Friday, December 31, 2010

#148 - Michael Symon Hanger Steak And Yuca Fries With '07 Pingus PSI


A plentiful pickle (-d) party permeating every pore of the pretty protein on the plate!

"Don't practice your alliteration on me!"

If I was prone to year-end listy-type things, I'd say the hanger steak with a fried egg on top at Lola in Cleveland last April would be up there. Like in the top 10. Maybe between #3 and #8. It's #5. I've decided.

Last August, Mrs. Ney mimicked it to great effect using skirt.

That time, we ate it with an Australian shiraz that felt like it was nearing its demise but still brought the fruit.

That's what we probably should have heeded this time. More fruit.

Food: Lola-style hanger steak with yuca fries and an arugula-parsley salad

Recipe here. Yep. From a Michael Symon appearance on the Rachel Ray Show.

Good, not great hanger steak but fine stuff. A sinewy mess on a couple pieces but great hanger gnarly flavor on most. Marinated in coriander, salt, sugar and chili powder and left to sit overnight. The coriander comes through quite beautifully.

Topped with the aforementioned pickled party. Onions and peppers pickled and put on top of the meat with homemade Worcestershire sauce. Both the pickled elements and the Worcestershire sauce once again brought a pretty and cheek-sticking low-level and very pretty acid. Always present and always welcome, something that can't be said for most pickling stuff out in the world. And the Worcestershire sauce could be drunk by itself, it's that good. Balsamic/crapload of herbs base but flavored with the half-bottle left of the Thackrey, it came out something freakin' delicious.

Yuca fries = top five favorite food in this house. Another nomination for the list. Even though we've had them for years, for 2010, it's #3. Garlic mayo for dipping.

Arugula-parsley salad to finish.

Getting a bite of the pickled elements (especially the pickled serrano), a piece of meat doused in Worcestershire and a bit of parsley made for everything we wanted and craved from the meal. Great stuff to finish out the year (I suddenly seem obsessed with year-end crap!)

Wine: 2007 Pingus PSI ($35 - Binny's)

Sisseck's third bottling. Blah, blah, blah.

100% tempranillo. Last had this one at Mado in February. Mado is, alas, no more for the most part. Robert Leavitt left to open his own butcher and larder named Butcher & Larder, looking to open in Logan Square within the next week. But I digress.

Opened for a half hour before drinking. Deep red in the glass. More fruit this time on the nose, showing smoky sweet plums and leather that followed to the tongue. Less wild this time. More settled in its flavors and progression, but a more singular fruit profile with the plum dominating and maybe a blackberry edge. Buttered toast and a wee hint of vanilla. Subtle earthy, fine dark dirt, raw menthol tobacco and charcoal finish. And a very dry finish with tannins still bucking everywhere but something that settled down to a reasonable level rather quickly.

Best thing I can say is that this vintage has a place and we'll be following it. Not near the top of the list after drinking it twice this year and seeing where it went (and is probably going to go) but I'd be interested enough to find out what it's like in two years. Missed that blackberry/cherry note that I thought would keep the fruit diversified, though. A long decant may have helped things but my interest may still have dropped 5% in this vintage with this showing.

Pairing: 84 Nothing remarkable in the least but enough there to keep us from opening something else

More fruit, please. The pickling elements needed something bigger and more in-your-face, Look At ME! personality. It hollowed out the core of the wine and beat it up for the most part. This was a biggish meal and the PSI needed something more subtle, earthy and mild, like a good Spanish feast to accentuate its pretty secondary flavors.

This didn't have that. This wanted a Robin Williams-type personality in the form of a ready-to-go Australian shiraz or some very recent fruity garbage blend like the Owen Roe Abbott's Table with all its zinfandel and blaufrankish sweet fruit, which we should have drunk but I nixed.

Now we know.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

#147 - Scallops, Soba & Chard With '02 Prager


I'd like to reiterate my hatred for HTML code.

Especially third-party HTML code put in by me and left dormant for a year that gummed up the works.

Brilliant stuff, Christo.

So...some catch-up.

Food: Scallops, soba noodles and swiss chard

Monstrous Halsted Whole Foods scallops (nice people over there), four each and too much food, really. Nice crust, slightly rare and a little sweet. Seared in salt, pepper and bacon fat and sprinkled with ponzu. No home scallops since June (?). Way too long.

Soba noodles sprinkled with sesame oil as a starch. I love them, Mrs. Ney, I think, tolerates them. Something about the raw, almost dark wheatiness about them that hits me right.

Chard cooked with shallots, lemon thyme, bacon fat, orange juice, ponzu, aleppo pepper
bacon and topped with pomegranate seeds. Mountain of rough, delicious, clean-you-out goodness. As we all look back on the past year and reflect on how we've grown, I came to marginally enjoy grapefruit juice...and respect the quality and tastiness of chard. Dandelion greens can still go to hell.

Mrs. Ney didn't expect much from this meal. Turned into a mountain of yumminess on the plate with flavors diverse and jumping everywhere.

And with a nice companion in the glass.

Wine: 2002 Prager Riesling Smaragd Durnsteiner Kaiserberg ($20 - WDC)

Some facts:

Grape: 100% Riesling
Designation: Smaragd (min. 12.5% alcohol, max. 9g/L of residual sugar - translation: the best, most balanced stuff)
Vineyard: Durnsteiner Kaiserberg (poorest soil, most sloped, farthest west vineyard in the Prager line)
Price: $20 - Wine Discount Center swoops in and gets tons of Prager like this one that may not have a huge shelf life and Parker or Wine Spectator gave a published short drinking window but are still drinking quite well. This one probably had a $50 release price.

Light orange peel and lemon right away with a smoky edge that came off like flint shavings. Slight but always present mineral core with a maple/orange custard finish. Lithe and almost pretty. Probably would have been stellar a few years ago but served us well. Fading but still lively enough acid to keep everything in place and nearly mouthwatering. Liked it. Almost loved it. Almost. Not as much precision and elegance that we've got from the Steinreigl bottlings but pleasing, friendly stuff here.

Pairing: 88 Welcoming, accommodating and even playful. We'd do it again

Tons of maple custard in the wine with the scallops that enhanced the medium-brown sear on the bivalve goodness.

Pleasing enough with the soba noodles, enhancing the orange notes and all minerals and rainwater with the chard.

The back-and-forth play led to a great diversity of flavors with nothing turning ugly. While not bowled over by anything, this was well-cooked food served with an interesting, inviting wine still showing well enough for us.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

#146 - Duck, Farro & Brussels Sprouts With NV Larmandier-Bernier Rosé de Saignée


I don't know what to say.

I've sat here at the computer for the better part of an hour trying to come up with a way to accurately describe the joy of tonight's meal without falling back into the superlative game this blog has become known for.

We eat well. That's the crux. And it seems food, wine and food and wine together hit a pleasure zone for us not particularly present, loved or exercised by most in our world.

I try. I try to get people more excited about it, hoping the innate pleasure experienced by us could be translated into their world.

It's mostly a sad and unsuccessful flailing, but at times, very rare, it gets through. Thomas Keller Chicken has been a winner for a couple of people in our lives as a joy that has gotten through and understood as being something to know and love. To know it's no ordinary chicken and to love it as something better than most red meat preparations.

Tonight's Christmas meal isn't something that can be translated by simply handing over a recipe and saying, "Run with it." It came in the preparation, came in the details, came in the moment, the pauses, the wine and the understanding that it was the best food and wine I've had together since...I don't know.

Maybe the first Moto trip? Ad Hoc? I don't know.

And that's why I'll never be a food critic. This bloggy thing made me understand one thing. Describing the experience of great food and great food and great wine together doesn't translate to the page (or screen). It merely describes. It doesn't translate.

I wish I could describe tonight's meal (and I'll certainly describe) but imparting the experience would involve a 48-page digression that would ultimately involve the elucidation of some dark, empty hollowness enhanced by some depressive moment when I was 25.

Cuz I'm a morbid MFer that loves what good food means to me.

So I won't.

Food: Duck, farro and Brussels sprouts

Medium rare duck slathered in herbs de Provence. Speaking of superlatives, let them fly. It's the best duck I've ever had. Beats French Laundry duck. Beats every preparation in our house and I don't know why.

Mrs. Ney said it might have had something to do with the finishing sauce of the duck juices poured over the top at the end and the scoring being a tad more shallow. The duck fat remained fastened to the duck meat and rendered off in a beautiful, seamless way. Delicate hit of herbs de Provence that was playful with the fat and enhanced the duckiness of the meat with finely crushed pink peppercorns over the top that kept everything just bright and lifty.

Alternating flavors that kept going on and on, much like the taste of Iberico ham in its length, change and soul-fulfilling beauty. A balsamic vinegar/cranberry reduction on the side that wasn't really used. We weren't screwing with this duck.

Farro cooked with shallots, chestnuts and thyme, all done up in duck stock. Ain't no lie, it was the best farro preparation we've ever had and it had to do with the duck stock. Normally done in chicken stock, the duck stock brought the farro into another realm. It was nutty, shalloty, ducky wondrousness that added another level of depth to farro I've never experienced. And we love the stuff. Have it all the time.

Brussels sprouts seared in pancetta fat, finished with parmesan, pancetta, orange zest
pomegranate seeds and pink peppercorns. Might have been better than Avec Brussels sprouts from two summers ago, a taste that made me a convert to Brussels sprouts.

Three elements on the plate that rested in the same level of stupid good and probably the best food I've had in a year (at least) all together with the wine. I've strained the usage and effectiveness of words like "beautiful" and "perfect" here but this was something perfectly beautiful in every way. Like a freakin' Utah sunset in Dead Horse for me.

Wine: NV Larmandier-Bernier Rosé de Saignée Premier Cru Extra Brüt Champagne ($70 - Howard's)

It's going to be equally through the roof with the description of the wine.

First, this isn't sparkling rosé. This is something else, something greater, something more.

This is a rosé that drinks like a freaking beautiful pinot noir. This is Love in a glass.

From Wine Advocate:

"96 points Parker's WA: "Larmandier-Bernier's NV Extra Brut Rose de Saignee is one of the most profound wines I encountered in my tastings. The color resembles the tonality of blood orange juice. This is a powerful wine that flows onto the palate with an expression of bright red fruit that recalls the wines of Chambolle in its luxuriousness, but is backed up with serious structure. This compelling, totally seductive wine possesses awesome richness and vibrancy, with layers of aromas and flavors that continue to develop in the glass all the way through to the long, intensely satisfying finish. The wine could be served alongside any dish that might be served with grand cru Burgundy, but like all of the world's great wines, this is a bottle that creates its own occasion. Larmandier-Bernier completely redefines what Rose can be all about with this monumental effort. The estate's rose is 100% Pinot Noir from Vertus vinified on the skins (saignee) and bottled with 3 grams of dosage. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2016."
What we got - We don't have experience drinking quality red Burgundy but have plenty in the Oregon pinot vein so I'll go off that. Nearly every secondary flavors inherent in the gloriousness of great, quality Oregon pinot was present, all in a perfect structure and progression.

Blood orange defined its core (and defined its color) with an occasional grapefruit hit. All the "waters" popped up, vacillating in and out with a cranberry/raspberry shot at the right times. Rose water, orange blossom water, hibiscius tea, even some wet leaf, at times something like tomato water, everything that makes a quality Oregon pinot distinct and wonderful. Great tannins (!) and dry, dry, dry. Medium-to-long earthy, mossy finish wrapped in cream. 100% pinot noir.

Probably one of the twenty-best wines we've ever had. Not top 15 but certainly in the top 20 and made that way because of how it rested with the food.

Pairing: 97 Because It's Good, indeed!

It's why we eat and drink wine.

Not too much ridiculous enhancement in the wine or the food, more like four great baseball players demonstrating, for a brief moment, the purity and joy of the symmetry and grace of the game.

We eat and drink wine to chase meals like this.

It's what we Like.


A quick lunch note: Trader Joe's Spinach Pie with 2009 Sigalas Assyrtiko Santorini. Always good for lunch and always better with Greek white, this one came off more like a Muscadet than Greek. Delicate lemon, paper, apple and light herbs. Delicate and balanced. Solid stuff. Reminded me of the Do Ferreiro Albariño in ways not related to the flavor profile but in its finesse, grace and subtle presence, something that I didn't particularly want at the time but came to respect, even crave, after having it. Maybe missed the mouthwatering acidic bite of the Skouras but not too shabby at all.

#145 - Christmas Eve Tapas With '98 Heredia Tondonia Reserva


Merry Christmas and all that stuff to all.

Well...a few months ago, I got all cocky and said that there are few things better in this world than a tapas meal served with any Heredia.

When I said that, it was with a delicious 2001 Bosconia, a wine with a long life ahead of it.

I was wrong.

Last night's Heredia never got out of the hangar and probably doesn't have much far to go.

Food: Tapas Spread of...

Linguiça
Serrano Ham
Smoked Paprika Artichoke Spread
Machego marinated in Greek olive oil and rosemary
Asparagus in walnut oil and sherry vinegar
Dates
Castelvetrano Green Olives
Marcona Almonds
Spanish-style Tomato Bread

Great combinations made with this meal. The linguiça with manchego together made for something great. Ditto with the tomato bread and the great smoky artichoke spread.

New brand of marcona almonds from Trader Joe's that are better than the old version. More creamy almond essence, less reliance on salt. Castelvetrano olives from Gene's, always good. Tastes like almond soy milk and green olive had a baby. Didn't really touch the dates. The Greek olive oil in the manchego brought an unexpected lemony quality, adding much. Went with pre-packaged Serrano ham from Paulina. Not as good as fresh sliced but still better than most (and better than some sliced). Just tons of deep flavor that went on forever.

We can never go wrong with tapas and haven't. It's what we like.

Wine: 1998 López de Heredia Viña Tondonia Reserva ($35 - WDC)

Grape: Tempranillo (75%), Garnacho (15%), Graciano and Mazuelo (10%)
Vintage (WS): 79 Cold, rainy harvest. Tough wines with structure but little charm

Closed nose right away (kinda smelled like garden garbage in a good sense) but offered little on the first sip so we decanted for an hour (per some internet recommendations). A bit weak, delicate and somewhat tired after decant by itself. Didn't necessarily taste too old, just a touch diluted and middle-aged. Wet tobacco leaf doused with orange blossom water and a hint of spice dominated with very little fruit. What fruit did come forth needed the food to excite it and then it was dried red berries that didn't offer much depth or lasting presence. At times, it was a dead ringer for a watered-down Cubillo. Some welcome iron play on the back-end but the tannins felt tired, making for a hollow, uninspired finish.

Probably in the bottom 20% of Heredias I've had. Still enough substance to jettison it out of mediocre bland wine territory and had some of the typical Heredia notes that we wanted but nothing great here. We've always loved the vitality and explosion that comes from the Bosconia blends over the Tondonias for the most part, which makes me think we should have revisited the 2001 Bosconia drank in August with tapas for this meal to see how it's progressing. This one, from a bad vintage, didn't offer much. Even the winery talks about how the vintage never allowed the Garnacha to get off the ground.

It did find something resembling decent with some of the food, though.

Pairing: 84 But odd things happened with food typically tough to pair

A dud with many of the elements and bullied around with the linguiça and Serrano ham (on Serrano, I'm beginning to think that wine served with such delicious ham - a ham that beats any Italian prosciutto in my world - needs a well-structured Spanish one from a hot vintage all its balanced peak. The fruit's needed and the tannins need to be integrated. This isn't the first time a more delicate Spanish offering was destroyed by the unique depth of Serrano for me, tasting like I was licking a rusty barrel filled with manure).

But with the walnut oil and sherry vinegar asparagus and the smoked paprika driven artichoke spread, the Heredia found a stride of sorts. Fruit came forth and something like a pleasing structure with a proper delineation and finish popped up. With both of them. And with asparagus and artichokes, two foods very difficult to pair with wine. Didn't expect such things.

Probably had something to do with the Spanish preparation of the ingredients but it certainly came alive to a degree. Without that interplay, we would have cracked something else.

Thursday, December 23, 2010

#144 - Thomas Keller Chicken With Two Chardonnays


Another chardonnay tasting. Another TK chicken meal.

Thomas Keller chicken is a "last meal" kinda thing for me and has been talked about here oodles of times.

Last night was a return to the Old World vs. New World chardonnay tasting promised earlier this month. That time, with two wines in the same price range, white Burgundy won hands down. Most of the time, in the same price range, white Burgundy is going to win in this house. It's what we want.

But last night offered intriguing results with an American chardonnay nearly beating a white Burgundy priced nearly four times more on its own and actually won the pairing battle.

Food: Thomas Keller Chicken, Delice de Bourgogne cheese with baguette and a mâche and radish salad

Recipe here. This time, sprinkled with freshly picked lemon thyme, sel gris & white pepper. Great chicken, this one in the upper 10% of the TKC oeuvre.

Delice de Bourgogne cheese with baguette. Cheese only four days past its expiration date this time. Beautiful stuff always. Whole Foods baguette. If you would have told me ten years ago that at some point in my life, I'd have strong feelings about baguette, I would have wondered if someone neutered me. Well, I do. I need more crusty-crustiness than the Whole Foods version offers, though this one compared to the Trader Joe's/Panera version might have been a better vehicle for sopping up the stellar chicken juice, something that should be bottled and sold as a crack accompaniment.

Now, the mâche salad. Mâche may be the default, unexciting green for us but I have a thing for it. Last night's served to round out the meal in the best way and actually add a critical element to the meal that was entirely unexpected. Blended with pea shoots and served with a grated-radish/mustard/white balsamic vinaigrette, it refreshed, cleansed and brought a surprising radishy-pea shoot greatness.

Typically great stuff overall.

But the wines served with it brought an interesting result.

Wine: 2007 Hubert Lamy Bourgogne “Les Chataigners” ($31 - Howard's) & 2007 Francis Ford Coppola Votre Santé Chardonnay Sonoma Coast ($9 - TJ's)

It's a horizontal!

Second 2007 Hubert Lamy for us, the first tasted in October. We liked that "Les Frionnes" Saint-Aubin well enough. Pretty and distinct with focused fruit. Last night's Hubert Lamy is taken from a single vineyard but is bottled under the more general Bourgogne Blanc label.

A light, sparkly yellow/green in the glass. Subtle lime peel notes upfront that transitioned into very light lemon custard. Midpalate of undistinguishable dark stones that was clouded by that basic chardonnay character's creaminess, leaving something not particularly distinct, delineated or layered. Never really went anywhere. Older French oak barrels used. A graceful hint of vanilla at times but more butterscotch than anything. It certainly was a lighter, more accessible white Burgundy but didn't offer much in the way of personality, verve or guts to take control of the tongue or direct the food. Wasn't....very dynamic.

The Votre Santé was the surprise. Much darker in the glass. I'm always leery of the wines that promote themselves as being "in the Burgundian style," but here's an $8 Trader Joe's chardonnay making valiant, if ultimately unsuccessful efforts to do such things. When you drink it though, tons of respect is given to those efforts. For $8, it's almost pretty. A grab-bag of citrus fruits that never overwhelmed anything or screamed, "Look at me!" with something in the middle that nearly came off minerally. More pronounced vanilla on the back-end than we like but less than so many other California chardonnays we've had. At times, even, that became tasty and wanted. You can taste a welcome restraint and huge efforts to keep things under control throughout.

The pairing told the story.

Pairing: 88 Back and forth, we found things to like

In the end, taking each wine on their merits and not taking price into account, the Hubert Lamy was a 10-20% better wine. But only slightly. And was only 'reminiscent' of white Burgundy goodness instead of actually bringing the goods.

It stood back and allowed the food to shine, never getting in the way and offering pleasant enough company with the food. But the Votre Santé might have been more interesting with individual bites, especially the bread-chicken juice combo and particularly with the breast meat.

First time in a long time that the breast meat outshone the leg-thigh meat with both wines. It wasn't even really close. Both became slightly bitter on the finish with the leg-thigh meat while the breast meat enhanced each wine and vice versa.

If each bottle were served separately with this meal, I think I might have liked the Votre Santé better for its playfulness and aggressiveness all wrapped in a blanket of something like restraint while the Hubert Lamy would have fell in the ho-hum category. As a pairing, gotta say, the $8 Trader Joe's bottle pretty much beat a $31 white Burgundy from a respected name.

Couldn't have predicted that.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

#143 - Asian Beef Filet & Sweet Potato With '07 Quinta do Vale Meão


This is the stuff we should have smuggled home from Portugal!

The 2003 Quinta do Vale Meão Douro opened the gates for us in spending money on the Old World a few years ago. Fantastically creamy, rich fruit doused with Asian spices and charred meat and herbs all over the place. I can tongue-remember everything about that wine.

Then we went back to the 2002, which came off a touch less rich and didn't develop as well in the glass (some say it's drinking beautifully right now).

Shot ahead to the 2004 and found it so confident and delicious (recently had it again in March). The 2005 was recently guzzled at the stellar Chafariz do Vinho Enoteca in Lisbon at a patently ridiculous $85 price tag.

In our world, Vale Meão is two things. One, it's the one wine that causes more hemming and hawing about the quality and preparation of the food. For us to crack one, the food has to be something special from conception. Two, until the day we die or they stop making it, Vale Meão has a customer every vintage no matter the price tag. It's our Lafite-Rothschild, our Ausone, our Pingus. When it's cracked, it's a holiday in our house.

Food: Asian beef filet with asian spiced sweet potatoes and a watercress salad

Quality beef filet from Paulina Meat Market. Not the most beautiful marbling, according to Mrs. Ney, but good stuff.

A Saveur recipe doused with sake, soy sauce and generous amounts of sea salt and cooked rare to medium-rare. Melty in the mouth with a grassy bamboo note from the sake coming through beautifully. Less so with the soy sauce. The joy came in every bite but especially an end bite with more of the beef char and the sea salt that came off more like a sea water deliciousness than coarse hits of salt. Perfect. It's a great recipe. Use it. With quality meat, the standard advice is to not screw with it. Screw that. With this recipe, it's entirely elevated.

Sweet potatoes dressed with butter, szechuan peppercorns and cocoa nib. Done up to accompany the wine. Good stuff, interesting stuff, just didn't match up with the wine in the least. Fell short and that diverted our attention away from it. Became something simply on the plate.

But the watercress salad blended with mint and dressed with sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, szechuan peppercorn and cocoa nib oddly played right into the meal. Something about the mint and how it plays with Douro reds forgives other elements, like the similar peppercorn/cocoa nib on the sweet potato, and opens things up. The mint was the bridge as a minty/eucalyptus note typically pops up on the finish of these wines.

Mrs. Ney declared it to be the best food in months in this house. I tend to agree. I'm still hung up on TK chicken. And the first meal we had after the flavor wasteland that was Portugal in many ways, the beef filet with English cheddar, might have been right there in terms of flavors from the food.

But she was talking about the complete meal. With that, I agree in spades.

And the wine was actually slightly better on its own.

Wine: 2007 Quinta do Vale Meão Douro ($75 - Wine Chateau)

Hour and a half decant and could have used much more. Dark crimson core with a purplish hue swirling around. Closed nose of charred meat and smoked plums (do people smoke plums?). Reticent as all get out. 2003 and 2007 were vintages that our wine tour guide at Vallado confirmed to us to be the most exciting vintages in the Douro in the last ten years. 2003 was hot from beginning to end, bringing the fruit right to the front of the line in all their glory. 2007 saw early rain that cut yields but an even ripening after the rain and perfect harvest weather brought great balance. Looking at it through that lens and comparing the two wines, that was confirmed in the glass last night.

The fruit was mostly hidden, popping up in the background halfway down but still propping up everything. Mostly smoked plums followed through from the nose, some cassis and jumbled mix of red berry. But the wine was defined by its charred meat rubbed in fine earth note that vacillated back and forth between offering a minty note and something like roadkill...in a good way. Less dark chocolate and less obvious Asian spice notes right now than previous vintages. Interesting acid, something that almost tasted like what tangerine/blood orange acid notes offer. Lifty and brightening. And I swear an actual blood orange note kicked up with a szechuan peppercorn bite. And not just from the peppercorn. Tasted like it was IN the wine. Fit like a glove.

The tannins needed a taming, though. More decanting was needed. They never took away from the enjoyment of the wine but nonetheless shortened the silkiness of the finish. One or two more years and this is gonna be a great wine. Once the fruit shows a touch more assertiveness and the tannins bring more integration to the party, this might be a "top ten of the decade" sort of thing.

Pairing: 92 Wine=95, Meat=94, Pairing=92

As a pairing, it didn't touch the 2005 Yalumba Hand-Picked Shiraz-Viognier with the same preparation of beef filet in January. Something about how the sake-soy sauce-salt combo blows open a wine with already bigger, more forward fruit. Just a fancy feast for the senses.

The Vale Meão was better on its own rather than with the food, showing more guts, potential and just a flurry of nuance.

With the meat, that was toned down a bit. Mostly, the charred meat/roadkill notes played right into the charred beef filet in pleasing and delicious ways. The sake lift in the meat worked with the gorgeous acid lift in the wine. Both played together nicely but a sip of wine and a bite of meat separately bought more pause-worthy, ponderous moments.

The sweet potatoes shortened the finish in unexpected ways, especially since we've done Asian sweet potatoes before with Vale Meão and liked it. Probably needed more a fruity core presence with the wine to pull that off.

But the wine rebounded with the watercress. Didn't sing but with greens and red, who knows what's going to happen. The mint in the salad cozied up mighty kindly with the wine.

....Yep....best meal in months.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

#142 - Blackbird


A chef changeover at Blackbird and a six-month hiatus demanded a return to our favorite restaurant in Chicago, hands down.

Go here and here to see previous visits in the past year.

The chef changeover wasn't a big deal. Mike Sheerin recently left the day-to-day to pursue his own venture (cooking a sampling of that at Chalkboard in Lakeview tonight), handing everything over to David Posey, the sous chef under Sheerin and before that, an Alinea/Trio guy. So...you know...good hands.

Right now, it seems that little has deviated from the Sheerin past with a few notable exceptions. Simple and clean is the order of the day, seeming like one, maybe two elements on each plate were taken off. Previously, interplay in each course felt like two games were being played to great effect, or a triangulation of sorts with the protein and one or two elements creating a great bite and an accompanying starch doing its own original thing with everything tied together with one element playing the vital and always delicious peacemaker. That separateness followed by a togetherness always wowed me.

Now, that togetherness takes the stage early. Accompaniments support the star in a more direct, obvious way and the results, at least last night, made for one great meal right in line with our experiences over the last three years. Seamless but sufficiently tweaked to create an identity. And the acid seems to have been upped an oh-so subtle notch. It's coming in more raw ways, subtly sprinkled throughout the meal to lift everything as a collective experience instead of overhauling each individual dish. I felt it at the end more than during the meal, which was sneaky and welcome.

Six months. Way too long. And it was as good as ever. Utterly original, perfectly cooked food with the service and atmosphere to match. Unpretentious, friendly, evocative food that nonetheless sits on an entirely different plane and always, always, always worth every cent and more.

Menu

Amuse: Skate wing and sesame seeds (? - we were talking and didn't hear the details)

And started with two glasses of NV Argyle Brüt Sparkling Rosé Willamette Valley

Appetizers:

Scallops with Brussels sprouts and sauerkraut powder/emulsion (?)

Paired with 2008 Domaine Paul Blanck Alsace Pinot Gris

Smoked suckling pig with hama hama oyster, fall giardiniera, sunchokes and hazelnuts

Intermezzo: Garbanzo soup with asian pear, garbanzo falafel and caramelized egg yolk with sumac

Entrées:

Roasted colorado lamb saddle with salsify, fried lentils, licorice root and smoked olives

Braised short rib with parsley root, grapefruit, elderflower and red wine

Paired with a bottle of 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rouge & two glasses of 2005 Jérôme Bressy Gourt Des Mautens Rasteau Rouge

Dessert:

Chocolate ganache with tahitian vanilla gastrique and parsnip ice cream

paired with Barros 1977 Colheita

Chestnut brioche with pear, pedro ximenez and tarragon ice cream

paired with ‘05 Kracher Scheurebe Tba ‘Number 4’

Finished with passion fruit chocolates and espresso

The scallops and the lamb saddle (again) ruled their respective courses for us and both desserts just couldn't have been more spectacular. The ganache looked almost too pretty to eat (like a Kandinsky) and the brioche came off beautifully savory, rounded out perfectly by the fruit in the Kracher. We've come to know the proteins of Blackbird but I've always been blowed away how they're reinvented while stayed true to something like a lineage or ancestry of the menu.

Things have evolved in thoughtful and organic ways over the last three years, almost like great care has been taken to ensure that the personality of the cuisine always stays true to what Blackbird is and was all about. Cuz you can't make this stuff at home, going there is like visiting an old friend that is and always will be the most interesting person in the room.

The wines, a few notes: The 2008 Domaine Tempier Bandol Rouge (mourvèdre dominant blend) - tight stuff and drunk too young. Decanted to get the game going. Purplish red in the glass and gamey on the nose. Floral blackberry dominated with an underlying smoke and flickers of herbs. Bit of red licorice. Just too young, I think, to be truly expressive but served up something delicious with the lamb saddle while the grapefruit in the short rib destroyed it. Serviceable is the best descriptor, but I'm curious enough to get on the Bandol red bandwagon. First Tempier Rouge I've had outside of a tasting.

The surprise came with two glasses given by our server to finish out our entrées after we killed off the Tempier bottle. Nose of briary red and black fruits and beef fat. Shimmered in the glass with purple and reddish hues alternating back and forth. Explosive on the palate. A huge, entirely together attack of blackberry, blueberry, cherry and licorice, all rubbed in fine earth and drops of blood just for good measure. Jumped around everywhere like a light show and dropped down the throat like silk with a finish that seemed to keep going forever. Gasped after the first drink. Probably the best sip of wine I've had by itself, not related to food, in the last year (?).

Turned out to be the 2005 Gourt Des Mautens Rasteau, a wine we had at the restaurant last April that made me go out and buy more. Seemed a bit closed but delicious then and left both of us stunned and thankful it's showing this well now. Served by the glass at the restaurant and our server said it had been open for about 45 minutes. Freakin' great news. The Chicago market got a ton of this two or so years ago and couldn't sell it at the $60 price tag. A closeout came and Howard's is currently selling it for $36. Get. It. By golly, this is a good one.

Great meal, great time. Always.

In the Chicago restaurant scene, as it vacillates here and there, from tacos and whiskey to gastropubs to farm-to-table to cupcakes to back to Belguim to micro-regional peasant to whatever else, for us, Blackbird is and will be the thread in our time here, however long that is.
It's in it for the long-term and you can taste it. Rare thing, that, in so many ways.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

#141 - Bison & Vanilla Mash With '09 Wolftrap + Urban Belly


I continue to forget how bright bison is.

Incredibly lean, juicy, takes on spice and marinade in utterly original ways and...bright.

We've had some reasonable success in the past year with pairing wine with bison.

I seem to recall going with Australian shiraz almost exclusively before I started this blog but California mourvèdre served us well in August after a failed attempt with a dead Yalumba and a Vaucluse in June offered a respectable pepper explosion.

Much like the former, last night, we tried a dead something else (or was it?) before loving an cheap gem.

Food: Bison flank steak, vanilla mashed potatoes and sautéed spanish with a chestnut sauce not used

Whole Foods (Halsted) bison flank steak. $13 for 3/4 of a pound. Marinated overnight in a much more simple way than previous efforts. No juniper or harissa angles this time, just herbs, garlic, olive oil and balsamic, seared in salt and pepper, medium-rare. That's it.

Beautiful stuff, a pause after the first bite happened again over how bright and sunny bison is. Almost light. Dense meat, sure, but light.

Vanilla mashed potatoes (from #44 in March):
"Vanilla mashed potatoes was first discovered by Mrs. Ney about three (?) years ago after perusing some Thomas Keller recipes. And holy crud! That's sex on a plate! You'd think it's just mashed potatoes and you'd be wrong. These aren't mom's potatoes. These are the most silky, delicious, vanilla-spiked dollops of beauty incarnate I've ever tasted. And carry with them about 2,000 grams of fat. It's in the top 20 of things I've ever eaten. And they're freakin' mashed potatoes!"
Sautéed spinach cooked up in the bison pan juice.

Fancy food here. We went less fancy with the wine, instead taking a shot at a South African Bordeaux blend that showed well a year ago even if there were reports of its eminent demise.

This time, not so much. But another South African Rhône-style saved the day.

Wine: 2005 Capaia Philadelphia ($25 - WDC) & 2009 Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap ($9 - WDC)

The Capaia is a Right Bank ape consisting of merlot, cabernet and petit verdot, unfiltered. No decant due to Wine Spectator saying it was past its drinking window by two years. Which is too bad. I just had a sip of it after being open for 18 hours and it's opened up quite well. Last night, it came off as a bit tired, showing sleepy dark red fruits and dirt with not enough acid to think it could be anything else than unimpressive. Now, a nice blackberry note came through with more structure than last night, volatile red fruits in the middle and a pleasing bloody, hot finish. A second chance might have been in order.

But we were entirely pleased with the cheap alternative we cracked to compensate for what the Capaia was offering at the time. Totally surprised, actually.

The Wolftrap is a Rhône-inspired South African blend of 65% syrah, 32% mourvèdre and 3% viognier. It's $9 and easily falls into the category of one of the best reds under $10 we've had in a long time. Shocking structure for the small bills paid. Sunny blue and black fruits upfront that transitioned nicely to a graceful chocolatey mid-palate, finishing with a mocha-coffee bean and minerally, almost old lady perfume blended with black pepper coda. Admirable balance here, offering light earth notes and a touch of blood throughout with clean edges. Could have paid twice as much and been happy.

Pairing: 91 Take out the Capaia and this is a stupid delicious $27 meal for everything
Became a meal giving some dark depth here and there contrasted by the inherent brightness of the bison and the floral notes and lift from the viognier.

Just a different element jumping up at each turn. Seemed like we had 20 different distinct flavors on the plate and in the glass with all of them playing nicely in the sandbox.

But more dominantly, big, bright and almost creamy blueberries in the wine with the vanilla mashed potatoes and a coffee-infused chocolate bar hit with the bison.

Great stuff, going back and forth.


A Restaurant Note: Back to Urban Belly after at least a year. It took two bites to proclaim, "Shame on us." Seems we got stuck in our Semiramis and Indié Cafe ways in the past year when thinking about a good, cheap BYO meal out of the house.

Menu: #3 Asian Squash and Bacon Dumplings, #4 Duck & Pho Spices Dumplings (double order), #5 Pork & Cilantro Dumplings, #13 Rice Noodle: Hominy, Kimchi & Spicy Pork Broth and #16 Seasonal Kimchi

Wine: 2007 Hirtzberger Smaragd Riesling Hochrain ($35 - WDC) & 2005 Domaine Des Baumard Savennières ($26 - WDC)

Not going to discuss the food much, just to say that we'll be back, probably in two weeks. Deep flavors and great balance with recipes that seem to have been slightly altered for the better since our last visit. We always loved Urban Belly but this seemed like an even better version with less raw elements blended in, relying more on savory balance found in a more deft interplay of spices. We've had marginal success with pinot noir here but after this trip, it's Austrian riesling.

The Savennières had its moments but had to be kept in the squash dumpling box. Intensely floral and waxy. Bone-dry with big chamomile notes, like someone dumped chamomile tea all over old mossy peach skin and left it to dry for weeks. We've had a couple good Savennières and a couple of bad ones. This one fell in the middle. More in your face than the good ones with bitter wax upfront but got back on its feet nicely on the mid-palate with a jumpy flowers and gasoline. Rough, minerally finish that turned very bitter. All the jagged edges were smoothed out with the squash dumplings though, and the floral and tea notes turned more elegant and natural. Just didn't come close to the realm of acceptable with the other dishes, which probably should have been expected with the spice level.

But the Hirtzberger couldn't have been better. The spice needed a little sugar and the sugar in this wine couldn't be more inviting and playful. Tangerine fruit that, at times, resembled Five Alive (do they still make that?). Good structure with nice delineation, giving fine minerals in the middle and an oh-so subtle sweetness that went down the throat in pretty ways. The weight and grace fit like a glove with the well-crafted Korean feast. Pairing Score: 92

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

#140 - Lamb Stew & Pea Purée Dip With Two Wines


Two wines might be a stretch.

We certainly gave the Thackrey a go and enjoyed its candied cherry mixed with ripe horse poop. Interesting stuff, that one.

It just didn't do much with and to the lamb stew, not like an old dog that inexplicably found a quality resembling its initial former self.

You can read about our 2003 Pirramimma past here: love at first drink for a couple years, stocked up on only to maddeningly see it rapidly dying and followed now by a second life.

We don't know if the wine was in an awkward phase or if it was the result of different batches at the winery or different importer/retail sources and warehousing/stockroom issues (three different orders are all mixed up), but this has been an interesting progression, regression and progression again over the years.

Outside of cheap and good Trader Joe's Muscadet, the 2003 Pirramimma is the wine we've drunk the most in the last five years and every revisit is more interesting than the last.

Food: Spanish lamb stew, pea purée dip, baguette and butter

A New Spanish Table recipe once again. Lamb stew with dried and fresh red peppers is the title (pages 248-249) but the beauty came from the use of San Marzano tomatoes in all their brightness and pearl onions bringing a perfect level of depth. Red bell peppers and ancho peppers with garlic, chicken stock, white wine, red wine vinegar and various stew-ish essentials with a pronounced black pepper presence.

Started out tasting like a simple lamb stew but as it came down in temperature just a bit, all the flavors gelled together oh-so beautifully. Some great balance here with a surprising lightness that left us feeling clean.

Mint pea purée served as a dip for the bread and serving as a traditional match with the lamb in ways that made the meal feel like it was more than just a bowl of stew. Brought a more complete "mealness" to the meal.

Mrs. Ney didn't expect much while cooking it up but we ate well, really well with this concoction and compilation of goodness.

Wine: 2003 Pirramimma Shiraz McLaren Vale ($40 - 20/20 Wines) & NV Thackrey Pleiades XVII Old Vines ($32 - Randolph Wine Cellars)

Some of what we got from the Pirramimma last night we found last February. But where the fruit last time was a jumble of macerated fruit with a port-like consistency, the fruit this time showed more distinction and definition with big blackberry and blueberry with a bit of cherry perking up and announcing itself while coming off only slightly cooked this time. Almost round and supple (!), as they say. The fruit showed up to the party in some surprising and tasty ways.

Iron-rich blood to start that gave way quickly to the shockingly bright-ish fruit with a black pepper edge. Halfway through the meal, a huge, cheap and fresh tobacco note wrapped in mint, like Virginia Slims in all their 'bum a smoke in my 20s' glory. Seemed as if it had just 20% more lively acid, this one would have been almost exactly like when it was first released.

It's a comparative thing. It's not the freshest of fresh shirazes right now but it's showing a rejuvenation of sorts and we kinda loved it for what it was relative to past tastings and even for what it is right now separate from that.

The NV Thackrey Pleiades XVII is a complex little number (a blend of sangiovese, syrah, viognier, mourvèdre, roussanne, barbera and carignane). It's our first in the Thackrey line and from what I can gather, this might not have been the place to start. Candied red fruits, mostly cherry, with solid, medium-bodied acid and something like soy sauce upfront. The background notes is where it got interesting. Ripe horse poop dropped on a pile of straw at times with a tobacco and leather note on occasion. Large milk chocolate shavings hit, like someone shaved up a Whatcamacallit bar. Almost light, which was a surprise.

We were intrigued by it at first (and interested enough to try another) but that intrigue never progressed to wanting more, especially since it didn't really pop with the food.

Pairing: 91 The Pirramimma fit like a jigsaw puzzle with the stew in many ways

With black pepper as a bridge between the Pirramimma and the lamb stew, both sung together. The wine brought more definition and lift to the San Marzano tomatoes and onions while the stew brought more edge and sharpness to the fruit in the wine, becoming one of those times where the joy of food and wine together is sitting right in front of us in all its delicious enhancement. Even a certain minty note in the wine was resurrected by the pea purée.

The Thackrey didn't get off the ground, though. Turned into a reasonably decent Chianti with the sangiovese really dominating, making it a bit one-dimensional and coming off thin with the lamb.

But thank all that is holy that the '03 Pirramimma seems to have a true-blue second life. Too many bottles in this house to think about that much wasted money.

Monday, December 13, 2010

#139 - Szechuan Tuna, Olive/Pepper Salsa & Saffron Risotto With '07 Evening Land


Check out the new (work in progress) drop-down menu.

It's pretty, turned out oodles better than I thought and I don't want to stare at HTML code ever again.

Now to today's offering as I brace for another Angels baseball season without a lineup that realistically competes with the Yankees and Red Sox. Oh, and watching the Iowa football team fall apart. That's been fun, too.

I must admit, I've always loved tuna with rosé so darn much that taking a swipe at tuna with pinot noir never entered my brain. It's what my brain does. It gets stuck on things.

But beef up the tuna with some szechuan peppercorns, add some green olive and shallot business and why not?

Especially when this Oregon bottle brought the twiggy mud.

Food: Szechuan peppercorn-crusted tuna with a olive-pepper salsa, saffron risotto and paprika mayoed asparagus

Beautiful dry low heat with a background bright, almost sweetness brought by the Szechuan peppercorns to the great rare tuna. Szechuan peppercorns tingle the tongue in a similar way to when you put your tongue to a nine-volt battery (we had a whole one as a parting shot at Bonsoirée a few years ago - wild stuff, a gimmick but fun). Mrs. Ney got that same sensation this time. I missed it, instead getting it in much lower doses.

A salsa/relish to accompany the tuna consisting of tangerine-marinated cerignola green olives (Puglia, Italy), peppadew (sweet picanté peppers), shallots and parsley made into a relish/salsa with lemon juice added (recipe from The New Spanish Table). Mingled nicely with the tuna, bringing a creamy nuttiness from the olives with a hint of sweetness from the peppers with an herbal note. Flavors jumped around in welcome ways.

Smoky glazed asparagus slathered with paprika and mayo with cumin, garlic, salt, olive oil and lemon juice. From a Nate Appleman (A16, SPQR in San Francisco) recipe in Food & Wine. Surprisingly tasty and might be better than mustardized asparagus.

Saffron-pistachio risotto to round things out. We had Five Guys for lunch so a starch seems superfluous. Always good (saffron risotto that is, but Five Guys, too) and this one was but after all the freshness packed with big flavors on the plate, the goopy comfort that comes from saffron risotto seemed almost out of place.

This was Great Food, surprising food, food layered and wonderful in so many ways.

Tuna and pinot noir? Yes, please. Doin' this again real soon.

Wine: 2007 Evening Land Pinot Noir Seven Springs Vineyard Eola-Amity Hills ($33 - WDC)

Opened 20 minutes before pouring, which turned out to be a good thing as the tannins showed up in bunches about an hour and a half into the meal.

A pure, translucent medium red in the glass, mossy on the nose. On the palate, huge elements of earth and twigs, like a tree branch dragged through soupy mud. Didn't taste like it was from Oregon with less forward dark red fruits - mostly dark raspberry - or that distinctive rose petal/leafy quality we love in some Oregon labels. Tasted like Burgundy (at least in my limited experience with red Burgundy) with a good core of minerals and fine grains of earth in a medium body with a pleasing backbone of acid. Almost haunting and brooding. Almost. But distinctive and tasted like a specific place/plot/terroir-y type wine of significance for the price (which we got for dirt cheap at the time).

2007 vintage reports for Oregon initially reported disaster but we've had some good experiences with the 2007's. Lighter, yes, but still complex enough. This was no exception.

And it stood up to the food in solid and surprising ways.

Pairing: 89 Creamy earth explosion with the tuna

Like if you made a mud, twigs and raspberry creamsicle and drizzled it with a dusting of dried, crushed flower roots. Seemed like the pinot noir and tuna were made for each other.

The surprise of the night, though, probably came from how the asparagus matched up with it. The cumin and paprika jumped out with the wine. Both of us didn't expect the asparagus to do anything but pinot noir and cumin can do amazing things together and it did.

Dud with the saffron risotto (really awful stuff, actually - tasted like eating dirt with rust shavings in it) so I cracked a 2009 Crios Rosé of Malbec just to see if it performed better. Fine enough but didn't come close to what the Evening Land was doing with the tuna and asparagus.

Went into the meal with some level of trepidation over the wine and proved to be quite luscious and unique.

A quick note: A Sunday night meal of jerk chicken, plantain-sweet potato mash and mint snap peas as I gave away my shift due to the apocalyptic weather reports in Chicago. Served with NV Frey-Sohler Cremant d'Alsace Riesling Brüt ($16 - WDC), a cheapie from a label we've liked in the past for its price point. Nothing too spectacular here. Mostly fruit of lime peel/pith with respectable bubbles and a refreshing angle that made it merely tasty without ever breaking out of that box (read: forgettable). Could do worse in the sparkling category for $16 but could do better as well. Food on the plate = yummy and finger-lickin' jerk goodness but the wine didn't help things along or offer anything in the way of "wow" (pairing score: 84).

Thursday, December 9, 2010

#138 - Seafood Sausage In Red Thai Curry Sauce With '07 Reichsrat Von Buhl


We're going to learn German wine label terms as we go today.

We've had probably three German wines in the last three years so when I look at wine labels from Germany, my head tilts and turns like my dog's head when I say something in a tone that sounds like something she wants but doesn't quite understand.

Last night's wine coupled with a soon to be discontinued favorite Trader Joe's product of ours - seafood sausages.

Good stuff, those. And frankly ridiculous with Crios torrontés.

We weren't in the mood for floral last night and with the spice level involved in the Thai curry sauce, something with a little sugar was warranted to balance things out.

Food: Seafood sausages with green beans and rice and red Thai curry sauce

Coming off asado negro and zinfandel two nights ago, a lighter meal with white wine seemed appropriate, if only for a juxtaposition. But in reality, it's freaking cold in Chicago right now so leaving the house brings an added nuisance and we should clean out some things in the freezer.

Asian all the way. Red Thai curry paste made into a spicy liquid sauce. Green beans sautéed in sesame oil and sesame seeds. White rice as a base. Seafood sausage done up with more sesame seeds.

Everything had what we wanted. Good balance, solid spice, clean flavors, typical Asian done on the cheap. Sort of a bamboo earthy note from the sesame seeds. Spice and a touch of sugar from the curry paste, something green and a crunch from the green beans, an almost umami from the sesame oil and starch from the rice.

Nothing fancy but we were happy.

And the wine played a role.

Wine: 2007 Reichsrat Von Buhl Riesling Deidesheimer Herrgottsacker Trocken Pfalz ($20 - WDC)

Grape: Riesling
Vineyard: Deidesheimer Herrgottsacker (near the town of Deidesheim, hence the name)
Region: Pfalz (large region, warmest in Germany, more diverse grape varieties grown, just south of Rheinhessen and southeast of the Mosel)
Style: Trocken, meaning dry. More of a comparative thing. Some sugar will be present just not nearly as much as other classifications
Vintage (WS): 95 Classically proportioned, with ripe, complex fruit and mineral flavors; density with elegance

There. That wasn't so hard. The interwebs ARE good for something.

Some age showing with this one, something that could be detected from the canned peach juice note I got right away. Not unpleasantly, when I was six in the late 70s growing up in a small town in Iowa, canned peaches and its resulting juice was a treat.

But it found some youth quickly with tangy grapefruit mixed with very subtle sugar. Brightish and tasty with an almost graceful tailing sugar. Specifically, Mrs. Ney nailed it. It was white grapefruit peel. But at its core, and everywhere else really, minerals at every turn. Minerals on top of minerals on top of minerals with tangy grapefruit and grapefruit acid.

Probably would have been more pretty a year ago but we were happy with what it offered, a sufficient enough lift and contrast with the food.

Pairing: 89 Nice back and forth with the wine offering what was missing

The wine brought fruit, acid and sweetness to a meal offering earth, starch and spice with the touch of sugar in the Thai curry serving as a bridge. Couldn't ask for more than that. Specifically, the wine really found its stride with the sesame seeds when they were isolated into a sesame seed-dominated bite.

Again, nothing fancy here but for a meal offering nothing fancy, what resulted was a meal improved by the wine.

Nice intermingling, like a get-together with work people that goes much better than ever expected.

And we learned some German wine label terms. Productive day all around.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

#137 - Asado Negro & Mashed Plantains With '07 Seghesio Zin


Or dark and deep brisket.

You choose. Land of the free, you know.

A Sam Sifton recipe, the restaurant critic at the New York Times who gave us this offering just a few days ago - Venezuelan Black Beef.

Here's the recipe and here's the article explaining such things.

We used brisket. I'm gonna blaspheme here but I find slow and low beef to be one of the most neutral food-type stuffs on the planet, right up there with stadium popcorn and, in another milieu, CSI:NY.

I can respect it, even like it at times, but I can't think of one time that I craved it.

But we got a good one last night. And it came from the balance offered along with the various accoutrements not hitting us over the head like a blunt hammer with its ever-present presence.

Food: Asado Negro with mashed plantains, jalapeño cheddar biscuits and sautéed spinach

Most certainly dark and deep, but with a caveat. When I took a bite of the beef, upfront was a pretty and bright balance of vinegar and sugar, not cloying, not overly acidic. Then that gave way to a subtle hit of the low and slow infusion of ingredients like the peppers, onions, garlic and soy-Worcestershire mix. But again, it was more of a lifting darkness as opposed to something that sticks in your throat. Finished with the brisket that wasn't fatty or tasting like a nap might be required posthaste.

Make no mistake. This IS dark and deep. Great depth here, just without the sticky-sweet sugar and stomach-scraping acid. Came off fancy due to the care the recipe takes to make sure a proper balance was struck. In place of the white sugar, we used piloncillo, unrefined whole cane sugar from Latin America (and mentioned in Sifton's article). Might have been the difference. Tons of sugar used in this recipe but it never came off candied. Everything came off...proper and oddly light.

Mashed plantains on the side, bringing more Latin-y goodness.

Jalapeño cheddar biscuits. Been way too long. I heart these things so much.

A fine and good meal with a recipe worth trying.

Wine: 2007 Seghesio Zinfandel Sonoma County ($22 - WDC)

It's been about two years since we had this one (same vintage). I remember thinking at the time that if someone didn't know what people mean by balance in a wine and wanted a cheap bottle that had it, this was the one to try. Big, sparkly, supple, round blueberry and dark cherry fruit last time followed by an appropriate and delicious herb hit and finishing with some very pretty acid. Fond memories.

The short drinking window given for this one by critics ( - 2012) made me curious but after last night, that seems right. The fruit isn't dying per se, just transforming into a macerated blueberry, blackberry and dark cherry mixture that maybe has been sitting out on the counter too long. Came off a touch flat, showing more a blue Sweet Tart quality, especially with the food, and later showed a bit of almond extract and some leather. I missed that sparkle, that liveliness, that balance that was oh so apparent last time.

Still serviceable stuff with a softer edge but it's time to drink this up. More air didn't really improve it.

But serviceable with the food.

Pairing: 88 Like a senior golfer who has a good front nine with the food

Nothing to dislike and the wine even had moments of (mere) goodness with brisket.

Never broke out though, staying in that middle of the road territory of "that ain't too bad, huh?"

Odd with the cheddar biscuits, showing more of its dying structure than anything. The Sweet Tart note really kicked up with the plantains but it settled into a nice place with the brisket.

We needed to bring some sugar with the asado negro recipe and zinfandel was right and proper. We had no regrets but something younger and more spritely may have rounded out the tasty food on the plate quite nicely.

Live and learn. Drink the zins with short windows and late teens/early 20s price tags very early.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

#136 - Monday TK Chicken With A Value Chardonnay Tasting


Aging gracefully means possessing the requisite amount of humility to admit when you're wrong and then learning from it.

Among the laundry list of wrongs in my life, some smaller wrongs have smacked me right in the face as the most shocking.

But one must also possess the wisdom to know the difference between wrongs that can be studied and wrongs that are simply too stupid to warrant study.

Things like "This reality show craze has a short shelf life" and "Don't worry, Sarah Palin will go away soon enough" were very wrong wrongs.

So when Palin got her own reality show...and then did a crossover show with "Kate Plus 8"...

...Can't learn from that. That can only make me queasy. The Learning Channel indeed, guys.

But I digress.

I once proclaimed that I'd never like chardonnay. Boatloads of wrong, there. Just boatloads.

And here's yet another example why.

Food: TK chicken, pearl onions and chestnuts, Delice de Bourgogne cheese with baguette and mâche salad with lemon balm

Same Thomas Keller recipe as the ten times before. It's a Monday staple.

Delice de Bourgogne cheese. A staple with TK chicken, this one past its due date by a month. All sorts of crazy funk going on.

Pearl onions and chestnuts that were tasty but seemed superfluous to both of us.

A mâche salad with a mustard vinaigrette that was an afterthought and barely even wanted until we tasted it. The lemon balm added a drying, lemon/minty/soapy flower goodness that reminded me of secondary chenin blanc flavors. You know, the puzzling weirdness that makes chenin blanc so gosh darn good.

The entire TK chicken experience is in "last meal" territory for me. Yes. Chicken. Last meal. It's that good.

One quick note: A trick learned from Around My French Table. Place a few pieces of baguette under the chicken in the cast-iron pan to prevent sticking. What results is the most ridiculously decadent essence of chicken juice charred baguette tasty nugget you've ever had. Like chicken and bread on crack.

Wine: 2007 Domaine de Gandines Viré Clessé ($22 - In Fine Spirits) & 2008 Merryvale Starmont Chardonnay Napa Valley ($17 - Trader Joe's)

Sort of a bargain chardonnay tasting of wines with decent reviews.

Or Old World vs. New World, if that helps you. We'll be doing a few more of these in the near future as we sample chardonnays from Washington, Oregon and California regions not Napa. We're curious and open to the experience right now w/r/t American chardonnays.

Last night's head-to-head went as expected, though. White Burgundy is a perfect 5-0 so far in our house.

The Merryvale Starmont drew raves by Wine Spectator for its "complexity and intensity, always hanging on to its core fruitiness." Not what we got. A nectarine quality was present but we had to dig for it as it was buried under a thick, wooly blanket of vanilla extract. Like Cinnamon Toast Crunch drenched in vanilla extract. Wasn't thick or cloying and even tapered off quite nicely but wasn't in balance. Blunt and clunky upfront, had its moments on the mid-palate and seemed to desperately want to be a better wine overall but never got there.

The Domaine de Gandines was a different story, confirming again why white Burgundy rules the roost. All honey, creamy smoke and minerals wrapped in a medium body and a crisp touch of acidity on the back end. A touch of lemon rind and even a small hint of blood orange on occasion with something that resembles red pepper flakes and white pepper on the back end.

But the joy came from the mineral core, in particular what we've come to know from the Viré Clessé mineral quality that we've found in the three we've had recently. It's less refined than the Auxey Duresses stuff, tasting more rough and tumble like big polished river rock instead of fine, graceful, small and pretty. Almost serves the fruit like albariño's minerality serves its fruit. Comes off intentionally wild, making for a ton of surprises along the way.

And that's the rub. White Burgundy never beats you over the head with its chardonnay-ness. Last night's wine even, at times, on certain sips, resembled a Vouvray in ways. No butter core, no large oak core. Just a swirl of interesting changes all night.

Pairing: 92 Old World wins again

If we only had the Merryvale Starmont with this meal, I'm sure we would have found something to marginally like but it would have been a stretch. Just too much vanilla.

At times, it sufficed, offering something extra with the onions and chestnuts, coming off sort of like an autumn pairing with its darker, more brooding notes. With everything else though, it tasted ordinary and too much like itself - a vanilla bomb.

The white Burgundy was so familiar to us in the best way, playing right into the French-inspired preparation and product on the (coffee) table. Things just dance in the best way, right in step and never off key.

It's what we want. Always.

Friday, December 3, 2010

#135 - Shrimp And Quiche With Stift Göttweig Grüner Veltliner


Or quiche, garlic baguette and arugula salad with a side of shrimp.

The quiche was that good, taking all the focus off the shrimp.

More bald advertising for good cookbooks with today's offering.

Quiche maraîchère from Around My French Table, a cookbook given as a gift that's quickly turning out to be something needed and goshdarn great.

Shrimp from The New Portuguese Table, a cookbook that's proving to us over the last few months that Portuguese food can be a wee bit timid for what we want and like.

Food: Shrimp and quiche with garlic baguette and arugula and basil salad

Shrimp soaked in peri-peri sauce and quickly cast-ironed, seasoned with salt and pepper and topped with lemon juice squeezed on at the table. Fine shrimp, tasty to a point shrimp but we missed what shrimp has meant to us recently, like black garlic shrimp or Spanish shrimp with a big garlic hit or carrot juice/chipotle shrimp like in the recent past. Tasted...too simple...and just shrimp, really.

We aren't quiche people. But this wasn't eggy quiche. Only one whole egg, one egg yolk and supplemented with gouda cheese. Red pepper, carrot, celery and leek quiche that tasted buttery but light. Great balance and utterly delicious, especially once we got into it.

Arugula and basil salad to finish and garlic baguette on the side.

I'll return to an old favorite - movie comparisons. The meal was like Taken. I barely knew anything about the movie when I pushed play. By the time it was over, all I could think was, "That was kinda awesome!" Very little plot, no character development, stupid "American revenge in a post 9/11 world" overtones, but just 90 minutes of brutal and highly entertaining action.

Just a good time, like the meal. And the wine had a place, if only in a supporting actor way.

Wine: 2006 Stift Göttweig Gottschelle Grüner Veltliner ($21 - WDC)

It's simplified since we last had it. Less alive and jumpy, more settled and bordering on one-dimensional. Still exotic fruits floating around and a good acidity still lingers. A pronounced orange peel note shot up on occasion. Even creamy white peach. I've read people found a plum juice note with this one. Maybe. Right now, it tastes like some of the cheaper Hungarian whites we've had. Interesting to a point and exotic enough to be intriguing for a few minutes but definitely settling into the more simple vein.

Pairing: 85 Never offered anything other than being an acid component to the meal

The orange peel notes and cream kicked up with the quiche and garlic baguette but never offered enough to bring a complimentary/original element to the meal.

Served more as an acid counterplay with the quiche/baguette while falling fall with the shrimp, which already had lemon juice.

We needed a wine more guts, maybe a touch of sugar, possibly something more bone-dry, maybe an oily quality, to get it into a realm of a solid pairing. As it was, it was kinda boring.

But that quiche. I heartily endorse such things.


A quick note: Paprika on Lawrence just east of Rockwell pumps out some great Indian food. After Hema's earlier this year, we were hesitant to jump back on the Indian wagon, but this is great stuff, fresh and cheap as all get out. Various naans, chutneys, samosas and a chicken tikka masala eaten with a sparkling Vouvray favorite, NV Domaine Vigneau-Chevreau Demi-Sec Sparkling Vouvray ($18 - Binny's). The refreshment brought on by the sparkling aspect of the wine served as the primary goodness with the food but that was okay with us. Good enough. Check out Paprika. Along with Semiramis, it's a new great BYO option in the neighborhood.