GIVEAWAY: 13th Annual L’AMOUR DU VIN, A Premier Wine and Food Event

You might remember back in April I gave away tickets to the annual Silver Spoon awards in support of the Arthritis Foundation. More than 40 million people in the US have some form of arthritis, and many have chronic pain that limits daily activity. Rheumatoid arthritis, the most disabling form of arthritis, affects more than 2 million people in the US. Multiple people in my family are severely affected by arthritis so this is a cause that hits close to my heart, and my joints!

With that being said, I'm happy to tell you about the latest fundraising effort by the NE Ohio chapter of the Arthritis Foundation. On Thursday, October 7, 2010 they are hosting the 13th Annual L’Amour du Vin, a Premier Wine and Food Event at the Avon Oaks Country Club. The event with feature a sampling of fine wines and cuisine provided by 14 westside eateries.

There are three ways to get tickets:

1. Order them online
2. Call (800) 245-2275, ext 100 
3. Enter to win a free pair of tickets on my blog! See how to enter at the end of this post

The highlight of the event is definitely the VIP Lounge featuring martini pairings by Chef Ellis Cooley from AMP 150. If you haven't tried Chef Cooley's food yet, you are missing out. He is doing huge things in the Cleveland culinary scene and this will be an amazing opportunity to meet him and sample his delicious food. The event also includes a unique silent auction, live music and the opportunity to win fabulous prizes.

In addition to AMP 150, other restaurants participating include:

    * 87 West at Crocker Park (Nice wine bar)
    * Avon Oaks Country Club
    * Cabot Cheese
    * Catherine's Chocolates (AMAZING CHOCOLATES!!!)
    * Flavor the Town
    * The Good Fork (I've heard great things)
    * Jake's on the Lake/Savannah Bar & Grill
    * Kiedrowski's Simply Delicious Bakery
    * Legacy Restaurant & Grille
    * Red Gables Mesquite Grill (Check out their website - looks like a great plac)
    * Moosehead Grill
    * Oberlin Inn
    * Whistlestop Restaurant


Event proceeds will support the mission of the Arthritis Foundation:  to improve lives through leadership in the prevention, control and cure of arthritis and related diseases.


Blocks of tickets and sponsorship packages are also available. Business/cocktail attire suggested.

There are four ways to enter to win tickets here on my blog:

1. Leave a comment telling me about your favorite local farm or farmers market
2. Become a "fan" of Live to Cook at Home on Facebook and post the giveaway on your wall
3. Follow me on Twitter and Tweet about this giveaway
4. Sign up to receive new posts via email using the form on the top right of this page

Be sure to leave a comment for each entry and leave your email address in the comment so I know how to get a hold of you. Good luck and thanks for supporting the Arthritis Foundation!

Braised Pork Belly (p. 216)

I'm obviously falling behind in my attempt to cook through Michael Symon's cookbook Live to Cook, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel just yet. I actually made this dish in early August but I haven't had time to write about it until now.

Michael's love of pork is obvious if you've eaten at any of his restaurants, watched his TV shows, or follow his Twitter account so it's amazing the Braised Pork Belly (p. 216) is the first pork dish I've made from his cookbook. Obviously this is one recipe that didn't disappoint!

I actually made a double batch so what you see above is 2-two pound bellies.

Beautiful pork belly from Bluebird Meadows Farm

This pork belly was one of the last cuts I had left from the pig we bought last fall. Like all the other cuts, the belly was beautiful and tasty! If you haven't tried the pork from Bluebird Meadows, you don't know what you are missing! You can find Bluebird Meadows every Saturday at the Crocker Park Farmers Market or you can reach them via telephone at (440)610-5994, tell them Dave sent you!

 

Fresh pork bellies rubbed down with Symon's rub

The first step of making the belly is to rub it down with a mix of salt, sugar, coriander, red pepper flakes, and orange zest and refrigerate it for 24 hours. I was amazed by the affect of the rub on the bellies. They were much tighter after 24 hours in the mixture. I could tell the curing process had begun. After 24 hours, I removed the bellies from the fridge and rinsed off the seasonings.

Ready to go in the oven

It was weird to pull out my dutch oven and turn the oven on for 5 hours on an 85 degree day in August. But I had pork belly that needed to be cooked so I pushed on. I put the onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, white wine, cinnamon sticks, and chicken stock into a dutch oven, brought the mixture to a simmer and let the flavors mingle together. After 15 minutes or so I put the bellies each into their own dutch oven and made sure they were covered with the liquid.

Tender and ready to eat

The book says to let the belly cook covered for 7 hours, or until very tender. I checked them after about 5 hours and both were already done. I left them sit on the stove overnight to cool and then moved them into the fridge in the morning.

I stored the bellies in their poaching liquid for a couple of weeks as we enjoyed the delicious meat from time to time. I had the best of intentions to use the pork belly to make the Fresh Bacon with Watermelon & Haloumi, (p. 219), the Frisee with Crispy Pork Belly Croutons (p. 220), the BBLT (p. 58), or at least the Pork Belly with Polenta and Seared Mushrooms (p. 217) but unfortunately my busy summer schedule never allowed me the time to make any of them. That doesn't mean we didn't enjoy the pork belly. I used it to make delicious BLT's, a few different pasta dishes with fresh summer veggies, with eggs for breakfast, and of course we munched on plenty of it by itself.

Cost

I will provide the approximate cost for each recipe in the book, as well as the source of the products used. 

This recipe is a little difficult for me to estimate because I used fresh pork belly from the pig I bought last year. I think I've seen pork belly selling for about $2.50 a pound at the Westside Market recently so I will use that to calculate the cost of the belly. It cost about $8 to make Iron Chef Michael Symon's Braised Pork Belly (p. 216).

Pork belly - $5 (Bluebird Meadows Farm)

Orange - $1

Chicken stock - $1 (Homemade, of course. Use water if you don't have homemade)

Misc (salt, sugar, coriander, crushed red pepper flakes, carrot, garlic, bay leaf, wine, cinnamon stick) - $1

Butternut Squash Soup

I will be doing a review of a kitchen gadget soon, compliments of CSN Stores. In return for plugging their website selling a wide variety of dining tables and other dining room furniture, they are giving me $55 towards the purchase of anything from any of CSN's 200+ stores. What should I get???

Has it really been more than a month since I last blogged? I tell you what, I don't know my favorite bloggers have time to cook, blog multiple times per week, spend time with their family and friends, and maintain a full time job. Major props go out to all of them.

I love reading Michael Ruhlman's blog. He posts frequently and I get more cooking tips and tricks from him than just about anyone else. His post today inspired me to make butternut squash soup. I frequently make butternut squash soup but I typically use a recipe that takes more than an hour to prepare and has a long list of ingredients. Don't get me wrong, it's delicious, but lately I've been more about efficiency & simplicity in cooking rather than elaborate preparations.

Following Ruhlman's idea, I started off by dicing a large butternut squash and a bunch of cloves of garlic from our Plum Creek Farm CSA.

No, that's not cantelope, it's butternut squash

I sauteed the squash in butter in batches, making sure not to over crowd the pan. When each batch was about half way done, I added some of the minced garlic and seasoned everything with salt.

Once all the squash was done, I added it to a soup pan and covered it with 3 cups of homemade chicken stock (don't bother with the store bought stuff, use water if you don't have homemade stock). I simmered this mixture for about 20 minutes and then added it to my Vita Mix blender. Once it was velvety smooth, I tasted it and seasoned it with salt and some fresh sage and thyme, also from Plum Creek Farm.

I didn't use cream, butter or anything else to finish the soup. The soup was delicious enough with out it so I decided to keep it healthy, and let the flavors of the butternut squash and homemade stock shine.

Check back again soon as I'm working on a post about Iron Chef Michael Symon's Braised Pork Belly and will have a give away to an awesome foodie / charity event Both posts should be up this week!