Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives!!!

Triple D… I Double Dog Dare you to try this at home!

Well, it’s been awhile, and this time we have good ole’ Mother Nature to blame for our delay! On April 14^th, Snowpocalypse hit Minneapolis with the biggest snow storm the month had ever seen.  An average of 17-20+ inches of snow fell on the exact day we were scheduled to meet. Soooo… instead of cooking, we all spent the weekend shoveling, drinking hot chocolate, binge-watching Game of Thrones and practicing our hip-hop dance moves (ok, I don’t know exactly what the other ladies did).

By the time our schedules aligned, we were safely into summer weather, which was perfect for our theme. Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives!!

Yep, we cracked open some Triple-D cookbooks and let Guy Fieri guide us through the evening! (some of his favorite sayings included for your reading pleasure)

But before we started our imaginary road-trip, we needed a cocktail. An Old Fashioned to be precise. One with a crystal clear, slow melting ice cube. Kim challenged us to see who could make the clearest cube (which is not as easy as it sounds), and Bridget’s easily took the winning prize!

By the way, the ingredients below should be your go-to for an Old Fashioned from here on out, trust me.

This drink is seriously off the hook. Not from a diner, drive-in nor can I hardly imagine a dive…. but, a big high-five to Kim P for snagging the recipe from her bartender and including it as the start to our evening!

Ok, now we’re officially on the road (with our driver Guy, of course…). Our first stop is at Pier 23 in San Francisco. They’re known for an amazing appetizer of Dungeness Crab in some garlicky, buttery goodness.

Sop that up with some fresh baked sourdough and …. ya, you could basically put that stuff on a flip flop.

A grueling 28-hour drive (ok, a couple of steps to the deck) took us right to the BBQ Shack in Kansas. And what a great stop it was! Grilled Jalapeño Poppers were a definite highlight of the meal, smoky & spicy, making Kim B the mayor of Flavortown on this one!

Then it was time to roll up our sleeves and dive into the main course (literally). The day started with beheading our little suckling swine friend.

And later removing his ankles so he fit on the grill…

a job we all agreed could go to the butcher next time! At any rate, after a loooooong, sloooooow roast… Paige and Bridget dove in to pull some pork,

while Kim’s B & P got busy with French Fries and Spicy Southern Greens.

I must admit, I’ve never taken the time to double fry a french fry, but mark my words… SO WORTH IT! Fluffy on the inside, crispy on the outside… Dynamite! Arrange those right next to a pulled pork sandwich, spicy greens and some coleslaw…. 

That just puts the shama lama in ding dong!

And… not having yet had nearly enough to eat, we ended our journey at 3 Sisters in Indianapolis, as we tucked into some blueberry and goat cheese pie with, of course... blueberry champagne. YUM!

 

There’s only one thing left to say… the evening was out of bounds!

The Secret Life of Bees

Not only can the Bitches cook, we can read too! And so we did....

The Secret Life of Bees was the theme... so after flipping through the book, we headed to Bridget's to see if we could unravel some of those secrets in the kitchen. I think the little insects would be proud!

The honorary cocktail of the evening was The Bees Knees. And it was delicious! 
The "secret" to this drink in the winter, was definitely the gin... barrel aged for a little more depth... perfection!

Up next, Grilled Bruschetta with Teleme, Honey and Figs.
Bees hibernate during the winter, so how better to partake in this appetizer, than to head to the cave!

The salad course was selected as an ode to smoking the hives... Smoked Mackerel Salad with Crunchy Vegetables.

Then it was back to the kitchen for some real work. Honey-Marinated Pork with Gremolata, Pecan Rice & Honey-Roasted Carrots. Oh my! We chopped, sauteed and roasted, and after all of our efforts were rewarded with the most comforting, honey-laden meal you could imagine.

But what dinner would be complete without Honey Cakes?! Absolutely Divine...

And the surprise ending.. right from the book! Coke with peanuts... sweet, salty... what's not to love.

After drinking fine spirits and eating delectable dishes, I couldn't help but resonate with the following quote... I hope the other bitches can relate...

“The bee is domesticated but not tamed.”
William Longgood, Author

Without a doubt, another successful evening!! So much fun...

Smokin' Hot... or Cold!

Well, after a one-year delay (to the date!) the Kitchen Bitches are back at it!  AND... we've added a new Bitch! Welcome... Bridget.

Paige hosted this round, and the theme was Smokin' Hot... or Cold. Basically, Paige just wanted an excuse to get some liquid nitrogen to play with! 

The evening started off with Smoked Manhattans. We used a smoke chamber, added some smoke and, Mmmmmm, enjoyed!

Kim B had the assignment of Smoking Cedar Baked Pecorino with Truffle Honey and Marrons Glace. We torched the cedar plank after the cheese came out of the oven, to infuse the scent of cedar in the room. We all agreed to keep this in our rotation... it was delicious!

Then it was time to bust out the liquid nitrogen!

We made the palate cleanser and "nitro-ice-cream" at the same time, so we didn't need to schlep the liquid nitrogen twice. It was pretty neat to see the smoke billow and work with an ingredient that we've never used before.

Then time to start the main course... Salmon with root vegetable jus under glass with Mushroom Risotto under pressure.

Not too many photos here. We were BUSY putting the salmon in the sous vide, warming the carrot fricassee and the jus, setting out the caviar and making Kim P's assignment- the mushroom risotto. We used a pressure cooker for the risotto, which eliminated the need to stir constantly for 30 minutes. It tasted delicious and kept our forearms in tact!

We used a smoking gun, to add smoke under the glass domes, and placed it on top of our salmon. Then, the plates went to the table for us to enjoy!! Quick shout out to Paige's mom, who made the adorable place cards for our settings!!

And we topped off the evening with Bridget's Grilled Lemon Pound Cake with peaches and Liquid nitrogen Ice-cream.

Yep, by that time, we were absolutely content and happy! (And pretty proud of ourselves too, another cooking club down and we didn't need to call in Domino's...sweet success.)

Will we cook with liquid nitrogen again in the future?! Well, I can't speak for the others, but this Bitch definitely will!

Until next time!