The Chef And The Drink - Surviving The Storm

Hurricane Irene.  What can I say?  They put the fear of God in us and sadly, some people are still dealing with her wrath. Before she came, there was a god deal of preparing that many of us undertook. Fearing that we would lose power at work, we cleared a few key things out of the freezer.  My big score was a large frozen octopus.  I had previously begged Chef Michael Psilakis into revealing some of the secrets of his octopus.  (See my previous entry "the suburbs" to learn more about him.)  I figured even without power, I could pull off his recipe, or at least, something close. His technique, which sadly, I will keep secret, as I do not have his approval to share with you, worked perfectly.  The octopus was meltingly tender and full of flavor.  I threw a quick marinade on it, and sure enough, the power went out right after it went into the fridge. But, it was destined for the grill in a few hours, so I had no concerns about it. Now without power, it was time to quickly rip through the fridge and assess what needed to be cooked or dealt with before it spoiled.  Way too many bell peppers - some went into salad, the rest hit the grill and became romesco sauce, which also went with chicken that would be cooked later.  We lit candles and set the table.  The octopus got a quick char on the grill.  (Yes, I am obsessed enough to grill in what had at that point been downgraded to a tropical storm.)  The octopus was too magically tender and too delicious to be a part of this storm.  The candlelight also made things feel a little too romantic!   The wine for the octopus, was the brand new "entwine" Pinot Grigio, which was ice cold and needed to be drunk before it warmed up.  It went perfectly with the lightly acidic marinade and the brininess of the octopus.  The power remained off for two days, as we awaited road repair, tree removal, and the power guys to work their magic.  There was plenty of go fish with my 5 year old, Scrabble with the adults, and cooking, eating, and drinking, but nothing quite as memorable as the octopus and entwine. Live To Eat, Love To Drink!

The Drink - Micro Distiller

A few months back an industry buddy mentioned that he had this amazing rum from Berkshire Mountain Distillers. I was less surprised to hear that a micro distiller was producing an excellent rum than I was to learn that there is actually a distillery in the Berkshires. I've been going to the Berkshires since I was 12 (more than 30 years) and this sounded too exciting not to arrange a visit.  It took a while to find a day where someone could watch the kids and my wife and I could go for  what I hoped would involve a taste or two.  We arrived to an intoxicating smell, "what is that rich floral smell???" As it turns out, that smell was their Ethereal Gin, that they were getting ready to bottle.  If it tasted half as good as it smelled, we were in for a real treat. (Mind you, I like gin as a mixer, but I don't love gin on it's own, unless of course, it's a perfect martini with a big bowl of olives.  I cannot drink a martini without a bowl of olives!)
After a good look around it was time to get serious.  The tasting began with their "basic" gin - Greylock.  Really nice round flavor and lush mouthfeel. I have never had a gin that had that kind of mouthfeel.  That was followed by 2 different batches of the Ethereal gin. All three were among some of the better gins I've had in quite a while. Next came a pear brandy that was exquisite.  The only bad news is that they had long since sold out of it.  Then came the rum I had heard about - Ragged Mountain.   Gold to amber in color and delicious!  Big round flavor with caramel and nice spice notes.  I would have gladly called it quits there, but the bourbon and corn whiskey just couldn't be passed up.  Everything we tried was more than worth the price of admission.  We gladly stopped at a local liquor store on the way home and now are in proud possession of the rum and the gin.  I wanted both gins, but if I tried bringing yet another bottle home, I think I would have been put in timeout!
I don't think they really offer tours to the public, but it's worth a trip to the Berkshires just to pick up a few bottles. Ok, perhaps enjoy the sights too! Live To Eat, Love To Drink!