Archive for October, 2008

October 29th, 2008

North Willamette Valley - Part 1

pinotsmaller.jpgWe recently had the chance to do an afternoon of wine tasting in the North Willamette Valley with Kelly and Brian. We barely had the time to scratch the “surface,” but I have to say, of the four wineries we visited, I was totally impressed. This is Pinot Noir country!

About 275 wineries do business here in this 100 mile long valley, with six sub-appellations, each offering its own microclimate. Accomodations can be moderately priced and the restaurant dining is excellent and I would encourage everyone to make this a destination. Life is casual in this country.

To celebrate our find, we invited friends to join us at Lake Powell last weekend for an informal pinot noir tasting of three of the many pinots we bought on that trip.

1. We started with the 2006 Elk Cove Vineyards Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. Wine & Spirits rated this wine a 91. I was totally pleased with this wine. Ripe when poured and gathering focus with air it had plenty of plum flavors on the palate. Really, really good.

2. Next we opened the 2005 Duck Pond Jory Cuvee Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley. This is the first reserve style Pinot Noir Duck Pond has produced in almost 10 years. Plenty of cherry with rose petal and cedar aromas; nicely balanced with flavors of raspberries, cherries and cinnamon (?), medium body, silky tannins. This was our friends’ favorite as it reminded them most of the Pinot Noir of which they were most familiar.

3. Last , but not least, we opened the Sokol Blosser 2006 Dundee Hills Pinot Noir. In my opinion, this is a bigger wine, more full bodied, than the other two. Concentrated, elegant, and with plenty of intense black cherry and berry, mocha and some earthiness, Sokol Blosser states that this wine “should age well and develop additional complexity for at least the next five to ten years.” I agree. To drink now, give this wine some air. We are going to cellar our remaining three bottles for a later time. I suspect that this wine may prove to be my personal favorite of the three - primarily because I enjoy a fuller bodied and more complex wine.

All three wines were excellent. I cannot pick a favorite and any choice may well depend primarily on the pairing.

Posted By: Dan |  Filed Under: Red  |  4 Comments  |  Permalink

October 27th, 2008

Roasted Red Pepper Turkey Burgers with Chevre

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I must have an obsession for all-things roasted. That, and goat cheese. Because here is another recipe that has something roasted—in this case red peppers—being combined with chevre. Ah. Heaven, isn’t it? Roasty meets tangy. Mmmhmm. But I digress. Another cool thing about these turkey burgers is they are served on English muffins. I admittedly swiped that idea from another food blogger, but—darn it!—I can’t remember which one. In searching, I found a lot of burger on English muffin recipes, but not the site I was looking for. Ah well. When I run across the site, I’ll update this post and give credit where credit is due.

You shouldn’t be afraid to make patties out of turkey burger. I know they can turn out dry and crumbly, but if you add back some healthy fat, such as olive oil, they hold together just fine. An egg will help, too, but I don’t always use one. In this recipe, I use a combination of olive oil, spices, and diced roasted red peppers in my patties. A bit of chevre spread on toasted English muffins, roasted red pepper strips, and baby greens complete the meal. Simple, healthy, and (kind of) elegant.

Ingredients:

1 lb. turkey burger
4 English muffins
1 jar roasted red peppers
chevre
baby greens
olive oil
garlic powder
basil
marjoram
salt
black pepper
egg (optional)

Guidelines:

Light your grill.

With your hands, combine a couple tablespoons olive oil, a couple shakes of garlic powder, basil, and marjoram, a pinch of salt, a couple grinds of black pepper, several tablespoons of diced roasted red peppers, and the turkey burger. (And the egg, if you choose to use.)

Divide the mixture into four equal portions. Place on preheated grill and cook until done. (To be honest, I let my husband handle this part, so I don’t know the exact amount of time it takes, but, depending on the thickness of the burgers, I’d estimate it averages about 12-15 minutes total.)

Slice the remaining roasted red peppers and heat them in a pan over low heat.

Split the English muffins and toast them. Spread a light layer of chevre on each side.

Place the burger on one half of the English muffin. Top burger with roasted red pepper strips and baby greens. Place the other half of the English muffin on top and enjoy!

Posted By: Kelly |  Filed Under: Grill, Sandwiches and Burgers  |  3 Comments  |  Permalink

October 22nd, 2008

Chai Spiced Banana Muffins with Pistachios

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I like to buy bananas for snacks, but my husband and I only like them when they’re green. Once they get a few spots of brown, it’s all over. So, I’m often left with two or three overripe bananas left in the fruit bowl at the end of the week. And I always try my hardest to do something with this sickly sweet things. It’s easy to run out of fresh ideas though. I mean, really, there is only so much you can do with bananas.

I can’t even remember how I got the idea to spice up banana muffins with a chai infusion. In any event, I went through several different trial runs before deciding the recipe below was the best one. I could really taste the chai spices, but they didn’t overwhelm the banana, and vice versa. As for the pistachios, they are very mild, but once in a while, you get this jolt of pistachio taste which is wonderful. You can certainly use the traditional walnuts, or pecans or hazelnuts for that matter, if you don’t have pistachios.

The core of this recipe was borrowed from Better Homes and Gardens. I tried Joy’s, too, but the chai spice got lost in that batch.

Ingredients:

1 ¾ cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 ½ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. cloves
¼ tsp. cardamom
¼ tsp. ginger
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1 egg
½ cup milk
1 black tea bag
1/3 cup cooking oil
2 large bananas, mashed
1/3 cup pistachios, chopped

Guidelines:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

In a small saucepan, or in the microwave, heat the milk until warm but not scalding. Add the tea bag and let steep until the milk is a creamy brown color.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, and black pepper. Make a well in the center of the dry mixture.

In the center of the well, beat the egg. Add the oil and the tea infused milk. Stir all ingredients together until just moistened. Batter should be slightly lumpy.

Gently fold in the mashed bananas and pistachios. I like to leave my bananas on the chunky side, so I don’t mash mine until they look like puree, but however you like them is fine.

Grease muffin cups or line with paper baking cups. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let cool briefly, then remove muffins from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Adjust recipe for high altitude cooking.

Posted By: Kelly |  Filed Under: Breads  |  5 Comments  |  Permalink

October 15th, 2008

Open-Faced Eggplant Parmesan Sandwiches

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I was flipping through a Bon Appetit the other day and saw Mario Batali’s recipe for Chicken Parmesan. All that melted cheese and sauce and fresh herbs. Mmmmm. I like Chicken Parm just fine, but I’m really more of an eggplant girl. I do have an Eggplant Parm recipe I adore, but I wanted to mix it up a little. Since I was craving a sandwich, I thought of topping thick, crusty bread with roasted eggplant slices, cheese, and fresh herbs, but I really wanted that gooey combination of fresh mozzarella, sharp Parmesan, and marinara sauce. Why not throw them all on a slice of bread, and eat it open-faced, I thought?

I had big plans for how to prepare the eggplant. I was going to coat the slices in egg, dredge them in flour, and bread crumbs, and bake them (which I how I make my Eggplant Parmesan), but Monday night rolled around, and I’d worked a long day and dealt with too many annoying issues, and I just didn’t want the complication or goopy fingers. So, I took the easy way out and baked the eggplant slices sans bread crumb mixture. I’m glad I did. I think it would have been too much with the sandwich concept. Maybe when I’m looking for an exceptionally hearty meal, I’ll try it that way. Until then, I’ll stick with this recipe, which is mighty tasty and low-key.

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant
1 ball of fresh mozzarella
Parmesan cheese
fresh basil
marinara sauce
a loaf of thick, crusty bread
fresh ground black pepper (optional)

Guidelines:

Slice the eggplant into ½” thick slices. Working in layers, place the eggplant slices in a colander and sprinkle each layer with salt. Place a heavy bowl on top of the slices and let the eggplant sweat for 30 minutes. The salt helps break down the cell walls and remove the bitter flavor.

Heat your oven to 400 degrees.

Coat a large baking sheet with a light layer of oil. Place your eggplant slices in a single layer on the baking sheet. Using a paper towel, pat the slices dry. This will also help remove excess salt. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the slices reach the texture you like. I like mine melty, but if you prefer yours firmer, take them out early. Flip the slices halfway through baking.

While the eggplant is baking, heat your marinara sauce. You can, of course, make your own, but I tend to use Trader Joe’s Organic Marinara for nights when I’m too tired to bother.

Slice your bread and lightly toast it.

Slice your fresh mozzarella.

Grate your Parmesan cheese.

Mince a handful of fresh basil.

To assemble the sandwiches, place however many slices of bread you desire on an OVEN-PROOF plate. Top with eggplant, a heap of grated Parmesan cheese, plenty of sauce, and a slice of mozzarella. Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the mozzarella has melted to your satisfaction. Remove from oven, let cool briefly, top with fresh basil and fresh ground black pepper (optional).

Serve. Warn your dinner companions of a hot plate!

Posted By: Kelly |  Filed Under: Sandwiches and Burgers  |  5 Comments  |  Permalink

October 13th, 2008

Foodbuzz Publisher Community Launches

The time has come! Foodbuzz has officially launched its Foodie Blogger Community. I’ve been a part of Foodbuzz since February, and it’s been a wonderful experience.

Read their official press release, then click the link at the bottom and check them out!

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LAUNCH OF GLOBAL FOODBUZZ BLOGGER COMMUNITY
LEVERAGES REAL-PEOPLE, REAL-TIME POWER OF FOOD PUBLISHING

San Francisco – October 13, 2008: Foodbuzz, Inc., officially inaugurates its food blogger community with more than 1,000 blog partners, a global food blogging event and an online platform that captures the real-people, real-time power of food publishing in every corner of the world. At launch, the Foodbuzz community ranks as one of the top-10 Internet destinations for food and dining (Quantcast), with bloggers based in 45 countries and 863 cities serving up daily food content.

“Food bloggers are at the forefront of reality publishing and the dramatic growth of new media has redefined how food enthusiasts access tasty content,” said Doug Collister, Executive Vice President of Foodbuzz, Inc. “Food bloggers are the new breed of local food experts and at any minute of the day, Foodbuzz is there to help capture the immediacy of their hands-on experiences, be it a memorable restaurant meal, a trip to the farmers market, or a special home-cooked meal.”

Foodbuzz is the only online community with content created exclusively by food bloggers and rated by foodies. The site offers more than 20,000 pieces of new food and dining content weekly, including recipes, photos, blog posts, videos and restaurant reviews. Members decide the “tastiness” of each piece of content by voting and “buzz” the most popular posts to the top of the daily menu of submissions. Foodbuzz currently logs over 13 million monthly page views and over three million monthly unique visitors.

“Our goal is to be the number-one online source of quality food and dining content by promoting the talent, enthusiasm and knowledge of food bloggers around the globe,” said Ben Dehan, founder and CEO of Foodbuzz, Inc.

The Foodbuzz blogger community is growing at a rate of 40 percent per month driven by strong growth in existing partner blogs and the addition of over 100 new blogs per month. “The Foodbuzz.com Web site is like the stock of a great soup. The Web site provides the base or backbone for bloggers to interact as a community, contribute content, and have that content buzzed by their peers,” said Mr. Dehan.

Global Blogging Event

Demonstrating the talent and scope of the Foodbuzz community, 24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs offered online food enthusiasts an international, virtual street festival of food and diversity. The new feature showcased blog posts from 24 Foodbuzz partner bloggers chronicling events occurring around the globe during a 24 hour period and included:
• Mid-Autumn Festival Banquest (New York, NY)
• The “Found on Foodbuzz” 24-Item Tasting Menu (San Francisco, CA)
• Aussie BBQ Bonanza – Celebrating Diversity (Sydney, Australia)
• The Four Corners of Carolina BBQ Road Trip (Charleston, SC)
• Criminal Tastes – An Illegal Supper (Crested Butte, CO)
• From Matambre to Empanadas: An Argentine Dinner (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
• A Sweet Trompe l’oeil (Seattle, WA)

“24 Meals, 24 Hours, 24 Blogs” captures the quality and unique local perspective of our food bloggers and shared it with the world,” said Ryan Stern, Director of the Foodbuzz Publisher Community. “It illustrates exactly what the future of food publishing is all about – real food, experienced by real people, shared real-time.”

About Foodbuzz, Inc.
Based in San Francisco, Foodbuzz, Inc., launched its beta Web site, foodbuzz.com, in 2007. In less than a year, Fooduzz.com and its community of over 1,000 exclusive partner food blogs have grown into an extended online property that reaches more than three million users.

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Visit Foodbuzz

Posted By: Kelly |  Filed Under: News  |  No Comments  |  Permalink