Fall is a glorious time for food and beer...
It's been all work and little play lately, but I made sure to get up to some trouble in the kitchen this weekend to keep some balance. I had a beautiful butternut squash on hand and thought it would be fun to try a risotto using it. Found a great recipe for saffron risotto with butternut squash from none other than Ina Garten online. What a hit! I had never cooked with saffron before (check a box there - I always like recipes that have me using something new and unfamiliar) and it had been a long time since I'd made a risotto. Came out quite well. Sorry for the rushed picture but, well, there was risotto to eat.
I have a fair amount of catching up to do on my food reporting here. I'll get right to it.
Eataly's meats from purveyor Pat LaFrieda are ridiculously good. In the middle of the week I picked up a veal porterhouse which I lightly coated in olive oil, kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper before broiling -- it was pure magic. Yes, there is a noticeable difference in flavor and texture (and price too - this is going to be more of a special occasion thing). I am curious, of course, about all the cuts and parts I haven't used yet (sweetbreads, here I come) although I am conscious of the irony that these formerly low-status low-price cuts are now being fetishized a bit and there are great butchers right here in Astoria that even Lidia Bastianich herself patronizes so I should shop around.
But Eataly really brings it, there's no questioning that. Let's not even get started on their fish counter. I did pay a visit to the Eataly pasta counter on Friday. It was time to cap off the work week with a good meal and I picked their ravioli quadratti filled with fresh grana padano and mortadella. I prepared it simply in butter with a small splash of pasta water and topped it off with some fresh pepper and grated parm. It was effortless and delicious.
Last month saw a great development in my beer life. I came into the possession of a case of Berkshire Brewing Company's limited edition Bourbon Barrel Aged Scotch Ale. Being from Western Mass, I am a huge fan of the BBC. I went home to visit my dad a couple of times that month, once on an epic food bender weekend (hearing Tony Bourdain speak in Springfield, hanging out with the BBC crew at a beer and wine festival up in Greenfield, enjoying the Student Prince's Oktoberfest and 75th anniversary bash in Springfield) and then once more to see some fall foliage (and visit the Flat Street Pub in Brattleboro, where the BBC got their start). That Monday following the foliage weekend was Columbus Day but I didn't have off from work, so I had to go back to NY. Dad attended the BBC's release event for the Scotch Ale on my behalf and managed to convince the package store to sell him two cases, one for him and one for myself, because I was based in out of state and would been there to buy one of my own had it not been for work obligations. Bless his heart, Dad could persuade anyone to do anything if he had a mind to it (and to his credit he practically never does) so I ended up with this case of liquid gold. I've never had a case of anything before. I don't even know where I'm going to put this yet! But I could think of no better start than with a case of BBC's Scotch Ale. I can hardly wait to try it over Thanksgiving. Dad has already given me the report over the phone and he's pretty delirious about it.
I do have a bottle of Ommegang's Cup of Kindness Scotch Ale in the fridge. Bought it yesterday at Whole Foods. I figured it'd be nice to have on hand for the holidays and we could compare it with BBC's Scotch Ale. I'm pretty sure I know who's going to win, though. It's almost not fair.
This year's Thanksgiving is shaping up to be good! Among the other items on my to do list for this lovely Sunday is finalizing the Thanksgiving menu. As with last year, we'll be doing it here at my place and this time I think I'm going to do a French preparation of squab (nope, never done that before) rather than a turkey. We have a tradition of doing something different every year, mainly due to Dad's residual distaste for turkey brought on by several cardboard birds he endured in his formative years, and I'm running out of alternative critters to cook. Thank you, D'Artagnan, for giving me a few new options. I want to do the New York Dressed Squab but am pretty sure that would make my friend Lisa uncomfortable, so we'll go with the regular (non-beak, non-clawed) option and do the NY version another time.
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