365 Days Of Food And Wine: Week #33

Movie reviews:

If you ask me what Spectre was about a week from now, I'll have no clue. No a one. Completely forgettable Bond installment.

But 99 Homes, Ramin Bahrani's newest, writer/director of the superlatively good Chop Shop, Man Push Cart and Goodbye Solo (and less successful At Any Price), digs in there, sets up shop and doesn't leave your head. Quite good.

Total food and wine cost for the week: $130 for food and $162 for wine = $292

Sunday: Tuna-Caper-Pistachio-Shallot Pasta with 2014 Desperada Sauvignon Blanc Fragment Santa Barbara County

Food Details: Leftover olive-oil poached tuna, pistachios, capers, serranos, charred scallions, anchovies, toasted bread crumbs, basil, mint, lemon zest on bucatini; kale salad.

Did We Like It? Big plate of happiness! A big surprise. Mrs. Ney expected it to be good as she was cooking it, just not THIS good. So breezy, leisurely, delicious, broad and deep.

How Was The Wine? Last (and first) had with fish cakes, celery root pita panzanella and chermoula, where it had a perfect back-and-forth between its grizzle and grace. This time it brought a quiet elegance and suppleness to go with its wisps of fruit and perfectly perky yet controlled acid. Fine on its own, nothing special, but wow with this food.

And The Pairing? Snuggled right up to the pasta and Mediterranean-ness of all the ingredients and turned into a perfect "expander of the flavors." Put this is front of me at some seaside restaurant at three in the afternoon after a dip in the water and I'd chew peoples' ears off about it for years. California sauvignon blanc gets a bad rap. It's taken great leaps in the last few years.

Cost: $8 for food, $22 for wine = $30      

Saturday: Smoked Chicken and Sprout Sandwiches with 2014 Terrasse du Moulinas Blanc Elégance Languedoc-Roussillon

Food Details: Paulina Market smoked chicken, clover sprouts, kumatoes, monterey jack cheese, avocado, onions, mayo on toasted baguette. Olive oil chips.

Did We Like It? Pretty damn good sandwiches, as usual. A home interpretation of a Big Mike's classic. It has everything.

How Was The Wine? Grenache blanc, vermentino, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc. One liter, $10, Whole Foods. Top-three wine of 2015 in our home in terms of price-to-enjoyment ratio. It's fading. The flavors, order, sparkle and energy is becoming jumbled and tired. Almost bought a ton more recently, so I saved money there!

And The Pairing? Did nothing for me.

Cost: $25 for food, $10 for wine = $35

Friday: Iraqi Chicken, Yogurt, Salad and Naan with 2014 Amancay Torrontés La Rioja

Food Details: Based on this Saveur recipe, it's Djaj bil-bahar il-asfar, or dry-spiced Iraqi chicken. Click on link to see the bevy of spices. 500-degree roast on the chicken. It'll chicken up everything in your house but it's entirely worth it. This meal was more stuff on top of a bread-type substance. Naan slathered with cilantro yogurt, topped with the Iraqi chicken and herb salad. Eat.

Did We Like It? We've come a long way since wine-can chicken. Now, Iraqi chicken is chicken we want. Such a beautiful, dirty, gnarly, dry spice blend on the chicken that makes you declare "This is Better chicken!"

How Was The Wine? More TJ's torrontés. Flowers, acid, fruit, cheap.

And The Pairing? Again, very acceptable. The floral notes in the wine mixing with the spices created the gap and pause you want from a pairing. Happy.

Cost: $13 for food, $7 for wine = $20

Thursday: Charred Shallots, Labneh and Pugliese Bread with 2014 Amancay Torrontés La Rioja

Food Details: The usual. Hey, vegetarians. If you complain that it's tough to cook easy veggie meals that simultaneously come off as substantial, filling and delicious, you're not trying. Here's one. Charred shallots and onions with a lemon-thyme (?) vinaigrette (based on this Melissa Clark recipe), Middle Eastern yogurt, Pugliese bread and arugula. Piece of bread, top with yogurt, shallots and salad. Eat.

Did We Like It? We'll probably eat this meal once or twice a month until we die. Satisfies every crevice of your being.

How Was The Wine? I finished the rest of the Broc Cellars grenache blanc, which wasn't...good...with this meal. Mrs. Ney had a new Trader Joe's $7 torrontés, which has just enough flowers, just enough acid, and just enough cheapness at $7 to have a place in this house with the type of food we eat.

And The Pairing? Mine, terrible. Mrs. Ney's very acceptable.

Cost: $8 for food, $7 for wine = $15

Wednesday: "Spread" with 2013 Broc Cellars Vine Starr White Central Coast and 2004 López de Heredia Blanco Gravonia Rioja

Food Details: Roasted red and cubanelle peppers, charred onions, garlic, anchovy, parsley, white balsamic, evoo. Olive-oil poached tuna (made at home) with thyme, rosemary, garlic, bay. Castelvetrano olives with lemon zest and black pepper, mâche, batard bread.

Did We Like It? It was just "spread." But it turned into such much more. Stellar peppers served as the base with nice tuna and great herb-infused oil. This was pick-n-choose bread topper, mostly. Piece of bread + peppers + tuna + mâche = eat. Vaguely Spanish, but easily could be southern French. We Loved This.

How Was The Wine? This Heredia has been in the fridge for a month (!) with a Preserva disk in it. By itself, no bueno. But with food, unbelievably, this turned into everything that makes Heredia, Heredia. Length, nutty, touch of lemon and smoked orange peel, all of it. Classy. I have no idea how. We just needed to get it out of the fridge. The Broc Vine Starr (100% grenache blanc) is lightly herbal, lightly mineral and lightly fruity, while being the perfect blend of all three, with each taking the reins at different times while the others served their supporting roles admirably. Nice acidity, as grenache blanc has/does. Clean, dry, Broc being Broc. Best wine club decision I've made.

And The Pairing? With the Heredia, this was Spanish goodness. With the Broc, this was southern French. The back-and-forth was so damn good. It took a meal that was already good and made it even wider/better. Paired with more Come Dine With Me. Great two-hour dinner.

Cost: $23 for food, $53 for wine = $76        

Tuesday: Pizza Art Café with NV Fattoria Moretto Lambrusco Secco Grasparossa di Castelvetro Monovitigno Emilia-Romagna

Food Details: Greek salad to start, Diavola with arugula and Pugliese with smoked beef pizzas.

Did We Like It? Something about their Greek salad. It's loaded with freshy-freshness. We don't divert from what we like here. It's consistently good pizza. This time...something about the cheese on both...it was better this time.

How Was The Wine? Lambrusco done well. Blackberries all over the place. Juicy, dark, smooth, twiggy forest floor, dry, tart. You taste it and it tastes like what Kermit Lynch likes.

And The Pairing? Zero complaints.

Cost: $40 for food, $28 for wine = $68    

Monday: Goat Kofta and Roasted Cauliflower with 2014 Frank Cornelissen Etna Rosato Susucaru 

Source: Goat kofta from Yotam Ottolenghi (do a book search here). Cauliflower, hazelnut, pomegranate salad based on this recipe, from NYT, and Ottolenghi's as well.

Food Details: Goat kofta made with allspice, cinnamon, etc. (similar flavors used in the salad). Roasted cauliflower-hazelnut-pomegranate salad. Celery, parsley, onions, mint, adding preserved lemon and serrano, leaving out maple syrup. Tahini and pita.

Did We Like It? "This is what all other food wants to be!" Spicy, nutty, crunchy, fresh, bright, slightly sweet, every flavor and food sensation, all put together on a plate. There is absolutely nothing missing here. You don't like this, you don't like food. It's perfect, perfectly balanced, makes your tongue go, "Wow!" It's been a few months since the last time we have this, and that gap made it taste oh-so new again.

How Was The Wine? Our first 2014 Susucaru after drinking a good amount of #5s. You stick the 2014 next to any other Susucaru vintage (this is only our third) and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Exact same expression (maybe less rosewater here) and a lovely one at that. Light, fluttering red fruits in the background with dried roses, stones, and a happy buckwheat-rye-cinnamon note. Dry, gutsy, easy, refreshing and fun.

And The Pairing? The Susucaru wants North African-Middle Eastern flavors. It has the backbone to stand up and expand with the spice while having the gaps and space to slowly and gracefully mingle with the flurry of flavors on the plate. Great pairing. Great.

Cost: $13 for food, $35 for wine = $48      

365 Days Of Food And Wine: Week #32

HBO's Show Me A Hero, a David Simon project chronicling housing desegregation in Younkers in the late 80s, has sat on out DVR for months. Finally hit play last night and glad I did. Extremely well-done and highly recommended. Watch a Republican debate and then watch this. The similarities are eerie. The mob mentality, the veiled racism, the stomach-churning ugliness of politics.

It has everything.

Total food and wine cost for the week: $78 for food and $139 for wine = $217

Total food and wine cost for the month: $396 for food and $504 for wine = $900

Sunday: Not-Yo Nachos!

Food Details: Baking sheet: tortilla chips, pepper jack, ground beef taco-seasoned up, black olives - under the broiler to get all melty. Topped with avocado, salsa, cilantro yogurt. It's Not-Yo Nachos!

Did We Like It? It's a once-a-year thing. Filling and good. See you next year, nachos.

How Was The Wine? Mrs. Ney had a 7-up, I finished up some pink from the fridge.

And The Pairing? Nothing to report here.

Cost: $13

Saturday: Fish Sauce Roasted Chicken, Pickled Onions, Naan and Arugula with 2014 Ulrich Langguth Riesling Hessische Bergstrasse

Food Details: Fish sauce marinated chicken (Bittman's best recipe for squab, using $3 Harvesttime chicken), garlic naan, onions marinated in same fishy marinade + white balsamic vinegar, arugula, cilantro yogurt. Naan topped with all of it.

Did We Like It? Jesus, Yes! Best meal of the week! Salty, fishy; flavors dancing and jumping everywhere. An incredible bite of food repeated 30 times. THIS...will go right into the food rotation. Stupid Asian food. It gets under your skin and STAYS there.

How Was The Wine? Fine and good cheap riesling from Trader Joe's. Acid, tension, nice fruit.

And The Pairing? Happy acid and cut to cleanse and refresh. Nothing special in the least, but nice to have it at the table with freakin' amazing food.

Cost: $13 for food, $7 for wine = $20

Friday: Rigatoni with White Bean Sugo

Food Details: White beans sugo cooked with lamb bones and a bit of ham, mixed with rigatoni, parsley and pecorino.

Did We Like It? Very clean, very beany, very satisfying. And we have a TON OF IT! No wine. Brought a Pruno Ribera del Duero to the table. Didn't drink it.

Cost: $3 for food

Thursday: Basil-citrus Chicken, Avocado, Salad and Ciabattini with 2014 Terrasse du Moulinas Blanc Elégance Languedoc-Roussillon

Food Details: $3 chicken marinated in basil and citrus, roasted in a 500-degree oven. Avocado, herb salad, mayo and ciabattini. It's pick-n-choose! Bread+mayo+chicken+avocado+salad, then eat.

Did We Like It? Heck yeah! One of the better chicken pick-n-chooses in a good long while. Freshy-fresh. Perfect.

How Was The Wine? Grenache blanc, vermentino, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc. One liter, $10, Whole Foods. House juice. Always good. Better bargain. Looking forward to the 2015.

And The Pairing? Perfectly subtle, savory, fresh food. Wine that adjusts to whatever's in front of it. Happy.

Cost: $10 for food, $10 for wine = $20  

Wednesday: Sesame-Lemon-Ginger Salmon and Carolina Gold Rice with 2010 Ponzi Pinot Noir Reserve Willamette Valley

Food Details: 'Sesame-crusted salmon with lemon and ginger' from this weekend's America's Test Kitchen. Tahini slather made with lemon and ginger, coated on both sides of the brined salmon. Brined and toasted sesame seeds coated on one side. Seared, then baked. Carolina Gold Rice with charred scallions. Arugula Salad.

Did We Like It? Tasted like many ATK recipes: a little safe. Salmon wandered into a well-doneness. Nice pop of sesame, lemon and ginger. We could taste all the ingredients in this meal, very clean and that was nice. Just tasted a little like "American restaurant" food. Once we took the arugula and put it on the plate, mixing it with the salmon and rice, it got closer to a salmon and bagels flavor, which is Home Food, so that was more welcome. But this was a lot of work with a lot of things going on at once, particularly with the fussiness of the proper cooking of the Carolina Gold rice (boil 15 minutes, spread out on a sheet pan, oven it for fifteen minutes, stirring every five, butter added towards the end...). Not a ton of work overall, just a lot going on all at once.

How Was The Wine? Thought process: a couple of Ponzi Reserves were floating around in the house, pinot noir likes sesame, and we should check back in on salmon and red wine every now and then. We went back and forth over whether the reserve is worth the extra $15-20 compared to their flagship wine. The reserve is about 15% more brooding, serious and darker than their standard $30 pinot noir, but lacks the looseness, playfulness, rosiness, and energy of the latter. The reserve is quite nice, and was here. We liked it. And had that signature, clean Ponzi acid reminiscent of biting into a slightly chilled raspberry. Tart, bright, happy. A fine fit with this meal, just maybe not a joyful fit.

And The Pairing? Indeed liked the sesame in seed and tahini form, at times really liking much of what was on the plate. Even liked the arugula. As I said, we liked this. Just wouldn't do it again. The food and the pairing tasted like "American restaurant" circa 1998.

Cost: $20 for food, $45 for wine = $65      

Tuesday: Ottolenghi Clementine-Ouzo Wild Boar Shanks with 2014 Jolie-Laide Trousseau Gris Fanucchi-Wood Road Vineyard Russian River Valley 

Food Details: Ottolenghi (recipe, at the bottom) using boar shanks instead of chicken, ouzo instead of arak, and omitting the brown sugar. Clementines, fennel/seeds, thyme, mustard, lemon juice, parsley, etc. Ancient Grains bread to dip and dunk.

Did We Like It? Basically a deliciously savory boar shank stew. It had "all the flavors we like' and it didn't even have any garlic or onion in it! A dunk-a-thon with the juice, bits and bread. Fantastic.

How Was The Wine? I'm going to plagiarize myself from here: "Shimmered and sang a beautiful song. Dirt, flowers and stars." A tough to find wine, but we found it. I'm not telling where until I get over there and buy more. I could use 12,000 superlatives that describe the loveliness of this wine, but why spend the time? It's simply The Best. Utterly complete, beautifully floral, perfect acid...tastes like your favorite author's prose." This drinking only confirmed that and more. It's wandering into a less youthful strut now, and somehow it was more interesting.

And The Pairing? This wasn't even a great pairing; at times coming off clipped with the food, other times loving the bitterness of the clementines, even other times not loving it. BUT. Somehow...It was More Interesting than if it would have been a great pairing. Showed its obstinance and detailed the reasons why. This wine is one smart beast.

Cost: $16 for food, $37 for wine = $53    

Monday: Flap Meat and Baked Potato with 2003 Pirramimma Shiraz McVaren Vale

Food Details:  Long-buried garlic-rosemary marinated flap meat (looks like it's been in the freezer since 27 january 2015, though there was no indication of that in the eating) with A1; baked potato with cheddar, bacon, sour cream.

Did She Like It? I had a work anniversary so Mrs. Ney capitalized on that to have a favorite: Loaded baked potato with a side of meat. She liked it, but this was about the wine.

How Was The Wine? In 2005, this was the wine that showed us that spending a little more on wine will make you fall in love with wine. Shining, sparkly, vibrant fruit and a roundness unlike any wine we'd had up until that point. So we bought a lot and watched it evolve over a decade. This drinking brought a pause; evocative, smooth, quiet but with a clear, measured, wise opinion. Tasted like an old leather chair that never falls out of fashion.

And The Pairing? Mrs. Ney paired this meal with texting friends and family and watching the first 3 episodes of season 6 Downton Abbey...and loved it. Priceless.

Cost: $3 for food, $40 for wine = $43  

365 Days Of Food And Wine: Week #31

TV things with a week to go until pitchers and catchers report:

I feel the internet failed us. How nobody told me that every freaking season of Channel 4's Come Dine With Me is on YouTube is a big disappointment and I blame all of you people. This show has everything: bad food, strangers forced to try to get along, weird human ticks, conversational dynamics, and judgment...loads of judgment. Everyone on the show is also Trying: trying to cook well, trying to understand another human being, trying to have some fun, trying to be understood. Loads of Trying.

There are hundreds of episodes. If I didn't like sports, that cord would have been cut years ago.

Total food and wine cost for the week: $85 for food and $72 for wine = $157

Sunday: Orecchiette with Sausage and Rapini with 2014 Rosa dell'Olmo Gavi Piedmont

Food Details: Orecchiette with sausage, rapini, onion, red pepper flakes, parsley, bread crumbs and evoo.

Did We Like It? Solid batch here. Loved the sausage-rapini back and forth.

How Was The Wine? Trader Joe's Gavi done well. Dry, crisp, lightly floral, peaches, medium-bodied. I drank this, like it muchly, and now I want picpoul. Something about these two grapes that make me want buckets of them.

And The Pairing? Classic. They like each other.

Cost: $6 for food, $8 for wine = $14

Saturday: Leek-Onion-Tomato Tart with 2014 Charles Smith VINO Pinot Grigio Columbia Valley

Food Details: Leek, onion, shallot, charred scallion, garlic, basil tart with parmesan and grape tomato slices; herb salad.

Did We Like It? A fine tart, even with me making the wrong dough for it in the morning. Tart and salad. It's simple, honest bistro food done right.

How Was The Wine? The Charles Smith VINO is consistent, with teeny-tiny vacillations with each drinking and depending on the food. But knowing that we're drinking it with a weeknight dinner always ups the anticipation of dinner, particularly after waiting on Valentine's weekend couples (rubs temples). Loved the acid with this drinking.

And The Pairing? Nice tart, solid wine, very happy.

Cost: $8 for food, $11 for wine = $19

Friday: "Sandwich" with 2015 Viñas Chilenas Reserva Rosé Valle Central

Food Details: Smoked turkey, mortadella, muenster, roasted red peppers, onion, tomato, leaf lettuce and mayo on the more "fancy" batch. Ham, mortadella, American cheesed onion on the street sandwich batch. D'amato's bread for both. More than six feet of Sandwich! Olive oil chips.

Did We Like It? So much sandwich that it blew past the plural back into the singular. So much sandwich to last us through the weekend for snacky-lunchy needs. And good sandwich at that; the kind of basic sandwich that tastes like the rolling history of sandwich.

How Was The Wine? This is $4, fresh, fruity, round, bouncy and delicious. Cabernet-syrah blend done up rosé style.

And The Pairing? Not as delicious here, at least for me. A bit coarse.

Cost: $20 for food, $4 for wine = $24

Thursday: Mexican Green Rice with 2014 La Granja Blanco Rioja

Food Details: Jalapeño chicken sausages, sauteed onions and Bayless' "Mexican Red Rice" made with freezer roasted tomatillo salsa.

Did We Like It? Easy weeknight food when you simply want a big, hot bowl of Mexican flavors. And a vehicle to eat sour cream without simply opening up the tub of sour cream and eating it with a spoon.

How Was The Wine? $5 Trader Joe's verdejo-viura blend. Big tropical fruit notes this time, with a fine snappy finish.

And The Pairing? Good. Enough.

Cost: $6 for food, $5 for wine = $11

Wednesday: French Pizzas and Walnut Oil-ed Arugula with NV La Granja Brut Cava

Food Details: A Trader Joe's feast. TJ's French pizzas with ham and gruyère. Arugula salad dressed with walnut oil, roasted garlic, grainy mustard, evoo and white balsamic. Slice of pizza, top with salad, eat.

Did We Like It? What the hell? After a lazy day and Five Guys for lunch, easy food was in order. This was easy food and oddly great food. Something about the walnut oil jazzed this up to something delicious with flavors jumping everywhere.

How Was The Wine? Cheap Cava (70% xarel·lo, 30% parellada) and usually cheap lunch bubbles that tastes like cheap wine from vacation. Nothing special, ever, but here...

And The Pairing? Best it's ever tasted in this house. The sweetness of its fruit bloomed - bright and clean and Spanishy - with a very nice nut-pit note on its finish with every bite and sip. This was a cheap, easy, whipped together dinner and it turned into something so much more.

Cost: $10 for food, $8 for wine = $18      

Tuesday: Sumac Poussins and Braised Endive with 2014 Alloy Wine Works Grenache Rosé Central Coast

Food Details: Ottolenghi sumac-ed baby chickens (sumac, garlic, allspice, salt marinade), stuffed with Carolina Gold rice and barley (instead of bulgur), ground lamb, allspice, cinnamon, pine nuts, almonds, etc. Birds then roasted. Endive braised and roasted under the baby chickens. Yogurt to dip and dunk.

Did We Like It? We did, well enough. It had all the Ottolenghi flavors we like. Great bird meat and stuffing, and with a dip of yogurt, it reached all the basic heights of what makes Ottolenghi food our first food love. Felt like something was...half-missing here, though.

How Was The Wine? Grenache in the can from Field Recordings. We've been over this. It's nothing serious or thought-provoking, just VERY sunny strawberry and guava notes with buckets of happy acid. It's ever-so slightly starting to fade from its former fresh-fresh deliciousness, but it's still more than adequate. And was here.

And The Pairing? Fine and good. At times, even delicious. In hindsight, this might have been a food opportunity for something sherry-like.

Cost: $25 for food, $16 for wine = $41  

Monday: Beef Cheek Sugo over Pappardelle with 2007 Quinta do Vallado Tinto Douro

Food Details: Beef cheeks from a couple of Tuesdays ago, mixed with soffritto, a glop of tomato paste, a spoon of cocoa powder and rosemary sprigs; deglazed with Muscadet; added San Marzano tomatoes, brick of congealed braised beef cheeks dumped in, simmered for as long as Mrs. Ney had the patience. Parsley, pecorino, pappardelle.

Did We Like It? Had a depth similar to Bolognese and a darker, winter forest, mountain food-like warmth. Great use of leftover beef cheeks here. We liked it muchly.

How Was The Wine? Our last 2007 Vallado tinto, a great vintage in the Douro. Nine years old and still drinking well. A bit sanguine, with some cocoa, burning brush and blackberries. Typical Douro flavors with a three-act play. Everything needed was present.

And The Pairing? Linked up beautifully. The cocoa in both served as the bridge, and the rest of the flavors giddily played with each other. A fine pairing.

Cost: $10 for food extras, $20 for wine = $30

365 Days Of Food And Wine: Week #30

Remember when Trump lost Iowa. Remember that? Remember the onslaught of media coverage for months, then two out of 100 registered Iowa voters voted for him?

That was awesome.

The Assassin, Hou Hsiao-Hsien's first film in eight years, might be one of the most beautiful, visceral, and perplexing films I've seen in years.

A.O. Scott releases his new book, Better Living Through Criticism, this Tuesday. Public notice.

Total food and wine cost for the week: $130 for food and $102 for wine = $232

Sunday: Choucroute Garnie with 2014 Domaine Weinbach Gewürztraminer Clos des Capucins Cuvee Theo Alsace

Source: David Leite's choucroute garnie recipe, using pork ribs and kielbasa instead of smoked pork and other wursts; Muscadet instead of beer.

Food Details: Kielbasa, pork ribs, bacon, sauerkraut, potatoes, onions, juniper berries, clove, garlic, bay, salt and pepper; all thrown in the crock pot for about five hours. TJ's baguette and Kerrygold butter.

Did We Like It? Merely fine and never reaching the point of like. Used Paulina sauerkraut instead of Boar's Head and it didn't create the sauerkraut glue between all the ingredients that this meal had last time. Everything tasted...separate instead of having that Old World, Alsatian, cold weather deliciousness. Pork ribs were tough as well. Same prep as last time, just didn't get off the ground.

How Was The Wine? It took awhile to show itself, but as it warmed/opened up, a gewürztraminer richness and floral-spicy underpinning showed its face. Lightly fruity and round, with grapefruit acid and lychee bounce. Nice enough. Probably needed a decant. Probably wouldn't buy it again.

And The Pairing? Meh. Food was there. Wine was there. Very little in the way of linkage or pairing love.

Cost: $22 for food, $30 for wine = $52  

Saturday: Lamb Salami, Broiled Feta, Arugula, Pepper Relish and Bread with 2014 Caves de Charmelieu Saint-Bris Sauvignon Blanc

Food Details: Sliced lamb salami, broiled feta, arugula, pepper relish made with roasted red peppers with preserved lemon, scallions, parsley. Pugliese bread. More pick-n-choose. Bread topped with all of said ingredients.

Did We Like It?  We LOVED it. It had everything. Creamy, broiled feta goodness, playing off the lamby salami, playing off the pepper-preserved lemon pop, playing off the arugula peppery cleanse. Had verticality. HUGE fans!

How Was The Wine? This was Greeky, and a Greeky wine would have been DE-licious here, but we didn't have any in the house. The Saint-Bris served a tick more than adequately, offering lemony cream and grassy verve. Not wow-inducing, just easy, cheap SB on the cheap.

And The Pairing? Good. Enough. Initial mild skepticism led to a general "this ain't too shabby!"

Cost: $18 for food, $10 for wine = $28  

Friday: Fenugreek-perfumed Black-Eyed Pea Curry, Naan and Raita with 2014 Domingo Molina Hermanos Torrontés Salta

Food Details: (From 660 Curries, page 321, "Fenugreek-Perfumed Black-Eyed Peas") Black-eyed peas, onion, garlic, ginger (added), peppers, tomatoes, dried fenugreek leaves, turmeric. Make the day before. It's better. Cucumber/cilantro raita and naan, to dip, dunk and cool.

Did We Like It? A fine version of this curry. Not the best version, but a good version. But a curry, with raita, with naan, with all of the back-and-forth eating that entails, led (and always leads) to a satisfying meal.

How Was The Wine/Pairing? Basic torrontés, nothing special. And nothing special here, as it drank like it was missing something in mineral form and more than its tiny wisp of floral notes. BUT had just enough goodness to think, "meh...we're good."

Cost: $7 for food, $12 for wine = $19  

Thursday: Rotisserie Chicken, Kumatoes, Salad and Bread with NV Trader Joe's Brut Rosé Sonoma County

Food Details: Mariano's rotisserie chicken, kumatoes, sweet pea salad (pea tendril-heavy), take-and-bake Italian-style batard bread and mayo. Rip, top, eat, repeat.

Did We Like It? Fine. Good. Basic version of a house classic. Should have made a white BBQ sauce.

How Was The Wine? $10 Trader Joe's sparkler, a pinot noir and pinot meunier blend, so Blanc de Noirs done in the Champagne method from Sonoma County. Rather fascinating how personality-free this drinking was. "Well, it's certainly...wine."

And The Pairing? Meh. The wine was better on its own.

Cost: $20 for food, $10 for wine = $30

Wednesday: A Quick Note

I had a work meeting. Mrs. Ney ate use-stuff-up leftovers by compiling naan pizzas with scallion cream cheese from Sunday, empanadas filling from Tuesday, almost-forgotten asparagus from the crisper and (why do we have these?) fish sticks and drank leftover fridge fié gris. What easily could have been quite depressing became an utterly delicious textural meal with a fridge wine that was so much more than that. A big surprise. Huge! [$5 in odds and ends.]

Tuesday: Flap Meat, chimichurri and Empanadas with 2011 Three Wine Co. Zinfandel Contra Costa

Food Details: Paulina Meat Market flap meat with churrasco marinade, seared medium-rare. Red chimichurri. Homemade potato and smoked cheddar empanadas (Tanis recipe). Whole Foods Asian blend salad to finish.

Did We Like It? Meat and potatoes in Latin form. We always like it. Chimichurri on the beef was nice. Chimichurri on the empanadas was boss! An all-around delicious meal.

How Was The Wine? Opened up a Pruno Ribera del Duero to start, but the chimichurri gutted it. This $13 zinfandel blend (77% zinfandel, 17% petite sirah, 4% carignan, 2% alicante borscht) from Contra Costa falls right into the Marietta/La Posta world of very affordable and very delicious table reds that we could drink by the bucket. Good fruit, impressive second act, finishes savory, and wants/loves food. What else do you need? Dark, richer fruit, zinfandel profile but never gets California-heavy, nice length, good spice, bright overall. Happy juice.

And The Pairing? No complaints in the least. Enough guts in the wine to stand up to the stronger flavors in the food, so the wine turned into another flavor on the table that felt like it was meant to go with everything. No gushing here with the pairing, just an appreciation for what it did and an appreciation for how it continued to like what was on the table to the last bite.

Cost: $24 for food, $13 for wine = $37      

Monday: Duck Confit and Dirty Rice with 2014 Broc Cellars Carignan Alexander Valley

Food Details: Whole Foods Mary's Duck Confit, crisped up in cast-iron, served with pomegranate gastrique (from this recipe). Susan Spicer wild and dirty rice, substituting tasso for ground pork, poblano for green pepper, and Carolina Gold Rice for long-grain. Broiled asparagus.

Did We Like It? Jeebus, yes! And the duck confit was a bit tough! D'Artagnan duck confit always and forever after this. Carolina Gold Rice, after shipping, is $10/lb. Ten bucks a pound...for rice. And it's worth every freaking cent. Such...grace in the rice. It's tough to describe why it's so good. It simply lifted up and broadened out all the other flavors it played with, creating a more complex, full picture of what was happening. Like the best bass player in the world...or something. Mixing in the duck confit with a drizzle of gastrique into the rice was a perfect bite. And it got all matchy-matchy with the wine.

How Was The Wine? Broc...being...Broc. Perfect here. Sneaky depth, spice and length for a wine that initially comes off as a light, fruity, floral quaffer. It shows itself first as a simple little number, then it shows just how deep, complex and interesting it really is. Raspberry, wild burning herbs, wonderfully broad and generous. We love mostly verything Broc makes. But we love his carignan the most.

And The Pairing? This is where it shined. The Broc dug into the dirty rice and became so much more complete and wide and pairing-perfect. This wine needs food. This food served it oh-so well.

Cost: $34 for food, $27 for wine = $61