Archive for June, 2008

Kung Fu Girl… another screwtop

kungfugirl.jpg This Charles Smith 2007 Riesling from Washington State, Kung Fu Girl, is a great budget Riesling. With Asian pear, white peach and flowery tones on the nose and a palate of apricot, pear, a little citrus and some minerality in this off-dry Riesling, this wine combines just enough sweetness for an enjoyable summer wine. It definitely is not as acidic as those from Germany or France.

This wine pairs well with Asian food - and not because of the “name.” It makes a great picnic or camping wine because of the ease of the screwtop. It makes a great first course wine for informal get-togethers. Or, try it with a simple brunch or summer day lunch.

Shown here with seared tuna on a bed of spinach, bean sprouts and pineapple and topped with a soy, lime, ginger, and cilantro dressing and garnished with green onion tops, the combination was a wonderful warm summer evening meal out on the patio.

Screwtop Wines

prodigal.jpgfor camping and picnicing.

I was perusing my local liqour store a few weeks ago in anticipation of a boat camping trip and found the Big House wine display. I promptly bought several bottles, all with screw tops, and once camping I realized just how convenient the screw top was, not just for opening, but for saving the unfinished bottle. I have cork screws everywhere, including in our camp utensils, in the boat, in the truck, and several at home, but fumbling around with a corkscrew while reclining in a lounger isn’t always easy at the end of a long hot day at Lake Powell. Afterall, who needs any delays in getting the wine bottle open?

The “Prodigal Son” is a petite syrah from the Paso Robles area full of blackberry and smooth on the finish. Admittedly, Gloria and I like our wine while sitting back watching sunsets and before dinner but the wine would pair nicely with grilled meats, BBQ, and frankly with any red meat or well seasoned poultry.

And the labels are great, both the artwork and the descriptions.

In addition to the “Prodigal Son,” try “The Slammer” and/or the “Big House Red” (a blend of a dizzying array of reds - too many to list here).

I’ll do some short reviews of these other Big House wines in the near future - they’re all good.

Greek-Inspired Grilled Chicken and Spring Green Salad

grilledchickenspringgreensalad.jpg

I’ve been running on four hours of sleep a night for two weeks, so forgive me if I make this short and snappy. Really short and snappy. In other words, here’s the recipe. Or, to be more exact, here are the “guidelines,” as I rarely measure for recipes like this. Use your best judgment, and adjust quantities depending on persons to be served and individual tastes. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

grilled chicken breasts, sliced
dried cherries
feta cheese
Kalmata olives, halved or sliced
fresh dill
mixed baby spring greens
balsamic vinegar based salad dressing (preferably homemade; see below)
Pita chips

Guidelines:

Rub chicken breasts with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until done. Let cool, then slice thinly.

In a large bowl, toss the mixed baby spring greens, the balsamic vinegar based dressing, and the fresh dill. (I like to make my own dressing by mixing about 4 tbsp. quality aged balsamic vinegar with about 2 tbsp. of quality olive oil. Add a pinch of sugar, and some fresh ground pepper. Whisk.)

On individual serving plates, place the dressed salad greens. Top with dried cherries, feta cheese, halved or sliced Kalamata olives, and the grilled chicken slices.

Serve with Pita chips.

Project Food Blog Cook-Off: May’s Winner!

I’m a little late with this, I know. Blame my hardwood floors. We refinished two rooms in our downstairs over Memorial Day weekend, and were out of the house for a good four days. So, no cooking in my stinky Varathaned kitchen during that time. But all that’s over with now. The floors are beautiful. The kitchen in is mine.

Once again, I must say how impressed I was by all of the recipes. (For the full list, click here.) I do have a definite winner for this round though. And the winner is:

Bitchin Camero’s Basil Lime Shrimp with Plantains. Fabulous recipe, Mel!

I’m off on vacation now, so the cook-off is going into hiatus. Check back in July or August for another round.

Food Blogga’s Savory Sausage and Fennel Galette

sausagegalette.jpg

Anything that involves pastry intimidates me, but this recipe looked so tasty, I (temporarily) forgot my fears, and added it to my list for May’s Project Food Blog Cook-Off. Last Friday, I bought all of the ingredients and returned home excited to make my first ever galette. (What is a galette, you ask. Food Blogga explains. Visit her site. Link below.) I started with the pastry dough. I’ve made enough of it now that I don’t panic, but the process is still a source of anxiety. Will the butter cut in? Will I have enough ice water? Will I make a gluey mess? Luckily, the dough turned out fine, and I didn’t have any problems. I divided it in two, put each in plastic wrap, flattened them into disks. So far, so good. My problem came when I went to make the galette. The recipe says to roll the dough into a 12 inch round. But I had two disks! There was no top and bottom. Just one round. So why two? Honestly, I still don’t know. I joined the two, rolled them out, and made one galette. But see. This is why pastry freaks me out. I should know why the dough is divided. I should, but I don’t. Sigh.

The goodies that go inside the galette I can handle. Sausage, fennel, smoked cheese. Mmmm. And then there are the sundried tomatoes. I absolutely love this touch. I think I’ll add a few more the next time around. The fennel was surprisingly benign. I’ve had fennel in dishes where all you can taste is the fennel. I swore off fennel for a while after that. But here, it works just fine. The presentation is beautiful, too. I made this for supper, but I could easily imagine it for an elegant brunch.

Visit Food Blogga and get her recipe for Savory Sausage and Fennel Galette. Link here.

Raspberry Mint Smoothie

raspberrymintsmoothie.jpgIn a blender, combine:

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

½ to ¾ cup raspberry lemonade

1/3 cup ice cubes

1 tsp. honey

1 tbsp. fresh mint leaves

Blend until smooth. Pour into a tall glass and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Serving size: 1