Banishment!

This week’s topic include the Wannabe Foodie banished from his own kitchen (the horror), my friends imitating the cast of Alien, beef birria, a Tombstone reference, age has its perks, the most unique breakfast I’ve had in a while, a random travel note, and an Oenophile book suggestion.

 

Banished from my own kitchen!  So, recently, I come home and my best friend from college and his family are at my house.  The next day, it’s my brother, then my best friend from high school, then most of my Reno friends, and then a lot of other people.   Clearly the Red is up to something.

At some point she walks up to me and says “We’re having people over later.  You will not be cooking.”  Me:  “Uhhh…  Could you repeat that, because it sounded like you said we’re having people over and I’m not cooking?! “  The Red:  “No.  You’re not.  It’s taken care of.”  The nerve of some people…..

So, a surprise birthday party ensued with a LOT of people and a LOT of kids.  So many kids that some of my single friends looked like the cast of Alien, furtively glancing around and worried that one might explode out of their belly …..  “There are so many kids…… They’re coming from every direction….”

The Caterer – El Adobe Café.  So the Red gets a local Mexican food restaurant to cater the party.  El Adobe Cafe.  Great choice.  Wonderful carnitas, beef birria (beef slow cooked in a somewhat spicy red sauce), chicken enchiladas, cheese enchiladas, rice, beans, guacamole, and homemade salsa.  Officially my favorite Mexican restaurant in Reno, and that’s saying something.

Raul must have gotten these recipes from his grandma because they have soul.  Lots of deep, robust flavors that usually come from a large Hispanic woman putting love into a dish for hours and hours.  If only I had married a robust Latina who loved to cook and learned from her grandma….  Marrying for love is so overrated! 

Beef birria – El Adobe has it and you need to try it.  I’ve never seen it on another menu.  Reminds me of a really good chile Colorado, but so much better.  I’d love to tell you what’s in it.  But I can’t, other than lots of mild red chiles, garlic, and beef.  I’m going to see Raul soon and I’m not leaving until he gives me at least one recipe.  Maybe two.  Raul – I’m comin’ and my notebook’s comin’ with me!  Only the Tombstone fans will get that reference.

The Red did a fabulous job surprising me and setting up everything for this party, including food.  The WF couldn’t have piss poor food at his party!  I’m a lucky man, though don’t tell the Red I said that.  I have my curmudgeonly reputation to keep up.

Why birthdays are so cool when you get older.  Everyone that walked in the door handed me a bottle of good whiskey, wine, or some other alcohol.  It reminded me of a 21^st birthday, except that no one showed up with a Coors light party ball, Boones farm strawberry hill (ladies – you know who you are), or Wild Turkey, and the cops didn’t show up.

 

Whiskey rocks, not whiskey on the rocks.  My friends S&J bought me some whiskey rocks for my birthday because they read my rant about not putting ice in whiskey.  You freeze the rocks and put them in your whiskey.  They cool down the whiskey without watering it down.  Very cool.  Check ‘em out:  Whiskey Rocks

Getting older certainly has its perks.

 

Most original and best breakfast I’ve had in a while.  So the Red and I were recently in Colorado for a U2 concert and we ventured up to The People’s Republic of Boulder, Colorado to see some friends.   Went to a great French restaurant that evening, which I’ll write about in a future blog.  The following morning we went out for breakfast to Lucile's, which is a small house converted into a Cajun restaurant.  I ordered the Cajun Breakfast.

This had Wannabe Foodie written all over it.  Red beans and pork topped with poached eggs and hollandaise sauce.  Served with a side of grits and a large, homemade biscuit.  Yes, it’s starchy and no, you don’t feel exactly nimble after you eat it.   

But, it was fabulous.  The pork in the red beans was slightly salty, which went well with the tang of the hollandaise and the richness of the yolk of the perfectly poached eggs.  The grits were, well, grits, which I love.  The biscuit was the quintessential, flaky, buttery, Southern biscuit, though it was cooked in a pie pan and cut out in pieces.  Damn fine breakfast and great for a hangover, hypothetically speaking…

The second photo is what the Red had.  Beautiful dish.  A benedict with avocados, spinach, and hollandaise.

Random Travel Note.  So, here’s what the Red and I learned while in Boulder.  Bras are apparently optional for women of all ages.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  I leave you with that visual.

An Oenophile Book Recommendation – Judgment of Paris – the story of the upstart American wines beating the French in a blind taste test in Paris in the 1970’s.  Gives a great history of the Napa Valley and lots of information about many other wine growing regions in the world.  A great read for any aspiring oenophile.  You think you know wine?  Buy this book and I guarantee you’ll learn something.