Yesterday afternoon at Pete's, we geeks graciously gathered to go over a gastronomic agglomeration of gourmet goodies themed around this summer's two most popular films, Barbie and Oppenheimer.
Yes, this was the Barbenheimer Geekquinox.
A pop culture icon undermining the patriarchy and the surprisingly saucy life of the architect of the first atomic weapons might seem like both a strange combination and unlikely theme for a dinner party. Thankfully, in addition to being an excellent cook and wonderful host (ably aided and abetted by his lovely wife Ellen (gosh it feels good to type that)), he is also an uncannily clever and creative fellow.
With only a moderate amount of stretching, he was able to create a menu that linked effectively to the theme (if a bit tenuously in places!):
With both of the kids now at university, Pete & Ellen's festivities start much earlier in the day - noon, to be precise. A late departure meant Audrey and Totty and I got there closer to 1 pm, but still in time for the "Pink just looks so good on toast"; tasty smoked salmon and sliced avocado on toasted baguette rounds. A fantastic amalgam of tastes and textures, as well as a light and refreshing staft to 10+ hours of focused ingestion.
Washing these tasty bites down with sips of a Luscious Barbie(TM), a re-labeling of the Luscious Lizzie cocktail developed by Ellen's daughter, got a wonderful day off to an immense start.
This was followed by the moistest chicken breasts I have ever had. Like, ever. They came hot off Pete's Big Green Egg but I presume they had also been pre-cooked a bit in his sous-vide rig. Notwithstanding the overcoming of chicken breast's greatest weakness (dryness), the crispy skin with rosemary and a bit of salt made them completely scrumptious as well.
Better still, having failed a coin check at XCOM the previous weekend, Scott was only too willing to build me an exemplary and photogenic Crown Float.
Atomic Buffalo Turds are a perennial favourite, and I believe this might be the 4th appearance of these bacon-wrapped, sausage-topped, cheese-stuffed jalapenos at Geekquinox. It is important to note here that absolutely no one appears to be tired of these, and they disappeared off the tray with astonishing swiftness, which is always the case.
Trying to follow the menu as best I could I washed down the spicy ABTs with swallows of Ichorous Stout from Blindman Brewing in Lacombe. This may be the best non-barrel-aged imperial stout brewed in Alberta, actually, and while the wisdom of washing down spicy food with a rich, dark ale that clocks in at 11% may be debatable, my enjoyment was indisputable.
Next up were delicious mushroom caps stuffed with garlic cheese; so tasty, in fact, that our resident fungi skeptic Earl found them reasonably delectable as well.
Pete and Ellen called an audible on their next play, opting to serve the stuffed potatoes as an appetizer instead of saving them as a side for the main dish. This was great for a few reasons, not the least of which was pacing the rate at which we were adding delicious food to our bodies, but even more importantly, keeping the evening on schedule. Getting even a precursor to the main before 8:00 was unprecedented! And the potatoes themselves, stuffed with brie, goat cheese and cream cheese were absolutely delicious, and a perfect balance of starch and creamy stuffing.
The main itself was a pork belly chicharron burnt ends that was unbelievably tender and flavourful, with a tasty, crackling-like topping. I asked Pete if he had sous-vided this as well, and his grinning reply was, "36 hours, baby!" My only complaint was that the richness of the earlier dishes forced me to exercise more restraint with this succulent pork than I really liked, but the servings I did have were absolutely luscious, and could have been eaten by a man with no teeth and sore gums without a problem.
For dessert: a scratch-made angel food cake with raspberry buttercream icing. Yes, it was tremendously tasty, but all the more so in light of the fact that a) angel food is notoriously finicky to make and b) Pete himself has almost no discernible sweet tooth. Scrumptious and a perfect capper to the evening - and it was not even ten o'clock yet! Truly unprecedented.
Sadly, the early start had also impacted our energy reserves, and our ability to carouse into the wee hours is greatly diminished compared to when Pete began hosting these biannual bacchanalias a dozen years ago.
But hearts were still light as we finished our nightcaps and said goodnight and thank you to our friends and immensely talented host and hostess for a wonderful time of fellowship yet again!
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