A Little Competition

My very good friend David has decided to enter into a cooking competition and I am reaping the rewards. The challenge is to create your own recipe, using certain local ingredients, and to pair that all with a local wine (local being Washington State local and not New York local--at least for the contest but not for us). Last night he and Rachel came over for a tasting. While David cooked (a great roasted red pepper and pear soup with great little cheddar bunuelos), we chatted, we set the table, and I tried to stay away from the white chocolate hazelnut brownies I had cooked for our dessert.

The food (just like the last time we got together for a little culinary exploration) was divine. We tasted the meal with two different types of wine before settling on one bottle (a Cabernet Sauvignon) and before Rachel and I dived biscuit first into the soup. We talked about what worked, what didn't, and about how versatile and tasty the soup was (with plans to recreate and use it for various summer picnics).

By the end of the evening our bowls were licked clean and David had to hide the last little beautiful bunuelo from us. There are more plans to get together to cook again. Shop together at a Farmer's Market. Head out of the city to the country to spend a few days cooking. All of it sounds delicious.

And the brownies? I could have let them cook a little longer. I also don't know how I feel about the hazelnuts. The white chocolate was not as present as I would like. But they are tasty.

Next time I'll make the little mini chocolate cupcakes I had originally wanted to experiment with.