Photo: Alice Waters Home Kitchen

More from Vanity Fair. I usually find it really interesting when they profile desks of famous people, but this seemed a little more relevant and interesting. 

Aritcle: Fernan Adrià + El Bulli

Good read about El Bulli and Fernan Adrià. It touches on some of the cornerstones of their perspective of creativity, including:

In the early days the menu at El Bulli reflected both French traditions and the innovations of nouvelle cuisine, but in 1987—the same year that Adrià became sole chef de cuisine—he decided after listening to a lecture by Chantecler chef Jacques Maximin to try to invent his own cuisine. “Creativity means not copying,” Maximin declared in answer to a question. “This simple sentence was what brought about a change in approach in our cooking,” Adrià wrote later, “and was the cut-off point between ‘re-creation’ and a firm decision to become involved in creativity.” That year Adrià decided to close the restaurant for five months in the winter—a period later extended to six months—to devote the hiatus to experimentation and creation.

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/10/el-bulli-201010

Gravity Fills

Fall. The changing of the season is marked by the turning of leaves and the retreating daylight hours. But it is also a good reminder to occasionally look straight up, in hopes that something delicious may fall and smack you in the face. While some people begin to hunker down for the impending winter, I prefer to venture out and see what sort of ripe fruits (and accompanying nuts) are crashing to the earth.

Living in Chicago makes it difficult to scavenge for these items on my own so I put a lot of faith in a small assortment of local markets to offer me the best of the season. On a trip out last week, I found a few Red Bartlett Pears and Granny Smiths that looked to be Right at the peak of their pickin'.

Around the same time, I was also tasked with watching Murphy, Dylan's seven pound Jack Russell Terrier. Naturally, for my service to Murph and my diligence in picking up his poop, Dylan had me over for a nice dinner to give thanks.

Not wanting to show up empty-handed, my first thought was to simply take the fruits of fall along with some walnuts and a few cheeses as a starter. While searching for some cheese in the South Loops Pannozo's Italian Grocery, I also came across some amazing (life-altering) speck. The Eckhouse family was in from Iowa and giving out samples of their La Quercia cured porks. Of the three items I tried, the speck was the hands down winner, though all of the products that these two foodies from my home state are making were outstanding.

With fruits, meats, nuts, and cheeses in hand, I went home and went to work. Rather than take the separate items and put them on a plate, I wanted to make a little wrap that encompassed all of these great items into one or two bites. With that, the Harvest Wrap was born.

The appetizer includes:

-A Parmigiana cracker, baked with Thyme and Rosemary

-Sliced Apples & Pears

-A Candied Walnut secured with some Bleu Cheese

-Wrapped in that addictive Speck

-Garnished with Thyme and Rosemary sprigs

We also made a cutting block where you could pick and choose from the individual components or grab one of the wraps. Dig it.

Wine: Montinore Estate Whites

Sean and I enjoyed some of this bio-dynamic wine last Thursday with a roasted chicken dinner and both thought it was pretty impressive. Bing a big fan of Oregon wines, I thought I would give them a try. The first bottle we tried was their Muller-Thurgau (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/muller-thurgau ), which is a white that closely resembles a Riesling, and is a cross between Riesling and Silvaner. The second was a little more dry and complex which paired better with our dinner. Their Borealis which is tagged as 'northern whites' is a nice blend of 45% Muller-Thurgau, 24% Gerwurztraminer, 18% Pinot Gris and 13% Riesling. Here is their website: http://www.montinore.com/wines.php

Last Night's Dinner: Spaghetti w/Chicken Sausage & Squash Blossoms

I kept it pretty simple without much use of Olive Oil so you could really focus on the fresh ingredients rather than have an oily mess. Sauteed Fresh Chicken Sausage from WF with button mushrooms and onion, then added the squash blossoms just before serving. Topped with Parm and basil.