What's Cooking (Take Three!)

So, things in the crisper, where to go. Thinking salad.

Sliced an eggplant and chargrilled
Charred red and green peppers
chargrillsd halved onions and tomatoes

Okay ratatouille was born. Cut veg in chunks and added to heaps of olive oil with garlic seething away. Heavy on the seasoning.
Grilled sour dough bread.

Yum

[Robin Garr]

Sounds amazing, Barb!

Excellent! So nice to have a grill always available.

Got back today from two weeks in Florida for the American Wine Society National Conference in St Pete Beach. No food in house but we don't fancy eating out tonight after two weeks of restaurants so walked to Marks & Spencer's to get stuff for a simple meal.

Grilled (broiled) Cumberland Sausages with tomato wedges* baked in oven served on toasted granary bread.

*Large, ox-heart type quartered and then into eighths, dribbled with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs.

[Jenise]

Excellent! So nice to have a grill always available.

I'm in Hawaii, renting a very upscale condo. When we cone here, we plan to grill fish every night. But the BBQ here is severely compromised from partially rotted burners. They could replace it (its an inexpensive Charbroil) for half the cost of one day's stay here.
But no....

Got back today from two weeks in Florida for the American Wine Society National Conference in St Pete Beach.

Oh, that sounds intriguing. Would you say what transpired? Why did you attend?

Got back today from two weeks in Florida for the American Wine Society National Conference in St Pete Beach.

Oh, that sounds intriguing. Would you say what transpired? Why did you attend?

It's 2.5 days of wine, starting on Thursday evening with a big buffet with wine, this year sponsored by Rhone Rangers, then Friday starts at 07:30 with a sparkling breakfast - this year two with Champagnes.

Friday and Saturday there are 7 sessions, each with 6 presentations that you make your choice from.

End on Saturday evening with a banquet. Lunches and dinners liberally supplied with wine. Randall Grahm (Bonny Doon) gave an enthralling illustrated talk about his life in wine, his failed attempts to make Burgundian Pinot Noir in California and his wrangling with Cigare Volante

I really enjoyed a presentation by Joel Peterson (founder of Ravenswood) with eight wines showing how old vine Zinfandel from mixed vineyards are affected by the minor varieties. Blurb:

What is the magic in California’s old vine Zinfandels? Some would argue that it’s the same element that makes these wines uniquely Californian. That element is the “mixed blacks” that support, mold and enhance the flavor and character of Zinfandel. Taken as a whole, the mélange frequently makes a more perfect wine. While there are many grape varieties that have been historically co-planted with Zinfandel, there are three that figure heavily in many old vine Zinfandel plantings. Those three are Carignane, Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouschet. Have you ever wondered exactly where these grapes came from and exactly what they add to the blend? We will explore those varieties and what each adds to the character of the wine.

We had 2 large pours of 100% Zin, then 100% Carignane, Petite Sirah and Alicante Bouschet compared with 3 Zins co-fermented with a each of them. Then a chance for us to make our own blends between the 100% Zins with the other varieties.

I was invited to present in 2012 and I have been every year since. I present in even numbered years.

Why? Have a look at this years brochure
http://americanwinesociety.org/wp-conte ... eFinal.pdf

Wow, that looks like a great event. (And Florida in November, to boot.)

The two talks that you describe sound very interesting. I'd have to read the list again but I would also be curious about the one discussing tempranillo plantings in the US Northwest.

May I safely assume that your presentation concerned pinotage?

Thank you for sharing the brochure. I had never heard of AWS before.

Wow, that looks like a great event. (And Florida in November, to boot.)

It was! And Florida, oh yes! Non-stop flight to Tampa warmth from London. Last year was the cold of Buffalo, NY

t I would also be curious about the one discussing tempranillo plantings in the US Northwest.

Me too, but I couldn't get in that one. You choose 1st, 2nd, & 3rd choices. I got 1st choice of five, 2nd choice in one and 3rd in one. Tempranillo was my first choice but computer said no.. Conference was oversubscribed.

May I safely assume that your presentation concerned pinotage?

I've done sessions on Pinotage, Chenin, South African white & red blends and wine labels

I had never heard of AWS before.

There are chapters across the USA

[Jenise]

Interesting indeed. And tempranillo is def gaining a foothold here. Even our most heralded winery, Cayuse, make one.

[Jenise]

Last night we had opakapaka, fresh off the boat, with lime butter on broken jade rice with stir fried bok choy and green onions. Fantastic! Night before it was monchong (pomfret). This morning I'm hoping the fisherman brings in ono (wahoo), and we're making tacos. We've had opa and blue marlin too. Nothing but fresh fish!

2 qt size would be fine. This isn't a large recipe. Interesting to contemplate an oval--I once tried some cool square ramekins I have, and it was a rather funny disaster--the egg just didn't know how to climb from the corners. I've only ever done round since.

Inspired by you, I made a plain souffle recipe (6 eggs) in my oval 2.75 qt Le Creuset. The batter only filled it halfway and the souffle did not rise above the rim, perhaps because I hand-beat the whites so they went in at soft peak instead of firm peak (because my arm was tired). Still the texture was good so I'm encouraged to try again... with more flavors!

souffle_sm.jpg

[Jenise]

Nice! Is that your first souffle ever?

Tonight's our last night here. Which also means ma last dinner. Tonight's menu (all seafood caught this morning):

blue corn-sesame chip topped with guacamole, seared ahi and ligtly pickled fresh jalapeno

island greens, basil and cucumber, ginger tahini vinaigrette

pan-grilled wahoo on spinach tagliatelle topped with coconut-basil pesto and blistered tomatoes,
2015 Domaine Serene Evanstadt Reserve PN

After that, the fridge will be empty but for tomorrow morning's fruit.

Inspired by you, I made a plain souffle recipe (6 eggs) in my oval 2.75 qt Le Creuset. The batter only filled it halfway and the souffle did not rise above the rim...

Looks pretty good. As far as I'm concerned, even if souffle is not perfect it's still tasty. Eggs, cheese, milk, hard to go wrong.

Nice! Is that your first souffle ever?

I have another recipe from earlier but I think this may be the first time I made it.

Eggs, cheese, milk, hard to go wrong.

Indeed!

Tonight I'll be making either Sichuan stir-fried minced pork and hot peppers, or Shanghai red-cooked chicken.

-Paul W.

Tonight I’m doing a souvlaki, or the Aussie interpretation thereof.
Grilled lamb, tomato, lettuce, garlic yoghurt, cucumber, in a warm pita bread.

[Jenise]

Home now, and that's an end to the spectacular fresh fish. Had a great time cooking it and had some really neat cooking discoveries while trying to produce great variety without investing in a whole new pantry worth of other things as well as feed my brother who is on an anti-cancer (no sugar, no dairy) diet. My two favorite innovations? 1) Diluting Costco's excellent fresh pesto with coconut milk to make an elegant sauce for ono on spinach linguine with blistered grape tomatoes. It was divinely good in and of itself as well as a non-dairy substitute I'll definitely use more of in the future. And 2) using a Dukkah I'd brought along (for bread dipping that never happened) to crust a pan-seared ahi block. Slices of the very rare ahi were layered with garlicky guacamole on blue corn-sesame tortilla chips and topped with a 'caviar' of finely diced jalapeno and onion lightly dressed with lime juice.

[Jenise]

Lunch just now was marinated edamame beans stuffed in a half avocado, followed by a small apple. Dinner's going to be a locally made beef-potato sausage, Polish or Russian in origins I believe, grilled for color then braised with cabbage and carrots. OR served on spaetzle, haven't decided which. Very brothy, so though hearty it feels light. Perfect rainy November food.

Frosty, freezy November day here. 60*F yesterday afternoon going down to 26*F tonight. It never did rain on me but I was hit with a handful of hail coming out of the pizza joint. (What the hail was doing in my pizza joint, I'll never know. }:['

It’s cold and windy and rainy here too! Typical spring weather however.
I was going to have steak frites, having a nice eye fillet steak to hand, but decided to go mad with the spuds. So,hoiked out the mandoline thinly sliced spuds and onions and with cream needing using up et voila a nice potato bake, something I’ll be happy to eat tomorrow as well.

Yum!

Ratatouille tonight.

-Paul W.

[Jenise]

Ratatouille tonight.

-Paul W.

That's what I should be eating. I ate dim sum yesterday (it was, circumstantially, my only meal so for sure I know it's the dim sum) and today I've got some gout going on. Had a problem in Hawaii last week--called my doc on the mainland to get some Pred and confessed "too much Charlie Tuna". We had literally been eating fish three times a day, including ahi poke at breakfast, and the day before we'd had a lot of shrimp at lunch. Next day, our fifth in Hawaii and eating this way, and BOOM. I don't take a daily med for it because by and large my style of eating seems to keep me fine--I haven't had an attack in two years--but it's disconcerting nonetheless to realize how thin the band of tolerance apparently is. Doesn't take much to put me over the edge, apparently.

But I'm having guests over to work on the big neighborhood Christmas dinner. The goal is to teach and strategize with two members of my staff. So tonight will be roast pork with a black truffle stuffing after a salad of butter lettuce wilted under a warm mushroom dressing and before an apple pie. I had thought I'd buy some shrimp this morning to make an snack/appie out of for tonight but in light of this morning's events, no not that!