Family, friends, food, wine, repeat – what’s not to like about the holiday season?! I figured I should slam up an unfocused post during the holidays. Unfocused because 1] I am successfully in holiday mode and 2] there are a myriad of food prep duties and social occasions speckling my days. This year’s Christmas dinner menu: Oven-dried tomato with goat … Read More
Indian Summer Al Fresco
I’ve needed a night like this for a long time. A quiet night to enjoy some food, some wine, some company, and some lovely weather. An evening to sip a rosé in the heat, grill some food over a wood fire, and watch the moon come up by the warmth of the fire and with a nice Pommard. An evening … Read More
Meat-versification
A recent commitment to myself has been to diversify the meats I cook and serve, as the ready supply of game makes the menu around here a little…game-centric. When was the last time I served duck for example? Last Christmas – afterwhich I barfed my guts out all night with the flu. Which may explain that one. But that’s not … Read More
Grandpa Beans
My great grandparents on my mom’s dad’s side were from Vendée [France], where ‘Mogettes de Vendées’ – a well respected French white bean – are grown. [The ‘well respected’ Tarbais bean was recently spotted at $45/kg locally]. My grandfather grew up eating beans, and fed them to his kids, and his grandkids. He makes them, to this day, at the … Read More
4 Garden-Inspired-Courses and a Guest
garden lettuce w belle farms olive oil and riesling vinegar vinaigrette soup: garden beets, lovage, chard, carrot, red onion, parsley herbes de provence roast chicken with garden kennebec, norland and yukon gold quickie moelleux with quickie garden raspberry jam The Wines:2007 Chateau de Lancyre Rose, Luberon France [88-91 pts]2003 Chateau de Carles, Fronsac, France [91-93 pts]
Pot Stickers
Yum. Oh, don’t think I made them from scratch. Frozen, in a bag, from my fav local asian supergrocer. Still yum though.
Roasted Pepper Linguine
I’ve been on a bit of a red pepper kick lately. And on a bit of a pasta kick as well. For some reason, when the days start getting longer, I tend to shift from the fall’s meat-and-potato heavy menus to lots of pastas for some reason. Hence the dish. To be quite honest, it was…plain. Luckily, my wife and … Read More
Fish N Chips: Northern Pike
It’s good to have ‘sources’. Today, a whole 8 lb Northern Pike found its way into my kitchen. After much gutting, skinning, and deboning [boning being the correct term, but deboning sounds less vulgar, no?], I had a good platter full of fresh fish to play with. And a copious collection of veg oil that I didn’t want to bring … Read More
Tastiest Chicken I’ve Made. Period.
Yes, a lofty and potentially deluded claim. I buy chickens whole and do whatever we feel like with the parts, using the rest for stock. I don’t know if this was a particularly tasty bird. Was it ‘finished’ well at the farm? Was I just really hungry? Not sure. But I’m gonna write this one down to try it again. … Read More
Chicken Stew
I forgive your shock for actually seeing a new post up here. I’ve been negligent. I’ve been consumed by real estate sales, purchases, kitchen design, and work. Life happens. And food and wine continue to happen in between, but sometimes you lack the time to post about it. Such is life. Tonight’s dinner was a simple chicken stew. Nothing fancy. … Read More