Epicurious...

A few years back, a group of friends gathered in hopes of creating exciting menus and a unique dining experience in our own homes on a quarterly basis...through food we've traveled to far off places like Ireland, Namibia and France, this past weekend we celebrated our groups love of food, wine and laughter together in Madison.  It was the first Epicures dinner party that we had that had a Kid-i-cures scope to it, all of the Medford members were welcomed to the Bauer's home in Madison for a great weekend. 

The menu was fantastic, the point of the epicures dinner party group is to expand your horizon through food and to have a good reason for the group to get together and laugh aka the boys play sheepshead and the girls drink wine and giggle :)  The menu this time did not have a regional theme but was delicious through every course...


Course 1...bring on the signature cocktail and cheese and crackers.  It was an assortment of soft and hard cheeses that paired well with the signature cocktail which was a Ginger and Carrot Elixir spiked with Tequila...yum!


Course 2...Mini Buffalo Chicken Balls with Blue Cheese Dressing - YUM.  The balls had a good kick to them which was cooled off by the blue cheese - a great starter to wake up your taste buds!

Course 3 - Salad...Kale Caesar Salad...for anyone that has not had kale, it is a lettuce that holds up to being cooked, in this case it was broiled which made the leaves crunchy!  The flavor of the dressing seemed to infuse into the lettuce while cooking.

Main Course...Milk Braised Pork Shoulder with Semolina Gnocchi, served with Roasted Asparagus and various Chardonnay wines.  This was divine, the pork was fork tender and the seasonings were a-maze-ing.  There was a hint of sweetness brought on by cinnamon and clove that was unexpected and awesome.  The wine pairing was phenomenal - Ellie had a really good point, this was the best food/wine pairing I think any of us had ever had - the flavors complimented to so well, in the food world it was true love!  The Gnocchi was something I had never had before, on it's own it has substance but it is completely mold able as far as flavors, it was great with the sauce of the pork and added a great texture of creaminess to the bite.  I think people generally love or hate asparagus, I love asparagus and this was no exception, it was tossed with olive oil and toasted pine nuts.  I love the deep flavor of toasted nuts and it was a great accompaniment to the pork.

 

At this point, we all needed a breather and to put the six (six!!) kids to bed...so one by one, each kiddo either toddled off to bed or was hauled off to bed.  Clean up from dinner ensued and within an hour we were ready for dessert...

Dessert...I am a dessert person...although I rarely remember to leave room for it!  The Rhubarb Raspberry Crostata was a perfect ending to the this flavorful meal.  It was tart and tangy yet sweet and served with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.  Delish.  We all drank coffee with our dessert, we are such grown ups! And it was marvelous.

 

I love food.  I love that you can travel the world with your taste buds, I love that you can give comfort with it, I love that you can fuel your body, mind and soul with it, I love that you can share it with those you love.  The dinner table is a powerful place for a family.  A dinner date gives you time to catch up with an old friend, to reconnect with your spouse or to just take a moment to slow down and enjoy and talk about life. 

Even though the frequency of our little epicurean group has decreased I hope it continues on, it's a great time sharing food with friends and forces you to try something new.  Bon Appetit!