October is really such a stereotypical month. Suddenly all the restaurants are doing some version of Oktoberfest, even if they have no culinary ties to anything German. It’s like all the farms in Dutchess County suddenly having hay rides and pick-your-own pumpkins. A friend from California and I were at Artisanal the other night and shared an charcuterie plate that was part of an Oktoberfest special. Then my husband and I were invited to a sausage and beer festival kick-off sponsored by the Tour de France restaurants. It was fun to be able to taste all kinds of different, mostly homemade, sausages, and I guess if you like beer, to have the beer pairings that went with them. There were seven different types of sausages, ranging from seafood to duck and fois gras. My favorite was the venison sausage from Nice Martin and Marseilles, over polenta with a currant sauce. The tartness of the currants, against the smoothness of the polenta, and the slight gaminess of the venison was great. Now we have to go to Nice Martin for lunch, Andy D’Amico is serving mussels with chorizo and pepper-dews, sounds pretty good to me.
There was also a very nice seafood sausage from Cafe D’Alsace, and my second favorite, the lamb sausage from L’Express with white beans. A traditional garlic sausage served over a warm lentil salad, a chicken boudin, and a delicious apple and blood sausage chausson (turnover to most people). Surprisingly, the most disappointing one was the one I thought would be the best, the duck and fois gras. Never got a sense of either the duck or the fois gras. Too bad.
And picking up the sausage banner, this week’s New York Times Magazine with an interesting recipe for chorizo. Hmmm, maybe it’s time to buy some casings, and get the Kitchen Aid out with the sausage making equipment. What do you think?
Don’t forget to check out this week’s Blogging Boomers Carnival. Lots of interesting ideas this week.
