Tag Archives: Chef Mark

Fall is in the air. And in my stomach.

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I cheated. I had a donut before I got home. “I’m sorry,  I couldn’t help it,” I told Heather. She was very forgiving, as she understood my situation. I had a bag full of apple cider donuts from The Apple Farm, here in Victor.  It was my second trip in a week for these irresistible treats. How could I resist opening the bag, even before I got in the car?? It was difficult with the bags of apples I was carrying (which were also really good!), but I managed.

Honestly, donuts are never my first choice in baked goods. I generally find them to be too dry. So…a couple weeks back, when Chef Mark suggested we make a special trip to go get some, I was a little skeptical.  But these donuts are an exception; moist and flavorful. Yum.

I figured a Pumpkin Harvest Ale pairing would make for a nice fall snack, and I was right. Cheers!

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2eat2drink-apple farm

Salmon Run Sextet

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We recently held a small gathering to taste 6 different Salmon Run white wines. Okay, it was really small – just us and Chef Mark. And six bottles of wine. Yup, we had a good time!

Eeny, meeny, miny, moe……which to pick first? They all look so appealing!

Wanting to start with the driest, we first sampled the Pinot Grigio. This wine’s light straw color – almost clear – would lead you to believe that it was less flavorful than it actually was. Its aroma, with a touch of citrus, was sweeter than its flavor. On the palate, it blended a bit of grapefruit with strong notes of apple, peach, and apricot.

The Chardonnay was very straw-like, both in color and flavor. It had a scent of apple, with a flavor hinting at sour apple and artichoke. Reading this over, it sounds horrible…but it wasn’t. It was good, just not our favorite of the bunch.

The Chardonnay/Riesling blend had us intrigued. It had the sweetest scent of the bunch, with an abundance of honey and peach, as well as a hint of grapefruit. The taste was slightly creamy and sweet to start, followed by a touch of cedar, and a crisp, dry finish. We liked it.

The Rkatsiteli’s scent was a blend of fruit and asparagus, which may not sound like a good start, but this wine ended up being our unanimous favorite. The taste was of peach and apple with a bit of orange creaminess. It was a good blend of flavors that led to a “delightfully crisp finish.” This quote is actually in our tasting notes, but we can’t really remember who said it…

The Gewürztraminer had a touch of pear to start, a bit of creaminess, and a nice spice to finish. It was our second favorite of the bunch. Okay, so our notes got a little thin near the end…

The next night, we were lucky enough to have some Gewurzt left to pair nicely with our grilled swordfish and mango salsa.

We saved the Riesling for last, thinking it would be the sweetest. It was, but not overly so. It had a nice blend of peach, grapefruit, melon, and lemon. We think. My handwriting was a bit hard to read by this point.

Mysteriously, all the corks ended up next to the Riesling bottle….

Cheers to Dr. Konstantin Frank Vinifera Wine Cellars to a wonderful collection of Finger Lakes white wine!

Thanksgiving with friends….10 courses of perfection!

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We are so very lucky! Our wonderful friends Mark and Tammy hosted a pre-Thanksgiving gathering, and Heather and I were fortunate enough to be included. From start to finish, this amazing meal was both visually stunning and incredibly delicious. My only faux pas was that I was too busy enjoying Mahine’s shrimp (one of the fabulous appetizers) to remember to photograph it before it was devoured! If you count the cheese course served with the cocktails, it was a 10 course meal!! I will give details about the cocktails in an upcoming post, but for now, enjoy looking through the pictures below. If you have questions on the food prep, let me know and I will direct them to Chef Mark.

I hope you enjoyed your Thanksgiving (and time with family and friends) as much as we did. And… I have to say that I am very thankful for all of my friends, followers, and readers. I appreciate all of your positive comments, and enjoy sharing our culinary adventures with you! Cheers, salud, kanpai, prost, noroc, mabuhay, a la sature, pura vida, salute, À votre santé or however you say it (one for each course)….to your health!

The menu, pre-dinner cocktails, and laarb moo.

Kevin and Tammy watching Mark cookin' the food, Vouvray white wine from the Loire valley, and miso marinated salmon with du Puy lentils and miso cream.

Start-to-finish Nantucket Bay scallops with wild mushroom confit and Leone D'Almerita Sicilian white.

Pastilla (Moroccan braised chicken pie as discovered by Mark and Tammy on their trip to Morocco) and Abad Dom Bueno Godello Spanish white.

Duck garganelli with swiss chard, walnuts and prunes complete with a flip from Mark! Hahn Pinot Noir from Monterey.

72 hour beef short ribs with parsnip purée and roast baby carrots. 2004 Charles Krug Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa.

Mark torching the white and dark creme brulee, which was then paired with chocolate caramel cashew ice cream and Quinta do Noval Porto. For second dessert, we were treated to warm madelaines and Mexican chocolate cookies. You can tell by our smiles that the meal was phenomenal!

Chef Mark’s dynamite napoleon!

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Chef Mark’s birthday…part 2! So what does a chef want for his birthday dessert? To make his own napoleon! This was fun to watch, so I captured a few steps of the process. The one very important chef’s tip that I learned was to create each pastry dough layer using a whole box of puff pastry. At first this sounded crazy, until Mark explained that you bake a whole box of dough (after unrolling) while compressed between 2 cookie sheets, to keep the dough from rising. Add some pastry cream and  raspberries between each layer, top with powdered sugar, and you have a dessert fit for a chef! (or a short French dictator)

Chef Mark's dynamite napleon!

Chef Mark hard at work, on his birthday!

Chef Mark….cookin’ the birthday food.

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Our good friend Chef Mark recently had his birthday, and we were fortunate enough to host his gathering. So what does a chef want for his birthday meal? To make his own pizza! Chef Russell generously offered to make some of his “secret recipe” pizza dough (thanks Russell!), Chef Mark brought over some delectable toppings, and we were off to start cookin’ the birthday meal! Since the recipe for the dough is top secret, for now I’ll suggest picking up some pre-made dough at the store. Be sure to bake it on a pizza stone for best results. Place the pizza stone in the oven prior to pre-heating, and heat your oven as high as it can go. We had ours at 550 degrees. This will create a pizza with a crisp outside and a nice tender center. Top with whatever your heart (and stomach) desires. For this particular pizza, we created a version of the margherite with tomato sauce, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil and sea salt. Get creative….make your own masterpiece! Let me know what you come up with…

Chef Mark making his own birthday pizza!

The homemade sourdough margherite pizza. Yum!!

I like it chunky: Guacamole!

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What would Cinco de Mayo be without guacamole?! Our marvelous friend Chef Mark (yup…he’s a chef!), prepared a Mexican feast for  some friends 5 years ago on Cinco de Mayo . It was the 3rd date for Heather and I, and guacaomle and margaritas were a wonderful part of the memorable menu. This is my derivation of the recipes for both.

Chunky guacamole. Pit and scoop out 3 ripe avocados and chop into roughly 1/2″ to 3/4″ chunks. Place in a mixing bowl and squeeze the  juice of 1 lime onto it to keep it from browning (and add some great flavor). Finely chop half of medium white onion and a large handful of fresh cilantro. Dice a small to medium tomato into 1/4-inch pieces. Mince 2 jalapeno peppers (OK..I like it HOT and chunky, but this won’t be too hot if you remove the seeds). 
Throw them all into the mixing bowl with some sea salt (to taste) and stir. This will break up most of the chunks a little, but some hardly at all. Thus…. creating your chunky guacamole.

The margarita. Ah, the margarita. It took me a while to perfect this recipe. I prefer to use a reposado tequila for the smooth smoky flavor. 1800 is a good value and generally my choice. In a shaker with crushed ice add 2 ounces tequila, 1 1/2 ounces triple sec, 1 1/4 ounces fresh squeezed lime juice and 1 1/4 ounces simple syrup. Shake and strain into a margarita glass. Garnish with a lime and orange twist to signify the blending of the 2 flavors. I prefer it up with no salt, but feel free to salt the rim and serve over ice (as I do for Heather 🙂 ).

PS. If you’re in the Rochester area, I highly suggest you take a class from Chef Mark at the Wegmans Pittsford cooking school. It’s very entertaining and informative!

(Chunky!) Guacamole, with hearty yellow corn chips.

The margarita. Up, no salt.

Guacamole ingredients.