Date Night

Even though I've been with Jim for three years, we still like to go out on dates or have date nights at home. Food almost always ends up playing a major role in our dates. Most of the time, our dates revolve around food.

In the past two weeks, we went on two different kinds of dates. On one, we stayed at home and made a delicious pasta dish and lemon souffles. On another, we went to Encore!, Upper Crust Bakery's Wine and Dessert Bar. Both were fun and not too expensive.

Date Night In:

Jim's had his eye on perfecting his souffle making skills, so for our most recent date night at home, that's what we made for dessert. For dinner, I found a recipe in Fine Cooking for pasta with brussels sprouts, gorgonzola and brown-butter pecans. I altered the recipe, which I usually do, but this recipe was pretty fantastic. The brussel sproats are roasted, giving them a great flavor.

Pasta with Brussel Sprouts, Gorgonzola and Brown-Butter Pecans

4 c. brussel sprouts

3/4 lb. farfalle pasta (or any other fun-shaped pasta you like)

1 1/2 T. butter

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/2 medium onion, minced

1 c. heavy cream

4-5 oz. gorgonzola cheese*

1 T. fresh lemon juice

3 1/2 T. olive oil

*Note: If you can't find gorgonzola, you can use blue cheese for a similar flavor.

Move an oven rack to the lower third of the oven and place a rimmed baking sheet on it. Preheat oven to 475 degrees F. Bring large pot of water to a boil.

Trim the brussel sprouts by taking any wilted outer leaves off and cutting off the bottom part. Slice the brussel sprouts lengthwise 1/4'' thick. In a large bowl, toss the brussel sprouts with the olive oil and salt and pepper. Take out the baking sheet and spread the brussel sprouts in an even layer on the sheet. Roast the brussel sprouts for 15-20 minuts. Turn halfway through.

While those are roasting, cook the farfalle until al dente. Meanwhile, melt 1/2 T. butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the chopped pecans and let cook until the butter is brown and bubbling. The pecans will toast as this happens, usually after 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the remaining butter. Add the onions and let cook until they are softened, about 3 minutes. Add the heavy cream. While stirring, bring to a simmer. When it is at this point, take the skillet off the heat and add 3 oz. of the gorgonzola cheese to the cream sauce and stir until the cheese melts.

When the pasta is done and has been drained, toss the pasta together with the roasted brussel sprouts, the gorgonzola cream sauce and the lemon juice. Top with the brown-butter pecans and remaining gorgonzola cheese.

*******

The lemon souffles were the perfect dessert. Jim did a great job! I don't think any of them fell.

Date Night Two:

Starting at 7 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, Upper Crust becomes Encore, a wine and dessert bar. Featuring a menu almost completely made up of desserts and cocktails, it's for those with serious a sweet tooth. We got the Encore Fantasy, which features five of their most popular desserts: Strawberry Passion (strawberry ice cream cake), Chocolate Decadence (flourless chocolate cake), Seasonal Sorbet, Ultimate Sundae (fudge brownie) and handmade chocolates.

It was pretty good. What I liked most about it was getting to taste a lot of different desserts. If I go again, I will definitely pick from their list of individual desserts.

For a date, it's not badly priced. Of course, this is just dessert, so you'll have to eat dinner beforehand!

Birthday at Lemaire

I'll just start this by saying (two weeks late, by the way) that one of my resolutions is to post more frequently. We'll see if that happens once school and work start up again!

Christmas break was wonderful. Lots of family time and good food! I visited my grandparents in Richmond, VA for a week. For my 21st birthday, they took Jim and me to a very nice restaurant in the city. The restaurant, Lemaire, is in The Jefferson Hotel, which is absolutely gorgeous.

The hotel is around 100 years old. To get to the restaurant, we had to walk up this very large staircase.

My dinner for the evening included: goat cheese and roasted beet salad with smoked honey, pan-seared loin of lamb with mustard spaetzle, and a very delicious chocolate Grand Marnier terrine.

My half-eaten dessert. I tried to eat it all, but by then I was so stuffed I couldn't.

As a special surprise, my grandparents arranged for me to meet the chef, Walter Bundy. It was my first time getting to talk to a chef, so that was pretty cool.

Of course my grandpa wanted me to take a picture with the chef after we met him. Two cameras were in use--that's why we're both looking in separate directions.

Quick Bites: What I've been up to

Who is the worst blogger in the world? Probably me. I can't even remember the last time I wrote on here! School and work have kept me busy, but the semester is almost done.

Instead of one long blog post, I thought I'd just give you a couple of quick points.

• Thanksgiving was amazing. Jim and I cooked the dinner for his entire family and we managed to share the kitchen pretty well. I think we are the only couple in the world who gets into arguments about who gets to cook what dish. Both of us think the other one hijacks every meal. I really should have taken pictures of our lovely spread but in the midst of scheduling the timing of every dish, I forgot my camera! Recipes included: roasted turkey roulade with sausage and fig stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, green bean casserole, roasted butternut squash salad with warm cider vinaigrette and roasted pears with blue cheese. Apple pie and pecan pie for dessert--my favorites!

• I recently celebrated a friend's birthday at Les Bourgeois. It was the first time I've been there since my senior year in high school. It was still just as delicious! If you live in Columbia, I highly recommend you try it. Even though their wine may be so-so, their food most certainly isn't. I had their Brandy Herb Marinated Roasted Pork Tenderloin. The flavor of the pork was ridiculously good. Visit http://www.missouriwine.com/ to look at their full menu.

Happy Birthday Cory! It was a great evening filled with good food and awesome friends. Too bad the boys made silly faces!

Left to right: Cory, Jim, me, Nick, Becca and Rachel.

• I just found out at work that the University Club here at MU is partnering with the College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources (CAFNR) to hold a Farm to Table event in June. I work at CAFNR as the alumni communications intern, and I cannot wait to help promote and cover this amazing event. It will be a great opportunity!

• And to end my scatter-brained post, my family is having a pot luck dinner on Christmas Eve which has now turned into somewhat of a "dish-off." I must win! Right now I'm considering making Parmesan and Thyme crackers for an appetizer, but I still don't have an idea for a side dish. Any ideas?

The Great Food Debate

The issue of food—where it comes from, who grows it, how they grow it—has been a hotly contested issue over the past couple of years. With books like The Omnivore’s Dilemma and the recent documentary Food, Inc., many are starting to question the ethics involved in food production.

Growing up, I was exposed to the world of agriculture quite a bit. I remember getting to go to work with my dad, who worked as a consultant for farmers around the state, meant getting to walk around fields and see farms. I lived across the street from a silo and cornfields and practically had cows in my backyard for a couple of years. I was even in 4-H for a brief period of time that ended in my rooster getting its head snapped off by a hawk.

Of course, I’ve had my fair share of the other side of life—dear old suburbia. And while I may not be able to look out my window and see cornfields anymore, I’ve still always been on the periphery of the world of agriculture. My internship doing public relations for the Missouri Soybean Association and Merchandising Council this summer gave me invaluable experience and exposed me to even more. Currently, I’ve got a great internship doing alumni communications for MU’s College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources. My days with agriculture are far from over—the other day I wrote up a small story on dairy judging.

And let’s not forget my biggest tie to agriculture: food. I love food so much that I have a blog about it! So when it comes to the much-debated issue on food these days, I find myself torn.

You see, I can’t simply say I’m for sustainable agriculture and only support local, organic foods. It’s not that simple. On the other hand, I also can’t say I completely support our current agricultural system.

I agree that the way most Americans eat is horrendous. A happy meal does not count as a meal more than once a month, if that. The solution is so simple: eat better! Eat fruits and vegetables. Eat whole grains. Eat lean protein. So, if we’ve all heard these suggestions, why don’t more people follow it?

Well, like I’ve mentioned before, I am indeed a college student living on a tight budget. I would love nothing more than to make sure that the meat I purchase is completely hormone free and that the animals were given ample opportunities to play Ring Around the Rosy in the grass while they were alive. But I know that isn’t possible because I can’t afford that.

What I can afford is the frozen chicken that Wal-Mart has, and I know it isn’t exactly excelling in quality, or ethics for that matter. Furthermore, fruits and vegetables are expensive. For a dollar or less, a consumer could get an apple, which will average about 50-60 calories, or get a small bag of potato chips that ring in at around 150 calories. Simply put, to the average consumer, it seems you get more calories for your buck with cheap, processed foods. Expecting the general public to accept a shift to sustainable local agriculture seems pretty ridiculous then.

The problem is that the general public’s attitude toward food does need to shift. Fruits and vegetables should be a higher priority. It was only this summer that I really learned much about the way subsidies work for our country’s farmers, and while I think helping farmers is great, I also think other crops should be more heavily promoted. Corn and soybeans get most of the subsidies because they serve as basic food ingredients and help feed animals that we eventually eat. Why not give more support to farmers that grow the fruits and vegetables we so desperately need better integrated into our daily lives?

Speaking of farmers, I think the issue I have most with this new food movement is the villain-ization of the American farmer. I can’t tell you how many articles I read this past summer about how farms were owned by large companies that pumped their animals full of antibiotics and pretty much ignored the general well-being of the animal.

I’m not saying there aren’t some farms out there that do that, but here’s the thing: the farms are not generally owned by large companies, the animals may be, but the farmer runs it, not the company. Secondly, it would cost a great deal to farmers to give every animal antibiotic cocktails on a regular basis. They simply can’t afford to do that. Farmers are struggling, too.

The most obvious response I have to these claims? If the farmer did not take care of their animals, then they would lose money. It isn’t in their best interest to treat the animals poorly, so they don’t. I’ve been to many farms, and in none of those farms did I see absolutely filthy conditions. Most of them are pretty clean, considering there are animals there.

There is such a large gap between Americans and their food, and making the farmers out to be the bad guy doesn’t make it any better. Americans spend 10% of their income on food—much less than other countries. If we make it more difficult for farmers to farm efficiently, the cost of our food will inevitably go up, not to mention push farmers that we have out of the picture.

I don’t know what the solution is, and I’m 100% all right with being honest about that. What I do know is that sustainable local agriculture seems a bit too idealistic. We already don’t have enough farmers; where on earth would we find even more to make sustainable local agriculture function properly? But I also know that the way Americans perceive food needs to change. Blame the system, blame commercialization, blame what you will, but blaming American farmers is the last thing we should do.

For now, I will continue to keep educating myself. I will continue to keep balancing my desire for good, fresh food with the reality that I simply cannot afford an organic free-range chicken. But most importantly, I think for now I will continue to have an open mind about this issue.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I always love taking one meal and playing with the leftover ingredients the next night. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For instance, Jim and I made pot roast on a Sunday night a couple of weeks ago and ate it every night until Thursday. Then, we made "pot roast pasta"--basically pot roast veggies and meat mixed in with egg noodles and a cream sauce based off of the jus from the pot roast. I ate it that night because I had to, but it wasn't my favorite, probably because I was really sick of pot roast.

Thank goodness last night's reinvented dinner work wonderfully. On Wednesday, Jim made his delicious pan-fried chicken, which I've posted about before. The next night, we decided to make buffalo chicken pizza with the leftover chicken breast. Yum! It's super easy if you've already got the chicken cooked from the night before and it is quite delicious.

Your favorite pizza dough will work just fine. This can be a mix, canned pizza dough, or a ball of dough from your favorite pizzeria. If you live in Columbia, I recommend stopping by Shakespeare's and asking for a ball of their large pizza dough. It costs less than $1 and it's great crust dough.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Pizza dough

1-15 oz. can tomato purée

2 T. wing sauce

1 T. Worcestershire sauce

3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 T. butter

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1/2 green pepper, diced

8 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced (or you can find mozzarella pearls)

1 to 1 1/2 pan-fried chicken breasts, cut into slices or chunks (recipe found here in previous post)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the pizza dough to make a "large" pizza. It's not really technical, just roll out the dough until you like the size and thickness. Take a fork and poke holes throughout the crust to prevent air bubbles. Place the crust in the oven for 10 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes. Add the tomato purée, wing sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Add the chicken.

When crust is done precooking, take out of the oven. Spread the chicken sauce mixture evenly over the crust. Place the mozzarella cheese evenly over the pizza as well. Finally, spread the diced onions and green onions over the pizza.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is starting to brown and bubble.

Missouri Chestnut Roast

A view from the MU Horticulture and Agroforesty Research Center in New Franklin, Mo, at the Missouri Chestnut Roast. How lovely is Missouri in the fall?

This past Saturday was one of the best days I've had in a long time.

After what seemed like two solid weeks of raining and gloomy clouds, the sun finally came out just in time for the 7th Annual Missouri Chestnut Roast. Held at the MU Horticulture and Agroforestry Research Center (HARC) in New Franklin, Mo., the event featured, of course, roasted chestnuts. It didn't stop there though. There were many different producers and vendors featuring their own products and tours of the research farm and vineyards.

After trying some chestnuts, which I thought tasted like a nutty potato, we decided to walk around the vendor's tent. Les Bourgeois Winery and Schlafly Beer had tastings of some of their products, and while I didn't really enjoy Schlafly's Pumpkin Spice Beer, I finally got to try Les Bourgeois' Norton wine after studying about it AND picking the grapes! The Norton had a buttery, supple mouthfeel that was surprisingly pleasant.

Goatsbeard Farm also had tastings of their goat cheese. Goat cheese is probably my favorite kind of cheese, so we bought two of their cheeses, Walloon and Missouri Moon. The Walloon is a hard, aged cheese with a delicious bite and the Missouri Moon is a soft cheese similar to Camembert. Considering I get gourmet cheese cravings the same way a normal person might get fast food cravings, I'm glad to be stocked up! If you live in the area, I highly recommend you try Goatsbeard Farm. You can find their products at the Columbia Farmer's Market, Hy-Vee, Root Cellar and Clover's Natural Market.

Other products included: apples, a variety of nuts, chocolate, spa and bath products made from honey and a selection of potted plants from chestnuts to wildflowers. One booth even had edible insects. I must admit, I was a bit of a pansy. Jim threw the chili-flavored mealworms back like a pro while I squirmed and made stupid faces. I regret not trying them!

To end the day, we went on a walking tour of the research vineyards at HARC lead by my Grapes and Wines professor. The weather was absolutely gorgeous, the leaves were beautiful colors, and I couldn't have been any happier to be outside!

I'm glad to have a new tradition, because that's exactly what the Missouri Chestnut Roast is perfect for: getting outside on a lovely fall day in Missouri and sampling many local products.

The Missouri Chestnut Roast is held annually to promote agroforestry practices. For more information, you can visit their site here.

Skip It: Broadway Brewery

I am so disappointed.

Last night, Jim and I went to Broadway Brewery. It just opened and we were both very excited to try their food and beer. We even got on their web site and looked at their menu. Locally grown food? Check? Interesting and innovative menu items? Check. What stuck out to me was a Butternut Bacon Pizza: "pureed butternut squash, crumbled bacon, caramelized onions, and cheddar cheese." Yum.

In fact, I looked forward to it all day. When we got to the restaurant, I was impressed. In the same space that Uprise Bakery used to be in, the restaurant was a little loud, but it had a great atmosphere. Not too bright, awesome artwork on the walls and you could see the brewing equipment next to the kitchen through windows in the back.

I looked over the menu, even though I knew what I was going to get. We ordered the Peasant Platter for an appetizer--sausages, local cheese, pickled vegetables, ground mustard and toasted baguette. Sounds good, right? Well, the couple bites I had were good. I just didn't get that many bites. We ate the entire platter in under five minutes there was so little food, and for $12, I was kind of mad.

For dinner, I ordered the Butternut Bacon Pizza. Jim ordered the Pork Burger. When we were served, I was upset again. My pizza looked like cheese melted over a saltine cracker and his burger was very small, considering it was $9. I took a bite of the pizza. My internal dialogue went a little something like this: "Way too salty and cheesy. No butternut squash flavor. Are there even any caramelized onions on it? Where is the bacon? Why does this smell like a Cheez-it?"

I then took a bite of Jim's burger. Oh boy. There was a ridiculous amount of salt on the meat. I mean so much, it was almost inedible. He would've sent it back, but we hadn't eaten in a while and were both way too hungry to wait another 15 minutes.

Jim and I looked at each other and started to laugh. For the remainder of our meal we continued to be Tom and Padma from Top Chef and "judge" our food and its appearance. Let's just say we would have asked them to please pack their knives and go home.

The manager came around after a while and asked us what we thought. I glanced at Jim quickly, and we told the manager our honest opinion. After all, we were paying nearly $30 for our meal and we didn't like almost any of it. So the manager took off the price of Jim's beer, which actually was very good.

In the end, the restaurant has a nice atmosphere, but the food is way under par. Most of the items cost right around $9-10, but the taste of the food isn't worth the price. For the sake of this restaurant, I really hope they get someone in the kitchen who knows what their doing.

I really hate having to say something bad about a new restaurant, especially one I looked forward to for such a long time, but they still have a long way to go. Oh well. At least they gave me a great idea for a new pizza recipe to try at home!