Umami madness! For our 17th spectacular ‘Tacular we celebrated fungi in many of its glorious forms. Mushrooms, blue cheese, miso, yeast…. Despite having perhaps the smallest turn-out for a ‘Tacular ever, there was no shortage of scrumptious dishes to nosh on. Here’s what filled our bellies:
Our lovely hosts, Kate and Ian, stirred up a wild mushroom risotto and some yummy red miso-glazed carrots. Miso and carrots, eh? Huh! Two things that are often lying around my fridge, woulda never have thought to put them together. Thanks for the tip!
Karina and Christian, still glowing from their Chi-town encounter with The Boss (OK, maybe that was just Christian) brought a delightful caramelized leek and mushroom soup with buttery croutons. Big bowls of fungi love. But not as big as Karina’s love for Kevin, apparently. (Oprah vs. Kevin? Kevin, always and forevah!)
Jenn and Daniel made fabulous polenta rounds with a mushroom ragout and Gorgonzola cream sauce. A la minute even! And, bonus points for bringing a double fungi dish. Well done Fergormans!
For dessert, Ike and James brought a rich and sticky gingerbread cake topped with super-cute meringue mushrooms. No fungi in the recipe, but representing nonetheless. Yum. And, was it just me, or did the cake look appropriately like the floor of a forest with the mushrooms sprouting out of it?
And I rolled up my sleeves and fried up some yeast donuts – lime and toasted coconut, and chocolate with sea salt. Hmmm, maybe I shouldn’t have rolled up my sleeves as I am now sporting some hot oil splatter burns on my forearms. Sacrifice in the name of ‘Tacular, the pain was worth it! Oh, and I also provided some bluefoot mushroom mousseline. Creamy, subtle, mushroomy, oui!
Mei and Jeremy, Sara and Dan, Marco and Laura – we missed you all!
The next ‘Tacular will be Pubtacular with a proposed date of Saturday, November 24th. My assumption was that we will be focusing on British pub food, though I suppose we can just make it pub food in general to broaden the choices. Yeah?
For photo memories - click on the 'Tacular Memories link, as always.
