Freedom in the Kitchen . . . and Life

A few weeks ago I held my first Mondays @ Mark’s event of the year.  I had been thinking about it for a while and then with my Cheese Clock post a few weeks ago, I decided to move ahead with the event.  I even had one of the leading cheese experts in the United States, Max McCalman from the Artisinal Cheese Company make the cheese suggestions.

Now when I started Mondays @ Mark’s about five years ago, it was to provide my co-workers with a place to get away from work and ask questions or just enjoy some good food and wine together.  It was also about breaking the rules of who and how many people I could entertain at once. Over the years it’s expanded to include more than just co-workers.

I’m not sure who likes it more – me or the friends attending the event.

Over the years I’ve often enjoyed cooking but never really had the chance.  Looking at history it's divided by BC and AD.  In life, I think it's sometimes the same for us.  Me, I have my very own dividing line . . . it’s BD and AD (before divorce and after divorce). In my AD, I have learned a great deal about freedom. Especially in the kitchen.  You see, in my previous existence,  life was spent following the recipe.  

Exactly. 

No margin for change.  It was either right or it was wrong. In the years since that great dividing line I’ve learned a great deal of freedom in the kitchen.  What I learned is that there is a certain amount of flexibility in the process. (Well not in baking but in cooking generally.)

I’ve also learned that it’s always good to have someone in the kitchen to keep me from going that step too far and landing in disaster. It’s also a good idea to have them writing down what I’m doing if I hope to recreate it again.

Robiola Bosina, Robiola Due Latte and Brazos Brie

Such was the case for this most recent Mondays @ Mark’s event. In addition to my normal Bruschetta recipe, I decided to make meatballs.  I know not necessarily too difficult.  I had told the folks at Artisanal that I was making meatballs and so they suggested the cheeses. 

Berkshire Blue Cheese with the Seghesio and Pine Ridge Wines

Here’s what Max suggested:  Tomme Vaudoise, Brazos Brie, Idiazabal, Hudson Red, Andeerer Schmuggler, and Berkshire Blue. As it turns out the Tomme Vaudoise was so popular that they ran out before shipping so I received Robiola Bosina and Robiola Due Latte instead. I had never had any of them previously. Oh, I’ve had brie before but if I’ve learned anything over the years is that the cheese is as much a product of the area it’s made as it is the type of cheese.
 

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs (adapted from the Smokestack in KC)

I decided on two types of meatballs.  One a Buffalo Turkey Meatball and the other I had planned to try my smokey meatballs and use some of my own BBQ sauce on them.  For the Buffalo Turkey Meatballs, I decided to do a riff on the recipe I found in Saveur magazine from the Smokestack in Kansas City. I’ll be happy to share my version of the recipe with anyone who requests it. 

When I started in the kitchen it was a little cold outside. To be honest I wasn’t in the mood for unwrapping my gas grill and grilling outside nor did I want the deal with the smoke alarm going off, either.  You’re probably wondering what I’m doing trying to smoke indoors but I have tried both Cameron’s Indoor smoking pans as well as Emeril’s Smoking bags.

Both work well but the lack of architectural planning in my condo creates some challenges.  I really don’t understand why you would vent the stove into the house.  All I’m doing is moving the smoke closer to the fire alarm more quickly.  Then I have windows and doors open for about 40 minutes before the alarm stops. 

Smokey Meatballs

So rather than smoking, I just let the smokey flavors of the BBQ sauce take over. I’d be happy to share my recipe for these meatballs, too, but you’re going to have to take a bit of a leap of faith.  I’m not really sure everything I put into the meatballs.  I have a pretty good idea.  On my recent trip to Paris, my souvineer were some spices. I think it added a special dimension.  But as they say, with freedom comes responsibility.  The responsibility to not kill your guests or send them home with “tummy troubles.”

After setting out both the cheese, the bruschetta, some olives and crudité (fancy word for veggies) and some of my garlic aoli, I set the meatballs to warming in the crockpot and opening the wine.  I had decided on some wines from my friends at Seghesio, Pine Ridge and Chamisal. These sister wineries are putting out some truly exceptional wines.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to really enjoy all the wines as by the time my glass was empty, so was the bottle.  We started the evening with a truly exceptional Sangiovese from Seghesio called Chianti Station.  I pulled the 2004 from my cabinet.  I wasn’t expecting it.  I truly enjoy their wines but this hit my palate and I was taken aback. 

A couple of the wines for the evening!

There was a complexity I didn’t expect.  I followed this with the Pine Ridge Onyx. Having just started enjoying wines from Pine Ridge Winery I was bowled over by the delicious flavors.  Both these wines complemented the cheese and the meatballs. For my white wine drinking friends I opened a bottle of Chamisal’s Stainless chardonnay.

I was not disappointed in the least.  From the Onyx opened a bottle of the Seghesio Old Vine Carignane.  I have come to really love this wine and its versatility. I ended the evening with  Pine Ridge’s 2007 Tessitura. More than anything else, it was fun to share a fun evening with friends.   

I think that’s what I’ve discovered about freedom both in the kitchen and in life.