WDW Weekend Eats

Yes Dear Dedicated Readers, it’s time for another set of pics from a (fairly) recent weekend of dining at Walt Disney World… so let’s head on in…

On our first evening we sampled a few of the items at the temporary kiosk in the Italian pavilion at Epcot – this is open while Tutto Italia undergoes renovation, and features some items you wouldn’t normally expect to see at a quick-service location.

Caprese Sandwich and Pasta e Fagioli

We tried the Caprese Sandwich (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil), the traditional pasta and bean soup Pasta e Fagioli, and to wash it down I had a Moretti draft while Miss Bonnie went with the fancy imported San Benedetto water (which pretty much tasted like, well, water…).

Caprese Sandwich

Overall the taste of the sandwich was a bit bland – the fresh cheese is naturally mild in flavor, but the tomatoes were not great and the basil was a bit skimpy. The bread was good, and if you had more flavorful tomatoes and upped the ante on the basil (plus maybe some fresh-cracked pepper) this would be a pleasant change-of-pace from the usual fare, but otherwise was not worth the hefty $10.00 price tag.

Pasta e Fagioli

On the other hand the soup was very good – a hearty mix of pasta, beans and a little bit of meat for flavoring in a nice broth. This was a good size portion and would be great on a cooler evening at Epcot.

The next day for lunch we made our was down Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood Studios and decided to try a couple of the “Gourmet” Hot Dogs at Fairfax Fare.

Macaroni and Cheese Hot Dog with Truffle Oil and Barbecued Pork and Coleslaw Hot Dog

High-end versions of the humble frankfurter have been showing up all over property the past year or two.

Macaroni and Cheese with Truffle Oil Hot Dog

The Mac & Cheese version wasn’t bad, but a little underwhelming – the aroma of the sprayed-on truffle oil hits you at first, but quickly dissipates – Bonnie & I were thinking of ways to make a more truffleious version at home…

Barbecued Pork and Coleslaw Hot Dog

More satisfying was the BBQ Pork and Slaw version. Similar to the one served at Casey’s Corner in Magic Kingdom, the bun holds a good portion of pulled pork (and better than was expected for this self-professed pig-snob) upon which rests the weenie that’s then topped with coleslaw. We both agreed we’d gladly down this version again.

We were at the World for the Princess Half-Marathon (I did say it was a fairly recent weekend, didn’t I?) and we next met several friends for our pre-race dinner at the Turf Club.

Turf Club was selected for the evenings dining as Lori Loves Tigger and her Hubby Erin (who after a bit too much tequila one day at La Cava also wound up somehow becoming my fiancee… don’t ask…) as they were staying at Saratoga Springs for the weekend – Doc Terminus and Running-Fiends Julie and James were along for the ride…

I had been to the nice bar area a couple of times before for apps and beverages, but other than that none of us had dined in the restaurant per se before.

A couple of plates of decent stuffed ‘shrooms and some onion rings were ordered for appetizers.

Roasted Mushrooms stuffed with spinach, cheese and garlic

I chose the stereotypical pre-race pasta while Miss Bonnie decided on a salad as her entree.

Turf Club Pasta with shrimp, garlic, olive oil, veggies & fresh herbs

Iceberg Wedge Salad with blue cheese, bacon & cherry tomatoes

Several other entrees were ordered around the table…

Surf & Turf Burger topped with watercress, lobster and Bearnaise Sauce

Roasted Free-Range Chicken Breast with red bliss potatoes, tomatoes, peas, fresh herbs and roasted broth and in the rear is the Prime Rib with Red Bliss mashed potatoes, broccolini, and red wine demi-glace

The Chocolate Espresso Torte was shared by some for dessert and was given a thumbs up.

Chocolate Espresso Torte

Overall the food was fine, but far from spectacular. If you’re staying at Saratoga and want a sit-down meal (and can’t make the long trek over the water to Downtown Disney for many more dining options) you should be able to have a reasonable meal here, but I’d say the Turf Club is not exactly destination dining.

The next day was the race itself, and afterwards there was actually an interesting edible…

At the end of most races you’ll find things like bananas, bagels, muffins, protein bars and the like offered to runners – at the end of the Princess Half we were also handed a snack box with some interesting, and good, options.

Interesting crackers with a squeeze container of hummus, roasted edamame (we both really liked these – we found the same brand at Whole Foods. Try the wasabi version – it’ll clear your sinuses!), fruit and nut mix and some semi-high-end chocolate… a nice change of pace from the usual post-race fare!

After a much-needed shower and a post-race celebratory Stella (me, not Miss Bonnie…) we made our way to Animal Kingdom to sample some of the new snack and quick-service offerings there.

Over the past several months there has been some new items (and a new kiosk) added to the path from Africa to Asia… this is a lovely walk, and we’ll see if it has been enhanced by the eats & drinks…

at Tamu Tamu Refreshments in Harambe they have a beef sandwich we’d been wanting to try…

Slow Roasted Pulled Beef Sandwich

we both really liked this (somewhat messy) sandwich, as well as the accompanying seasoned potato chips – we’ll be having this again. Our good friend Ryan also recently reviewed this item and I’d have to say that I concur completely with his assessment – you can check it out over at the Main Street Gazette.

As you travel on towards Asia you’ll come across the Safari Egg Rolls Kiosk…

while they have long offered the typical fried egg rolls (a veggie version as well as a pork and shrimp one), which are perfectly fine and for the fairly nominal prices are a nice snack, recently added was a Vietnamese-style cold Summer Roll.

Chilled Summer Roll

Rice paper encases glass noodles and fresh veggies… it could use a bit more herbs (Miss Bonnie found it a bit bland), and it really needs the sweet chili dipping sauce to enliven it, but overall I’m liking this item (which means it will probably be pulled from the menu soon)…

This crunchy, chilled roll is a good alternative to the fried rolls, and should be a great snack on those sweltering summer days in the often steamy Animal Kingdom park… and it’s only two bucks so it’s worth giving it a try… and yeah, it should be fairly healthy… shhhh… don’t tell anyone that…

Along the way is a fairly new structure primarily purveying beverages of the adult variety.

Frozen Margaritas are the beverage of choice here – if you’re not sure which to pick, try them all layered in the “Triple Yeti Blast”!

Triple Yeti Blast

Miss Bonnie really liked the mango flavor, while I was more partial to the lime. I’m not real big on frozen ‘ritas, but this will be nice during the heat of the summer (if you want a good non-frozen one in AK, try the African Margarita they mix up at the Dawa Bar).

We also wanted to try the new “Boneless Chicken Wings” (read sauced nuggets), but didn’t have the chance this time as we had to make our way towards Epcot for dinner… you can check out what our buddy AJ had to say about them over at the Disney Food Blog (she also covers the margarita kiosk in the same post – note how the offerings have changed since her visit just a few months prior to ours).

So yes, we arrived at Epcot and headed directly to (big shock) La Cava del Tequila…

We met the same motley crew as the night before (less the good Doctor) and Erin & I introduced Julie to the wonders of the tequila shot.

From there we went to dinner at Teppan Edo, the teppanyaki style eatery in the Japan pavilion.

The chef always puts on a good show…

The infamous "Onion Volcano"

While I think the food here is very average…

Ton (pork loin steak)

it is a very fun place to go, especially with a great group of friends!

Hotate (cold water sea scallops)

The tables here usually seat eight, and if your party doesn’t fill a table you will likely be seated with others (strangers at the start, but usually not by the end of the meal).

We were fortunate to be seated with a very nice young couple and their infant son. The husband was in the military and this was their last Disney trip before he was being sent for a tour of duty in the Middle East. This young gentleman and his wife were personable, bright and the perfect dinner companions – I was proud the shake his hand afterwards, thank him for his service to our country and wish him well. If he is at all typical of the men and women that serve us in the military, I’d say we are very well represented around the world. I hope to see the great couple and their adorable son very soon again in Disney!

So there you have it – another weekend of eating around the World – nothing spectacular this time, but some fun times and a few good finds nonetheless! Hope you enjoyed it!

Now, as always, back to the kitchen – we’ll see you soon!

WDW Odds & Ends…

A few random things from the last couple of visits to the word, and as usual, a few are food and beverage related…

In the Magic Kingdom, the new Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom game has launched – Miss Bonnie & I got to try it out during the Beta test phase.

The main check-in area is in the Fire Station on Main Street.

Training area inside the Fire Station

One of the game "portals" in the Main Street area

The cards that are part of the game have various Disney characters on them, each displaying a specific power that helps you defend the Magic Kingdom from those evil characters wishing to take it over…  Miss Bonnie got a card that must have been intended for me…

Has to be the BEST super-power ever!

Our first thoughts on the game were quite positive, but we’ve got a long way to go to see how it finally pans out – I won’t go into any great description of the Sorcerer’s game here, as it’s already been discussed in detail elsewhere on the web… the official Disney blog has made several posts, so for a quick overview if you’re not familiar with the Sorcerer’s of the Magic Kingdom go there… I also added some of my comments on the subject at the Main Street Gazette.

While on Main Street, we (not surprisingly) made our way into the Confectionery…

here we found some cute Mickey-shaped cookies.

I always enjoy watching the Castmembers as they create some of the goodies that make their way into the counter…

Mickey Crispy Pops were being created this day…

In the not-edible-category we found a few cool items for sale here as well.

In the tea category is yet another Alice-themed teapot available…

I loves me some Alice, so I’m not going to complain about there being too much Alice/tea merch… Too bad I’m not a big tea drinker…

But we did find some new java holders:

Por favor...

Miss Bonnie and I do both down us some coffee, and we both thought the new coffee go mugs were quite nice.

There looks to be six new designs, four of which have clever sayings and/or images on two sides.

These retail for $14.99 – I think a little pricey, but most are very clever…

Now let’s make our way over to World Showcase at Epcot.

Country-specific-Epcot-branded merchandise (primarily glassware and clothing) continues to show up around the World Showcase – I really love that there is merchandise that you can find that is specific to one locale!

Not Epcot-specific/branded, but there is an interesting selection of glasses in Germany…

they feature the name and skyline of a Germany city, but the most interesting thing is that the graphic on the outside of the glass is, well, fuzzy… kind of like felt… weird.

The Italy pavilion has really expanded their selection of oils and seasonings…

there are some very interesting olive oils, Italian seasonings and spice grinders, but be prepared for some sticker-shock… nothing here is cheap, even by Disney-standards!

At the Enoteca in Italy, a couple of new wine flights have been added…

Hopefully a preview of great things to come at the new under-construction wine bar!

Speaking of which, we took a peek over the construction walls at Tutto Italia…

looks pretty gutted now, but we have high hopes for the wine bar that will be ensconced within… time will tell..

While Tutto Italia is undergoing the refurb, the Food & Wine booth has been set up with an ambitious quick-service menu.

Over in Great Britain, there have been some changes in the Toy Soldier store…

The rear section of the building has long been devoted to a Winnie-the-Pooh character meet-and-greet…

but the area was recently re-themed to look like Christopher Robin’s bedroom – genius! What took so long???

Thanks to our good friends over at WDW Today, we got the chance to check out the backstage (well, really the upstairs) at Norway.

Matt, Mike, Mike, Len and the Fabulous Annette hosted an event in a space above Maelstrom in Norway (congrats guys on 1,000 shows!).

The inner nerd in us took hold and we took pictures of most everything…

And yes, being the nerds we are, we had to check out the restrooms…

The other room is labeled "MENN"

Over in China we had a fun find in the gift store…

nothing says “family-friendly” like a grab-and-go ice chest of Coke, specialty teas, and Tsing Tao… nice…

Outside the parks we had a nice animal viewing opportunity…

while staying at our “Welcome Home”-away-from home of Kidani Village, we were lucky enough to have a room that overlooked the Pembe Savannah (this is the one you can see from the pool area). This savannah has quite a different variety of animals from the others at Kidani and the Jambo House – we were treated to lots of Tommys, Nyalas, and Impalas… but best of all this savannah has (well had) a pair of the beautiful, fascinating, and rarely seen Okapi… I say “had” a pair, because there are now three… a female calf was born last October, and just in the past couple of weeks she (along with mama) was being released into the Pembe Savannah for very limited times…

We felt very fortunate to have seen one of the first public appearances by this gorgeous young lady!

So there you have it – some recent Odds & Ends from around the World – hope you enjoyed!

Now, back to the kitchen… we’ll have new recipes for you soon!

WDW Weekend Eats

We haven’t done a “Weekend Eats” in a while, so since Miss Bonnie and I spent our pre-Valentine’s weekend at Disney and had a nice variety of edibles while there, I figured it was time…

We were staying at the Wilderness Lodge and began our culinary adventures on Friday evening there at the Territory Lounge.

In this comfortable setting next to the  Artist Point restaurant they have a selection of appetizers available to go along with the featured wines of the the American Northwest (or the usual cocktail or beers of your choice if you prefer).

One of the appetizers is the same cheese plate as served next door at Artist Point, and that was our choice to start the weekend.

Smokey Blue Cheese, Reypenaer VSOP and Humboldt Fog

The aged Gouda and the Blue were pretty much tied as our favorite… cheese… yummm…

I’ve heard from semi-reliable sources that you can order from the complete restaurant menu in the bar, and we did see a couple of ladies enjoying the mushroom soup (which was not on the app menu for the lounge), so I imagine if you ask real nice…

We made our way to the Magic Kingdom for a while and enjoyed the “romance version” of the great castle show (if you haven’t seen the projection show on the castle that precedes the fireworks, you’re really missing something…) and the fireworks. Following Wishes we hightailed it to the resort monorail and got off at the Poly.

Next to Kona Cafe they set up a sushi bar starting at 5 PM (before this it’s a coffee/pastry venue) and here you can get some really great Polynesian-style sushi and/or order from the full Kona menu if you so desire.

We ordered a couple of items from the sushi menu as well as the potstickers from the Kona appetizer menu.

Pork and Vegetable Potstickers

I was a bit disappointment that the duck potstickers that had been on the menu had been replaced with a more mainstream pork and veggie version, but they were quite good nonetheless.

From the sushi side we tried the Citrus Hamachi Roll (which I think is a new addition to the selection there since my last visit) and one of my favorites, the Tuna Poke.

Citrus Hamachi Roll

The Hamachi roll featured marinated raw Yellow Tail with crunchy tempura bits and was quite good.

Tuna Poke... can you served me up a bucket of this stuff please???

Dedicated Readers may recall how much I enjoyed chopped-up-and-seasoned-raw-tuna dishes (and I’ve given you a couple of recipes for Tuna Poke in the posts “Let’s Cook! Tuna Poke” and “Let’s Cook! Tuna Poke, a la Aulani”), and the Tuna Poke served here is not only one of my favorite examples of this dish, but truly one of my favorite things served anywhere on Disney property. Very fresh seasoned tuna with a spicy mayoish topping on a crispy base… I could eat a huge amount of this stuff!

Miss Bonnie has been somewhat squeamish about raw fish before (but I give her lots of credit for at least trying most anything), but she bravely gave this a taste… and went back for more… it’s that flipping good…

The next day we again found ourselves in the Magic Kingdom, and around lunchtime we made our way to the Columbia Harbour House. This is probably my favorite quick service location in the Magic Kingdom – it’s menu is quite different from any other on property (believe it or not, you can’t get a burger there), and the seating areas, especially upstairs, are well themed and generally much less hectic than most other quick service eateries.

We had been meaning to get there for quite a while after a menu makeover a few months ago (making broccoli, of all things, a featured element), but this was the first time we’d actually made it there. Broccoli (which I actually quite like) is now offered as a side option to many of the menu items, and is featured in a salad, which we decided to try (along with and order of the fried fish so that Miss Bonnie could get here french-fry-fix for the day).

Broccoli Peppercorn Salad

The Broccoli Peppercorn Salad has “mixed greens (mostly iceberg), garden vegetables (corn and green peas), chicken, broccoli, parmesan cheese, tossed with a creamy peppercorn dressing”. This salad is huge with a very large amount of (I assume) poached chicken. The meat is tender and not dry at all, but fairly bland. The dressing is tasty and the ingredients really need the flavor boost. The peas and corn tend to wiggle there way down, so you see most of them at the bottom of the bowl as you finish. The salad is certainly big enough to share, and we both liked it and agreed we’d gladly have it again (even though my usual choice here is the hummus sandwich). Even though the ingredients are healthy, I can’t imagine the dressing is anywhere near a low (or even moderate) fat selection, so even though it’s a “salad”, it’s probably not really a great dietary choice, especially if you eat the whole thing… of course it’s probably still much better than a burger…

Later in the afternoon we found ourselves in Downtown Disney to take part in the the 5th Anniversary celebration for Lou Mongello’s WDW Radio podcast (congrats on five great years Lou!) being held outside of the Pollo Campero/Fresh A-Peel/babycakesNYC building with goodies being provided by the babycakesNYC bakery.

We were meeting up with Momma Ginny there, and she gave us the heads up on a tasty beverage to sample: Watermelon Sangria.

Watermelon Sangria

There is a small beverage area there with several Latin favorites (alcoholic and non… as if anyone should bother with the latter) and other usual beers and wine. On this day they had a very refreshing and yummy Watermelon Sangria, so we ordered one of those (primarily) for Miss Bonnie along with a Stella draft for myself. They do now offer discounts (20%) here for DVC members, Annual Passholders, etc., so our two drinks (before tip) were less than $10.00 – quite the adult beverage deal for being on Disney property!

Attendees were treated to small cupcakes with your choice of frosting (we selected a very assertive mint).

Cupcakes with Mint Frosting

And later a very moist and delicious Blondie cake with vanilla frosting was sliced and gladly devoured by the crowd.

babycakes manager Emily handing out slices of cake

Babycakes is known as the “healthy” dessert location – vegan, gluten-free, yadda, yadda, yadda… this equals taste-free to many… this cake converted any doubters…

Tasty, tasty vegan Blondie Cake with Vanilla Frosting... only thing that could have made it better would be some bacon!

That evening was our pre-Valentine’s dinner at Artist Point in the Wilderness Lodge resort.

We ordered a couple of glasses of Kung Fu Girl Riesling (a nice choice) and perused the menu. While we looked we nibbled on some nice Sourdough Bread served with soft butter sprinkled with Black Sea Salt.

Bread & Butter

We were tempted by several new appetizer offerings (including Roasted Oysters with Crab Ceviche and an Asian-inspired Beef Noodle Bowl), but settled on the Roasted Heirloom Beets.

Salt Roasted Heirloom Beets with Truffled Goat Cheese, Cider Poached Pink Lady Apples, Spiced Walnuts and Mulled Wine Vinaigrette

This was not only a beautiful dish, but an absolutely delicious one as well!  Of course it’s hard to go too wrong when you start with a base of truffled goat cheese… I would have gladly eaten a larger portion of this as a vegetarian entree.

For her main course Miss Bonnie chose the Sweet Potato Gnocchi (another new addition to the menu replacing another gnocchi dish) while I selected the Prawn and Crab “Hot Pot”.

House-made Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms, Spinach, Caper Butter and Drunken Goat Cheese

The gnocchi arrived on a slender plate along with mushrooms, spinach and (yet more) goat cheese. Bonnie was ecstatic about the dish and keep talking about it for days.

With the large number of people of Asian descent on the West Coast, it’s not surprising that Artist Point usually features several Asian-inspired dishes, and my entree was one of these…

Wild Caught Jumbo Prawn and Crab "Hot-Pot" with Mussels, Crispy Pork (yeah baby!, Jasmine Rice, and Spiced Thai Coconut Broth

the “Hot-Pot” is in quotes as you don’t actually cook the dish yourself as in a traditional hot pot, but this is an “inspired” dish from the flavors of a seafood hot pot… a flavorful broth was on the bottom of the dish, topped with the slightly sticky rice along with some mussels, a few cubes of pork belly, some pieces of crab and two large prawns. Overall the dish had very good flavor and was quite filling as well – the mussels were on the small side (which disappointed me as, like Janet Weiss, I’m a mussel fan…), but other than that I was quite satisfied.

We very both so stuffed that we passed on dessert, but just to be on the safe side we stopped in at the Wilderness Lodge quick-service venue, the Roaring Fork, to pick up a Magic Cookie Bar (which did make it unscathed until the next morning).

Magic Cookie Bar

On Sunday we went to Epcot (which will not shock Dedicated Readers in the least) and started wandering around World Showcase. After considering the new temporary Italian quick service (which is open while the Tutto Italia restaurant is closed for a refurbishment), we decided on my new/old favorite, the Katsura Grill for lunch.

Katsura Grill

The former Yakatori House, which was one of my favorite places in all the World, recently re-opened as the Katsura Grill (yes, we will give you more details on this venue sometime, soon I hope…), and I have been very pleased with the results. Most of the old menu is still intact, and several new items have been added. It was a very cool weekend, so on this visit Miss Bonnie was in the mood for soup and she went for the Miso Soup along with a California Roll.Both items hit the spot for her, especially the soup.

Miso Soup and California Roll

I picked one of the older dishes to see how it was now faring – the Shogun Combo of teriyaki chicken and beef served with steamed veggies and rice. The boneless chicken thighs were juicy and took well to the sauce. The thinly sliced beef was much better than the last time I’d had it, even though I still wish they’d bring back the sukiyaki beef. The vegetables and the rice were both cooked well. This was a very generous portion and a quality dish. Of course, a Kirin washed down a good lunch.

Shogun Teriyaki Combination

So there you have it, a culinary overview of our most recent weekend in the World – I hope you enjoyed it and were able to eat a bit vicariously…

We also came across several interesting things in the parks that weekend, so we’ll try and give you an “Odds & Ends” from the weekend soon…

Now, back to the kitchen! See you soon!

And if this doesn’t tempt you…

you just don’t like to eat – or drink….

We’ve told you about how much we enjoyed last years Food & Wine Classic at the Swan and Dolphin Resort (you can see the original posts here: Part One and Part Two), and how much we are looking forward to the version this year (again, you can review that post here).

So, if reading those write-ups didn’t tempt you to try and attend the “Classic”, take a look at some of the dishes being offered up for this year:

Browned Butter Basted Lobster Roll; Smoked Pork Belly with Texas Toast and Baked Bean Foam; Crab Eggroll; Jumbo Lump Crab Cake Sliders; Spicy Yellow Fin Tuna with Nori and Seasoned Rice; Intense Dark Chocolate Cake – and that’s just a brief listing…

Our good friend AJ has the complete listing and you can see it over at the Disney Food Blog.

You can also visit the official Food & Wine Classic site here, where they announced that Chef Todd English would be appearing this year. They also have the food and entertainment listings there as well as links to sign up for the event.

See you there – you never know what may happen!

Anything can happen at the Food & Wine Classic...

You can tune a piano…

but, as they say, you can’t tuna fish…

Or can you?

Over the past couple of years or so, I’ve become a huge fan of the chop-up-some-fresh-tuna-and-mix-with-tasty-seasonings type of dishes that seems to be showing up everywhere… from several restaurants at Disney, to the Eating (and Drinking) Around the World kitchens, and even my favorite local haunt…

You take some nice raw tuna, cube or mince, add some seasoning, let sit just a bit and enjoy! Usually a crispy chip of some sort is the mechanism for moving the goodness to your mouth, and the fish may be garnished with various goodies or perhaps just served simply… Asian flavors are, not surprisingly, common, but the meaty fish also marries quite well with Latin flavors.

So, let’s take a quick visual tour, shall we?

Tuna Nacho from the Cabana at the Swan & Dolphin Classic

Tuna Poke at the Sushi Bar at the Polynesian Resort... please just bring me a gallon of this!

Tuna Tartar at the Cabana Bar and Beach Club at the Swan/Dolphin Resort

Tuna Tartar at the Cabana Bar and Beach Club at the Swan/Dolphin Resort

Spicy Tuna Tartare at the Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios

Spicy Tuna Tartare (with Lotus Root Chip) at the Hollywood Brown Derby in Hollywood Studios

Tuna Ceviche at Mulligan's Pub in Rverview, Florida

Tuna Sensation from the Japan booth at the Epcot food & Wine Festival

So yes, I think you can tune a fish – to your tastes that is… recipes will follow… eventually, of course…

Back to the kitchen…

WDW Weekend Eats…

We haven’t done a wrap-up  of a weekends dining at Walt Disney World lately, so since we had some good and different items this past weekend, let’s dig in!

Our first on-property food foray wasn’t until Saturday lunch…

Miss Bonnie and I were at the Magic Kingdom early in the AM, and after randomly running into a few friends (you know who you are…) we met up with Scientist Len (aka Leonard), an old friend of mine from grad school, and his offspring, Dizzy Lizzy… it had been many years since either had been in the Kingdom, so we played Tour Guide and knocked out plenty of attractions in the morning.

As we wanted a break from the park, we hopped the monorail over to the Polynesian and went to Captain Cook’s for a quick bit of lunch. As we had a fairly early reservation for dinner, Miss Bonnie & I decided to share a meal.. we thought about one of the flatbreads, then what seems to be a new item on the menu caught ours respective eyes: pork nachos…

Okay, here I’ll admit I don’t recall the exact name and listed details of the item, and yes I could have taken a pic of the menu items, but I was more concerned with heading to the pool bar for a better beer selection while I had Miss Bonnie wait in line for the food… yes, I suck…

So to digress a bit… they have cool touch screen ordering here which worked well, once I figured out you had to use it instead of talking to a real-live person… for pics of this and a full review, go over to our friends at the Disney Food Blog here.

Anyway… we sat outside with our pork nachos… and Miss Bonnie deemed them good enough to come back specifically for them!

Instead of tortilla chips, crispy fried wontons (with a random potato chip…) served as the base… tender Hawaiian-style pulled pork (not sure but I’m thinking maybe a Kahlua pork?) is the protein, a mild cheese (likely mozzarella?) glues things together and the whole thing is topped with tomatoes, onions and, of course to complete the island theme, pineapple…

It was tasty, different, and a nice sized portion for the price – easily enough for two… thinking I may have to work up a version in the Eating (and Drinking) around the World kitchens some day…

So we headed back to the park for a while, and then took a boat over to the Wilderness Lodge (where Bonnie & I were laying our heads for the weekend) for dinner at Artist Point.

I’ve had a few really good meals there over the past couple of years, so I was looking forward to our meal that night (in fact, at Miss Bonnie’s suggestion, I took a photo of the menu on my phone that morning so I’d have plenty of time to peruse same during the day… still I didn’t make up my mind until we were there…)… to cut to the chase, we weren’t disappointed…

Leonard and Lizzy shared a cheese plate, as did Bonnie & I… well, Miss Bonnie allowed me to taste a bit of the cheeses, threatening me with her silverware if I tried to take too much… Bonnie has become quite the aficionado of all things fromage since her cheese epiphany earlier this year at Jiko’s.

Clockwise from bottom left: "Drunken" Goat cheese with figs, aged Reypenaer VSOP Gouda with raisins, Walnut Toast, and Smokey Blue Cheese with honeycomb.

The cheese plate here has a bit less variety than some others around property (Jiko’s and Flying Fish usually have five choices), but the portions were generous and the selections were good… none was left on the plate. The real find here was the aged Gouda – very much like a good aged cheddar with the little crunch of crystallization here and there – I’ll search this one out to have again.

I (being the pig I am) also tried an additional appetizer, the Rainbow Asparagus Salad with Slow Poached Farm Fresh Egg, Truffle Chips, Frisee Lettuce, Black Truffles, and Champagne Vinaigrette… phew, that was a keyboard-full…

Asparagus Salad

The truffle aroma was wonderful, in fact I passed the dish around the table just for everyone to sniff, and the egg was perfectly cooked – the yolk making a rich addition to the dressing when cut into…

Good, but to my tastes, not great… perhaps the full day of desiring this item had me expecting too much…

For the rest of our meal, the ladies chose to go the “Appetizer as Dinner” route (which I’m becoming a big fan of…) while the manly men chose the full entree route…

Pan-seared Alaskan Halibut

Leonard chose the halibut with asparagus, morels and peas… tender and flavorful.

Kettle-steamed Mussels with Sourdough Panzanella

Dizzy Lizzy’s selection of mussels with basically a bread salad atop was a good portion and met with much delight.

I chose to go with some of Donald’s relatives…

"Duo of Duck" Seared Crispy Breast of Duck with Brown Butter Chard, Huckleberry Chili Glaze and Smoked Duck Soufflé

The perfectly cooked duck breast was a delight… the soufflé was more of a side… almost like a corn pudding with some duck pieces at the bottom.

But the winner of the night was Miss Bonnie…

Spring Pea Risotto with Crispy Snake River Farms Pork Belly, Radish Salad & Goat Cheese Crisp

The rich and fatty pork belly was combined with a flavorful spring pea risotto – the radish provided a bit of contrast in texture – wow, this was really something… only complaint is that I’d like a little more of the radish salad, but that’s just a little bit of whining…

If this is on the menu when you are there, order it… even if you’re Kosher or vegetarian, order it…

Being fully sated after some great food, good wine, and even better company, we sadly passed on dessert (and Lizzy really had her heart set on some simple ice cream in the Kingdom), so we made our way back to the park for the rest of the evening.

On Sunday ours friends made their way back up I-75 early, so Miss Bonnie and I were on our own for lunch…

We took the nice walk from Wilderness Lodge over to Fort Wilderness (encountering Bambi on the way…) and did a bit of exploring… maybe we’ll soon look at a few things we found at the Outpost…

but back to the food…

We chose to dine at Trail’s End, which promises “Frontier Fixin’s & Friendly Folk”…

Until fairly recently, Trail’s End was all-buffet, all-the-time, but now lunch is served a la carte (while the buffet is still in effect for breakfast and dinner).

Despite the “down home” feel of the place, the lunch menu has some really interesting choices.

Now (as we’ll see soon), this part could easily be titled “Three potato, four…”… (if you haven’t read “One potato, two potato”, you may go back and do so now…).

House-made Potato Chips

We started with a new appetizer: House-made Potato Chips served with onion dip. The chips come plain (“Natural”), Barbecue or Peppercorn & Vinegar – we chose the latter – the flavoring wasn’t over-powering, but was there.

Freshly-made chips are showing up a lot over property now (again, see “One potato, two potato”), and it’s a good thing… these were delicious…

For our mains, Bonnie went with the Pulled Pork Sandwich while I (after consultation with our pleasant server) opted for the Fried Green Tomatoes.

The pork sandwich was topped with Corn-Bacon Coleslaw (a bit skimpy portion of this in my opinion…) and pickled Green Tomatoes.

This item is normally served with the Potato Chips, but since we had those to start, Miss Bonnie asked for the Sweet Potato Fries as a sub and she was easily accommodated in her request.

Mmmm... pig....

When I asked our server about her opinion on the Fried green Tomatoes, she admitted she hadn’t tried them, but noted that they were the favorite item of the chef, so I took that as a good omen…

Fried Green Tomatoes with Marinated Portobello Mushrooms, Roasted Red Peppers, Smoked Gouda Cheese, and Fried Green Beans served with Sweet Potato Fries

The Fried Green Tomatoes are served atop marinated Portobello Mushrooms, which provides a nice counterpoint.

The Fried Green Beans are good, and loved the Fried Sweet Potatoes, but overall this plate is Too Much Fried… yes you heard me, Too Much Fried food…

I’d certainly order this again, but I’d ask to sub either the beans or sweet potato fires with another (non-fried) side next time…

The food here was really good, and the portions more than generous (two could easily spilt a meal, especially if you were having an appetizer or adding one of the sides that sound appealing) – we’ll be back soon to try Spicy Grilled Shrimp, or maybe the (seemingly now soon-to-be ubiquitous) Fried Chicken and Waffles, or just for the sides of Cheese Grits or Hopp’n John…

If you’ve been to any of the places we visited this weekend, we’d love to hear your comments!

Now back to the kitchen…

Get in line now…

In January it was officially announced that the highly successful Food & Wine Classic at the Swan and Dolphin Resort would be back for a second year.

This event highlights the restaurants at the Swan & Dolphin, and this year, like last, will take place the second weekend of the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Here at Eating (and Drinking) around the World we did a couple of posts about the inaugural event and instead of repeating much of the info here (at my age I tend to repeat myself enough as it is…) we’ll just send you back to peruse them… part one (reviewing the drink seminars) is at Food & Wine Classic 2010… Classy and Classic it was… Part One, while the food and beverage tastings on the causeway are described in the cleverly named Part Two…

Quietly, a couple of weeks ago the tickets and packages for the 2011 event went on sale, and as soon as I heard this, I was on the phone…

So what’s going to be different this year? Well, first of all is a (fully expected) price increase… the causeway tasting tickets are up $15 per night to $65, and do not include one of the seminars as they did last year. The seminars are now priced separately at $35 each, so for what cost you $50 last year, you’d have to spend $100.

There are also a couple of options this year on the packages. Packages (room and causeway tastings for two) start at $255. If you want to add the seminars for two the packages start at $329 at night. The 2010 event packages (with the seminars included) started at $169 a night.

Bottom line on cash is that the cost for this year’s event is twice last year’s… but too a person I spoke with, all agreed that it was such an incredible deal that there was no way it wasn’t going up this year… I think the first event was just a run-thru (or in essence a “soft-opening”) for later efforts. Will it be worth it? Well, time of course will tell, but that I signed up the day I heard reservations were being taken should tell you that I anticipate it being an even better event than last year.

When I was on the phone to the reservation person, I mentioned that last year they made a big deal about the opening time to make reservations last year (and when I got through after being on hold about a half an hour after it opened several of the seminars were already sold out) while it was a bit more subtle this year – she said that the event this year was going to be bigger and have more capacity and food booths, but she wasn’t able to provide more details or give specifics on how much “bigger” it would be this year.

So the advice from Eating (and drinking) Around the World? If you can make it, come on along… if they do at least as good a job as last year, it should be worth the price, and if they learned a bit (and they didn’t make too many mistakes last year) it should be better. The biggest concern I have is that with all the accolades they got on the Interwebs from last year’s efforts that it might become too crowded for comfort – hopefully there will be expanded booths that could absorb additional guests (and the higher cost may dissuade some as well…). I think the price increase for the causeway tastings should still be a deal at $65, as is the lower package price.

The biggest net increase is the cost for the beverage seminars. As much as I enjoyed the ones last year (again you can see the reviews here), I think $35 is pretty steep… that being said, I did sign up for them this year, taking the bullet for you, dear Dedicated Readers… so we’ll wind up seeing the value then.

If you’re not that excited about the offered seminars, pass on them (or if you’re buying a package for both nights and maybe only one floats your boat, buy them a la carte).

As more details come along, we’ll pass them on (or at least links to them)… we’re looking forward to the Food & Wine Classic for sure, and we hope to see you there as well! For sign-up details you can click here to go to the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Food & Wine Classic (that’s mouthful, huh?) page.

Now back to the kitchen…

Let’s Cook! Coconut Curried Chicken Stew

Late in 2010, Disney published a new cookbook highlighting favorite recipes from the parks, resorts and the Disney Cruise Line. The recipes in “Chef Mickey: Treasures from the Vault & Delicious New Favorites”, feature current offerings, as well as long-gone items. The “From the Vault Recipes” feature interesting historical info on many items and eateries that no longer exist in Disney parks.

As I eagerly read through the book, several items said “cook me” right off: Bread Pudding Souffle with Bourbon Sauce, Lamb Kefta, Lemongrass Risotto… but the first thing I had to try was a recipe from Boma for Coconut Curried Chicken Stew. The flavors looked to be right up my alley, and I’ve always liked the soups and stews served at Boma, so I gave it a try… and it turned out great, so now it’s time to share my (just slightly altered) version with you, my three Dedicated Readers. So here we go:

Coconut Curried Chicken Stew

Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 pieces Chicken – skinned, bone-in preferred (I used half thighs and half breasts)

3 Tbl good Curry Powder

Salt & Pepper to taste

3 Tbl Canola Oil

6 Tbl Butter (or 3 Tbl each Butter and Olive Oil)

3/4 Cup All-purpose Flour

4 Cups Chicken Broth

1/2 Cup Honey

1 Tsp Cayenne Pepper (or more to taste… you know me… more…)

1 Cup Canned Diced Tomatoes, drained

1 Cup Onions, Roughly Diced

1 Cup Red Bell Peppers, Roughly Diced

1 Cup Potatoes, Roughly Diced

1/2 Jalapeno Pepper, seeded and chopped (okay, I used a whole one, and didn’t seed… your mileage may vary…)

1 Cup canned Coconut Milk

1/2 Cup Chopped Cilantro

Procedure

1) Season the chicken pieces all over with 1 tablespoon of the curry powder (or more as needed to coat) and the salt and pepper.

2) Heat the oil in a dutch oven or other heavy pot and brown the chicken until nicely golden.

Golden brown and soon-to-be delicious...

3) Remove the chicken and add the butter (or the butter and oil) to the pot. When melted add the flour…

yes kids, we’re making a roux…

Stir until a light brown (the recipe specifies “beige”…) then add the broth, honey, remaining curry powder, cayenne and tomatoes. Simmer on low until thick and pretty, about half an hour.

Add your chopped veggies (everything except the cilantro)…

Onions, red peppers, potatoes and jalapeno

and the coconut milk.

Add the chicken pieces and simmer for 30 to 60 minutes until cooked through.

Remove the chicken pieces and cool slightly until you can handle with your hands. While cooling the chicken, taste the stew and adjust seasoning as desired – you may want to add a bit more curry or coconut milk, some more cayenne or even more honey (the dish should not be too sweet, but you should taste the sweetness).

Shred the chicken meat, discarding the bones, and add the meat back to the pot.

Simmer for a bit until heated through and garnish with the chopped cilantro.

You can serve as is for an appetizer-type serving, or put over rice (I like nutty brown rice for this) or another grain for a main course. Add a nice bread (how about a great cornbread?) for a hearty meal.

This freezes well, so make yourself a big batch!

Our friends over at the Disney Food Blog also made this recipe… Chef Big Fat Panda’s version is a bit different from mine, so check his out as well here. Compare and contrast! You’ll be tested on the information later… wait… grad school flashback…

Anyway… give this one a try… add some more heat if you (and I) like… this one’s a keeper!

Back to the kitchen…

It’s baacckk…

The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort has officially announced that the Food & Wine Classic event will be held again this year! The dates are October 7 and 8, 2011 – the second weekend of the Epcot Food & Wine Festival (as it was this past year).

There are no firm details yet, but it’s safe to say it should be similar to the very successful event from 2010. You can read our review of the beverage seminars here, and the overview of the main event on the causeway is here.

You can visit the official event site by clicking on the graphic above.

We here at Eating (and Drinking) Around the World will be there for sure, and we recommend you be there as well!

Yet more construction wall fun!

I know how much my handful of Dedicated Readers love pictures of construction walls, so here’s another…

Here we are along Disney’s Boardwalk…

and fairly briefly shuttered was Iron Chef Cat Cora’s Kouzzina restaurant…

The eatery is now re-opened with a few cosmetic changes, a handful of menu changes/additions (steamed mussels with ouzo, shallots, herbs and butter; pork tenderloin with zucchini corn pie; saffron pasta with lamb ragù with a port reduction – count me in for all of those! If they removed the clams I’ll be pissed though…) and the promise of an up-coming Chef’s Table in the Coranation Room (which I assume is in the same room at the far end of the restaurant where I attended Chef Cora’s Signature Dining event during the Food & Wine Festival this year). And yes, sign me up for a reservation at the Chef’s Table ASAP!

Our good buddy AJ at the Disney Food Blog has pics of the aesthetic upgrade and more details on her site, so we’ll send you there for more info until we’re able to make it there first-hand for a report (and of course, it will take us a long time to get that info to you anyway, so don’t hold your damn breath…).