Bringing a bottle of wine to an event at certain people’s home is like bringing a sandwich to a smorgasbord. We just spent a few days with our friends Kathy and Scott Flora in Florida. Scott has been my wine muse for years. When Scott moved from our neighborhood the local wine store (affectionately referred to as Germantown Baptist Wine & Liquor – see below) flew flags at half-mast for a week. All kidding aside, the place was sold a short while after he left.
What is the old Joke: What is the difference between a Catholic and a Baptist? The Catholic will say hello when he sees you at the Liquor store.
The truth is that there was big controversy when a liquor store originally wanted to open close to the local Baptist church. Ever since the store did open, we have called it “Germantown Baptist Wine & Liquor”. Come to think of it, Kathy Flora was probably the first to use that handle.
Scott knows his wine and is very generous with his inventory. An excellent example of his generosity was at the kick-off party we had for our daughter’s wedding. We had a party at my mother’s house in Westhampton for about 75 people. The meal consisted of:
- Memphis Smoked Sausage Plate with real polish Kielbasa from the Polish town in Riverhead and dry seasoning rub from Rendezvous BBQ in Memphis
- Grilled Local Swordfish with a dill-based compound butter
- Grilled 2-Inch-Thick Steaks with an herb-based compound butter
- Mom Mom’s Potato Salad
- Grilled Eggplant
- Late Season Heirloom Tomato Salad
Clockwise Above: The Kick-off Dinner Spread, Mother of the Bride/Father of the Bride and Scott & Kathy Flora
Of course, we had plenty of wine and beer. Before the party, Scott asked me if I would mind if he brought some wine from his inventory since at the time, he was living in Connecticut which was a short ferry ride away. Very early on at the party I noticed that people were congregating around Scott’s table. Turned out, he had cases of his better wine under the table. I will confess, that I was among the many that enjoyed Scott’s wine that night and many other nights before and since.
This week was no exception. While I did bring a few bottles, what we brought was nothing compared to the cornucopia of wonderful wine that Scott served us. Fortunately, Scott and Kathy let me cook. True to theme of “Bring A Bottle And An Appetizer” we had two wonderful meals based on Appetizers. One night we enjoyed some Gougeres. We had a fun day of golf and came home in time to watch Kathy’s beloved Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills. Gougeres are easy to make and are always a hit. They bring the added benefit of smelling great as they bake in the oven. The smell alone is a reason to make this perfect appetizer which can also be a meal.
The next night, after a late lunch, we weren’t particularly hungry for a big dinner. Kathy offered that she had some cauliflower based pizza crusts that we could use to make a quick pizza. Originally, I was skeptical as I have tried a few times to make a cauliflower crust and the results were not good. It turns out that the Caulipower, Cauliflower based pizza crust (see Below) was excellent. Cauliflower is the main ingredient, but they use rice flour to give the crust a more traditional pizza taste and texture. The whole crust is only 510 calories. We made a few versions using mozzarella, parmesan, garlic, spinach, olive oil, shrimp, and pepperoni as toppings. The end product tasted great, and my bet is that in a blind panel, no one would know that cauliflower was the main ingredient in the crust…
Particularly, while enjoying a Smorgasbord of Scott’s wine.
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