Cooking in the Great Outdoors Featured on the REI Blog
March marks the beginning of spring and my 2013 debut as a featured writer for the REI Blog. This month my article focuses on one of my favorite winter-time meals, Campfire Risotto. This dish is full of energy-packed carbs to keep you going during the most grueling winter activities. So check out my feature, try the recipe and let me know about your favorite winter recipe.
The Road to Fame is Paved with Snow & Monkfish
2013 has arrived and as I sit here, February is already mostly behind us and March is looming close on the horizon. So much has happened since my last blog post that it is difficult to know just where to begin. The Holidays came and went, along with the New Year. So far we have experienced several major snowstorms here in the Boston area, including the blizzard named NEMO (more on that in a moment). I have been cooking up a storm, auditioning for several TV shows and embarking on several new endeavors.
Reflecting on Food and the Year to Come
I know, many of you are wondering “Where the heck has Dane been lately?” The long answer would take way too many “wall of text” posts to cover. The short answer is this – I have been working hard to bring people together around food and in the process, live life to the fullest. This post is my wish that each and everyone of you out there will do the same this holiday and in the coming year.
Looking Back While Moving Forward
Wow, it is truly difficult to believe that October is less than one week away and that 2013 will be upon us in just over three months. So much has happened since this time last year. In October of 2011 I was as yet unmarried (something that I can proudly say is no longer the case as I was wed to my best friend on April 28th of this year). I had yet to realize the opportunities that lay ahead and was not really doing much with my cooking, aside from spoiling our friends with regular food-focused gatherings (which we continue to host on a regular basis).
More REI Coverage
Cooking in the Great Outdoors was featured on the REI Facebook Page yesterday. We would like to thank the folks at the REI Social Media Team for their support in getting the word out about our site and video series.
Le Diner en Blanc Follow-up, StriperFest & the REI Blog
So as you may notice, it has been a little while since our last blog post here at Cooking in the Great Outdoors. Since that time, I attended the inaugural Le Diner en Blanc Boston with my wife and approximately 650 fellow New England foodies. To say that we experienced an enchanting evening would be the understatement of the year. This event was very well organized and even exposed us to a “secret” spot in Boston of which I was previously unaware.
When Opportunity Knocks, Answer the Door Wearing White
As I rode the T (Boston’s name for our local mass-transit system) to work yesterday, I was paging through the Boston Phoenix when I came across a small byline about the inaugural hosting of Le Diner en Blanc here in Boston. If you are not familiar with this French social tradition, it began 24 years ago in Paris as a gathering of close friends who wanted to celebrate the simple joys of enjoying a fine meal outdoors in their home town, La Ville-Lumière (The City of Light). This commemoration of the power of food to bring people together became an underground phenomenon in Europe before coming to the United States for the first time in 2011 to New York City. This was an opportunity that I simply could not pass up!
Catching Up!
Wow, so much has happened in the past two weeks, I am not sure where to begin. First, Cooking in the Great Outdoors made it into the final round of the Integrale Gauntlet. Though we did not take home the final prize (which was based on a single photograph of our finished dish – Oyster Risotto), we are very proud to be in such good company. Check out all the finalists entries below.
Integrale Final Round: Oyster Risotto
For the final round of the Integrale Gauntlet, the key was to create a dish that looks so good that the judges will want to take a bite right out of the photo. Since the key to success is strictly based on the presentation, I wanted to come up with a recipe that made a visual impression, while remaining true to our focus here at Great Outdoors Cooking on using natural, locally sourced ingredients. Before we get into the recipe itself, here is a recap of the rules for the final round.
Our Second Round Entry for the Integrale Gauntlet Has Been Posted.
For those of your following our participation in the Integrale Gauntlet, we have just posted our recipe for Round 2 – Dessert Risotto. This time we decided to get really creative and came up with Milk Stout Risotto Arancini with Sweet Whiskey Cherry Compote. Sound good? Our in-house taste testers certainly enjoyed the final product. So head over to the Recipe Page for the full breakdown and stay tuned and we make a run for the third and final round of the Gauntlet.