Thanks to Nick Reynolds for the food review.

Today we had a welcome return to the kitchen of former Foodmaster, Peter Karr.

Peter presented us with a very generous meal mostly inspired by his USA heritage.

He presented three different canapes, the first of which was tiny round bell peppers stuffed with chevre.

The second appetiser, which was more Italo-American, was prosciutto on sourdough toast.

The third appetiser was the ubiquitous jalapeno pepper, this time stuffed with goats and cottage cheese and deep-fried. A tasty morsel that was not too spice-hot for the members.

Putting the big into a big meal, Peter presented us with roasted bone marrow sprinkled with garlic chives. A sturdy challenge for a number of our members’ Lipitor dosage. There were some comments that it was a little underdone but the empty bones going back to the kitchen showed that members coped well with it as it was served.

The main meal was chicken breast that had been marinated in garlic, milk, and adobo sauce for two days. It was served with two sauces. The green sauce comprised tomatillos, onion, and chipotle chili sauce. Peter was restrained in the amount of heat that was presented with some expressing relief while others would have preferred slightly more indicating that his selected heat level was therefore close to ideal for the group. The red sauce was roasted and peeled red capsicum. On top of the chicken, Peter presented us with some guacamole as well as a (now not) secret ingredient, Huitlacoche, which is a fungus that grows on ears of corn. Thanks to Wikipedia we can additionally say that it is also known as cuitlacoche, corn smut, and Mexican truffle. Peter sourced this at the famous Sydney USA food store, Fiji Mart.

The flavour combination was interesting although a number of diners found the chicken a bit dry, which is a common problem with chicken breast when served at the Society.

The Cheese that Peter presented was a new type for our members, a washed rind cheese from Aldi. This proved to have a dual purpose of being a cheese to eat and also a form of wine education as Phil Laffer declared that someone appeared to have washed the rind with tap (chlorinated) water, which resulted in the development of the dreaded cork taint, TCA. Members who either scooped out the cheese or cut off the rind were rewarded with a flavoursome, albeit young cheese.

Peter accompanied the cheese with a delicious variant on a Caesar Salad, comprised of cos lettuce, artichoke hearts, anchovies, chevre, mayonnaise, garlic and red onions. A hearty salad to go with the piquant cheese.

We look forward to Peter returning to the kitchen, possibly with a prior reminder to make sure that we have prophylactic anti-cholesterol medication.

The coffee, presented by Spencer Ferrier, was a melange of Indonesian Blue (20%) and Peaberry (80%). It is a blend that we have enjoyed before but in this case, the coffees were, like some of the wines we see, probably a little bit past their use-by dates.