Spanish Chorizo Dip

I’ve got a great new appetizer for everyone to try. It was a huge hit when I made it for Beau’s birthday. But sorry, no picture. I need to get into the habit of taking pictures. Will do better…

 

Spanish Chorizo Dip

 

2 ½ T grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil

2 c chopped white onions

1 c (packed) thinly sliced leeks (about 2 small; white and pale green parts only)

½ c dry white wine

8 oz smoked Spanish chorizo, cut into 1/16-inch thick rounds

3 c coarsely grated Petit Basque cheese or Gruyere cheese

Grilled sourdough bread slices

 

Heat 1 ½ T oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until deep golden, stirring often an adjusting heat as needed to prevent burning, 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

 

Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 T oil in mediums skillet over medium heat. Add leeks; sauté 3-4 minutes. Add ¾ c water; cover and cook until leeks are tender, stirring often and adding more water by tablespoons to moisten as needed, 10-15 minutes. Add wine; cook uncovered until leeks are very tender, about 5 minutes longer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Combine onions and leeks in small bowl.

 

Preheat oven to 450. Arrange onion-leek mixture in shallow dish and top with chorizo slices and then cheese.

 

Bake until cheese melts and bubbles, about 15 minutes. Serve hot with grilled bread.

Early on

Here are some pictures at some of the first dates Beau and I went on. We were at a fundraiser in one, on his sailboat in another and at the finale for Spoleto at Middleton Place.

Hula Hooping at the Firefly Distillary

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Kathryn with Julia Child's pots and pans

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Honeymoon food reviews-Paris

I’m going to have to break down the food discussions by location or else this would be one long post! They will be posted for the following locations: Paris, Barcelona, Cinque Terre and Rome. And so we begin…

 

Beau and I arrived into Paris around lunch. At least it was the American lunch hour (noon). But in Europe, lunch begins around 1:30. You think this odd? I would too, if I were getting up at 6:00 for work and having breakfast around that time. But Europeans don’t get up that early and have their breakfast. In fact, their breakfast hour is between 8:00 and 10:00, lunch between 1:00 and 3:00 and the dinner hour begins around 7:30. And just so I don’t forget, Paris was the early to dinner crew. The Spanish start around 8:00pm and the Italians start around 8:30pm. They are definitely making full use of daylight in their days!

 

Back to Parisian food…

 

Our first meal in Paris was “lunch” on the street. We stopped at a café that had a long line (this was a good sign) to see what they were offering. We were in Beau’s heavenly place-a café of sandwiches. And this was no Subway. Ten different kinds of sandwiches with cured meats on French bread. The one we chose: Salami with aged mozzarella and gherkin pickles slices (cut long ways). There was no sauce, no mayonnaise, no dressing and it didn’t need it. The salt from the salami, the tartness of the pickle and sweetness of the cheese all encompassed by that crispy soft French bread was delicious! And on the side, a COKE zero. Beau and I walked through the streets handing the sandwich back and forth, taking bites at leisure. We were very French!

 

Meal # 2 was dinner on our first day and that was inside the Eiffel Tower! We were on the first level up, overlooking Paris. Thankfully, we were given a seat right by the window so no one was blocking our view. After reviewing the set menu choices, here’s what we were given:

 

A bottle of red wine from the Bourdeaux region (Kathryn’s favorite red wine)

Crispy French bread with butter

 

Beau

Appetizer: Cream of Chestnut Soup

Entrée: Guinea Fowl Breast with Chanterelles Mushrooms and Garlic Whipped Potatoes

Dessert: Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream

 

Kathryn

Appetizer: Cream of Chestnut Soup

Entrée: Jon Dory Fillet with Creamed Carrots and Garlic Whipped Potatoes

Dessert: Rum Cake

 

In my opinion, Beau’s entire meal was better than mine. (This actually happened most of the trip.) I’ll hone in on the highlights here.

 

The guinea fowl breast was similar to chicken, but sweeter and very tender (easily cut with a butter knife). Eating the Chanterelles mushrooms was a first for both of us, but not the last. Those little mushrooms are different in texture to most mushrooms, with a sort of toughness to them, but packed with a lot of flavor.

 

The cream of chestnut soup was served with the chestnuts and cheese already in the bowl. The waiter brought the chestnut broth and poured it over everything after placing everything in the bowl. Very neat presentation and a very good soup that was then soaked up with the bread!

 

We’re skipping my entrée and dessert because they weren’t really anything to speak of.

 

Beau’s profiteroles with vanilla ice cream were light and crisp and yet soft in the middle and wonderful! And he was sweet enough to share them with me. J

 

And the evening topped off with a cup of coffee.

 

Meal # 3

 

Breakfast in Paris consists of coffee and a pastry, which I had no complaints over. An apricot pastry last only seconds and left me wanting more.

 

Meal # 4

 

Beau and I went on the search for a multiple coarse meal, but to no avail was not found. Instead, we took the advice of the concierge and went to a place called Brasserie Lipp for a late lunch. We were seated on the patio, facing the street. As we’re looking at the menu, Beau notices that the paparazzi has come flying up in front of the restaurant and a super nice Mercedes is sitting in front. Out of the car steps Kate Moss, our 2^nd celebrity sighting. Yes, she’s thin and no, I don’t know how tall she is. J Back to the food.

 

Appetizers:

Escargots-they came in the shells. We had a good time handling those little suckers. Delicious! And we soaked up the extra sauce with our bread.

 

Frisee salad w/ Bacon and a Poached Egg-this one will be made at my house as soon as possible. We were splitting both items, but I don’t think either one of us wanted to give this one to the other person.

 

Beau-Steak with Beurre Blanc and French fries. He loved the steak and the sauce, but the fries left much to be desired.

 

Kathryn-Duck Confit and French Potatoes. It was good, but I wouldn’t say it was great. I think it was more what I ordered than how it was cooked. Now, don’t get me wrong, I ate it all, but nothing wowed me.

 

And that pretty much sums up our Paris food. It gets better….

 

Honeymoon food reviews-Barcelona

So after a short little jaunt, we arrive in Barcelona, Spain. We checked into our hotel and headed out into the city to La Rambla (the main street) to find something to eat for lunch. We came across a little fast food place and were so hungry that we stopped there. Still very European though.

 

Meal #1: it was a sandwich joint but everything was on French Bread. Best option for bread ever! Beau got a salami  and brie on French Bread and I got a chicken sandwich on French Bread. I’m telling you, that French Bread really takes a sandwich to a whole ‘nother level. We loved it!

 

Snack: it wasn’t really a snack, but when in Spain… We were waiting for the dinner “hour” to come (8:00) and were so tired of walking that we stopped at a restaurant to have a pitcher (yes a pitcher) of Sangria. Love the Spaniards.

 

Meal #2: Best meal we had in Spain. I found this restaurant in my Lonely Planet book. The Monkfish was a recommendation. And so we went. It was down one of the little side streets and was like a maze to find, but so glad we did. I think we were the second or third couple to be seated. (Late eaters.) We ordered a bottle of wine and some bread. We munched on that for a while and then got to ordering our meals.

 

Appetizer: Fried calamari with a wedge of lemon. By far the BEST fried calamari I’ve had to date. The best, without a doubt. It was like the calamari was tempura fried. The batter was so light and the calamari was so big. That little spray of lemon juice was just enough to give a twist on the flavor. No need for marinara or whatever else is normally served with calamari in the States. This was fresh and crisp and good.

 

Beau’s Entrée:  Osso Buco

Neither one of us had ever had this. It’s a dish with lamb shanks braised with vegetables in a white wine and stock sauce. It fell off the bone! I was shocked, but Beau loved it! It really was delicious!

 

Kathryn’s Entrée: Monkfish stewed in garlic

This was the meal that brought us into this restaurant. It was very good. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had Monkfish and in fact, I don’t really ever see it offered on any menu. What’s the deal with that? I was given four pieces of Monkfish laid nicely in a light broth with garlic and some sort of nut that I can’t seem to remember right now. But it was sure good. I made a point to soak up the rest of that sauce with as much bread as I could find. Beau did the same. J

 

Meal #3: This will cover all breakfasts. We ate in the hotel, which wouldn’t otherwise be exciting, but I feel like I must because Beau loved it so much! Sandwiches. Do you see a theme here? This man loves him a good sandwich. With three different choices for bread and four kinds of cured meat and three kinds of cheese, how could you go wrong? He loved it! Me? Fruit, Danish and coffee. Not nearly as exciting.

 

Meal #4: This was our attempt at Tapas. We ordered something from the menu, solely based on the picture as we couldn’t read what any of it was. They don’t teach you “croquettes” in Spanish class. Out tapas were served on a large platter in six different dishes. We tried potatoes covered in mayonnaise, chicken croquettes (pureed chicken with cheese), fried calamari, stewed spicy sausages, potato               quiche and cucumber and tomato salad with fresh mozzarella. Oh yes, and we had Sangria. J Nothing on our tapas plate overwhelmed us. We didn’t even finish it actually. A bit of a disappointment. We should have left the tourist area for this.

 

Meal #5: Paella. That’s right. I was dying to try to real Spanish Paella. Actually, I had never eaten prior to this night, but hey, if you’re going to try it for the first time, why not have it in the country it came from?! Beau and I booked tickets for dinner and a Flamenco Show. How much fun was this?!?! More Sangria (of course), a salad, bread, Seafood Paella and Vanilla custard for dessert. I loved the whole thing. The food was amazing by any stretch, but the whole atmosphere, the show, the food, Paella, Sangria-it just made it wonderful. And I left there really liking Paella and determined to make it myself one day. Any takers?

 

On to the famous Italian food….

 

Honeymoon food review-Cinque Terre

Beau and I flew into Rome and immediately got in our rental car and headed north towards Cinque Terre. (If you don’t know what I’m talking about, google it. I cannot do it justice. You’ll be glad you did.) It was 3:00 in the afternoon and we were starving and decided to brave the gas station food. Yes, our first meal in the country famous for pasta, was at a gas station. But yeah, definitely the best gas station food I’ve ever eaten.

 

Meal #1: We stopped at AGIP and so did half of the other people traveling along the interstate. That place was packed! We fought our way through the crowd and found ourselves in some sort of line where we were quickly asked to order. In some sort of frantic answer we gave them two sandwich names and paid. Beau got us drinks and a little sweet something to munch on. I think that was mostly to satisfy me because he knows that I like to finish a meal with something sweet in my mouth. J Beau and I sat outside eating our paninis and drinking our cokes.

 

We both got Prosciutto and fresh Mozzarella with Arugula on some sort of delicious bread. It was melted and warm and heavenly. And did I mention that the gas station serves beer on the go? Yep.

 

On we drove to Cinque Terre, eating our hazelnut yummies.

 

Meal #2: We had stopped in the first town called Riomaggiore. We found a place to lay our heads and went looking for a place to fill our bellies. The restaurant below our hostel looked good and so in we went. We sat by the window and drank our wine. Beau had me try an Italian “tradition” called Grappa. Nasty stuff. Don’t ever try it, no matter the tradition. Gross. The Italians were laughing at me.

 

Antipasto: Stuffed Mussels-that’s right, these little guys were cut up and stuffed with bread crumbs, herbs, and cheese and closed back together and cooked in a light tomato broth. I’m so glad I got that recipe! Wonderful!

 

Primi: Chestnut pasta with pesto. This was on special and it was great. Cinque Terre is known for their pesto and so that drew us in, as well as the fact that we had never had chestnut pasta. It was wonderful!

 

Secondi: Grouper sautéed in a light tomato broth with potatoes. Also light and delicious. We split everything.

 

Dessert: Tiramisu. We had to try it. Admittedly, it was different looking that any other tiramisu we had ever had. There were very little lady fingers and a lot of cream, but it was wonderful. We loved it.

 

Meal #3: This was breakfast at the hostel and although it was mostly not worth mentioning, I feel like I would doing a disservice if I didn’t mention the Brioche (we call them croissants). Wow, just thinking about them, I can smell them and even taste them. And they were hot out of the oven. I had two. J

 

Meal #4: After hiking all day, we stopped in the 4^th town, Vernazza, to have lunch. Beau and I each ordered a pizza, thinking they would be “personal pan”, but we could have split one. Somehow, though, we each managed to eat it all, as well as the bread that came prior to the pizza. Can you say carb overload? Both of us seemed to order almost the same thing. We had prosciutto on them and mushrooms and fresh mozzarella. Beau added artichokes and olives (not sliced but thrown on there whole). We liked them okay. I will say that I loved that they were thin crust and easy on the sauce.

 

Meal #5: Last town called Monterossa. We found our hotel and headed out to walk the village. While exploring the shops, we found one with a shopkeeper that was super friendly and offered us a wine sample and a pesto sample. Naturally, we tried them both. She gave us her card and said that she and her husband owned a restaurant down the street. After about an hour of exploring we decided to have dinner and came across that ladies’ restaurant. After being seated and drinking our wine for a bit, we ordered:

 

Antipasto: Anchovies with lemon juice (Cinque Terre is famous for their Anchovies) These were surprisingly good. I don’t think I would order them over mussels or something. But we enjoyed eating them.

 

Primi: Funny shaped pasta tossed with pesto. Loved every bite. I plan to make that pesto again for sure. Loved it.

 

Secondi: Grilled prawns. These things were huge! They were more like little lobsters and that had that same flavor-a little on the sweet side. We drizzled them with lemon and ate. Very filling and hearty and good.

 

Dessert: Tiramisu. Yep, we did it again. And they were different even between villages. I couldn’t say I liked one more than the other. They were different and both equally delicious.

 

We loved the food in Cinque Terre. We loved the whole place. Check it out and go there!

 

On to Rome….

 

Honeymoon food reviews-Rome

So this would be the last food post for our honeymoon…Rome. After taking a little puddle-jumper flight from Barcelona we arrived in Rome and had to take the train to the center of the city and then a taxi to our hotel, which was on the outskirts of the city.

 

By the time we got checked in and settled, it was later in the afternoon and so we decided to head down to the Lounge for a quick bit and save our stomachs for dinner. But after getting into the city we went on the hunt for Gelato!

 

I read about this place in my Lonely Planet book and it was rated as one of the best in Rome, made with organic ingredients and nothing added. It wasn’t a question of whether I would continue looking for it until I found it, because I would, but I was thrilled by Beau’s dexterity to find that place no matter what! And we did!

 

Beau ordered the special for the day, which I think was named for the street. I couldn’t tell you the flavor, but it was good. I, naturally, got two different kinds because I can’t seem to commit to just one: Ginger/Cinnamon and Basil. They were wonderful! I wish I had gotten more. The interesting thing was that every flavor was the same color.

 

Meal #1: The Golden Corral of Rome. Yes, we ate there, much to our chagrin. I should have known when we sat down and the bread they gave us was stale. I should have walked out right then, but we didn’t. We didn’t order an antipasto because we both wanted a primi.

 

Beau’s Primi: Carbonara-it tasted good, but it had pieces of egg in it (which is a no no)

 

Kathryn’s Primi: Mushroom Risotto. I had been dying to have risotto. Sadness came over me. The rice wasn’t cooked all the way and it was thick like it’s supposed to be. It was like they just added cream to some rice and wham! Risotto! Not so. It was tasteless and I couldn’t finish it. Beau was so sweet to let me eat his Carbonara with him.

 

Secondi: I convinced Beau to let me order Veal Marsala to share. He normally doesn’t eat veal, but he obliged. Wish he hadn’t though… It came out and it was slimy and gross looking and in no way resembled marsala. It looked like it was cooked in fatty chicken broth. Yuck. We didn’t eat it.

 

Meal #2: Breakfast at the hotel has to be mentioned, only because it was one of the biggest spreads I’ve ever seen. It was in two different rooms! Let me list the selections for you:

Cereal/Granola bar with 9 different kinds of milk, 5 different choices of yogurt and multiple options for toppings.

Japanese breakfast bar with your choice of dumplings, rice or noodles and their fixin’s.

Fruit bar with fruit from all over the world, no matter the season we were in.

Toast/Bread bar with four different loaves, multiples types of pastries and regular old sandwich bread.

Jam/Jelly bar with at least 15 different flavors of jams/jellies and there were six or so different kinds of honey.

Cookie bar

Juice bar with juices from any fruit that could be squeezed to make juice.

And then the regulars: eggs cooked three different ways, sausage, bacon, prosciutto, French toast made from French bread, etc.

 

We ate like kings and queens that morning!

 

Meal #3: Lunch at Lo Zozzoro. Another Lonely Planet recommendation that we searched high and low for. This one was a little easier to find. Going into the meal, Beau and I thought everything would be a pizza, but when the food was delivered we found out it wasn’t. Beau ordered a turkey and cheese Panini with mayo on focaccia. I thought it was okay, but he seemed to really like it. I ordered eggplant, mozzarella and tomato on flatbread. It came out piping hot and nice and crispy. We both devoured this one. Two lunches, two COKE Zeros and a beer and we were out of there.

 

Meal #4: Per the concierge’s recommendation we at a place called Condido’s. Beau and I had no idea what to expect. Our reservation was for 8:00 and believe it or not, we were the first people in the restaurant. We thought this to be a bad sign at first, but around 8:30 that place was swarming with people and it was still completely packed when we left at 10:30. This place was family run, with mom cooking, dad running the place and the sons acting as the waiters. Yes, three waiters for the entire restaurant that probably had 50 or so tables. Mayhem at times.

 

They sat us down and asked “red or white?” Wine that is. And we chose red. Wine, bread and a plate of olives, salami and sun dried tomatoes were brought to us. We munched on that stuff for a while. I was wondering when a menu was going to be brought to us, but that never came. Instead a bowl of potato noodle soup came for each of us. That was pretty good. We were then asked for our pasta choice and the waiter listed four different options. Beau tried the Oxtail over Rigatoni and I had Rigatoni with butter, parmesan and black pepper. We loved them both.

 

For our entrees, we were given three “specialties” and four other options. We chose from the other options. Beau ordered meatballs, which he said were some of his favorite. They had a citrus flavor to them. I ordered the lamb chop with pureed potatoes. Yes, that was delicious.

 

And for dessert they brought us an opened bottle of dessert wine, two glasses and a plate of Italian cookies that we were instructed to dip into the wine. One of them was a hazelnut cookie that we really liked and could have eaten more of, but if you can imagine, we were very full by this point.

 

This was the most food and some of the best, with definitely the best overall experience and it was the cheapest! We loved it!

 

Well, that sums up the eating portion of our honeymoon. I hope ya’ll enjoyed it at least a fraction of what we did! Next will come trying to recreate these things! Cheers to happy trying!

 

Honeymoon-Arc de Triomphe

This is as close as we could get. Did you know it’s kind of like an island in the middle of a huge traffic circle? There was no way we were getting any closer than this!

 

Honeymoon-Leaving

My mother made this sign for Beau and I. She had us stand outside the Charleston airport with it on display. Cute huh?

 

Roadtrip!

At 3:30 pm today Beau and Donna (his mother) are picking me up from work and getting on the road. We’re driving to Washington , D.C. for Martin and Ivania’s wedding. We’re really excited. It’s going to be one heck of a weekend with a little jaunt to the Smithsonian and then putzing around D.C. seeing some other famous sites.

 

Wedding festivities start on Friday evening with cocktails and then on the rehearsal dinner. Yes, we’re getting all dressed up for this swanky affair. Cocktail attire for Friday night and then Black Tie for Saturday night. And my adorable husband is the best man.

 

Beau and I love roadtrips. We keep Trivial Pursuit questions in the door of the car for such a time as this. He answers most of them correctly. I just ask them. J

 

And don’t you find that roadtrips allow the freedom to kind of be spontaneous and carefree? As long as we’re at that rehearsal dinner on Friday night, who cares what we do from here to there. Very exciting!

 

We’ll keep you posted on the happenings of the weekend…

 

Piccoli Spoleto

Here’s your reminder to get your tickets for Piccolo Spoleto this year. I’ve just looked at all the events and there are some pretty great things happening this year. I’m super excited about a Khmer (Cambodian) Dance number and a Banjo band! There seem to be some good plays as well. So get to looking and purchase your tickets. I loved it last year and will be taking full advantage of it this year as well. Very exciting!

20% or below

I will not be going out on the water if the chance of rain is over 20%. And this is why…

 

The last time we went out on a boat there was a 30% chance of rain and it stormed all night. (We were camping on an island.) There was a tornado warning and a small craft advisory. And when we woke up in the morning, our boat had been washed ashore.

 

And then…

 

Beau and I went out on the sailboat Saturday, about midday. When we left was very different than when we returned.

 

Beau and I were getting the sailboat ready to leave the marina when Hugh, the manager of the marina, came by to warn us that a storm was supposed to be rolling in around 1:00 or 2:00. Yeah, we know Hugh. We’re not worried. But thanks!

 

For the first hour of our little jaunt out to the harbor there absolutely NO wind. Nothing. We had to motor the entire time. But Beau set the sails up in hopes that some wind would come along. A little came and we were moving along quite nicely. Then…

 

Before we could blink an eye, the winds picked up enough to put a rail in the water and create white caps in the water. As I’m trying desperately to steer the boat into the wind, Beau is trying to get both sails down so the wind will stop knocking us around.

 

I’m looking around and noticing that people are leaving the harbor. They’re going back to their marinas. And where are we going? We’re going further into the harbor so that we can continue to sail into the wind. As I’m noticing this and thinking we’re the only ones out here, Beau comments about how this situation is reminding him of White Squall. Not funny Beau. Not funny.

 

We get the sails down and sit. we sail (motor rather) back to the marina. Not a drop of rain landed on our heads, but that wind was storm enough for me.

 

I will be staying on land if the chance for rain goes above 20%.

This is the 1st

So this is our first post onto our first blog…together. Yes, I’ve (Kathryn) had two blogs over the course of 7 years or so, one of which was not interesting and one that was maybe more interesting. But this one is mine and Beau’s first together. We’re excited!

 

Let me tell you what we’re looking at here.

 

Beau and I are hoping that this will not only keep everyone updated on our lives with stories and pictures, but will also help us to keep in better communication with those we love. We plan to keep it updated with where we’re traveling via a tracking device we have that allows you (our readers) to see us as we walk/drive/ride horses, etc. This little site will also serve as my outlet for cooking/baking up a storm and telling the world about it. I hope it’s helpful and interesting. I’ll definitely be having fun!

 

In all of this, Beau and I will enjoy doing it together and hearing from each of you in return.

 

So (raise your glasses-whatever you have nearby will do) here’s to the adventure of a lifetime. May we do it well-with character, with excitement and enthusiasm and with every ounce of our being!