Kitchen Day

The weather is crappy this weekend but, I don't mind. It's giving me a chance to do something I haven't done in a long time--spend the day cooking. Yesterday I baked gluten-free banana bread, and apple-crisp. In case you're wondering what the point of gluten-free banana bread is, let me tell you, it's delicious. I also cut the sugar in the recipe with xylitol so we can eat it completely guilt free. I got the recipe from the Bob's Red Mill GF Mix package. The weird thing is, their website has a different recipe posted, so I'll post the one I used at the end.

Some of the ingredients I like to use are more expensive than regular grocery store items and with the rising cost of food, it can be hard to justify the upgrade to organic or additive-free alternatives. The way I look at it is prices are rising one way or the other, and I'd rather channel that extra money I'm paying toward supporting a more sustainable and healthy way of producing food than to support an un-environmental food distribution system. We're already paying a lot more for food thanks to rising transportation costs, so whenever possible, we can change the paradigm by buying more fresh local produce and maybe even cutting back a bit on processed food which is often actually more expensive when you consider the nutrition you're getting.

Yesterday, was also a good day for watching cooking shows. I was inspired by Lidia Bastianich who was making focaccia with her grandsons (she's such a good Grandma!) and José Andrés who was sipping Alberino and sampling fresh mussels. For lunch, I made a wonderful Tuscan-style cannenelli dish with sautéed diced nitrate-free fruitwood smoked BACON, diced red pepper, grated carrot, chopped garlic, ground sage, and a can of drained and rinsed cannenelli seasoned with paprika, sea salt, fresh parmesan and plenty of fresh extra virgin olive oil. My favorite Olive Oil available here locally is Paesano from Sicily. Of course, I've yet to try Spanish olive oil, and I hope to visit some day so I can try it... I also made a focaccia last night to go with some pesto stuffed lasagna.

I had a lot of leftover Béchamel from my mid-week butternut squash lasagna that I cooked for visiting family. So, I used some of it for the pesto stuffed lasagna (I threw grated cheese into the rest of the sauce and made macaroni and cheese). My downstairs neighbor is a proud Italian father and cook. He introduced me to a different way of preparing lasagna. Rather than laying out the lasagna in layers, he stuffs and rolls the individual noodles cannoli style. I had some wilting basil and a tub of non-fat cottage cheese laying around so, I made a pesto filling with it and rolled it up into four leftover lasagna noodles. You know; those four noodles that are always left because a pound of lasagna never actually fits into a 9x13 dish?

By the way, try that butternut squash lasagna recipe sometime--it's a fantastic Fall recipe (just beware the leftover Béchamel and four noodles). It's a lot of work, but you can spread it out over two days if necessary. We served it with some simple tossed greens and zucchini and summer squash cut lengthwise, marinaded in olive oil, balsamic, and tarragon, and grilled up on the old GFG (George Forman Grill). Delish.

But, what about the wine? Oh...right... Here is a little rundown of our food and wine pairings this week:

Bruschetta topped with chive chevre & caramelized onions:
Jewell Towne Vineyards Alden 2005


Butternut Squash Lasagna:
Bartholomew Park Merlot 2005


Pesto (stuffed) Lasagna:
Rijckaert Pouilly-Fuisse 2006

Bob's Red Mill GF Banana Bread

1/3 C. Canola Oil
2/3 C. Packed brown sugar
2 Large eggs
1 t. Vanilla extract
1 3/4 C. Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose GF Baking Flour
2 t. Baking powder
1 1/4 t. Cinnamon
1 t. Xanthan gum
1/2 t. Salt
1 1/2 C Mashed ripe bananas
1/2 C. Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 9x5 inch loaf pan. Cream together oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in large bowl. Add flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking powder and cinnamon mixture to egg mixture, alternating with bananas. Beat until smooth. Add walnuts. Transfer to pan. Bake for 1 hour.

Dill-Licious Flavors of Spring!

I was attracted by a display of all things green in the produce section the other day. As my eye wandered over fleshy green mounds of swiss chard and collard greens, my nose caught the pungent and bright aroma of something wonderful and herbaceous. It was dill: Piles of lacey dew-laden bunches of tangy dill beckoning me from three feet. "What would I do with d-" oh screw it. I'm not leaving without some of this stuff.

What to do with Dill
Cucumbers are famously well-paired with dill. So, of course, I made some tzatziki (recipe follows) but, really when you have fresh dill in the house, dill goes with just about anything.

We had some chicken thighs with a side of purple/red potatoes dressed with a little butter, sea salt, a squeeze of lemon juice, and a healthy dose of dill. Fresh dill is very mild yet tangy which makes it great with anything that you would season with lemon such as fish, like salmon.

When it comes to wine pairings, I don't think you have to be timid. We aren't talking about pickles here. I think most whites would do. Why not try an Alsace Riesling such as Domaine Zind-Humbrecht? The brightness of the wine and the dill play off eachother and heighten the citrus notes of orange in the wine and the green notes in the dill. So go ahead: Dill out!


2005 Domaine Zind-Humbrecht
Alsace Riesling
Aromas: apple, butter, vanilla, lychee
Flavors: citrus, sweet apple, mineral

Tzatziki
1/2 C of good Greek Yogurt (if you have to use sub-par greek yogurt, you're going to want to drain it in cheese cloth overnight to get rid of the excess moisture)
about 1/2 a cucumber grated (drained on paper towel for 1-2 hours)
1-2 cloves of roasted garlic, minced
dash of ground thyme
pinch of sea salt
1.5 T fresh finely chopped dill
1/2 t olive oil
serves: 2-3

Greek Wine and Kebobs

Taster A and I were out and about just before supper time and knowing there was nothing in the house, popped into a local market to grab some chicken. What we found in addition to the chicken was some decent looking leg of lamb for a reasonable price so we decided to take a chance.

It turned out to be a good gamble. Taster A who is a little more familiar with cooking lamb than I, cut the meat into cubes, along with some red bell pepper, and Vidalia onions. He didn’t season the meat at all—just put it under the broiler for roughly 12 minutes (I think everyone has to play around with timing in their own broiler). Once the kebobs came out, and this is the genius part, he brushed the kebobs with a paste of olive oil and zhatar. For our side dish, he toasted some whole fennel, cardamom and cumin and we made some basmati rice with the spices, some olive oil, and a little bell pepper and sea salt.



I had opened up our Loire red because I wanted to get it going so I would have a couple of days to evaluate it before Wine Blogging Wednesday #44 but, it wasn’t working for us. So at the last minute I said “Hey! Let’s open up that Nemea wine!” I said that because I couldn’t remember how to pronounce Argiorghitiko (Ah-yor-yee-tiko) right at that moment. What could be better with North African style shish kebobs than a Greek wine? It was a fantastic meal.


‘ACHAIA’ CLAUSS
Nemea

Varietal: Agiorgitiko (also agiorghitiko)
Vintage: 2003
Alcohol: 12%
Price: $10.99



Color: Ruby Red
Intensity: Medium
Aromas: Apricot, prunes, fig, baklava, lemon blossom, olives, sage
Flavors: Apricot, strawberry, rosemary, chalky
Body: Light
Sweetness: Off-dry
Acidity: Moderate
Finish: Moderate

Summary: This wine is just so Greek, which is just so good when you’re freezing and severely lacking in the tan department in New England. It stood up well to the exotic spices in our rice, and even seemed sweeter than it is with our meal. It was like a built-in dessert: Baklava and galaxy burrito all rolled up into one. Don’t let me scare you off, it’s not a sweet wine, the meal just brought out more of the richer fruit characteristics in the wine.

Bonterra Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc 2006

Tonight I got home late from work and needed to put something together fast for dinner. In the refrigerator there were some chicken thighs, carrots, a big sweet onion and a half cup of Pinot Grigio. I removed the skin from the thighs and browned them in a little olive oil. I peeled and cut up the carrots in bit sized pieces and quartered the large onion then tossed them them with the chicken. Then the Pinot Grigio was added and the pot was covered. For this dish, I left the onion in quarter slices to cook until tender.

Now what do I have that will go with this? Let's see, Sangiovese...no...Syrah...no...Chianti...no...Cab...Bonterra Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc, that will do. This wine is made from certified organic grapes, should be light, fresh, crisp with a bit of citrus and some tropical fruit flavors. Let's get this bad boy out.

Now I know how I want to spice the chicken, let's keep it savory and not hot. Marjoram, basil, fresh black pepper and thyme were added to the simmering pot. By the time this was done, I had my tasting notes written, took a quick snapshot of the wine and cooked up some noodles to perfection. Time for dinner!

The Wine
Bonterra Sauvignon Blanc 2006
52% Lake County
48% Mendocino
Price: $10.00
Alcohol: 13.3%

Color: Straw
Intensity: Pale
Body: Light

The wine looked delightful in the glass, nice clear straw yellow color. The aromas consisted of grapefruit, litchi, kiwi, honeydew melon with some mushroom. The wine had citrus flavors of lemon and grapefruit and a hint of black pepper. The wine was crisp and fresh, semi-dry, just what you would expect. The long finish hung on with buttery pear flavors.

The broth was very sweet from the onion and carrot. The Pinot Grigio was really my friend here, providing some acid. A little sea salt and we are ready to eat. The wine paired well with my impromptu chicken. In my mind, this wine is a good table wine and a good value in its price range.

Cheap Date: Bargain Bin Zin & Wine Poached Dessert

One of our local markets has a $5 off-vintage wine bargain bucket that Taster A can't resist rummaging through. Most of these wines weren't stellar to begin with and are past their peak but, still make good cooking wines. Our most recent find was a bottle of Bogle Old Vine Zinfandel which still had a good deal of life left in it.

Occasionally I come across a recipe that calls for a bottle or two of $18 wine to be dumped into a pot or a marinade...I can't do it. This is a bottle I wouldn't have any qualms about sacrificing for poached peaches.

Unfortunately, I didn't have any peaches to hand tonight so, I made zin-poached mixed berries served over almond pancakes instead (inspired by the amaretto, and strawberries n' cream aromas/flavors in this particular bottle).

Sweet Nothings - Leftover Wine for Dessert
I recently had a glut of open Pinot Grigio to contend with. One solution was to use it as poaching liquid in the dessert pictured on the right which shall be gratuitously dubbed: Vanilla Cross My Heart Perfect Poached Pears (in exploitation of Valentine's Day). I haven't come up with a Valentine inspired name for the poached berries dessert yet...Ideas I'm toying with: Old Vine 'tine Poached Berries; Zintillating Berry Delight; but, I think I'm going to stick with the simple and direct: I Love You Zin Poached Berries (there's just no way to work the almond pancakes in there). Speaking of almond pancakes: Anybody out there looking for ways to use the almond pulp byproduct from their almond milk production? No? Well, you may be asked someday so, just in case, here is my almond pancake recipe:
1.5 T butter (or veg. oil)
1/4 C Xylitol
1 T brown sugar
1 egg
1/3 C Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Flour
1 t xanthum gum
1 t baking powder
pinch fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 C almond pulp (from almond milk production)
1/3 C almond milk
1/2 t sea salt
1/4 t almond extract
sliced almonds for garnish

Combine flour, xanthum gum, baking powder, and sea salt. In separate bowl, cream butter, sugar, egg, and almond extract. Mix almond milk into almond pulp to form dense batter consistency. Add half flour mixture to wet mixture, alternating with half of almond paste mixture. Stir until mixed. Add more milk if necessary. Texture will be like muffin batter.

Heat griddle and add 1 t butter or oil. Spoon out pancake batter and place several sliced almonds over top. Cover and let cook on low (about 4 min.) Flip with spatula and cook other side for about 3 minutes or until done. Top with zin-poached berries (frozen berries, zinfandel, sugar or xylitol). Makes 4 pancakes.

Weekend Wino-ers: Merlot-quacious!

Okay. Everybody whose wine-buying habits weren't affected by the opinions of Paul Giamatti's character in Sideways, hats off to you. The rest of us: Let’s not beat ourselves up about it. Maybe we were naïve; maybe the times made it seem right; who knows. The point is, we can change our minds. After all, it wasn’t Merlot that changed, it was us...


Taster A and I decided it was time to remind ourselves what Merlot was all about with a horizontal tasting of three Merlots from Sonoma County. We opened three very nice single-vineyard bottles, and compared them side-by-side. All had typically soft tannins, plumy nose, and subdued character. Of course, we did wind up with our favorites.

Toad Hollow
2005 Merlot Reserve
Russian River Valley
Richard McDowell Vineyard
Price: $19.99
This was the most oaky of the three but, not offensively so. Slight herbal notes of basil on the nose and bright berry fruit on the palate. The oak fell to the background once introduced to food.

Benziger
2004 Merlot
Sonoma Valley
Rose Ranch
Price: $37
Taster A found the nose disappointing but the flavor redeeming. I had sort of the opposite reaction: Found the nose pretty interesting with plum, floral, earth, and chocolate notes but, found the wine to be vapid on the palate. No acid to speak of. The palate improved with food.

Bartholomew Park
2004 Merlot (blend: 15% Cab)
Sonoma Valley
Desnudos Vineyard
Price: $32
Most interesting of the three: Refined leather and lots of floral notes on the nose; stewed plums, boysenberry, elderberry, etc. on the palate. The scent in the bottom of the glass had Taster A reminiscing of pine boards being ripped by a buzz saw.

We had a fantastic food pairing for Merlot Night: Stuffed Portobello mushrooms with scalloped potatoes and baby spinach topped with a warm bacon-Bordeaux dressing. We talked about the wine throughout dinner. Merlot definitely has some stiff competition for attention among other varietals yet it has a special character all its own: Sort of a quiet beckoning. Can you hear it calling?

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms:
2 Portobello mushrooms
3 T Olive oil
1/3 C breadcrumbs
2-3 cloves of garlic
3 T red wine
2 oz smoked Gouda
2 oz mozarella
2 t. Oregano
Sea salt to taste

Wash Portobellos and remove outer skin if desired. Pat dry. Turn on broiler and rub outside of cap with olive oil. Place on pan under broiler for about 5 minutes gill side up.
Remove pan from oven. Cut stems from caps and set aside.

Dice mushroom stems and garlic. Heat a pan on the stove and add 1 T olive oil. Add breadcrumbs, a teaspoon of oregano, and a pinch of salt. Allow breadcrumbs to brown then remove to bowl. Add another T of olive oil to pan on low-heat, add garlic, pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon more oregano. Allow garlic to sauté for a few moments, then add diced mushrooms and toss. Pour about 3 T red wine over the mixture, cover and let cook until tender (about 4 min). When wine has reduced remove to bowl. Add about half the breadcrumbs and mix. Place one half of mixture onto each Portobello cap. Top with half Gouda / half mozzarella and remaining breadcrumbs. (Smoked Gouda is a good accompaniment Merlot but, can be too strong. Cutting it with a mild cheese like mozzarella will help keep the flavors from overwhelming the wine)
Bake at 400 for about 15 minutes or until top is melted.

Green Salads and Wine

Vinegar can compete with wine. It’s been a problem for me all my life, getting through the salad course so I could enjoy my wine with my meal. Rule: If you are going to serve a salad with a wonderful vinaigrette, simply do not serve a wine with the salad course. That is all there is to it. Or try a dry German Riesling with you salad course. It will work with many good dressings.

Here are two dressings that will help with the problem if you use good quality white wine vinegar. You can give your wine a chance to stand up to a dressing if you include the wine in the dressing. These are for your favorite green salad. Shown above is a salad Taster-B made with spinach, feta and quince.

White Wine Vinaigrette
3/4 cup of dry white wine
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup wine vinegar
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
Fresh ground black pepper and sea salt, to taste.

Blend together and store in a covered jar in the refrigerator.

Fennel and Wine dressing
Here is a dressing that I have been experimenting with. I like the Sauvignon Blank because of the bright citrus notes.

3/4 cup of Sauvignon Blank
1/2 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tablespoons of fennel seed ground in a mortar and pestle
1 teaspoon of dry mustard
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of honey to taste
Sea salt to taste

This works well if you prepare the dressing ahead of time. I like to freshly grind the fennel seeds to a fine powder. I place all into a mason jar with a lid and shake it until it emulsifies. If you have the patience to clean your blender, this works better. Refrigerate overnight to let the fennel do its magic or use straight away.

Magic Food, Sometimes you have to Pull a Rabbit out of a Hat.

No, I’m not making hasenpfeffer, it is late, there is next to nothing left in the pantry and I’m hungry. Taster B is coming home from work at 7:30 and although she doesn’t expect dinner, I like to let her know I’m thinking of her.

So there I was, standing in front of the fridge for 5 minutes thinking, "I have nothing to work with". The pantry was missing the emergency tomato sauce. That saved my butt last night. I pride myself on always being able to pull a rabbit out of my hat when it came to matters in the kitchen, but I was ready to give up and to run up to the corner for a pizza. (Oh, that bottle of Super Tuscan is starting to sound good.)

Then out of the corner of my eye, I spied a bottle with a bit of white wine. I’m SAVED! I grabbed two carrots, a handful of kale, two medium onions, two sticks of celery, a finger of ginger, some fresh parsley and got to work.

The vegetables were rough-chopped and put into a five quart pan, covered with water and the remains of two bottles of white wine saved for cooking. This made about two or three cups of wine. The kale is cut fairly fine in long strips. The onions were caramelized in a frying pan with some olive oil and two cloves of garlic while the other vegetables were boiling like mad in the stock pot to which I added some marjoram, rosemary, a half of teaspoon of cayenne pepper, ground black pepper, sea salt, a big cube of peeled ginger, and dill.

I had some frozen gnocci that we bought from a local Italian deli. Oh, this is going to be good.

Cook the veggies until they are done (I mean really done). I let this boil hard, covered for 20 minutes. Usually, I’ll simmer for a couple of hours. Your vegetable stock should be ready now with the color extracted from the kale and carrots. Remove the vegetables (most would have you pitch the veggies because you just want the flavor--I’m going to put some rice vinegar on them and serve them as a salad tomorrow).

Now bring the stock back to a boil and put the gnocci in and cook for five to seven minutes. Oh, this came out perfect. The white wine gave it a citrus flavor, with the ginger in the background and slight taste of cayenne.

Pair it with a New York State Chardonnay and you’ve got a gourmet meal. Save a little for the photo props and you have your snack set aside for later. I'll talk about the Lamoreaux Landing Chardonnay in the near future.

Does Wine Make You Fat?

For anyone thinking "yes, if you drink it with cheesecake" I want you to know that was a lowfat cheesecake featured in Taster A's previous post, and it was damn good if I do say so myself. I am not posting the recipe because it's an America's Test Kitchen recipe (slightly altered) and you can get it there. I just replaced some sugar with xylitol and used really good Greek yogurt instead of standard yogurt. I also used ricotta instead of cottage cheese.

Anyway, for me, I'm afraid the answer is yes: Wine does make me fat. I know there are a lot of articles out there that tout the health benefits of wine which I can't deny. And certainly compared to the average American diet, a Mediterranean diet rich in good fats, and antioxidants from olive oil and wine is a heck of a lot better for maintaining your weight than fast food and hard liquor. Sadly for me, if I add one glass of red wine per day to my diet, I gain weight. Taster A is the opposite (lucky duck!) which corroborates with findings from a study published in the Journal of the American College of Medicine1 which concluded the addition of two glasses of red wine to the evening meal does not appear to influence any measured variable which may adversely affect body weight or promote the development of obesity.

However, there is research to back up my personal observation: In an article published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition2, the researchers concluded that moderate alcohol consumption in the form of red wine and other beverages is associated with beneficial changes in blood lipids and fibrinogen that may help to reduce the CV risk factors, but that the body weight may increase.

The most notable difference between these studies being that the first referenced was conducted entirely on male subjects, and the second was done with a mix of genders with the majority being female. So in conclusion, I will continue to enjoy a glass of wine on the weekends but I may not post Tasting Notes as prolifically as I would like. The good news is wine does make my cheeks nice and rosy.

1. Cordain, L, et al. "Influence of moderate daily wine consumption on body weight regulation and metabolism in healthy free-living males." Journal Of The American College Of Nutrition 16.2 (Apr. 1997): 134-139. MEDLINE with Full Text. EBSCO.

2. Hansen, A S, et al. "Effect of red wine and red grape extract on blood lipids, haemostatic factors, and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease." European Journal Of Clinical Nutrition 59.3 (Mar. 2005): 449-455. MEDLINE with Full Text.