Haha! Recipe follows.
Jean, we also served Hatch cornbread and a Chilled Creamy Green Chile Soup out of Stop and Smell the Rosemary. (I know, soup heavy.) The chilled soup was good but spicier than expected (I think the produce guys got the mild and hot peppers mixed up.) We have decided we like it better as a dip with tortilla chips. I enjoyed my food with a Chenin Blanc..I don't recall which one..something the wine recommended after they were out of my go-to Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend. Most of the other guests drank Dos Equis or IPA.
We started with a cheese course. One of our guests had recently confided in me that she doesn't like blue cheese or brie. Of course, I took this as a personal challenge. For the brie contender, I served Robiola Bosina, and Italian soft ripened (not true brie) cheese that is a blend of sheep and cow milk. It still had the mushroomy flavor of brie and she didn't like that. For the blue contender, I offered up Pure Luck Hopelessly Blue, a local goat blue which has won over many previous blue-haters, but still, she resisted. I also threw in a second blue I wasn't even planning on called Muffatto which mean "modly" in Italian (or so I'm told.) It has very little blue veining, but is interesting because they coat it in a mixture of hay, marjoram, hay and chamomile and then age it in oak barrels. None of us could stop eating it because it was so derned interesting. We all agreed we didn't need it in our fridge at all times but it was the most blue my friend had ever happily consumed.
I also put out a couple of things everyone would like...Espresso Sartori (artisan cheddar coated in espresso..it was the favorite) and Lambchopper (sheep gouda from the same folks at Cypress Grove who make Humboldt Fog.)
Corn Chowder
5 slices chopped bacon
1 large onion diced
4 potatoes diced
1 cup water
2 10-ounce packages frozen corn (subbbed roasted)
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 cup margarine (we only have butter)
2 1/2 teaspoons salt (we used seasoned at Mom's suggestion)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Cook bacon and remove from pan. Saute onions in bacon grease. Drain grease. Add potatoes and water. Cook 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredient. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Serice in bowls with bacon over top. (We did the bar thing.) And I'm sure we simmered longer than 10 minutes.
