with pressure cooked Corn Tamales made with fresh corn cut off the cob, butter, Masa Harina, homemade toasted corn stock, and sour cream all wrapped in a dried corn husk and steamed; garnished with more chili power, fresh corn, and fresh cilantro? Paired with Corona Familiar.
Spring Beekeeping: It has been a busy spring so far, getting the first shipment of bees settled into their new hive.