Thursday, August 29, 2013

Peppercorn-crusted & Pomegranate-glazed Lamb Riblets And Farro with 2009 Angela and Ponzi Pinot Noir

Anya von Bremzen, author of The New Spanish Table, a cookbook that has seen such a workout in this house that it's falling apart, brings us this lamb chop recipe that came so deliciously tart, tangy, deep and delicious that the meal ended up being a 2009 Willamette pinot noir comparison from two of our favorite producers. We wanted to extend things out and take our time.

Some alterations in the cooking:

* A dry rub on two pounds of lamb riblets ($6/lb - Whole Foods) of ginger, salt, black pepper, Szechuan pepper, cardamom, coriander and fennel. The same rub used on the best tuna on the planet, left in the fridge for two days, glazed with pomegranate molasses, black currant whole-grain mustard, garlic and black pepper and thrown under the broiler to get it all rib-sticky.

* Similar compote recipe of plums, garlic, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, coriander, fenugreek; green onions, cilantro, parsley (just like Food & Wine recipe, but added cardamom, omitted dried mint, savory, and tarragon).

Lamb riblets put over the compote, farro as a starch and pomegranate seeds and mint dumped over everything.

Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Brandade & Fava-Corn-Avocado Salad With 2006 Marc Hebrart Special Club

Puréed fish and stupid-fresh salad with the best showing of Marc Hebrart in our limited Marc Hebrart world.

This is fancy Champagne that's still a little tight after seven years off the vine and two years in bottle. But it comported itself quite nicely with this food, never leading the way but never stepping back, always standing shoulder-to-shoulder with what was on the plate and leading to a meal that expanded out and opened up so much space in which to frolic and enjoy.

Food: Brandade and fava-corn-avocado-tomato salad

Best home brandade yet. Third one, I believe. The key may have come in using Fustini's white balsamic (crap. now I want that lemongrass mint business) instead of lemon juice, offering much greater and more integrated acid depth than previous versions. You buy that. It's not cheap but if you're making food, why not MAKE food?

Jacques Pépin brandade recipe (natch), using rice milk instead of cow. Salad of fava beans, corn, avocado, tomato, onion, lemon thyme and parsley, tossed with white balsamic and olive oil. It's our favorite summer salad with Colicchio Thai-style watermelon-radish certainly in the mix. Baguette to dip, dunk and dive.

We knew this would be good, just not as wide in flavors and goodness as it was.

More home happy food.

The wine helped to bring "the happy."

Friday, August 23, 2013

Birthday Asian Bison "Satay" & Watermelon-Radish Salad With 2011 Raventos Perfum de vi Blanc

After a Cuban-style Hot Pocket lunch to help "recover" from a day of pool and wine bacchanalia, Asian freshness and a birthday lounge day was on tap.

Two things. First, don't eat Hot Pockets. I think everyone knows that. But it said "Limited Edition Cuban-style" and we had a coupon, two factors that led to such a body abuse. Second, the "lounge" part wasn't really an option. Movement was slow and made everything iffy. Stupid pool. Sucks us right in.

Pretty standard pairing play here. Asian flavors, floral wine, with the hope that the acidity and impression of fruity sweetness plays like the 2011 Ponzi Pinot Gris did with the watermelon-radish salad did last month. We missed a superlative elevation of food and wine flavors with this one but found both components playing like old friends that haven't seen each other in a decade and just needed some time to get back in the groove. And they eventually got close.

Food: Bison flank "satay" over lemongrass rice with watermelon-radish salad and extra basting sauce for dipping

You don't have to peanut up your satay when this recipe from Cook's Illustrated is so delicious. Split the basting sauce, reserving a third to dip and dunk the bison at the table. Some alterations. Oodles more shallot and ginger added. And not skewered...and no peanut sauce so...not really "satay."  

Thursday, August 15, 2013

"Put A Bunch Of Fresh Stuff On It."

In the tradition of "put a bird on it," with vacation coming, it's "clean out the fridge and freezer and put fresh stuff on it" month.

That typically makes for interesting dinners, but never sub-par dinners. Throw a bunch of fresh stuff on a meal and it's rare that stocked-up, wrapped-up, Ziploc'ed meat and vittles thrown into the freezer a couple of months ago tastes like such.

Simply make fresh marinades and "put a bunch of fresh stuff on it" and it's winner, winner, freezer-food lunch and dinner!

Meal #1

Saturday, August 10, 2013

TWIB Notes: This Week In Bottles

Four meals, four wines.

Beef, smoked mackerel, chicken and tuna. Rioja, Sancerre, torrontés and pinot gris. Spanish, veggie explosion, Mexican, Thai.

Squeezed into these four meals were 32 vegetables and 28 herbs, spices, wines and juices.

Or...flavor.

Monday

Friday, August 9, 2013

Oh...Hello Again

Last December, we bolted for the highlands of the Chicago Tribune's blogging community, doing the same stuff we did here but over there.

Not realizing it was more of a Facebook-intensive group - and not being a Facebooker - we're back at the friendly confines of Home. We like Home. Because Home is Good.

But some of it is bittersweet. ChicagoNow is doing some great things. And we ate and drank extraordinarily well (index page) during our time on that site so we'll keep that up for the time being for reference purposes and figure out what to do with it.

Some highlights during our brief sojourn:

Oh, the rabbit loin with Darting Pinot Meunier! ... A Holy Grail of sorts, Two Hands Beautiful Stranger, was found, getting some of the last few bottles out there in the world and we drank it with great bison ... Quality meal at Elizabeth ... New Year's Eve Egly-Ouriet and Dagueneau Silex was an orgy of food and wine flavors. Silex is the best wine on the planet in my book (though Gail Simmons disagrees. She prefers Picton Bay) ... Sea bass and Waxman recipe endive salad with Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre. C'mon! ... Pork butt bo ssäm. Fancy-ass Asian buffet ... Wild boar Christmas dinner and pheasant terrine lunch made us feel all mountainy ... Two more Bordeaux fails. Toss it on the pile (not even going to link) ... Our favorite meal on the planet, tuna Niçoise, saw more love, getting all dirty-delicious with a Les Pallìeres rosé ... Thomas Keller chicken thighs with fennel, lemon and olives and bacon fat crispy potato roast and Vieux Télégraphe Blanc opened up another ridiculously great food and wine pairing door in our world ... Veggie explosion with 2009 Quinta do Cardo Síria. Hot damn! ...  Chicken in lemongrass barbecue sauce with Selbach-Oster. So open! So much space! ... Frappato's the Stuff in my world right now. It was the stuff times 50 with fava bean and ricotta salata strozzapreti ... Duck leg confit, tea-smoked lentils and beets with a very pretty Efeste Jolie Bouche syrah shocked the pants off us ... Tuna, blood oranges and heirloom tomatoes with Owen Roe Pinot Noir Durant? Always happy food but unique pairing here, though ... Beets, carrots and avocado salad with duck breast and a bargain New Zealand pinot simply exploded with loveliness in the mouth ... Lamb-stuffed artichoke cups and garbanzo beans over pistachio-saffron rice with a Moroccan syrah was new and new with a side of happy-slappy new ... A trip to D.C. made for a great food escape with Jaleo, Minibar and 2 Amy's. But Komi. Oh, Komi. There's little better in this world ...and more. So much more.

We ate so well during these last nine-ish months, getting more seasonal, eating smaller portions of meat and a crapload more veggies (proper adjective for that). Things got more complex in ways and never suffered from it, always elevating things instead of dragging meals down. It feels like we drank a touch more thoughtfully as well, taking more care to match up secondary flavors in the food with wine that made such a thing sing.

This is what we Like. It's our hobby, our joy. I've said it before and I'll say it again (and again), Food and wine deeply integrated into one's life as part of one's day, one's rhythm, feels like a frickin' Gift.

Big plans in the works for this new (old) site. Maybe we'll even get all podcasty (or not). I've taken a couple of months off and we missed the reference.

"We're back!"