Amazing how these things can come and go so quickly. Now, all that remains of the insane dinner we enjoyed just hours ago are some dirty dishes, (Ok, let's be fair...lots of dirty dishes) the soreness in my legs, back, and neck, and a couple of leftovers. And of course, the memories. And for one of my favorite parties thus far, I'm oh so happy to record those (food-related) memories for you.
It all started Saturday morning with braving bloodthirsty suburbanites in Costco. As much as I love me some Costco, I swear I get nightmares about those crowds and parking lots. Along for the ride was Alyse, who saved my life time after time after time all weekend. I got home just in time for the first soccer game of the weekend. After I got back home and showered, it was right back into the war zone...this time, Wegman's in Fairfax.
Let me take a moment to talk about the great things Wegman's has going for it. A spectacular selection. Perhaps the best I've seen anywhere, as far as gourmet foods, and definitely rivaling the Dekalb Farmer's Market. (Holy crap they had langoustines!) Totally reasonable prices. I felt like I was shopping at Harris Teeter more than Whole Foods. But with the same kind of Whole Foods freshness I love so much.
Unfortunately, the trip to Fairfax brings with it both the good and the bad. The good--clearly Wegman's itself. The bad--all the other people that decide to shop there. The ones that don't seem to realize that they are in public and should behave as such. The ones that cut you off and steal your parking space. Twice. The ones that make you say and feel things you are ashamed of later.
Anyway, Wegman's wrapped up most of my shopping--picked up a few things at Whole Foods, and got home at about 6pm. Made the salsa, started the spinach and artichoke dip, tossed the tomatoes in the oven to roast, and made the barbeque sauce.
Woke up at 9am with a full day ahead. The smoked turkey and bacon chowder, tortilla chips, pita chips, finishing the spinach dip, making the ribs, making a citrus bourbon glaze for the wings and a wasabi ranch sauce to dip them in, the roasted tomato caprice crostinis, the white chocolate risotto, and the mini salads of cucumber, arugula (couldn't find frissee anywhere), and yellow bell pepper with a red pepper coulis. And the seared ahi tuna.
Oh yeah, and I have another soccer game.
But with Alyse's help, it all happenned. For real. From beginning to end, with the singular exception of the cherry cranberry croutons. Alas, another day and another use for the bag of 183940 dried cranberries I got from Costco.
The Good: The ribs and barbeque sauce. Back on track here, thankfully, and came out with a great barbeque sauce after starting it from scratch with just tomato paste, instead of my usual half-cheat by using Heinz ketchup as a base. Clearly, the most underappreciated dish of the night, though, was the smoked turkey and bacon chowder. I'd have to personally put it near the top of my list for most successful dishes of all time. Yeah, that good. Also, like always, the white chocolate risotto came in big.
The Bad: The citrus bourbon wings turned into citrus mirin wings that we could never quite figure out. The flavor was a good idea, and the wasabi ranch actually worked, but we messed with the sauce too much. Mirin+lemon, orange, and lime zests plus orange juice salt, pepper seemed like it had a good, balanced, sweet flavor, but was too thin. Later attemps to thicken without changing the flavor profile were not ultimately as successful as I would have liked, but we made good efforts and learned something.
The Ugly: Not paying attention to the salmon and slightly overcooking it. Also, pureeing tomatoes, cilantro, and onion leaves you with this unattractive brown color. When I want to add some body to my salsa, I need to puree the tomatoes on their own.
The Fantastic: The Giants beat the Patriots. Really, could I have asked for a better evening?
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