#297 - Spanish Pork & Saffron Potatoes With '91 Heredia Bosconia GR

Pork.

It's fiiiine and God bless those people that love it so, putting pork slogans on t-shirts, inking pigs on arms (and possibly other places, if you read the news this week - I suppose that was the next inevitable tattoo spot in this day and age) and just generally preaching from the altar of swine.

For us, it offers little. Sure, you can screw with it like no other meat (Whaaaa?), making for a blank slate on which to paint your food art. That has value. Pork is by no means valueless. We like pork in various forms. But we don't anticipate pork. Not like lamb, duck, flank, hanger, shrimp (see below), roasted chicken, you get it.

Pork is like watching Chopped to us - fine enough food TV entertainment to record and watch commercial-free but never in real time. And I've certainly never anticipated the airing and viewing of Chopped. It's sorta just 'there' with all its predictable structure and snooze-worthy content (usually halfway through the entrée course). Yet we watch, because it's on TV.

We eat pork because it's available, cheap and, at times, like this time, can satisfy the 'use stuff up' food meme of the next two weeks as we wait for vacation.

Spanished-up pork is also a good platform for Heredia reds.

And this one was.

#296 - Sea Bass a la Veracruzana & Saffron Rice With '96 Heredia Gravonia

Back in 2010, right around this time of the year, we drank up one of our Quinta do Vallado wines in anticipation of a stay at their winery in Portugal.

And on that trip, we had wistful and unrealistic yearnings to hop over to Rioja from the Douro and visit another winery that holds a massive place in our wine hearts, López de Heredia.

"It's only six hours away. We're already here, have a car. Can we pass it up?"

Yeah, we found out we could pass it up. That's a long time in a car on a trip that already had six hours booked in said vehicle.

So we're going back to the Iberian Peninsula next month, this time to Rioja, to visit the place we yearned to visit two years ago. Time to drink up a few Heredias in the meantime.

Gotta prep.

After experiencing Veracruz-style sea bass with the 2001 LdH Gravonia in May and all its pairing glory (probably the best pairing we've had this year), seeing where the 1996 is with nearly the same food platform felt right and proper.

It didn't reach the May pairing heights but it was still quality Heredia food and wine stuff.

#295 - Shrimp Lunch With Huet Pétillant & Lamb Dinner With Ponzi Reserve

Season 2 of The Killing finally entered and exited my world this week. I'm typically behind on TV and movie things, especially when I can frolic in the superlative joys offered by the Angels' bullpen.

Not once in the 13 hours of the season did I even remotely guess the ultimate killer. Great show, great show! And clues were there throughout both seasons.

In this week's food world, Popeye's chicken and Belgian waffles with watermelon-jalapeño sangria is wrong, we did it and I don't wanna be right.

In this week's restaurant world, Green Zebra is worth a trip. Thoughtful wine list, pretty and quiet space, good food, great staff. We had some salting issues and maybe a feeling that dishes were created first to not offend. Tepid is not the word but, at times, offerings entered that realm. Clean flavors but sometimes clean can become a bit sanitary and Green Zebra felt a bit like that. Bottom line is we'd go again. Not in a hurry and, unfortunately, can't really touch Ubuntu in the veggie flavor explosion world, which is too bad because Green Zebra is here and not 2104 miles away (only 33 hours in current traffic according to Google Maps. Or 691 hours on foot).

Two pairing offerings this week, both with juice that came from houses we both love, both coming off for the most part delicious but both leaving us a little wanting.

#294 - More Than Just Hanger, Potatoes & Green Beans With '07 J. Bookwalter Protagonist

Olympics grub and juice.

I've found myself watching more Olympics coverage than I ever imagined. Basketball, tennis, water polo, rowing, kayaking, gymnastics, tons of swimming, volleyball, beach volleyball and whatever else NBC has put in front of my face (except for the moment of silence for the Munich victims. And the 7/7 victims. NBC tells me what's important in life).

Also, if you're a liberal like me but don't understand that tingly feeling you get in your special place when you see an American athlete accomplish something he or she has been training for their entire life. If you feel it somehow reinforces America's imperialism, Salon has you covered. Because it's what they do:

"However, I’ve outgrown the lust for an overpowering victory that has us, medal-count-wise, leave everyone else in the dust. I’ve outgrown it because while I know our athletes deserve our support and respect, I also know that the same respect is due all the competitors from all the nations at the games — and respect is something wholly different from complete conquest." 

Salon is like sports radio. They lecture morons.

Food:  Hanger steak, potatoes, green beans and onions