It was a wide, wide world of brats today! Started off with Minnesota brats made with pork and wild rice. A little softer texture than the usual Wisconsin brat, but excellent flavor. Next up was one of the Kielbasa Grilowa I picked up at the eastern European market near my home. Excellent snap, intense flavor, and judging by others reaction, I'd say, a popular choice.
After that it was all a blur. I know I had a chicken brat stuffed with a very creamy mozzerella and one of the Hungarian brats CSD picked up. There were chunks of so many other varieties here and there and not a weak link in the bunch, but more specific than that I cannot get.
Desserts from the Pie Diva were extraordinary, as usual. I was honored that she made a special dessert bar for me based on a Bananas Foster recipe. The bar was quite good in and of itself, but, as I told her, if you're going to call something "
Bananas Foster" it should have a more distinct banana flavor. The pastry base was good, the caramel filling was good. But the banana flavor needed to have a little more oomph. It should be noted that Pie Diva is not a fan of the banana herself, so she actually thought there was more than enough, and maybe too much banana flavor in there. It was a noble effort, and I was moved that she cared enough to even try creating this dessert for me. Like I said, as a dessert bar, it was excellent, but for my money, if it's supposed to taste like a banana, by golly go nuts with the nanners! Still, thank you so much for thinking of me sweet Pie Diva.
Other desserts were over the top great! Pie Diva's famous and (literally) award winning chocolate chip bacon baklava was as good as it ever was. The lime (not lemon) bars were tangy sweet refreshing; especially welcome after all those brats. The real surprise of the afternoon was a sweet tomato tart. A thin, delicate pastry shell on the bottom covered with a layer of sliced Campari tomatoes, and then a sweet glaze that hardened into a candy-like shell. Lovely tomato flavor in a light dessert.
After that it was time to focus on socializing. The weather was beautiful in the early part of the day and broke out with minor showers in the early evening. Fortunately JRPfeff has a large portable tent canopy that was brought into position so everyone could move their chairs underneath and carry on the conversation. Most of
The Contingent was in attendance. Those who were not with us were missed. We hope all will be able to join us for the next outing which I will start a separate thread for shortly.
Just a heads up-we're planning a Sunday afternoon at Burt's where I will be your waiter! Dates and details coming up...
Buddy
<message edited by BuddyRoadhouse on Mon, 09/6/10 1:33 AM>
