Food and Drink Fantasies

Here's ours! What Are Yours?

Cheese

• St. Maure goat cheese (France)
• Stilton with vintage port (England)
• Wensleydale also with port (England)
• Manchego with Membrillo (Quince paste/Spain))
• Emmenthal and gruyere in a fondue
• Appenzel fondue  (Switzerland)
• La Marechal a Gruyere (Switzerland)
• Brie with cranberries en croute (France)
• Roblechon (France)
• Bishop Kennedy washed in whiskey  (Ireland)
• Banon goat cheese aged in grape leaves (France)
• Epoisses washed in brandy (France)
• D'Alpage L'Etivaz (Swiss aged gouda)
• Vacherin Mont d'Or (Dunk a pear slice in this, or just eat it with a spoon) (Switzerland)
• Asiago (Italy)
• Brillat Savarin (France)
• Pierre Robert (France)
• Prima Donna (France)
• Tomme de Savoie (France)
• Sbrinz (Switzerland)
• New Artisanal Cheeses From Spain:  Mont Enebro, Torta La Serena , Garrotxa , La Leyenda Brandy Cheese
• Cashel Blue (Ireland)
• Artisanal American Cheeses: Midnight Moon (like a goat gouda from America), 4 Star Grafton Cheddar, Dancing Ewe/Prima Caciotta, Crater Lake Blue
• Feta Cheese Marinated in Olive Oil, Thyme and Peppercorns (Australia)
• Cranberry & Cinnamon Boursin Cheese
• Buffalo Mozzarella with Heirloom Tomatoes and Basil (Fresh Picked off the Terrace Garden)
• Shallot & Chive Boursin Cheese
• Saint Agur Blue (France)
• Nettle Meadow Goat Cheese (Warrensburg NY)
• Valley Shepherd Creamery Sheep's Cheese (Long Valley  NJ)
• Sapore Fresh Mozzarella (Middlesex NJ)
• Burrata Mozzerella (mixed with cream)
• Grilled Manouri Cheese with Caramelized Plums
• Porta's (Asbury Park, NJ) Home Made Whole Milk Ricotta with a Drizzle of Honey

Meat

• Foie Gras anyway
• Veal with marsala sauce
• Pork and potato dumplings
• Venison with wild mushroom and port sauce
• Bison with cabernet sauce
• Lamb: chops broiled or grilled with red currant jelly; rack of lamb with a spicy herb crust, green peppercorn cherry sauce or hazelnut crust
• Beef rib roast and steaks with green peppercorn crust
• Pork loin stuffed with dried fruits or with a spicy fruit salsa
• Port tenderloin with a tangy fruit sauce
• Duck: roasted with fruit stuffing and sauce; duck confit; grilled duck breast rare 
• Pennsylvania Dutch bacon 
• Nuremberg bratwurst on a crusty roll with mustard 
• Braised meats -- short ribs, brisket, lamb & veal shanks
• Roast smoked ham with espresso chili glaze
• Jamon Serrano and Jamon Iberico from Spain
• Grilled dry aged Black Angus prime filet mignon with Dried cherry and tellecherry peppercorn sauce
• Dried Italian Sausages, e.g., Pepper Salami, Soprasotta, Hot Calabrese, etc.
• Berkshire heirloom pork
• Smokey grilled duck breast with grilled fruit
• Grilled Spatchcock chicken  under a brick with lemon and herbs
• Boeuf Bourguignon and Coq Au Vin at a classic French restaurant
• Slow roasted barbeque ribs

Seafood

• Smoked salmon with capers and lemon (especially Scottish salmon) 
• Lobster anyway: grilled with butter, baked with crab stuffing, cold with lemon dill mayonnaise, grilled lobster rolls
• Crab any way 
• Tuna and salmon tartare
• Seafood crepes with beurre blanc
• Trout--baked and stuffed with crabmeat dressing
• Prince Edward Island mussels braised in white wine and herbs--a la minute!
• Oysters, (Malpeque & Kumamoto): with crème fraiche and Osestra caviar, with a mignonette sauce, with a spicy cocktail sauce 
• Ceviche of all sorts
• Sushi
• Scallops anyway
• Black Grouper
• Fresh water perch
• Boulliabaisse
• Red Snapper anyway
• Grilled Halibut burgers with mango ketchup
• Salmon: roasted  with red wine sauce, cold with cucumber sauce, slow roasted with chipotle sauce
• Cioppiono
• Gravlax
• Striped Bass
• Mussels steamed in spicy white wine and herbs and mussel steamed in white wine, goat cheese and spinach
• Bouillabaisse
• Tile fish with salsa verde

Fruits and Vegetables

• Brussel sprouts: with chestnuts, gratineed
• Broccoli anyway
• Cauliflower anyway
• Sweet corn--only fresh picked
• Beets: grilled, roasted, in a salad with citrus fruit and a light vinaigrette
• Sugar snap peas, especially with mint and black pepper 
• Grilled pineapple, especially with butter rum sauce and vanilla mascarpone cheese
• Wild mushrooms--shitake, morels, chanterelles, cepes, Portabellas, oyster, truffles (black or white)--anyway
• Potato gratin with Boursin cheese 
• Roasted potatoes, onions and carrots with Parsley/Marjoram/Rosemary butter
• Heirloom Tomatoes--only in the summer
• Strawberries--only fresh picked local
• Cherries--by the pound
• Summer fruit--plums, peaches, apricots--picked fresh
• Root vegetables, especially roasted with Madeira
• Grilled fruit marinated with honey and nuts
• Summer berries of all types
• Summer fruit salads: mango and blueberry with lime and candied ginger syrup, summer fruits with mint sugar, assorted melon with mint ginger syrup
• Persimmons and Pomegranates in the fall--especially in salads with yogurt and honey dressing
• Summer melon picked ripe on the vine
• Mixed summer vegetable "hobo pack" with herbed butter
• Poached rhubarb--actually rhubarb anyway 
• Clementines and honeybell oranges from Hale Groves
• Golden and Champagne mangos from Mexico and Pakistan
• Berries, berries, berries of all sorts
• Grilled fruit hobo packs--apricot, berries, pineapple
• Pomegranates: fruit, juice, syrups, really any way  
• Cranberries any way--desserts, sauces and compotes for accompanying meat main courses
• Fruit smoothies with no sugar added; fruit and cider or juice or fruit and yogurt
• Cheesy corn and tomato pizza
• Blood oranges
• Prince Edward Island Strawberries--the most wonderful, sweet and juicy strawberries we have ever eaten
• Pluots
• Porta's stuffed winter squashes

Miscellaneous

• Sapore Artisanal ravioli --cheese, grilled vegetable, mushroom, pumpkin (with truffle infused butter and pepitas), butternut squash
• Sapore manicotti and stuffed shells
• Breakfast pies, stratas, frittatas with meats, cheese, vegetables, and herbs 
• Smoky grilled pizza with fresh vegetables, e.g. corn, zucchini, mushrooms, peppers, etc.
• Seafood chowders of all sorts
• Bacon jam

Desserts

• Fruit and herbal sorbets--only homemade
• Anything lemon
• Chocolate mouse with chocolate sauce
• Hot fudge sundae with whipped cream and nuts
• Scones with clotted cream and fruit jam
• Fruit tarts and pies--now that I have mastered pastry dough
• Profiteroles
• Cheesecakes--all flavors
• Steamed puddings with vanilla & brandy sauces--only in winter
• Coconut flan
• Creme Brulee (I get to use my torch--but only under strict supervision--so I don't burn down the apartment)
• Coconut cake with lemon curd
• Chocolate whipped cream cake
• Creme anglais ice cream--all flavors--only homemade
• Cranberry desserts of all types
• Soufflés
• Anything with nuts
• European style desserts--genoise cakes and charlottes
• Bread puddings with crème anglaise
• Anything pumpkin
• Grilled rustic fruit tarts, e.g. plum, nectarine, peach, etc.
• Pistachio biscotti with latte
• Grilled fruit over grilled sour cream pound cake with vanilla mascarpone
• Grilled pineapple with butter rum glaze and vanilla mascarpone with blueberries
• Grilled fruit crisps with oat, and nut streusel
• Crepes with fruit and ice cream
• Rolled and fried ricotta cheesecake 
• Melon slices and /or balls with flavored  and herbed syrup
• Roasted Black Mission figs with honeyed ricotta
• Mango and Kiwi Verrines
• Panna Cotta

Libations

Red Wines

• Bordeaux--especially mature
• Burgundy--French--both white and red
• Oregon Willamette Valley Pinot Noir-- WillaKenzie, Chelaham
• Robert Sinskey California Pinot Noir and Vinyard Reserve 
• Rhone Valley reds -- Gigondas, Cotes de Rhone
• Rioja
• Ribera Del Duero
• Priorat
• Spanish Granacha
• German Franken wines  
• Australian Shiraz
• Sangiovese
• Argentinean Malbec

White Wines

• French White Burgundy (especially Montrachet)
• German Spatlese and Auslese Riesling
• Alsatian Riesling
• Finger Lakes NY Region Rieslings
• Loire Valley Whites 
• New Zealand Saugivnon Blanc (especially Kim Crawford)
• Spanish Albarino
• Unoaked Chardonnay
• Washington State Riesling
• Portuguese Vinho Verde

Fortified And Dessert Wines

• Vintage Port--especially Cockburn's 1967, Croft 1963, and Warre's and Dow 1977
• Sherry--Amontillado
• Cossart Gordon Bual Solera Madeira 1845
• Sauterne and Barsac
• Orange Muscat
• Beerenauslese
• Ice Wine
• Late Harvest Riesling
• R. L. Buller Muscat Victoria (Australian fortified dessert wine)
• Late Harvest Chardonnay
• Italian Muscats
• Solomons Island Vineyards (Maryland)  Dessert Wines--Black Raspberry Merlot,  Blueberry Pinot Noir, Green Apple Reisling, Pineapple Pinot Grigio, Chocolate Raspberry Port
• Italian Mostcato
• Tomesallo Winery (New Jersey) Cranberry, Blueberry and Raspberry Moscatos

Armagnac and Brandy

• Armagnac--especially 40+ years old
• Carlos Primero brandy 
• Spanish Brandy, especially Duc d'Alba, and Cardinal Mendoza

Sparkling Wines

• Champagne--vintage--Krug, Dom Peringnon, Fleur de Champagne, Pol Roget Vintage, Bollingers, Serge Matthieu, Francois Seconde, Paillard
• French Rose Champagne
• Spanish Cava , both White and Rose
• Gruet Sparkling Wine from New Mexico
• Italian Prosecco (especially Zardetto and Riondo)
• Fero Winery Sparkling Riesling  (Lewisburg, PA)

Beer  

• American microbrewed porters, stouts and ales