I have no recipes to share with you right now, and nothing tasty came out of my kitchen yesterday. But I would still love to tell you about my Friday.
Last night, the Resident Taste Tester and I went to Napa's Backyard - The Backyard Brawl at the Grand Sierra. It was a foodie's heaven:
- A cooking competition with some of the best chefs from around the country preparing amazing food for me to taste!
- 50 wineries with over 200 wines to pair with the amazing food!
- As if that wasn't enough, it was a great excuse for the RTT and I to get all dressed up and go out!
We're jeans and t-shirts girls usually, but we clean up nicely.
As the RTT and I failed at planning ahead, we had to wait in a ridiculously long line at the Brawl to buy our tickets. When we finally got to the front of the line and were next to buy tickets, a woman came out of the ballroom and asked us if we needed tickets and then handed us 2 tickets! She said she worked for the hotel and had extras to give away. She saved us each $60 and kicked off the evening with a great start!
Now, let's talk about the food. Of course, I forgot to try to steal one of the menu books from the VIP section so I can't tell you who made what, but I can tell you what was tasty!
One of the Charlie Palmer booths had short ribs and a fava bean spread that literally just melted in your mouth.
Another booth had a BLT, but the "L" was lettuce ice cream. The ice cream was slightly salty, which you wouldn't expect from the lettuce, but the combination of the warm sandwich and the cold ice cream was wonderful.
One of the vendors had honey glazed prawns that they threw on a plate without any garnish. I had low expectations from just looking at them, but they were perfectly sweet and crunchy.
Tahoe Creamery brought a Chardonnay ice cream that I will be attempting to recreate sometime very soon. It was light and sweet and so refreshing compared to some of the heavy plates and meats we tried.
There was duck and ham and crab cakes and steak. We had stuffed mushrooms, polenta cakes, and perfectly green asparagus.
Reno's own Wine and Cheese Board totally kept up with the big boys with their pulled pork sandwiches with mango-tequila cole slaw. The RTT, who absolutely hates sweet with savory, actually said it was good before she found out there was mango in it.
The tasty little cup below was delicious, and we almost missed out on it as we snagged some of the last few cups before they ran out. The bottom was warm spiced pear with a sweet cream and nuts on top. There was just enough of a kick in the pears to have a little heat, but it was offset by the cool cream. Oh so good!!
Spice pear awesome-ness, oh so good
By far, the best item we tasted all night was the strawberry rhubarb panna cotta. It was the only thing we both ate that we desperately wanted seconds of. Unfortunately, by the time we got back to the booth, they were all out. I've seen the Barefoot Contessa make panna cotta many times, but this was the first time I've been inspired enough to want to try it myself!
We missed the voting, probably because we were too busy trying to eat to worry about getting our votes in. But hands-down, the panna cotta was our favorite!
I wish I knew more about wine to tell you about the different ones we tried. But I truthfully couldn't name a single wine that I drank. I know I enjoyed all the ones I tasted though!
By the end of the night, the RTT and I were so full and completely happy. I got all the things I enjoy last night: food, wine, dressing up, and an evening out with the RTT. Last night was an epic win!!
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