Wines: Some Whites

Stella Pinot Grigio from Italy: Richard from Maumee Wines ranted about how fabulous this wine was. In the moment of wine-buying we were with him. Right now after drinking it, not so much.

Maybe I just don't understand white wines like reds, but this wine tasted good without being anything special. It's fine with pasta, fish, or chicken, but it wasn't anything special.

$8.99, Maumee Wines, Maumee.

~

On the other hand, if the 2008 Mapema Sauvignon Blanc from Argentina was a girl, she'd be one of my best friends.

It's sassy and has swagger.

It reminds me of the time when I took FD on his birthday to a Steely Dan concert in Cleveland and this group of sassy women started cheering when they said, "Here's 'FM.'" The group of women started jumping, grinding, and singing. And trust me, these were sassy women, not some crazed fans.

I was scared.

I was fascinated.

Emotions this wine re-kindled.

It was AWESOME.

$11.99, Maumee Wines, Maumee, OH

Dinner: Pasta, Beets, & Bleu (Not the Dog) Cheese

I LOVE my local farmer.

Yes, I have a local farmer.

Who I know.

Who delivers to me.

Who knows how to cook her veggies.

So when I email her about the beets I ordered she says, "My educated guess is that the three beets we gave you would be very close to the 2 pounds you need. Just peel them ahead of steaming and you'll be all set."

That's RAD.

And when I emailed her the recipe I wanted to make tonight, she suggested, "Since the recipe wants you to cut the beets into wedges anyway, to save a lot of time and energy, why not just cut the beets into the sizes you want to and then steam them until they are tender (use a fork)."

Okay, what I'm trying to get to is--buy from a local farmer, trust your local farmer, and talk to your local farmer about how to cook their foods.

Your end result could be:

Pasta with Beets and Bleu Cheese (from Everyday Food Magazine with revisions)

You can substitute two 16-ounce cans of whole beets for the fresh ones. Drain them and pat dry, then cut into wedges; continue with step 2.

Prep: 15 minutes

Total: 1 hour

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 pounds small red or golden beets, scrubbed well

2 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh orange juice

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1/3 pound gemelli, or other short tubular pasta

6 ounces blue cheese, crumbled (1 cup)

Directions:

Peel and slice beets into wedges. Put wedges in steamer. Steam until tender with a fork.

In a large bowl, toss beets with garlic, orange juice, oil, and coriander; season with salt and pepper.

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente, according to package instructions. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. Return the pasta to the pot; toss with half of the blue cheese and enough reserved pasta water to coat pasta. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir in the pasta with the beet mixture; top with basil and remaining blue cheese. Serve immediately.

Prep: Summer Mix

Dinner: Aimee Mann

Clean-up: Stevie Wonder

Dinner: I Don't Feel Like Eff'ing Making It

Tonight I came home from work and just felt tired, achy, and ready for a meal--out!

But our fridge is packed and we gave up fast food several years ago after reading Fast Food Nation.

And while I sometimes crave Taco Bell so badly that I actually go there and sit in the parking lot, I can never bring myself to order a seven-layer burrito, nachos bell grande and a side of beans with extra cheese. Yes, fast food is easy, convenient and perfect for those nights when you just want to drink wine, watch tv, and veg, but I just can't bring myself to actually order and eat fast food. I haven't eaten fast food in over two years. To break that promise now would be like smoking after quitting for a decade.

In the fridge I have food...and I know where it came from. That food is organic. It's truly nutritious. It has a history, a story. And I paid for that food and it should be eaten so it doesn't spoil.

In a bad mood I began slicing eggplant and zucchini while FD prepared snap peas, chopped onion, and minced garlic.

The teamwork cheered me up a little. FD probably would emphasize "a little."

The end result cheered me up even more. Even more than Taco Bell could have.

Goddamn-It-I-Don't-Feel-Like-Cooking Eggplant Bake (recipe from the British gardener at the BG Farmer's Market with a few revisions)

Ingredients:

2 eggplants (or 1 eggplant and 1 zucchini), peeled and cut into 1/4 in slices

1 lb ground lamb (or beef)

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 8oz can tomato sauce

1 T butter

4 t flour

1/4 t salt

Dash pepper

3/4 c skim milk

3 T grated parm cheese

Preheat oven to 325.

In a large skillet cook the eggplant (if using zucchini, don't cook it now!) in 1/2 in boiling water, covered, about 6 minutes (but less time if only using one eggplant). Drain.

In the same skillet brown the ground lamb, onion, and garlic until no longer pink. Drain. Stir in tomato sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to boil; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 5 min. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.

Prepare sauce. In a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Stir in skim milk all at once. Bring to boil while stirring consistently until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat; set aside.

Spray a 10x6x2 baking dish with nonstick spray. Arrange half the eggplant in dish (or if using zucchini, arrange raw sliced zucchini in dish first). Spoon meat mixture atop, then top with remaining eggplant. Pour sauce over all ingredients. Sprinkle with parm.

Bake, uncovered in 325 oven for 30 minutes. Optional: before serving sprinkle fresh herbs; basil is perfect, but chives and oregano work well too. Serve.

Playing: Bill Evans and Jim Hall's Undercurrent.

Dinner: Friends & Food

Last night FD and I met up with some new friends for a fabulous dinner. Nothing brings people together like a deep oak dinner table and some fantastic food.

They cooked:

Chicken Breasts marinated in Bourbon vinaigrette;

Zucchini boats stuffed with bread crumbs, spices, veggies, and cheese; and

Tasty pasta salad with pine nuts.

We contributed a vinaigrette-based coleslaw made with kolhrabi, carrots, radishes, red onion, green peppers, parsley and chives, and for dessert...

Stained Glass Cake, an old school cake from the 50's. One of our friends exclaimed, "This is great! Is it Jell-O? It reminds me of being a kid!"

(And I've served it to a 2 year-old who isn't all that fond of desserts and he loved it so much he asked to take a piece home with him when he and his parents left our house after a 4th of July dinner and fireworks party.

Needless to say, this cake appeals to all ages.)

Back to the story:

I claimed I don't bake, so this is the best dessert I can whip up.

To which FD replied, "You made great fruit crisps the other night."

I retorted, "I don't make cakes and shit like that." To which one of our friends laughed, "Let's pool our money and open a bakery called 'Cakes and Shit Like That.'"

I have no interest in opening a bakery.

I'm offering up the great name Cakes and Shit Like That to the public here on this blog. I only ask that anyone who uses it please make Stained Glass Cake in my honor.

Stained Glass Cake (recipe from Cook's Country by Cook's Illustrated)

Ingredients:

12 graham crackers, crushed, 1 1/2 c.

3/4 c sugar

5 T unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

3 (3 oz) boxes of Jell-O (mix and match with flavors you see fit)

4 1/2 c boiling water

1 envelope unflavored gelatin

3/4 c pineapple juice

2 c heavy cream

1 t vanilla extract

1/8 t salt

For the crust: Adjust oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 325. Stir cracker crumbs, 1/4 c sugar, and butter in bowl until crumbs resemble wet sand. Press into bottom of 9 in springform pan and bake until edges are golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

For the filling: In 3 separate large bowls whisk each box Jell-O with 1 1/2 c boiling water until dissolved. Pour into 3 pie plates and refrigerate until set, about 4 hours or overnight. Once Jell-O has solidified, cut into 1/2 in cubes and keep chilled. Combine 1/4 c pineapple juice and unflavored gelatin in bowl. Microwave, stirring occasionally, until gelatin is dissolved, 1 to 3 min. With stand mixer set on medium-high speed, whip cream, vanilla, salt, and remaining sugar until stiff peaks form, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to low and slowly add juice mixture until combined. Gently fold Jell-O cubes into cream mixture. Scrape into prepared pan and refrigerate until set, at least 4 hours or up to 2 days. Serve.

Broadbent Porto Auction Reserve

I love a good story.

And the label on this Port has a fantastic story. It begin, "Wine is art." I call that a good hook. But then it gets even better: "Auction Reserve celebrates the first 'Fine Wine' auction at Christie's in 1966...Lot 1 of the auction was Port."

Christie's and wine in the same sentence makes my heart skip a beat. Add to it Port, and I'm in love.

New to drinking Port, commonly known as a dessert wine, I found this one to be the best yet. It was rich but subtle. Smooth but fiesty. And it pairs fine with quality chocolate or even a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. We had it with a "light" fruit crisp and I imagined my mouth a 70's swinger lounge: plush carpets, rich velvets, dim lights, lots of love.

This Port was a bit on the expensive side because it is sold by the half bottle (which is perfect for a 2 person household or a small dinner party), but I assure you it is worth every single penny.

$17.99 Maumee Wines, Maumee

Wine: Altos Las Hormigas Malbec 2008 Argentina

We opened the Altos Malbec two evenings ago--amidst multi-tasking with laundry, food prep for a gathering the next evening, getting the dog his dinner, helping a friend who locked her keys in her car, etc. etc.--to have with our Leftover-Love Casserole.

I didn't really think about the wine or reviewing it that evening. I was busy.

But then I thought about that wine this morning in the shower, and I actually remembered it.

The first taste was like 4th of July in my mouth. The moment is rolled over my tongue it was like a big firework surprise--the one that kicks off the spectacle! Then a few moments of smaller bursts that I appreciated. Then a grand moment after a particular big sip.

This Malbec was fruity and spicy. Complex but fun.

However, I would not label this Malbec as a drinking wine. It's best with food to bring out a spiciness--like the hot chili pepper in the Leftover-Love Casserole--or to spice up a boring meal.

While I would get this wine again, I would rather experience other Malbecs so I can learn more about them.

$8.99, Maumee Wines, Maumee

Dinner: What I Call "Leftover-Love Casserole"

Tonight we're heading over to our friends' house for a cookout, so last night that meant I was cooking up a storm, which meant I wasn't going to cook dinner.

I took Jamie Oliver's recommendation to turn his fantastic pasta dish into a casserole. I shredded some parm cheese over the top of the leftover pasta, eggplant, and tomatoes, covered the dish with foil, and popped it into a 325 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

In the meantime, I made the graham cracker crust for the Stained Glass Cake I'm taking over to our friends' and I shredded kohlrabi, carrots, radishes, red onion, and green peppers for the coleslaw with vinaigrette dressing.

During the casseroles last 10 minutes FD took the foil off, sliced the leftover venison steak, and added it to the casserole. The dish got all bubbly and the venison heated up without overcooking.

I finished my food prep and sat down to a wonderfully tasty casserole with a fresh green side salad prepared by FD.

Quite an easy, tasty treat!

The added bonuses: I didn't have to cook dinner and made something new from leftovers.