As I sat down to recap the Taste of the Nation event that The Wife and I went to Saturday evening, I decided to take a look back at what I wrote after attending the same event last year.  What immediately stood out to me was that the three restaurants that had the memorable/standout dishes for me last year were not even at the event this year.  I guess that since the food was again outstanding and we had a great time, I did not even notice they were missing!

There were some familiar faces there as I immediately recognized the same two gentlemen were at the Shipyard Brewing table again this year as they (told me they) have been for the last 6.  How strange that I would recognize faces at such a booth (wink, wink).  Stella Artois, Leffe, and Hoegaarden were again being poured but with so much other stuff to get to I did not feel the need to wait in the incredibly long line.  Instead we took advantage of our VIP wristbands and enjoyed a bit of champagne in the roped off tables area (a fair trade I think).

We got there before the line formed.

The plan was to make our way around the room to sample the savory dishes before doing the same to get our hands on some of the dessert options.  That would have worked perfectly well for me had there not been a second room that we had not thought about when formulating our plan of attack.  By the time the first pass was done I needed to walk around and let things settle before even thinking about desserts.  A few of the stand out dishes for me (from those I tried) were:

• Greek Tuna Tataki with Sumac, Onions, and Avocado Tzatziki (Kouzzina).  Really interesting flavors on a well seared piece of tuna.
• Braised Short Rib, Sunchoke, Maytag Blue Cheese Mashed Potato with Garlic Thyme Brown Butter (Omni Orlando Resort).  These potatoes were outrageously good.
• Seared Callote of Aged Strip Loin, Black Truffle and Foraged Mushroom Duxelle, Fois Gras Torchon, Madagascar Vanilla and Butter Poached Lobster with Bourguignon Sauce (Bull & Bear Prime Steakhouse).  Still drooling a little bit from this one.

Tuna from Kouzzina

The Omni's outrageously good potatoes.

Of course I did not get to sample everything that was there, but dishes like these made me feel like I did not miss out on anything.  Next year I will have to do some training so that my stomach will be able to handle the increased workload for the evening.

Though I did not have much in the way of desserts since I hit the entrees so hard, there was one that The Wife and I agreed was just outstanding.  The Slow Baked Apple Tart with Calvados Glaze (again from Bull & Bear Prime Steakhouse) seemed like it was pretty work intensive to create, but it was certainly worth the effort.

So many desserts, so little time.

The evening was a lot of fun just as we expected.  The room was well laid out and even with the tons of people there it was very easy to move around and with all of the restaurants there was barely a wait for anything the entire evening.  The live entertainment was really good and there were some really cool silent auction items available to bid on.  The only disappointment for me was that I did not have a second stomach to fill.

Plenty of live entertainment throughout.

If the other Taste of the Nation events are going to be anywhere near as enjoyable as the one here in Orlando was I would highly recommend going if you can.  It is a really fun way to support some great causes while getting to experience some of your best local restaurants.

Already looking forward to next year!

As the 21st Annual Taste of the Nation Orlando will be here in just a few weeks, it makes me wonder how many of you have been visiting this site long enough to remember The Wife and I going last year.  Even if you don’t there is still time to get your tickets to join us there this year on Saturday, June 5th at the Marriott World Center.  I cannot say that we will be the only ones there taking pictures of food (and drink), but that should be a good start to finding us.

The crowd slowly building at the event last year.

Looking at the images from last year made me even more excited for the event this year and also reminded me that I ended up with some nice glassware from which I have enjoyed many a beer since.  Maybe this year will leave me with some goodies to give away here too?!

Don't look for me in pink this year . . . maybe purple though.

As a bit of a sneak peek and some additional incentive for you to grab tickets (on top of the great cause it supports), I have a few of the menu items that you can expect from the 25 (or so) restaurants participating in Taste of the Nation this year.  You will see, among many other things:

• Crab Stack with Lump Crab Meat, Cooked Shrimp, Fresh Avocado, Fresh Apple Mango Salsa and a Swirl of Spicy Sriracha Sauce
• Sardinia Pasta: Hand-rolled Chestnut Flour with Roasted Shallots and Cured Dried Beef
• Porcini Rubbed Filet Mignon with 12 – Year Aged Balsamic and Sam’s Mashed Potatoes
• Citrus Ceviche: Scallops, Shrimp, Cherry Tomatoes, Jalapeno, Fresh Juice
• Roasted Beet Brownies with Gorgonzola, Spicy Cashews & Vanilla Honey
• Sake Braised Short Ribs on an Edamame Polenta Cake with Caramelized Shallot Reduction Sauce’’
• Greek Tuna Tataki in Lettuce Gyros with Sumac, Onions and Avocado Tzatziki
• Pear and Gorgonzola Ravioli with a Sage Alfredo
• Chef Jean-Louis’ Bananas Foster

There is certainly a lot to like there and that is only a small sample of the food that will be available, not to mention the beer and wine (and bourbon last year).  I am pretty intrigued by the idea of a roasted beet brownie, but then again I am a sucker for anything with good cheese in/on it.

Some of the good eats from last year.

If (hopefully when) you go, please say hello if you see us.  Waiting by one of the beer lines will give a pretty good shot at catching me sometime during the evening.  All in the name of research for the site, of course!

So if you were at all curious about the “all you can eat whatever” that I was referring to yesterday, this FAT Monday (food and travel) post will make the picture more clear.

On Saturday The Wife and I headed down to Celebration to make use of the free passes that she won for the never ending pie buffet at the American Pie Council / Crisco National Pie Championships.  I did not read the link in the previous sentence before attending so I was not really sure what to expect, though I did have it in my head that homemade pies would be served at some level.  However as the article says, slices of pie were “provided by the nation’s leading commercial pie makers.”

A great day to be outside.

That was not bad, but it just is not the same as grandma’s homemade goodness.  To make up for the slight pie letdown, we had gorgeous (though slightly too hot) weather and the company of Jim, Jackie, and Little E.  Minus the stomach discomfort afterward from eating too much it was a great time.  Enough talk . . .  now some pictures.

This crowds were bigger and bigger as you neared to pie.

Strawberry-rhubarb . . . I think.

As my first official good deed of the day, we smuggled a few pieces of blackberry/raspberry pie out of the event to bring to a friend at Celebration Town Tavern.  I think he was happy about the surprise delivery.

Pie makes people happy . . . just ask Rich.

On our way back home we parked the car in downtown Orlando and took a walk through the Central Florida Earth Day 2010 event that was set up around Lake Eola.  We did the same last year with The Mother-in-law and enjoyed it enough to put it on the schedule again this year.  As you will see, The Wife even made a new friend.

There was beer available . . .

. . . and oxygen for those looking to sample.

We have too many pets already!

All in all a great day and without me having even one beer while we were out!  To cap it all off we even made it home in time to catch the end of the NFL Draft (which consumes me this time of year) and put our feet up a bit after walking so much.  Did I mention that we spent a total of two dollars (parking) for the afternoon of fun?

We all get into the draft at my house!

Until the next FAT post . . .

Assuming that someday I will create a really nice India Pale Ale via my home brewing efforts, I must make myself one of these (among many other things) to go with it:

Extracting the hoppy goodness.

That beautiful set up was at Eola Wine Company recently and filled with Cascade hops to help the visitors that evening enjoy Terrapin’s Hopsecutioner in an entirely different way.  Well, at least we were told that Cascade hops were in there and based on the flavor I did believe what we were told.

If any of you are wondering what exactly you are looking at, it is a version of a randalizer.  I say version because the original “Randall the Enamel Animal” was an invention from Sam and the folks at Dogfish Head (years ago) and the picture is of one based on that original stainless steel design.  Actually it looks almost identical to the pictures I have seen of those used elsewhere, so I suppose this one could have been ordered through Dogfish.

Regardless, the vessel on top is filled with fresh hops and the beer is filtered through that mass of hops on its way to the glass.  That process essentially dry hops the beer on the spot, or perhaps more accurately fresh hops it.  The alcohol in the beer strips some of the oils from the leaves on the way through and (obviously) you end up with them in your glass.

The Wife went with a nice flight of craft beers.

In this case we got a more resin laced, spicy version of Hopsecutioner (in my opinion).  Nothing at all wrong with that!  The beer is great on its own, but it was nice to drink a different version of it.

That was good enough reason (for me) to be at Eola Wine Company that evening, but it was also a release event of sorts for El Wey Salsa which we received a jar of with each pint of Hopsecutioner.  How sweet a deal is that?!  I was going to enjoy the beer anyway, but some (very good) salsa as a bonus certainly did nothing to hurt our enjoyment of the evening.

Salsa anyone?

Thanks to Emily and Ian for giving The Wife and I the heads up on the glorious combination of beer and salsa for the evening!  Also a big thank you for this . . .

Oh so tasty!

Mondays were long ago dedicated as the food and travel day and it just so happens that gifts of edible goodness arrived from home today, so this post really fell into my lap (and refrigerator).

I do not really know what is in the box from my father, but I do know what came from my grandparents and have already started my way toward a sugar-induced stupor in the coming days.  I think that is a great way to get through the Christmas season and that is probably why Christmas cookies are such a staple this time of year.  Also in case there was any question, beer does go very well with cookies so have at it.

There are certain things that I just cannot recreate on my own and Grandma’s cookies are one of them.  I look forward to them every year and always plan to ignore whatever good sense I have of portion control for the days after they arrive.

Sugary goodness from the north!

As I opened the containers of cookies this afternoon it made me think of some other foods from where I grew up that make me a very happen person.  Moments after that I even sampled some of the pickled/marinated hot peppers that I have in the fridge as an example of one of the things that I can actually make on my own.

I only hope that the package from my father (still sealed in the fridge) contains some Croghan Bologna.  Give me that, some good sharp cheddar, and some spicy mustard and you won’t hear from me until it is gone.  Throw in some fresh (squeaky) cheese curd and I am good for days.  Add in a case of Genesee and you can just plan on not hearing from me until after the New Year celebration has passed.  As The Wife is already well aware, if I found out a way to ship subs from the New Bremen General Store I would have done that long ago.

Certain foods are just like gold to me since I have moved so far away from where I was able to enjoy them all the time.  Are there any foods like that for you?