I’ve always been a fan of a great at-home bar. I strongly believe it’s a must-learn life skill to mix up classic cocktails, and as an avid host, it’s important to provide an array...
Looking back on Easter as a child, I remember how excited I was to dig through my Easter basket. Full of chocolate bunnies, malt ball Easter eggs, Peeps, golden coins, and my favorite Cadbury...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
Lets be honest, salads can be boring. So I’m always trying to think outside of the box to come up with salad recipes that I’ll thoroughly enjoy, but are beyond easy to make. Enter...
I’ve been shopping Joss & Main for years now, so when they reached out to see if I’d like to share my home with them and create a “get the look” sale around each room, I was of course game. So here’s how it works: Joss & Main is a premier members-only site that offers limited-time sales on some of the world’s best brands for your home and your life. Each day, they kick off curated events that run for 3-7 days and once something is gone, it’s gone. And trust me at their prices, things move fast.
Truth be told, I wasn’t sure how much of my home readers would be able to actually shop. So needless to say, I was floored when Joss & Main sent over selections with so many of the actual items in my home, like my office shelf. And if they didn’t have the exact same item, they hunted down something similar, while including a few favorites I don’t even have yet. Like these pineapples which you better believe will be finding their way to my doorstep.
Our sale will last one full week and includes my living room, office, loft, master bedroom, and bathroom. You can see my home tour and complete sale selections starting NOW on Joss and Main. And to help you out, I thought I’d share some of my favorites from the sale as well (just scroll through the images below). First up, my living room and office. Truly, MKR
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Food and wine that tells a story. Now that’s something we’re all about here at WOM. And when you invite us to a place that boasts a good food philosophy (and sourcing approach) alongside a simply stunning bar and dining room, not to mention drool-worthy menu items…well, you don’t have to twist our arm to show up. MKR recently called up the team to meet at Bellina Alimentari at Ponce City Market for a little mid-week wine tasting class, and oh, was it legendary.
We basically got an insider’s peek at the magic that is Bellina Alimentari‘s Culinary Club; a collection of intimate cooking classes, tastings and workshops in its back room. Whether you’re there to learn how to make pasta, enjoy a wine tasting or simply revel in a private dinner, the place is quite the gem. Bellina Alimentari‘s goal is to “create a community of food lovers and bring back to the table the conversation of good food,” and that they have. Check out this recent blog post by them regarding October’s wine harvest…they’re the real deal.
Naturally, we were delighted to gather around that table for a few hours to test and taste our way through a course of three natural Italian wines, each with its perfect cheese pairing. (Seriously, I had no idea wine and cheese could play off each other so well!) But thanks to Bellina‘s Bethany Thompson, we learned all about the makings of pure, inventive wines from the region, and a little about why they tasted so wonderful with a slice (or two or three) of cheese that was equally irresistibly authentic.
I was utterly fascinated to learn about this wine. Besides of course that it was a few glasses of vino in front of me on a Tuesday afternoon, the backstory was so interesting. All of the wine at Bellina Alimentari was hand-selected to showcase the diversity of Italy’s land, welcoming a peek (or taste!) into each region’s unique identity. We learned that—like in other regions—the land, soil and grape all play a part to create the flavors in your glass. But with these wines in particular, all you’ll taste is true, honest flavors with no additives. None of them have had technological manipulations in the cellar either. We all couldn’t believe that many winemakers add dozens of ingredients to wine to standardize the flavor and correct mistakes (a bottle can have up to something like 80 ingredients before needing to list them on the label!).
We enjoyed a 3-course flight of wines, all rich in flavor and incredibly unique from the rest. My favorite perhaps was the orange wine (?!) from a small vineyard in Slovenia. Orange wine, I learned, is most definitely a thing; the one we tried had a bold, almost vinegar-y taste and was quite literally bright, bold orange in color. It’s basically a white wine that’s made like a red wine, but the grape skins are left in contact during fermentation. I had never seen or tasted anything like it. I was unsure how I felt about it until I popped a crumble of the cheese pairing (some of the best parmesan reggiano) into my mouth after a sip. The pair played off each other beautifully, opening up the depth of flavor that much more. Amazing, I’m telling you!
A big thanks to the Bellina Alimentari team for welcoming us into the back room for an afternoon of irresistible cheeses, intriguing wines and great conversation…we didn’t want to leave (but we’ll most certainly be back). And in the credits below, I share the exact wine + cheese pairings we enjoyed! Cheers, Kat
P.S. If you can, I’d highly suggest checking out the lineup of classes at Bellina Alimentari (think pasta making, wine + cheese pairings, all about vinegars and more). Priced anywhere from $28-45 a person, the classes are a fun way to share the magic behind a meaningful gathering with great food. xo
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Photography, Haley Sheffield for Waiting on Martha | This post is in collaboration with Bellina Alimentari, a brand we love and adore. All opinions are 100% our own.
Wine & Cheese Pairings No. 1…Verdicchio, Le Salse, Marche (100% Chardonnay) with Decimal Place’s fresh Feta No. 2…Monica di Sardegna, Praja, Sardegna (Orange wine) with aged (at least 18 months) Parmesan Reggiano No. 3…Chardonnay+ Radikon, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2011 with Sweetgrass Dairy’s Asher Blue
There’s something special about a fancy dinner at your favorite steakhouse for New Year’s Eve. But there’s also something perhaps even more special about enjoying a gourmet meal fixed in the comfort of your own home. I know, I know, I’ve been pushing the homebody card quite a lot lately, but I sure love a cozy night in this time of year…and that doesn’t change on NYE.
My husband and I have spent NYE at home the past couple of years; in fact, it’s become our tradition. We avoid the overpriced cover charges and event tickets, the impossible restaurant reservations and fixed menus, and instead we prepare a fancy, decadent dinner at home just like we like it. It’s the perfect excuse to bring out the festive dinnerware, too.
We’re in for a treat this year with our NYE dinner: bone-in ribeye cast iron skillet seared and cooked to perfection with homemade herb butter, fried brussels sprouts and caramelized onions. The brussels sprouts are perhaps the easiest side I’ve ever done; I threw them in a hot dutch oven with frying oil (I used vegetable oil, but you could use grapeseed too), I let them get that crispy charring with soft inside. Seriously SO simple…check out the recipe below.
For this meal, I’ll serve the Mr. his favorite beer. But because you’ll ask about wine pairings (and I love to talk wine, let’s be honest), here’s what I’d go with: a buttery chardonnay for a white wine, and a spicy malbec for a red. Because this is a pretty rich dinner (read: butter, butter, butter) I would stay away from a heavy, cabernet sauvignon or a fruit-forward acidic sauvignon blanc. Enjoy, friends and happy happy 2017! Truly, MKR
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Bone-In Ribeye with Caramelized Onions & Fried Brussels Sprouts
5 tablespoons herb butter to cook, additional to garnish (recipe below)
Olive or vegetable oil
For the caramelized onions
5-6 Large yellow or white onions, sliced
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of Salt
For the homemade herb butter
4 sticks unsalted butter, brought to room temperature
4 tablespoons thyme, finely chopped
2-3 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
For the brussels sprouts
2-4 cups vegetable oil (or frying oil of your choice)
1 large bag brussels sprouts
juice of 1 lemon
table salt and pepper to taste
For the caramelized onions
Melt your butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
Add the sliced onions to the pan and stir them gently to coat with butter. After 10 minutes add sugar, a pinch of salt and water, stir.
Check the onions every 5-10 minutes. Stir them and and scrape up any fond that forms on the bottom of the skillet. Around 30 minutes, they start to get golden, and around 50 minutes they will be the most caramelized. You can continue to add a bit of water if the onions are becoming dry.
For the steak
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees and place your cast iron skillet inside the oven. Bring your steak to room temperature.
Season both sides of the steaks with olive oil and salt and pepper.
Once heated, remove the skillet and cook your steaks in the skillet on the stovetop for 2 minutes each side on medium heat. While the steak is cooking add the full heads of garlic, thyme and rosemary in the skillet along with the herb butter. Lightly press down on the heads of garlic to release their aromatics.
Return the skillet to the oven and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until reached desired temperature. Ribeye is best rare or medium rare and remember while the steak is tented and rested it will continue to cook approximately 5 degrees.
Remove steaks from the oven and tent with aluminum foil, let it sit for 10 minutes after.
For the brussels sprouts
Heat your cooking oil to high heat/frying point in a dutch oven or thick cast iron skillet (there has to be enough oil to cover the brussels sprouts).
When the oil looks shiny and you hear the oil start to crackle and bubble, it's ready to fry. Drop your brussels sprouts in carefully.
Stir occasionally and once they start to turn a brown color on the outside, use a skimmer or giant spatula to retrieve them from the pan.
Place them on paper towels in a big dish to the side.
Sprinkle salt and pepper and a little bit of lemon juice, to taste.
For the herb butter
Let your butter become room temperature.
In a giant bowl, add the finely chopped thyme and rosemary to the butter.
Combine with your fingers and ball it together.
Use a piece of parchment paper and take the ball and roll it out the long way, like a paper towel cylinder then wrap with parchment paper and place it in the fridge overnight to harden.
When ready to serve, cut into medallions.
By Mandy Kellogg Rye @ Waiting on Martha
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