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By John, 10 December, 2014

Annette's Savoyard Birthday

Annette provided little in the way of guidance for her birthday feast. Getting back to her favorite basics, she wanted only "some good cheeses, and a Mont Blanc".

I fretted about that for a while, until I learned that Savoy, in the French Alps, is known for excellent cheeses and is also home to Mont Blanc (the geological marvel, not the delicate chestnut culinary masterpiece).

Like Vermont, Savoy is ski country and it produces great cheeses. Savoy is the home of fondue, that quintessential apres ski communal party food. It is also the home of Tomme, not to mention Comte, Raclette, Reblochon, and more. Neighboring Jura has more wonderful cheeses. And Mont Blanc is the border between the Savoy department of France and the Val d'Aosta province in northwestern Italy, home of Fontina and Robiola.

A birthday dinner in Chamonix could easily enjoy some wonderful cheeses while gazing upon the snow-capped splendor of Mont Blanc. Obviously a mountain cheese theme was emerging, some sort of December apres-ski casual dinner that included the favorite local fondue, with the eponymous Mont Blanc (the culinary marvel) as the crowning glory.

Here's what we had:

Actifio Potluck - Spanish Theme

Chris Murphy prepping for lunch, photo by XD Zhang

We had another awesome potluck, this one with a Spanish theme. It was late summer, so we had all sorts of ingredients available, and we could use the grill outside.

We had a special guest for this lunch - a writer and a photographer from Inc. Magazine! They wrote about it in this article in the December-January 2014-15 issue.

We had:

By John, 27 November, 2014

Flipping Out

Making Flip with a Red-Hot Poker - photo by Richmond Talbot On a gorgeous Friday evening in September, we went the few blocks down the street to the Harlow Old Fort House to participate in their first annual FlipFest.

Flip is a colonial cool-weather drink. In this version, ale is fortified with molasses and rum, and then a red-hot poker is thrust into the mixture, causing it to foam up and get all sorts of really interesting caramelized molasses and malt flavors.

This can be a time-consuming process because you have to heat the poker. You can flip a mug or a pitcher of ale. Obviously the pitcher goes further, but each serving doesn't get as hot.

Pumping the Forge Bellows - photo by Richmond Talbot

And heat is the charm and the problem here. Home gas grills do not get as hot as charcoal, and certainly not as hot as this blacksmith's forge with an apprentice tending the bellows. If you plan to make more than one pitcher or mug of flip, consider setting a few irons in the fire so you don't have to wait for them to heat up again.

By John, 2 November, 2014

Lorna's Birthday Dinner 2014

Such a wonderful and peculiar feast was this one!

Lorna had only two requests, but they are two of the trickiest and most time-consuming recipes that I make. The Lobster Cardinal is a decadent luxury from the Escoffier Cookbook that requires a flurry of last-minute preparation. The Orange Hazelnut Buttercream Torte is a brilliant cake from Please to the Table that requires numerous steps performed over several hours, with waiting time in between.

No obvious theme for the menu was suggested by the two requests. The lobster dish is a pre-WWI era fancy dish with black truffles, a creamy sauce, and many steps. The cake is a Russian fancy cake. For a wine, I considered a Viognier but opted instead for the classic Veuve Clicquot as the better accompaniment to the classic recipe.

Actually, one theme emerged loud and clear. This would be an expensive dinner. The truffle alone cost $40. I used 6 lobsters in all: four selects for serving, plus two more quarters for the meat. In addition to the Champagne, I brought up a 2001 Ruffino Chianti Classico Riserva Ducale Oro. This was a big birthday, so I didn't mind the expense, but it didn't help to develop a theme.

By John, 1 November, 2014

Ward 8 Cocktail

This was invented for an election celebration in Boston's Eighth Ward (Southie & Roxbury) over a hundred years ago. It's a little sweet and you can overdo it with the fruit salad (like this one), so use some restrain here.

The charm of the Ward 8 seems to be in the way the orange and the lemon compete for the favor of the sweet grenadine, with a dry rye whiskey pulling the strings like a wily old South Boston politician. You could put down a few of these before you realize there's really liquor in there!

By John, 29 October, 2014

Stuffed Pumpkin

This recipe originated as a traditional Armenian dish in Please to the Table, but I have made some changes to make it more American. This is an excellent option for a Thanksgiving dinner for vegetarians, because it looks festive and is also nourishing and savory.

By John, 14 September, 2014

Boston Blonde Bread

This is a lighter-flavored version of the famous old Boston Brown Bread, sweetened with honey and maple syrup instead of the traditional molasses. This makes a great breakfast, especially toasted or warmed in a skillet with hot butter. The flavors suit modern tastes as well as those of our colonial forebears, and the three whole grains make is almost healthful (except for that bit about the hot butter in the skillet...)

By John, 24 August, 2014

Racei Cocktail

This is a change of pace from the sweet, juicy, tall coolers that I saw in Jamaican hotels. It it built on the classic cocktail model of 3:1 plus lime juice. A moment of relaxed contemplation reveals layers of tropical flavors against an authoritative rum backbone. I hope to try it at home with some Falernum syrup, but the Stone's is ubiquitous in its Jamaican home.

It is named for my friend Hugo "Racei" Matthews of Kingston, Jamaica. I invented it while awaiting his wedding, during a savage downpour that cleared up just in time for the happy occasion. This one was mixed at the Knutsford Court hotel, where I stayed and which I recommend.

This is properly made with Appleton Genesis white Jamaica rum, because I made it with that fine product, I was in Jamaica at the time, and as far as I know Racei is still there and happily married.

By John, 14 August, 2014

Vacherin Shell

Vacherin Sheel, Filled This festive dessert is spectacular, time-consuming, and short lived. It is best made for a celebration.

It is simply a shell made of meringue filled with whipped cream and fresh berries; the trick lies in making a good shell.

By John, 3 August, 2014

Peach Cobbler

This traditional American summer classic is best made with very fresh peaches when they are in season in August and early September.

Be sure to buy them where they are grown! As with most fruit, the riper a peach gets, the softer it gets, so tree-ripe fruit is hard to pack and ship. Peaches shipped from Georgia or elsewhere are typically picked somewhat underripe, and then gassed with ethylene in a warehouse to "ripen" them artificially.

By John, 30 July, 2014

Lucien Gaudin Cocktail

This handsome drink is complex and flavorful, suitable for hot nights or cold ones.

Lucien Gaudin was a world-champion fencer in the early 20th Century, winning awards from 1905 to 1928, including four gold medals and two silver medals in the 1924 and 1928 Olympic games. In the 1920s and 1930s, new cocktails were invented for all sorts of pop-culture references. Most have long since failed the test of time, but this tasty gin-and-Campari concoction remains a winner!

By John, 28 July, 2014

Ekmek

Ekmek, aka Armenian Home Kadaif This heavy pastry is middle-eastern. I have been told it is Armenian, Greek, Lebanese, and Turkish. Whoever invented it deserves a prize!

This is sweet, but not super-sweet. It's great with tea or coffee after a light middle-eastern dinner in the summer.

By John, 25 July, 2014

Apple Pie

Apple Pie The original fall classic!

I like this best early in the season with Yellow Transparents, and late in the season with Northern Spy, Golden Russet, and Baldwin apples.

By John, 8 July, 2014

Actifio Potluck - Summer BBQ

We did it again. The weather forecast was promising, so the VP Engineering surprised us with a shiny new gas grill!

The Software Developers and the QA crew had at it, with a little help from the Technical Writers, Marketing, and two industrious interns. Our CSA share came in that morning, so we had a lot of "raw material" to work with.

This was our biggest pot-luck lunch so far, maybe thanks to the creative energy unleashed by that grill. Some of it was competitive energy, and some was just the joy of sharing something delicious with our friends.

We had:

By Anonymous, 5 July, 2014

Pineapple Salsa

This is a fine accompaniment to Grilled Scallops.