The Perfect Bite

Putting the Mmm in Happy Hour

It’s 5:00 somewhere!  That phrase is chanted all over the world whenever we all need a little down time; it justifies starting Happy Hour at 11:00 am.  At our house, we love Happy Hour.  As a matter of fact, we often turn it into a party.  We invite over some friends and have each bring an appetizer.  With 10 couples, you’ve got dinner and wine all while mingling around the kitchen island…it’s pretty effortless entertaining.

 

Recently, we had a Foodie Happy Hour.  Check this out!

 

Mmm…doesn’t that look yummy?  We stopped off at Whole Foods and bought lupini beans, Calabrian olives, salami, chorizo, & Prosciutto di Parma. These are all full-flavored foods which help sate your appetite.  Add a great bottle of wine (this one was Chateauneuf du Pape Reservee by Domaine du Pegau) and you’ve got the perfect recipe for The Perfect Bite Happy Hour.

 

That night we moved on to a 2^nd course too…

  

 

These are Chef Eric Ripert’s Mission figs wrapped in bacon (Chef’s recipe here).  They were so simple to make, yet so rich tasting it seemed as if we had gone to a lot of trouble.  The figs were paired with Peter Michael 2006 Les Pavots.  Together, they were truly The Perfect Bite!

 

Here are some other Perfect Bites for Happy Hour that will make your friends think you’re a food rock star:

 

Proscuitto wrapped asparagus

 

Spiced Calabrian olives

 

Stuffed peppadews - combine feta cheese, half & half, minced garlic and fresh chopped oregano and stuff in peppers

 

Roasted cherry tomatoes - roll tomatoes in a bowl with evoo, salt & pepper; put on cookie sheet and bake at 325 for 20 minutes

 

Roasted garlic on crostini

 

Crostini with goat cheese and fig jam - top crostini with a mild, creamy goat cheese then top with a dollop of fig jam

 

Sushi with a fun rosé like Jessup Cellars

 

Shrimp cocktail with a twist – instead of cocktail sauce, make this remoulade

 

Stone crab claws with mustard sauce

 

Cheese themes:

Serve all sheep’s milk cheese

Serve all Italian cheeses

Serve several Gouda cheeses all different ages

 

Our 2 favorite cheese websites for everything cheese:

Artisanal Cheese and IGourmet

 

…the possibilities are endless

 

And one more important cheese note:  when serving a cheese board with wine, do not, we repeat, do not serve grapes with it.  We know, we know…everyone does it…we did too until we learned that the grapes actually interfere with the taste of the wine.

Good food, good wine, good friends…isn’t that what life is all about?

Got Salt?

Sometimes you find that rare gem of a restaurant that offers you everything your heart desires.  We found one while vacationing with friends in Naples, Florida.  Located in the trendy Third Street South neighborhood is a restaurant worth its salt - Sea Salt owned by Chef Fabrizio Aielli.  Its modern island décor comes complete with a 1^st rate dining room, a chef‘s table, an outdoor café, indoor/outdoor bar, a small retail café that has a Napa Valley feel, and a wine “cave” offering over 500 different selections of wine served at the ideal temperature.

Dinner began with a bread basket and typical evoo, however, the presentation was unique by the arrival of 3 different sea salts to taste with the bread.  We tried salt from India (tasted like sulphur), Washington State (smelled and tasted like campfire), and Hawaiian volcanic black salt (very strong).  This was followed by a gorgeous amuse-bouche: a colossal shrimp lightly tempura-ed over a seaweed salad with a balsamic soy emulsion and it was très tasty!

A section of the menu features Carpaccio, Crudo, Charcuterie & Cheese.  Let us just say that the salmon carpaccio made our taste buds sing!  The menu was diverse, but simply prepared in the Venetian style: Kobe ragu over rigatoni, grilled Kona kampachi, whole fish baked in salt, whole roasted branzino filleted tableside, ½ chicken grilled under a block of salt, coffee rubbed Korobuta pork rack…the list goes on.  Decadent sides round out the meal - the most decadent:  French fries topped with shaved black truffle served with flavored ketchups for dipping.

Dessert was equally exciting, but the real pièce de résistance was the selection of Norman Love chocolates.  We had 2 faves: Bitter Venezuelan chocolate with gold leaf and the Sea Salt Signature (made especially for the restaurant) vanilla infused caramel dipped in dark chocolate and finished with Hawaiian red sea salt.  We know, right? 

This meal was so incredible that we couldn’t name just one perfect bite. 

Perfect Bite #1 - the salmon carpaccio

Perfect Bite #2 - the Bitter Venezuelan chocolate paired with Jayson by Pahlmeyer 2006 Pinot Noir

What is The Perfect Bite?

Have you ever taken that one perfect bite that makes the world stand still, awakens all your senses and makes you involuntarily say “mmmmmm!” ?

The perfect bite is like a great song. It takes you back to that moment so ingrained in your memory you’ll never forget it. You remember everything about that moment: the environment & ambience, the smile on your dining partner’s face, every detail of the conversation, the feel of the fork perched against your fingers, the aroma, and oh…exactly what your tastebuds experienced!

We first experienced the foodie world on our honeymoon 21 years ago. We spent 2 weeks in Italy and ate our way through all the new flavors that were available to us: arugula salad, fresh buffalo mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, pecorino romano, truffle oil…the list goes on. 21 years ago, those foods were not available in the US except in only the finest and most expensive Italian restaurants. How the food world has changed!

Our perfect bites have evolved through the years and now include:

The edamame dumplings at Buddakan - New York City

The heirloom tomato salad at Tra Vigne - Napa Valley

The BBQ duck & seared foie gras slider at Iron Bridge Wine Company - Columbia, MD

The tuna carpaccio at West End Bistro - Washington, DC

The BBQ Moroccan riblettes at The Dilido Beach Club - South Beach

The pan roasted salmon at Caliterra Bar & Grille - Chicago

The artisan bread with creamy butter and Hawaiian red sea salt at Farallon - San Francisco

The Brazilian pacu fish ribs at Truluck's - Naples, FL

　

We are always on a quest for the next perfect bite!

We’d like to know: what is your perfect bite?