I came across this great video from the last night and I just hard to share it. It looks like they’ve been doing a video series on local food and how it connects to the local community, and this video is a great example of how the simple act of cooking and eating can open up new worlds and forge lifelong friendships.
from on .
I love when I get e-mails from my friends at the Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau because they are always exciting, and the one I received this past weekend was no different. The ACVB is partnering with local hotels and rental agencies to offer exclusive deals for Triangle residents in a winter promotion they’re calling “.” More than a dozen Asheville hotels, B&Bs and inns are offering RDU-area residents three-night stays for the price of two. Participating accommodations include the and the , and visitors who book with the code also get a tasty gift. I’m not talking free gum or a Gatorade here; you can choose from (among other things) beer from or chocolates from . The savings don’t stop at hotel rooms though; you can also find deals like 2-for-1 meals, free desserts, and more!
If that’s not enough to get you in your car and headed west, how about this: you can pass the time during your mountain escape by visiting Troy Ball, the nation’s only female distiller of moonshine (the legal kind) at . Distilled from GMO-free, heirloom corn that has been grown by the same Western North Carolina family for more than 120 years, her moonshine is making waves across the nation. Tours of the distillery are offered at 5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 pm Thursday through Friday and cost $5 per person.
One of the stills at Troy & Sons
Obviously you’ll want something to eat (to help soak up that moonshine, perhaps) and I’ve got you covered. Asheville does local right, with a bevy of nationally renowned restaurants that source ingredients straight from the surrounding mountains. Here’s a short list of some Asheville favorites:
Head on over to the site to check out all the offerings, and let me know if you end up booking! I’m planning my next escape to Asheville, so maybe we’ll run into each other up in the mountains!
There comes a point when one has to limit the size of one’s blogroll; I have yet to reach that point. Every week I’m finding new food blogs that amaze and delight and astound me with their design, recipes, and voice. There are a myriad of astonishingly talented food bloggers out there, and here are a few to whom I’ve recently become addicted:
This upcoming Wednesday, January 25th, acclaimed chef will be at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill to read from her recent best-selling memoir, . Hamilton, who in addition to being the chef/owner of Prune in New York City has an MFA in fiction writing from the University of Michigan, is the latest chef to lift the curtain on life behind the stove, although given the book reviews her’s sits firmly at the top of the heap. Anthony Bourdain has called Hamilton’s book “the best memoir by a chef ever”, and Mario Batali said he would “burn all the books I have written for pretending to be anything even close to this.”
Image from bloodbonesandbutter.net
I was at Flyleaf earlier this week for the first meeting of the year and picked up a copy with the hopes of finishing it by next week. I’ve read the first chapter thus far and I’m already hooked. Hamilton’s writing is evocative; I can smell the lamb roast of her childhood wafting up from the pages and feel the icy cold of the stream in which her family stashes beers and sodas during their marathon summer cookouts. I’ve read many a chef memoir and I can already tell that this one is going to be a lifelong favorite.
Gabrielle Hamilton at , Wednesday, January 25th, 7-8pm
From Andrea Weigl’s blog at the News & Observer:
Mark your calendar for Friday, Jan. 20 when the truck will celebrate Chinese New Year at in Durham. (Chinese New Year is Jan. 23.)
The truck will be serving food from 5 to 9 p.m., plus there will be a screening of a documentary about the truck’s launch at 7 p.m. (The truck debuted with a surprise dumpling raid at back in August. It was much talked about on Twitter.)
This is your chance to learn about Chinese New Year and play a round of “dumpling hole,” like corn hole only with dumpling-shaped bean bags. And who knows, maybe “dumpling hole” will become a Chinese New Year tradition!
This Sunday Patrick Coleff, owner of Reliable Cheese Company in Durham, will lead a discussion on cheese making in the Triangle at the Durham Public Library in downtown Durham. I will be on the panel along with cheese makers from Prodigal Farms and Chapel Hill Creamery. The event is free and open to the public, and there will be cheese samples!
Blessed are the Cheesemakers
Sunday, January 8th at 3pm
Durham Public Library, Main Branch (Roxboro St. in Downtown Durham)
When I find myself in a cooking rut I always turn to for inspiration. The cooks of the Food52 community are just incredible, and I can usually find some new recipe or interesting way of using an ingredient that gets my culinary juices flowing. They also run bi-weekly recipe contests, which is a great way to repurpose an old standby or try something new. This week’s contest centered on sage and walnut, a flavor combination that I have never used before. Juices flowing.
I banged around a few ideas before settling on a baked egg. Nothing screams winter comfort to me like a steaming hot baked egg. Imagine waking up to a quiet house on a cold winter morning, puttering around the kitchen tossing together this simple dish as the coffee brews and the sun rises. Its warm, earthy, and inviting; just what I need to get me going when the temperatures drop.
Credit: Leland Garrett
The Winter Egg
Recipe is for one serving; adjust amounts accordingly
Ingredients
- 1 egg
- 2 pieces sandwich bread
- 1 tbsp walnuts, toasted and chopped
- 2 sage leaves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp heavy cream
- salt & pepper
Directions
- Turn your oven’s broiler to HI and position the oven rack about 8 from the broiler.
- Toast the sandwich bread. Cut off the crusts and cut into 1/4 cubes.
- Put the bread cubes, walnuts, and sage into an ovenproof ramekin (4oz. or 6oz. size works). Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Pour 2 tbsp cream over the bread mixture. Crack the egg into a small bowl and then slide atop the bread mixture, being careful not to break the yolk.
- Broil for 5-7 minutes until the whites are just set and the yolk is still runny. (The whites will continue to cook once you’ve removed the ramekin from the oven)
- Enjoy in a quiet corner with a hot cup of coffee and a newspaper, preferably overlooking a snowy-white vista.
Move over Charlie, Asheville is about to have a new chocolate factory. Jael and Dan Rattigan of Asheville’s famed are getting set to open their own chocolate factory. When the Buxton Avenue factory starts up (they’re shooting for a March open) they’ll be able to control the quality of their confections from start to finish.
Check out the whole store over at the Asheville Citizen-Times:
A box of French Broad Chocolate Lounge chocolates from my recent trip to Asheville
It’s here! The very first video in the Green Eats Blog Back to Basics Video Series! These videos will cover some of the basic skills of cooking; things like braising, whipping, and roasting. Once you’ve got these basic skills mastered you should be able to tackle any recipe.
In this first video I tackle emulsification – scary sounding process, but in reality super simple. Emulsification is the principle behind things like salad dressings, some sauces, and mayonnaise. Essentially you force two liquids that don’t want to combine (like oil and vinegar) to come together through the help of a binder (like eggs). I’ll show you how easy it is to make homemade mayonnaise and how you can then turn that into a garlicky aioli in about ten seconds flat.
Check out the video and please leave me your questions, comments, and suggestions for future videos! What are some of the basic kitchen skills that you’d like to master?
(And yes, that is our bird Sushi you hear squawking in the background. Also, we don’t own a dishwasher so I apologize for the sink full of dirty dishes. I’m kind of a tornado in the kitchen.)
from on .
Mayonnaise & Aioli
Ingredients
- 2 egg yolks (the fresher the better)
- 2-3 tbsp lemon juice or white wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1-1.5 cups oil (I prefer grape-seed, but canola or rice bran would work too)
- 1 medium clove garlic
Directions
- In a heavy bowl whip the egg yolks until they turn pale yellow and frothy. Add the lemon juice, salt, and mustard, and whip until thick.
- Start adding the oil a drop or two at a time, whipping constantly. Pay attention to the stream of oil rather than the egg mixture. You don’t have to whip fast, two or three strokes per second should be fine, you just want to make sure that all the oil is quickly combined and that the mixture doesn’t separate.
- After the mayonnaise starts to come together and thicken you can begin to add the oil more rapidly, 2-3 tbsp at a time. Make sure to thoroughly combine after each addition.
- Once the mayonnaise has reached the desired thickness, taste and adjust the seasonings. Refrigerate for up to a week, or turn into aioli.
- For aioli, crush one clove of garlic and mix into the prepared mayonnaise with a fork. Taste and adjust seasonings. Refrigerate for up to a week.
The husband and I just returned from a week in Asheville, one of my favorite places on earth. His mother and younger brother and sister came down from Michigan to stay with us, and we spent the week eating, relaxing, and enjoying all the wonderful sights, sounds, and tastes that Asheville has to offer.
The first order of business – relax by the fireplace!
Our first full day was rainy, so we took the kids to the , which despite the plethora of uncomfortable Biblical quotes was really quite fun. Wednesday and Thursday were spent on the grounds of the . We toured the house, spent some time in the gardens and grounds, and of course did the wine tasting.
A glass of the Biltmore Estate Christmas Rose.
We also had some great food; I had an incredible meal of milk-braised pork shank and risotto with lamb belly at . We also ate at (the fried oysters were so good I ordered them twice) and had some of the best Indian food of our lives at . It wasn’t all eating out though – I’m a big proponent of vacation rentals that come will fully equipped kitchens, and ours was no exception. We cooked in for the majority of our meals; I made a roast chicken, a pot roast, and the husband and his sister whipped up some cookies for us.
In between the Biltmore and eating we managed to sneak in some visits to the and the . The beer at French Broad Brewing was superb, but I was most excited about the Chocolate Lounge. I’ve had their chocolates at a few events here in the Triangle, but this was my first visit to the actual shop. The husband and I shared a Mudwrestler – a delicious concoction of a porter, ice cream, and hot chocolate. We also took some chocolates home with us; I’m willing to bet they don’t last the weekend!
We continue to be blown away by what Asheville has to offer. If you want adventure, good food, great wine, and fun for everyone in the family, Asheville has you covered. We plan on making a few more trips this year, and I’ll continue to keep abreast of whats happening in Asheville!
Photos taken with Instagram on my iPad.
Many thanks to Del Holston of the Asheville Visitors and Convention Bureau for the amazing meal at Fig and help with planning our week. Visit their website at for tons of ideas on what to do, where to eat, and where to stay during your Asheville getaway!
