Day # 35 – Washington State – Apples…apples and more apples!
As we near the end of our living room jaunts around the world, we found ourselves exploring Washington State. When first planning the menu, only one thing came to the forefront of our minds….apples! Alexis and I decided to plan the entire menu around apples. Every course would contain something with apples….granny smith, golden delicious, pink lady… too many to name. It’s really amazing how many different flavors you can create with one common ingredient. And the WINES…what a huge surprise! Not only were they extremely cost effective, BUT they were absolutely delicious (APPLE PUN INTENDED!)
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine #1 – Domaine Ste Michelle Brut – $7.99 at Trader Joes – Chardonnay and Pinot Noir blend
Wine #2 – Snoqualmie Sauvignon Blanc 2008 – $8.99 at BevMo! – 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Wine #3 – 14 Hands Hot To Trot Red 2008 – $7.99 at BevMo! – Syrah, Merlot, Petit Verdot, and Mourvedre
Wine #4 – Columbia Crest Vineyard 10 Red 2007 – $5.99 at BevMo! – Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Sangiovese, Grenache, Mouvedre blend
We started off toasting with the Domaine Ste Michelle Brut Sparkling wine. Apparently, this sparkler beat out Dom Perignon in a blind tasting two years in a row. For $7.99, it’s a steal! This sparkling wine is a nice balance of sweet and dry and started off our apple theme perfectly, as it has lovely “appley” aromas. This is a good go-to sparkler. In the first course, we had Apple French onion Soup (made with golden delicious apples) and Apple pizza (made with Pink lady apples.) Whoa momma!! The sparkling wine was a nice accompaniment to the various cheeses in the first two dishes. The savoriness of French onion soup with the addition of apples is an amazing combination. Next time, you want to make this French classic, add apples…trust me! The pizza was ridiculous! We used Trader Joe’s whole wheat dough, with a garlic butter base, topped with spinach, apples, light mozzarella, parmesan and goat cheese. What a surprise! The pink lady apples on the pizza have a tinge of sourness to them (like granny smith) that worked very well with the three cheeses. Absolutely stunning dish! We also opened the Sauvignon Blanc with this course. This wine was very light, “grassy”, and citrusy with floral aromas. It was an extremely mellow Sav Blanc. When Alexis first started drinking wine, she started with Snoqualmie Riesling. Since Rieslings are a bit too sweet for our taste buds now, we opted for the Sav Blanc. This was an excellent choice! It paired very well with the tanginess of the goat cheese and garlic in the pizza!
For our second course, we FINALLY made sliders. I’ve wanted to incorporate sliders into the menus for months now! Since, again, apples were the theme; we thought pork sliders would suit better….and we were right! The pork combined with plum sauce, garlic, onions and of course, apples were perfectly juicy and quite yummy! The flavors were absolutely amazing. Definitely hard to eat just one….or two. We accompanied the sliders with an apple cole slaw. WOW! Supremely light side dish and again, the sweetness of the apples in both dishes really meshed well together. With this course, we opened the 14 Hands Hot To Trot Red Blend which was surprisingly light and very fruity. It had a very silky texture and didn’t at all overwhelm the pork or cole slaw. This was a great match! If you’re looking for a tasty, every day red, look no further. We also opened the Columbia Crest Red blend. What a shocker!! You really take a gamble when you buy a wine for 6 bucks. We tasted strawberries, vanilla, caramel and a little oakiness in this wine. It was such a pleasing red and very velvety. I’d pick up a whole bunch of these at 6 bucks!
For dessert, we enjoyed Apple Dumplings. These were so good…like little apple pies! The scent of this dessert reminded us of Thanksgiving and we were truly thankful for this wonderful meal and surprisingly great, inexpensive wines! We topped off the evening with coffee. We couldn’t possibly do Washington and not have Starbucks coffee, which originated in Seattle. Excellent ending to our appley feast!
We couldn’t have been happier with the results of incorporating apples into all the Washington State dishes. It was a great success. Fall is the perfect time for apples and the local farmers markets are riddled with all sorts of different kinds of interesting apples. I’m a granny smith gal myself, but was introduced to the pink lady, which is extremely similar in flavor. The wines were a perfect match for all the dishes and very pleasant surprises. Thanksgiving was just around the corner and on this day, we took the time to be thankful for an AMAZING year filled with exciting wine and food adventures. We’ve certainly come a long way from the very beginning of 2010 and are looking forward to further explorations!
Day # 34 – Sonoma, California – FINALLY, a reflection on our journey up north!!
Yes, it has been a LONG time since the last post. We’re probably behind by two or three posts (at least), but thought it would be fun to EASE back into it with Sonoma Coast wines. Let’s see, where have we been ……… Since our last adventure “in Israel”, we explored (via my living room) Paso Robles, THEN we went on the most amazing ACTUAL trip to California’s Central Coast. We skipped a couple of weeks after that, then we headed to ACTUAL Las Vegas, where we tasted wines from New Mexico (oddly….or not.) We brought our wine tasting adventure to a dear friend’s surprise bridal shower the following week and ALAS, we squeezed in a quick Sonoma Coast Sunday before we head out again, this time to ACTUAL Philadelphia. This has been a whirlwind couple of months, but it felt so good to be cooking in my kitchen, sipping wine on the sofa and catching up on The Jersey Shore.
What we ate and what we drank:
Wine # 1 – Redcar Boxcar Syrah 2007 – $17.99 at The Wine House – 100% Syrah
Wine # 2 – Stone House Vineyards Pinot Noir Sonoma County 2007 – $14.99 at The Wine House – 100% Pinot Noir
Wine # 3 – 2006 St. Francis Winery & Vineyards Red Sonoma County – $9.99 at The Wine House – 48% Merlot, 28% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Syrah, 3% Zinfandel and 6% Mixed Blacks (Cabernet Franc, Grenache, Alicante, Malbec)
We had a modest menu today. We didn’t wasn’t to overdo it (by our standards, anyway.) We tend to get a little crazy with the menu, though it’s typically my fault. Alexis’ fault always lies in the crazy (yet supremely awesome) cheese platters. We started with a “Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli” and supplemented it with a small cheese platter. The raviolis tasted great; however, they were a little funny. By “funny”, I mean that they were not stuffed enough and stuck to each other. Minus the aesthetics of them, they were freaking delicious. Coupled with a nice pesto sauce or marinara OR even both, they were a lovely starter. Next time….don’t skimp on the filling…trust me. Alexis’ cheese plate came complete with a triple cream cheese which is quite simply the most amazing cheese in the universe. It’s so soft, ultra creamy, buttery and super yummy. Alexis also added a sheep’s milk brie, which was very creamy and delicious too. What a treat! I have a task for you……….
Step 1: Go to the cheese section at Whole Foods or your local cheese establishment. Step 2: Ask them for a triple cream cheese. Step 3: Buy it. Step 4: Try not to eat the whole thing.
With this course, we opened the Box Car Syrah. We probably should have purchased 3 of these because it was AWESOME! Box Car is made by the people who make Red Car, which I’ve had. Red Car is WAYYY out of our price range, but our new BFF at the Wine House recommended the Sonoma Box Car Syrah… and now, WE recommend it. At $17.99, it’s a reasonably priced smooth wine. I can’t even imagine how much better it would have tasted had we decanted it. It had beautiful berry, cherry, slightly oaky and peppery flavors. It was just silky and pleasurable. Step 5: BUY THIS to go with your cheese!
The triple cream cheese is on the left side of the cheese plate…mmmm!
For the second course, we kept it simple with a very lean meatloaf and twice baked potatoes. The meatloaf was made with 4% fat ground beef, prosciutto, onions, breadcrumbs soaked in Pinot Grigio and an array of herbs. This was pretty darn good. I probably would have cooked it a TAD less, given the low fat percentage in the beef, but it was still very flavorful. I thought the prosciutto would increase the salt flavor, but it didn’t taste salty at all….actually, I could have added a touch of salt. The twice baked potatoes should be called the twice MADE baked potatoes because batch number 1 was a big fat failure. I know I’ve said this before, but I’ll say it again…. If you read a recipe and the cooking time/temp doesn’t FEEL right to you, don’t listen. Trust your instincts! I basically undercooked the potatoes in batch one, ended up discarding the mess and sending my boyfriend out to Ralphs for 2 more “microwaveable” potatoes (for a quick recovery.) The results………a little dry…….. like, I-wish-I-had-a-BOWL-of-milk-to-wash-this-down-with DRY. EH, that’s what the wine is for! We opened up the Pinot Noir next. The lovely Miss Lexi made her famous “I just drank sour milk” face, at first taste. I liked it. She thought it was way too sweet…TRUE, compared to the Box Car Syrah. I can appreciate the Pinot for being a nice price and having the same qualities of a Pinot that I like…. Light bodied, cherry flavored, and oaky! We also opened the RED blend which was interesting. Once again, I liked it. It was WAY bolder and spicier than the Pinot, but still had some great fruitiness to it. Alexis liked this one better than the Pinot, but still made that sour milk face! She’s still getting used to the BIG REDS!
For dessert, we had Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes with a Vegan Chocolate Frosting. It’s not California, if you don’t do SOMETHING Vegan! Surprisingly, the cupcakes were pretty good. They were very dense……again, leaving us with a yearning for milk (soy milk, in this case.) The frosting was ODD and not awesome. The recipe called for sugar, but I think they meant confectioners’ sugar because this frosting tasted like chocolate sand. Luckily, you didn’t even need it.
Aside for watching the season finale of The Jersey Shore (insert — SNIFFLE, SNIFFLE), we also watched some footage from our Central Coast adventure. We headed up north about a month ago to film The World Sulfite Tour on location. It was so magical, but it’s definitely its own separate blog entry…when I get to it, after all this traveling. It was a lot of fun revisiting the amazing scenery, the lovely people we met, the things we learned about the harvest AND of course…the grape stomp. It will be QUITE interesting to see how the footage will be edited together. VERY interesting! 🙂
As we ventured back into our living room travels, we found that Sonoma was not too shabby. Sure, the raviolis stuck together, the twice baked potatoes were dry and the fudge frosting was sandy, but it’s all the other stuff that was great. As I said, it has been a whirlwind couple of months. I don’t think either of us expected to get into the homestretch of World Sulfite Tour 2010 with so many travel interludes. It only means one thing……….. World Sulfite Tour 2011 will have to be extra super duper special to make up for lost time. We can’t wait to share the experience we had on the Central Coast…if only to make you laugh at our Lucile Ball-style Grape Stomping skills. It’s either pretty impressive or impossibly mediocre, but undoubtedly, it was hilarious. There’s so much more to come….we might be nearing the end, but in reality, it’s only the beginning!
Day # 30 – Israel – Celebrating Rosh Hashanah and hoping for a “Sweet New Year”
Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year…..that much I knew. What I didn’t know was that a few symbolic food customs are typically applied on this day, but the one we were most excited by was the presence of apples and honey on the table! It is believed that dipping apples in honey signifies the hope of a “Sweet New Year” ahead. We both loved everything about this custom and couldn’t wait to incorporate it into our day. Who doesn’t love a New Year?? A New Year, to me, is a fresh start, a chance to create new resolutions about love, life, goals, weight loss, and anything else you want to change. Going into a New Year, you have the momentum and drive to achieve these declarations. We should have a New Year every month! So, with great joy, we’ll embrace this new day, enjoy our apples and honey, emit our inner Bubbes (“Grandmother” in Yiddish), enter the kitchen and prepare a feast to honor this extraordinary holiday!
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine # 1 –Recanati Yasmin White Israel Kosher 2006 – $11.99 at Wally Wine – 65% Emerald Riesling, 20% Sauvignon Blanc, 15% French Colombard
Wine # 2 – Recanati Chardonnay Israel Kosher 2006 – $13.99 at Wally Wine – 100% Chardonnay
Wine # 3 –Yarden “Mount Hermon” Proprietary Red Galilee 2008 – $11.99 at KL Wines – Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot Blend
Wine # 4 aka the Bridge to California – Baron Herzog Cabernet Sauvignon Jeunesse 2009 – 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
For our first course, we had Matzo Ball Soup, Potato Knishes, Alexis’ homemade Challah bread and of course, apples and honey. The Matzo Ball Soup was made from scratch. There’s not much to Matzo Ball soup, but we both really liked it. It’s just plain old broth with the matzo meal mixture (consisting of matzo meal, eggs, oil, parsley and setzer.) It was comforting. The potato knishes were so good! Also, super easy and reminded me of NY knishes, minus being deep fried! Alexis’ Challah bread was ridiculously good. It was not only beautiful to look at, but it tasted awesome. The apples and honey were indeed, a nice sweet treat to accompany this delightful meal. Now for the disappointing part…….the wine. All around, this was probably our least favorite wine experience, since the Ukraine. We opened the Recanati Yasmin White blend and the Recanati Chardonnay with this course. The white blend tasted too sweet and the flavors were all over the place. It wasn’t enjoyable at all. The Chardonnay was SUPER oaky, which I normally like, but I think it was too much. This wine was not “love at first sniff” for Alexis either. She made a face as if she just smelled two week old milk. One sip and she poured the rest in my glass, which I might have dumped down the sink. So sad!
For our second course, we had a brisket (of course), leek latkes and honey glazed carrots. The brisket was very delicious. It had a nice sweetness to it with caramelized onions and topped with a sauce of ketchup, brown sugar (and water.) The leek latkes, to me, were good. They were a little mushy. I didn’t deep fry them (probably part of the problem). I thought the flavors were there, but I can understand why they deep fry them. Alexis decided that she didn’t like leeks. I have to agree, but only because they’re so dang dirty! The honey glazed carrots were actually pretty nice. It was almost like dessert at dinner, since it had honey, brown sugar, raisins and cinnamon in it. Actually, it made me think of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, once again, we did not give thanks to the wine. The Yarden red blend was tolerable. It was almost a little too raisiny for me, but out of all the wines for the day, this one was the least offensive. We thought, as a nice added touch, we’d build a “bridge” to Californa (our next stop), by getting a Kosher California wine….TERRIBLE IDEA. It was way too sweet. We didn’t enjoy this one at all. I guess we’ll be burning that bridge and erecting a new one.
The sweetest of all, our dessert course was a “Jewish Apple Cake”. Interestingly enough, it turned out to be a Jewish Apple Honey Cake. The recipe did not call for honey, but I ran out of sugar and substituted the missing ½ cup of sugar with a ½ cup of honey. The results were fantastic! The cake was perfectly moist and delicious. Sure, it looks a little plain Jane in the pictures, but trust me, there was nothing plain about the taste! Mmmmmmmm!!
As always, we were entertained by the sweet sounds of the cast of the Jersey Shore. Oooh, the tension between Sammi and J-WOW….. Angelina and Vinnie’s scandalous hook up…… Snooki’s quest to “smoosh” the Latino guy from the club….Oy vey….it’s good!
On our day “in” Israel, celebrating Rosh Hashanah, we found that the food was pretty sweet, while the wines were not; but the inner meaning of the day was the sweetest gift of all. Brooks Atkinson once said of New Years, “Drop the last year into the silent limbo of the past. Let it go, for it was imperfect, and thank God that it can go.” Sometimes, you just need to wipe the slate clean and start anew, but in reality, you don’t necessarily need a New Year in order to do so. Any day and every day can be a chance to make a new resolution…… just wake up, make your declaration and hope that this day will be sweeter than the last! Shalom! 🙂
Day #29 – New Zealand – Popovers, more Popovers and Pavlova!
If there is one thing I could share with the world, it’s that Popovers are AWESOME! I have absolutely no idea if they really have any correlation to New Zealand, but I found the recipe on a website about New Zealand Cuisine. Prior to this day, Popovers reminded me of a Looney Toons episode where Bluebeard lifts a dome lid to uncover a pile of mini bombs on a plate and exclaims, “Mmmm… Popovers.” I do believe Bluebeard took the words right out of my mouth!
What we drank and what we ate (besides for Popovers):
Wine #1 – Mohua Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2009 – $10.99 at The Wine House – 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Wine #2 – Clifford Bay Estate Sauvignon Blanc Single Vineyard Marlborough 2009 – $8.99 at The Wine House – 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Wine #3 – Otto’s Constant Dream Sauvignon Blanc Marlborough 2009 – $10.99 at The Wine House – 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Wine #4 – Otto’s Constant Dream Pinot Noir Marlborough 2008 – $13.99 at The Wine House – 100% Pinot Noir
For our first course, we had a Chilled Cucumber Mint Soup, Moorish Eggs (interesting), Green Olive Relish and POPOVERS! We have been trying to incorporate a chilled soup into our weekly menu selections and finally found a perfect soup. It was so tasty (with mint, cilantro, lime, and Greek yogurt) and extremely light & refreshing. Perfect soup for a HOT day! Disparately, we also had a HOT Moorish Egg, stew-like dish. It had a tomato base, with little meatballs and an EGG on top that cooks in the oven. This was a strange dish; though it photographs well. 🙂 I found this recipe on the New Zealand Woman’s World website. (My sister used to work at the US Woman’s World..this is a nod to her.) It actually was pretty flavorful, though Alexis didn’t care for the cumin in the little meatballs. Fun and easy to make, but I doubt I’ll ever make it again. Alexis whipped up a very delicious tapenade-like Green Olive Relish that we ate with the POPOVERS! Enough about the relish already…let’s get to the POPOVERS. These were little, fluffy, yummy balls of delightfulness. You cannot get any simpler than flour, milk, eggs, salt and shredded gruyere cheese on top. I’ve never made anything this easy (that didn’t come from a box) that tasted this good. SO GOOD, that Alexis and I devoured the first batch of NINE instantly (ONLY because they deflate a little, like a soufflé…..but is that REALLY the reason??) NOTE: I said “first batch” because they unpredictably made another appearance in the second course! With the first course, we opened each of the Sauvignon Blancs (left to right in the above picture; #’s 1-3 respectively.) The Mohua was the lightest and fruitiest of the three whites. It was also citrusy, but not as much as the other two. We both appreciated the lightness of this white and how well it paired with this course. We opened the Clifford Bay Sauvignon Blanc next. This one was way more citrusy (grapefruity) than Mohua and had a strong herby, grassy, spicy scent to it. It might have been a tad too grassy for my liking. Next, we opened Otto’s Constant Dream Sauvignon Blanc. This too was grassy, though not as much as Clifford Bay. It had lovely melon flavors. This one paired particularly well with the POPOVERS and Green Olive Relish.
Horrified at the sight of an empty POPOVER plate, we quickly realized that we had the essential ingredients to make A SECOND BATCH! With reckless abandon, we tossed portion control right out the window and scurried to the kitchen. We quickly whipped up another batch and 40-ish minutes later, we were in POPOVER PARADISE! Yes, there was actually a second course, complete with a lovely apple and pear summer salad, braised beef stew and mashed sweet potatoes, but the popovers were the stars. I can 100% justify our need to make NINE more popovers simply for the fact that the sauce left from the braised beef needed to be sopped up by something. In all seriousness the beef and sweet potatoes were very good and the salad was a nice complement to the heaviness of the main dish. With this course, we opened the Otto’s Constant Dream Pinot Noir. This was soooo delicious! I love most Pinots, but I rarely (if ever) drink Pinots from New Zealand. It had some nice spiciness to it, a tinge of oakiness and beautiful berry flavors. It tasted great with the beef!
For dessert, we had a Fruit Pavlova. The Pavlova part is really just egg whites, sugar and vanilla. It’s easy to make, but more time consuming than I had planned because I neglected (yet again) to thoroughly read the recipe. I had to cut the cooking time a little short or else Alexis would have been riding Purple Thunder home at midnight! To make up for what could potentially be a NOT PERFECT dessert (GASP), we decorated the dish with amazing fresh, farmer’s market fruits and shavings of the best freaking chocolate in the universe (Vanilla/Coffee…YUM!) In the end, I think the presentation FAR outweighed the taste (the pavlova was WAY TOO SWEET), but it was (surprisingly) a success. Coincidentally, the kiwis toned down the sweetness of the pavlova. I think my pavlova making days are behind me, but we sure did go out with a bang!
We made yummy turkey chili for the week while entertaining ourselves with all things New Jersey in the DVR. Alexis caught up on the ever-so-intriguing Jersey Shore and the Real Housewives of New Jersey Reunion show. CLASSIC!
We definitely enjoyed our New Zealand adventure on this Labor Day weekend. The best part about it (besides the popovers) was that we didn’t have to go to work the next day. Three day weekends make the lack of portion control a little less painful on Monday. Overall, we appreciated our day with the Kiwis and cherished the discovery of scrumptious popovers. I’m feeling a little benevolent today, so here’s the recipe….Make the popovers, don’t save them for later, eat them right out of the oven, don’t share any, thank me later! And don’t forget to say… “Mmmm…….popovers!”
Recipe courtesy of: http://recipes.wikia.com/wiki/Popovers_with_Gruy%C3%A8re
Popovers with Gruyère Cheese
Ingredients :
2 cups all-purpose flour
1¼ teaspoons salt
2 cups whole milk
4 large eggs non-stick vegetable oil spray
1½ cups grated Gruyère cheese (about 6 ounces)
Directions :
Place one 12-cup muffin pan and one 6-cup muffin pan in oven. Preheat oven to 350 °F.
Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl to blend. Heat milk in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until very warm, about 125°f. Whisk eggs in large bowl to blend. Gradually whisk warm milk into eggs. Gradually stir flour mixture into milk mixture just to blend (batter may still be slightly lumpy). Remove hot muffin pans from oven. Spray pans with nonstick spray. Spoon ¼ cup batter into each of 16 muffin cups. Top each with 1½ tablespoons cheese. Bake until puffed and deep brown, about 40 minutes. Remove popovers from pan.
Day # 28 – Portugal – Surprising, comforting and renewing!
Last week, I (and 11 other people) convicted someone of Second Degree Murder….and it took its toll on me. Severe sleep deprivation, an irrational fear of retaliation and a MAD case of writer’s block plagued me post-trial. While I was sitting at the courthouse, planning the Portugal menu and picking the wines, I had NO idea how thoroughly comforting this day would end up being. The food on the menu warmed our souls. It was the kind of food that felt like a great big hug from Mom. Portugal delivered exactly what we needed at precisely the right time. Perhaps, in some way I knew that I was going to need it.
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine # 1 –Quinta Correio Dao White Blend 2008 – $8.99 at The Wine House – Malvasia Fina, Bical and Cerceal Blend
Wine # 2 – Broadbent Vinho Verde NV – $8.99 at The Wine House – 50% Loureiro, 40% Trajadura and 10% Pedernã
Wine # 3 – Niepoort Douro Twisted 2007 – $15.99 at The Wine House – Touriga Nacional
For our first course, we had Portuguese Bean Soup, courtesy of a dear family friend, Rich. We also had Marinated Beef Skewers and Chicken Skewers with Piri Piri sauce. (Recipes can soon be found on our website, www.worldsulfitetour.com) The comfort of this course came in the form of heat. The cayenne pepper in the soup provided a nice kick. All of the flavors in the soup were beautiful. We couldn’t get enough of it. Thank God for leftovers!! The beef, while a little tough, had amazing flavors. The chicken with Piri Piri sauce was so tasty, but lit our mouths on fire (chili pepper paste is the main ingredient in the marinade.) With this course, we opened the Broadbent Vinho Verde and the Quinta Correio Dao White Blend. The verdict is in…they were a winning pairing with this meal! The Broadbent Vinho Verde was slightly bubbly with light lemony citrus flavors. It tasted like a sparkling Sauvignon Blanc to me. It was such a refreshing pairing with this spicy course. The Quinta Correio Dao White wine was very enjoyable! It had nice melon and citrus flavors. Alexis called it a gulper, not a sipper. It too made for a perfect combination with the spicy meal. We will definitely make the soup and buy these wines again!
For our second course, we had Chicken with Béchamel Sauce. Turns out, Béchamel, one of the French “Mother Sauces” is the base for Mom’s Macaroni and Cheese. HELLOOOO…comfort! The recipe I found was very confusing. I ended up making some last minute modifications that turned out amazingly well. I suppose, in truth, I actually made a Sauce Soubise (because it contained onions), but I’m not an expert in this case. Whatever you want to call it, I’ll definitely post this recipe too. We also made “Jacacita” (or JAG), which is just a rice dish with butter beans, onions and bay leaves. You can’t get much easier than this. The rice dish was tasty, but could have used a touch more salt. Throw a little Béchamel sauce on top and WHOA! I think you can put Béchamel Sauce on anything and it would taste good. We opened up the Twisted red wine with this course. My initial concern when scheduling Portugal was that we’d have to drink Port Wine. We’re not really fans of Port Wine. In my search for wine, I stumbled across a red that was quite opposite of any Port I’ve ever tasted, but is made with grapes that play a big role in the blends of Ports. This wine reminded me of a Pinot Noir. It had dark berry flavors and was a little oaky. It had a slight tobacco scent to it as well. This was a great red wine and a complete surprise. It paired very well with this course.
For dessert, we had pineapple soaked in Port Wine (THERE’S the appearance of Port Wine). We also had these muffin-like biscuits that were very dense and had a slight orange flavor to them. They weren’t really sweet, so eating them with the port-soaked pineapple actually worked quite nicely. It was evident that Alexis loved the dessert course, as the muffin wrappers were forming a big stack on the side of her plate. Why didn’t I get a picture of that?? Admittedly, it was difficult to eat just one!
It has been a long time since I’ve felt the inability to form a cohesive sentence (stone sober, anyway.) The thoughts in my head couldn’t tell my fingers what to type. There’s no question about it, sitting on a murder trial was taxing. It’s hard to imagine being responsible for a person’s fate, based on a few testimonies and some evidence. In the end, I’m sure of two things…. that we made the right decision and I’ll never look at a jury summons the same again. Portugal came at the perfect time. As with the other wine regions, the planning is purely coincidental, but always divinely appropriate. Comfort was the major factor in this case. There was no deliberation, no argument; it was unanimous… Portugal was fantastic and without a (reasonable) doubt, it was exactly what we needed!
PS — This blog is dedicated to those victims of vicious crimes whose families never saw justice prevail from the inside of a courtroom. Particularly, this is for my cousin Beth. Your life was cut too short and I never had the chance to know you, but may you always be the brightest star in the sky and the angel on our shoulders.
Day #28 – Portugal – Somehow delivers exactly what you need… just when you’re needing it.
Sometimes it’s about the food. Other times, the wine. The company, EVERY time.
Collecting sulfites is like a reset button. A chance to relax, renew, recharge and forgive. Bend the light a little; see all the hope and promise. The whimsical adventure of chasing passion; the outlet for expression in any figure you can imagine. A divine feast and celebration of all things natural. And let us not forget, paired perfectly with reality television programming. All these ingredients, individually and combined, it’s what our tour is made of. Hope you’re enjoying the ride.
On more than few occasions, we rode ourselves a comet. A bright, firey light, that wraps it all together in one sitting. Perfectly in time, playing like a symphony. Connecting body and soul with mind. Not an easy accomplishment to achieve; especially in this town. Yet, here we are again. Everything we need. All we created, and reality TV.
Champagne, and France as a whole – quite a tough act to follow. But Portugal stood tall and proud, like another new beginning. A hearty meal, filling the air with thanksgiving. And giving thanks, we poured three delightful bottles. I can’t tell you about dessert – I’m just not yet ready to share. Now back to Jeanine’s capable hands, I leave you there. Not only does she dish more enticing details, but is kind enough to finish with pictures, or offer direction. But I’ll see you later, knee deep in this collection. Oh, and if you can’t tell this voice, it’s me – Lexie. I’m catching up… gradually.
Now, on to the story of delight…
Day # 27 – France – Champagne – Celebrating our LAST week “in France” and looking forward to new adventures.
Champagne is widely synonymous with celebration! On this last week in France, we’re celebrating the last leg of our adventure abroad. Alexis and I couldn’t help but repeatedly clink our glasses and toast to the future and how far we’ve come. We’re so thankful to have the means in which to embark on this World Sulfite Tour and monumentally thankful to have each other. Great friends are like precious family heirlooms… they are unique and rare; should be treated with respect and care; and will always have a special place in your heart. Celebrate your best friend today and always! Cheers!
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine # 1 – Perrier-Jouët “Grand Brut” Champagne – $34.99 at K&L Wine Merchant – Champagne Blend
Wine # 2 – Agrapart & Fils Brut Blanc de Blancs Les Sept Crus – $31.99 at The Wine House – Chardonnay
Wine # 3 – Louise d’ Estree Brut $6.99 at Trader Joes – Used for mixing Champagne Cocktails
For our first course, we had stuffed baby bella mushrooms (stuffed with Spinach, garlic, prosciutto and pine nuts), homemade baked potato chips, prosciutto wrapped watermelon and another LOVELY cheese board, courtesy of Alexis. The board consisted of two fantastic croissants from the (Sunday) Mar Vista Farmer’s Market, an array of seasonal fruits, heirloom tomatoes, two types of honey and three cheeses. The first cheese was one we had before, “in Loire”, called Morbier; then a brie from Trader Joes AND the best of all, a Triple Cream cheese from Whole Foods. YUUUUuuuum!! The Triple Cream had a saltiness to it that tasted AMAZING with the Vanilla honey on top of a baked potato chip. This cheese was absolutely sinful and highly recommended if you’re looking for a group-friendly cheese. The Brie was also creamy and delicious! We spent at least two hours exploring all the possible combinations in this course. This very well may have been my favorite first course “in France.” Everything paired beautifully with the Champagnes. We opened up the Perrier-Jouët “Grand Brut” Champagne first. It was light, crisp, dry, acidic and just lovely all around. The Agrapart & Fils Brut Blanc de Blancs was also light and crisp; I tasted a lot of apple flavors. These were delightful splurges and really taught us that we didn’t have to spend $150 to have wonderful celebratory sparklers.
For our second course, we dove into the Champagne Cocktails. This is not to say we didn’t eat in the second course, but the food might as well have been non-existent as we worked our way down the Champagne Cocktail list….courtesy of http://www.wineintro.com/champagne/cocktails/
Champagne Cocktail #1 – The Marilyn Monroe – ½ shot of apple juice; ½ shot of brandy; dash of grenadine and fill the rest of the glass with Champagne.
Champagne Cocktail #2 – Pink California Sunshine Champagne – 2 shots orange juice; dash creme de cassis; fill the rest of the glass with Champagne.
Champagne Cocktail #3 – Grand Champagne Martini Recipe – 1 shot Grand Marnier (we used Triple Sec); fill the rest of the glass with Champagne.
[NO PICTURE OF THIS ONE]
Champagne Cocktail #4 –Kir Royale – 1/2 shot Creme de Cassis; fill the rest of the glass with Champagne.
[NO PICTURE OF THIS ONE]
Champagne Cocktail #5 – Chanel – ½ shot of Strawberry pucker; Dash of Cognac; dash of Triple Sec; fill the rest of the glass with Champagne.
The Trader Joes Champagne really worked well with the concoctions. I would ABSOLUTELY throw a Champagne Cocktail party, print out recipes (put them in picture frames, perhaps) and let the guests put together their concoctions. That and a great cheese platter would make for a fun experience! My favorite cocktail was probably the Marilyn because it had a little OOMPH to it. SURE, it sounds like it would be FOOFY with the apple juice, but the addition of brandy really made the difference. Very nice! Alexis and I used to “frequent” a restaurant near work for Happy Hour and our favorite Cocktail was the “Chanel”. It was great to bring it back for one last hoorah. Unfortunately, I now have a whole bottle of Strawberry Pucker that will likely collect dust.
We did indeed eat a meal in the second course. We had a healthy version of Chicken Cordon Bleu and Asparagus Hollandaise. The Chicken Cordon Bleu was good, but probably would have been a lot better had I not forgotten it in the oven. It also sat for 15 minutes while the asparagus were roasting in the oven, so it was touch dry. I need to try this one again and pay attention. Those dang Champagne cocktails!
For dessert, we had Chocolate Souffles. MMMMMMMMmmmmy! These were not incredibly complicated, despite the bum rap that is associated with soufflés. Yes, you have to mind the chocolate, so it doesn’t burn and simultaneously beat egg whites to stiff peaks, but that’s why you have a friend to help you. These turned out delectable! It’s so hard to believe there’s no flour in soufflés. I would make these again!
We watched another episode of our guilty pleasure, The Jersey Shore. GTL, all the way!
We spent most of the time just talking. Alexis and I were both having one of THOSE days, where you not only wake up on the wrong side of the bed, you actually fall off the bed and roll around in dust bunnies (not literally.) I told Alexis that I had to talk myself down from the ledge earlier that morning. I was having the feeling of despair in learning that something had not gone exactly as planned. I was down for the count….or so I thought. Muhammad Ali once said, “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.” I believe strongly that you can weather any storm…. but sometimes, you need a good friend to help you back up again.
And to quote another WISE human being, Mark Twain said, “Too much of anything is bad, but too much Champagne is just right.” If I didn’t have a tinge of a hangover sitting in the Los Angeles County Courthouse awaiting Jury Duty, I’d probably agree with that. I do have to admit that it was 100% worth it. We definitely ended our French adventure in style. We splurged on two bottles of Champagne. We had an overindulgent first course. We had a fun “do-it-yourself” Champagne Cocktail bar. We had enlightening conversation. And… we enjoyed every minute of it. Leaving France will undoubtedly be bitter sweet, for we’ve learned so much along the way, but moving on only means bigger adventures, more learning and more quality time with my dearest friend! Au revoir France…. The world awaits!
Day #26 – France – Quick Review of various regions – A perfect reflection of our French collections
Our original plan for this week was to end our French exploration with Champagne. As we’ve learned from our entire experience with France, we almost NEVER stick to the plan. The weeks spent “in” France have gone by SO quickly, that only after we completed Rhône, did we realize we had just ONE week left. We looked at each other and almost simultaneously uttered, “We should add another week in France.” Immediately following this declaration, we agreed that it would be a REVIEW of some of the previous regions. In essence, this addition was to be a reflection. It was one more chance to celebrate the challenges and triumphs….. one more chance to cook with butter without feeling tremendously guilty….. one more chance to invite someone into our French journey…… and one more chance to let it SINK IN that we’re more than half way through our World Sulfite Tour and “leaving” France means entering the homestretch abroad before we hit the U.S. (the last leg of the tour.) We know we’ll need to face the inevitable, but for today, we’ll sit comfortably in denial.
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine # 1 – De Chanceny Cremant de Loire Rosé NV – LOIRE – $14.99 at Whole Foods – 100% Cabernet Franc
Wine # 2 – Paul de Coste Sparkling Brut NV – PROVENCE – $9.99 at BevMo! – White blend
Wine # 3 – Chateau d’ Esclans Whispering Angel Rose 2008 – PROVENCE- $21.99 at The Wine House – Blend of Grenache, Rolle, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre
Wine # 4 – Helfrich Now and Zen 2008 –ALSACE – $4.99 at Trader Joes – 29% Pinot Blanc, 25% Sylvaner, 16% Riesling, 15% Muscat, 15% Gewurztraminer
Wine # 5 – Lacheteau Vouvray 2009 – LOIRE – $6.99 at Trader Joes – 100% Chenin Blanc
In this week of review, we decided to have two courses. The first would be a BIG Hors d’œuvres course; the second would be dessert. Having most of the food in the first course with the wines allowed us the opportunity to try the wines, talk about them and interactively pair them with the series of Hors d’œuvres.
For the first course, we had Baked brie which consisted of light brie, roasted apricots, roasted apples, roasted pecans, and raspberry jam wrapped with a puff pastry and drizzled with a Chambord & Apple Juice sauce when it came out of the oven. We also had mini grilled Gruyere cheese and heirloom tomato sandwiches on whole wheat bread and baby quiches. The most interactive part was in Alexis’ grand cheese and meat board. We had five different types of cheeses, Mimolette, Etorki, Gruyere, Raclette and Cantal (aged 4-6 months) AND three different meats, Black Forest Ham, Rosemary Ham and Rosette de Lyon Sausage. Alexis also provided quince paste, truffle honey, various other sundries (olives, gherkins, pickles, nuts) AND homemade crostinis.
Let’s start with the Baked brie. This was the first time I ever ate or made baked brie. I’ve become a fan of puff pastry, but this recipe called for TWO sheets. I think it would have been fine with just one sheet. Needless to say, it was pretty doughy. It was very good, if you were able to get a nice bite with all the fruit and cheese (and not too much dough.) The mini grilled cheese sandwiches were great, but who doesn’t love grilled cheese!?? The baby quiches are one of my specialties. I made two kinds…one was similar to the Alsatian quiche with Gruyere, bacon and sweet onion filling; the other had cheddar cheese, scallions and bacon on the inside. YUMMMMMY!! So delicious!!
The cheese and meat platter was fantastic. I feel like we spent most of the time just concocting different combinations. The truffle honey played an important role in creating the various combinations. Alexis said, it played with the texture experience of the cheese. It also added a little OOMPH to flavors. Here is some information on the cheeses (which all came from the AWESOME cheese department at Whole Foods):
Mimolette – This is a hard, orange cow’s-milk cheese. It’s nutty, earthy, and pretty strong but it grows on you. (LOWER LEFT ON THE CHEESE BOARD – PICTURE ABOVE)
Etorki– This is a hard, sheep’s-milk cheese. It was pretty mild and tasted lovely with the black forest ham and truffle honey. This seemed to be the most popular cheese on the board. (THIS IS ON THE LOWER RIGHT HAND SIDE)
Gruyere – This is a hard, cow’s-milk cheese. To me, this was the most potent cheese on the board but still delicious. (THIS IS THE SMALLEST ONE ON THE BOARD, ON THE TOP, BETWEEN THE HAMS.)
Raclette – This is a semi-firm, cow’s-milk cheese. It’s normally eaten melted, but it tasted OK in its current state. It was very similar tasting to Swiss cheese, pretty darn strong. (THIS IS DIRECTLY TO THE RIGHT OF THE MIMOLETTE)
Cantal – This is a semi-hard, cow’s-milk cheese. This was my other favorite. It was mild and tasty; I kept going back to it. (THIS IS ON THE UPPER RIGHT HAND SIDE WITH THE RIND)
Now for the wines… Alexis and I started with the De Chanceny Cremant de Loire Sparkling Rosé while prepping the meal. WOWEE! This was so good. It was dry, floral and fruity with lots of berry flavors and tiny bubbles (you know how much we love tiny bubbles.) It matched well with the baked brie. WAY too good to share!! When my boyfriend and his friend arrived, we opened the Whispering Angel Rose and the Paul de Coste Sparkling Brut. The Whispering Angel Rose was fantastic. It was a creamy, lovely wine with beautiful berry flavors. It had a little bit of spiciness to it too. This wine meshed well with the mimolette cheese, quince and crostinis. The Paul de Cost Sparkling Brut was nice, crisp and refreshing. Not as good as the sparkling Rose but it was great with the Cantal cheese, ham & crostini AND the grilled cheese. Who knew grilled cheese and sparkling wine would be a winning combination? We then opened the Helfrich Now and Zen and Lacheteau Vouvray. We were all blown away by the Now and Zen MAINLY because it was $4.99. It was light and citrusy. It tasted great with the quiches and with the cantal cheese. It also paired nicely with the Etorki and truffle honey. Surprising wine! The Vouvray was also surprising. It had a beautiful floral bouquet scent. It was sweet, but not too sweet and had a hint of citrus to it. This was delicious with the pickled cucumbers, the cantal cheese and the Rosette de Lyon sausage. For $6.99, this is a great summer wine. Overall this was a successful interactive food and wine pairing! Lots of fun! Our guest thoroughly enjoyed all of the aspects of this course!
For dessert, we had Madeleines. My first attempt was not so successful. I think the recipe LIED to me because I definitely overcooked that batch. I decided to turn down the oven from 375 to 350 and cook them for 11 minutes (instead of 14)…that made the difference. The second batch (Chocolate Madeleines) came out WAY better, even though I filled the molds with a little too much batter. The last batch was a Weight Watchers recipe and honestly, the best ones. They were moist and came out of the molds so easily. We melted a little chocolate and drizzled it over the cookies. HEAVEN! I believe “LIGHT AND FLUFFY” was how they were described. I’d indeed make these again………but only the Weight Watchers ones because they were WAYYY easier to make!
We found that adding this extra week was absolutely necessary. We just weren’t ready to say goodbye to France yet. We’ve learned so much in the past few weeks and truly developed a whole new appreciation for French wines. I used to glance over the French wines out of pure intimidation, but now, I feel confident that I could successfully choose a French wine. We’re very attached to France and venturing onward will be bittersweet. I read that if you don’t plan on seeing someone for a long time, you bid them ADIEU. While the time for us to bid France ADIEU is almost upon us, for NOW, we’ll simply bid you a good night….Bonne nuit.
Here are some really GREAT after photos:
Day #25 – France – Rhône Valley – When in Rhône, do what the RHONANS do…… EAT!
This was one of those rare weeks where we repeatedly said, “Wine? What wine? Was there sulfite consumption today?” Undoubtedly, in our Rhône adventure, the wine played a supporting role. I can’t say I’m surprised because Lyon (the capital of Rhône-Alpes) is considered to be the gastronomic capital of France. Merriam-Webster dictionary defines gastronomy as “the art or science of good eating.” This is exactly what we practiced today! From the first course to the last course, we savored each bite, we resisted the urge to eat ALL of the servings and had occasional fork battles instigated by Alexis.
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine # 1 – La Vieille Ferme Rose Côtes du Ventoux 2009 – $4.99 at Trader Joes – Cinsault 50%, Grenache 40%, Syrah 10%
Wine # 2 – Cotes du Rhone Saint-Esprit Delas 2007 – Courtesy of our co-worker Vinnie; retails at about $12.00 – 75% Syrah and 25% Grenache
Wine # 3 – Cotes Du Rhone Caves des Papes 2008 – $4.99 at Trader Joes – Don’t know the exact varietals
For our first course, we had a Rustic Caramelized Onion Tart. I cheated and bought readymade pie shells, but sometimes you have to allow yourself ONE convenience in three courses. The tart was made with sautéed red onions, gruyere cheese and a tiny bit of balsamic vinegar. It had a perfect combination of sweetness from the caramelized onions and acidity from the vinegar. And now, gruyere cheese is probably my new favorite cheese. It’s considered a great “melting cheese”, but not something I’ve ever really used before (prior to “exploring” France.) Simple equation…. Gruyere + Onions = A thin slice of heaven! Since the table seemed a little bare, we added some Swiss cheese and gruyere slices with heirloom tomatoes. This turned out to be an excellent addition to the first course….and Alexis discovered that she really likes Swiss. With this course, we opened the Rose. It took several sips to determine what we liked about this Rose. It was fruity (mostly berries and cherries) and a little minerality. For $4.99, it was well worth the price. I probably wouldn’t rush to buy this wine if it was over $9.99, but it’s pretty good for $4.99 and meshed well with the tart and cheeses.
For the second course, we had Supreme de poulet (Breast of chicken in cream & Port Wine sauce), Julia Child’s Gratin Dauphinois (like scalloped potatoes) and Green Beans Lyonnais (WITH BACON!) The chicken was very good, even though I would have cooked it 1 minute less. The sauce was surprisingly light and fluffy despite being mostly comprised of cream. The scalloped potatoes (made with 2% milk and Swiss cheese) were so delicious. Nothing beats that top crispy layer….MMMMM!! The green beans were impossible to stop eating. There were only 4 slices of bacon to approximately 4 cups of green beans, but a perfect combination with the sweet onion and teaspoon of red wine vinegar. WOW! This course prompted our first fork battle of the day. Alexis tried to hijack my potatoes with her fork, but I wrestled the fork away from her and hid it on the other side of the table. I returned it after I stole a forkful from her plate. Justice! Girl’s gotta stay on her toes when she’s eating a good meal around Alexis. Yes, we’re 35 years old, not FIVE. With all of the hubbub over a good meal, we nearly forgot to open up the next bottles of wine. We guarded our plates and opened up both Cote du Rhône’s, for comparison. Both had very similar characteristics. They were a little spicy/peppery, but with nice berry flavors. Despite being mostly comprised of Syrah grapes, I found the wine to be relatively mild and silky. We liked them both, AGAIN especially for the price. We also liked the Cotes Du Rhone Caves des Papes bottle shape. The little things!
Our third course was magical, even though the éclair shells turned out a little flatter than I’d hoped. We had a few normal looking éclair shells that could be filled with cream, and we ended up making the really flat ones into “éclair sandwiches”. It didn’t even matter; they were still yummy!! The shell was light, the cream filling was pudding-like but not too heavy and the chocolate topping was fantastic!! The best part is, since the original éclair recipe had some pretty bad stuff in it, I made minor healthy tweaks that made a difference in calories, but not flavor. We used 2% milk instead of whole milk in the cream filling; egg beaters instead of four eggs for the pastry shell; light butter instead of regular butter and light cream instead of heavy cream. The minor adjustments made the sinful delectability not as horrifying for the waistline…..unless you eat ALL of them in one sitting. With this course, I feared a minor fork battle might ensue, but Alexis abstained, PERHAPS fearing an Éclair plummeting to the floor might be the devastating outcome in this battle. Whew! Crisis averted!
Perhaps a close second to the food today was the TV! We had a nice array of reality television for Alexis to watch. The main attraction was without a doubt, Season 2 premier of The Jersey Shore. It’s SO ridiculous; it’s so terrible, sad, comical and flat out wrong, but it’s SO DAMN GOOD…….we watched it twice! Keeping up with the theme of the motherland, we watched the latest Eps of Real Housewives of New Jersey. Train wreck, yes; awesome, absolutely! We can’t get enough.
If I had to describe Rhône in one word, I’d say YUM. While YUM might not be a REAL word, “YUM-YUM” IS and according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “Yum-Yum” is “used to express pleasurable satisfaction especially in the taste of food.” There you have it….TWO words BEST describe our adventure in Rhône! It’s kind of funny because I plan the menu based on internet searches for regional cuisine. I pick food that sounds like it would be delicious and hope for the best. I present the menu to Alexis and she always enthusiastically agrees with the plan. We initially had a different idea for Rhone and changed it at the last minute. We couldn’t be more thankful that we went this route because it was a completely memorable meal. Even though we’re supposed to be collecting sulfites, sometimes we collect calories that come in the form of a well executed, scrumptious meal.
Day #24 – France – Loire Valley – SUPER challenging menu, great wine and the first cooking injury!
I find it comical that I kept pushing Loire Valley further down the France calendar because the menu scared the crap out of me. Why didn’t I just adjust the menu so it wasn’t so difficult? Well, what’s the fun in that? Turns out, moving Loire three times was the best decision! This was the first time that we did the Sulfite Tour on a Saturday and the first time that we weren’t on a schedule to bring out the courses. We were on our own time and we really needed that for Loire. I was also able to give Alexis the last part of her birthday present which was the gift of our new website…. www.worldsulfitetour.com. She cried! Not my intention, but you know you’ve given a great gift when someone cries. I’m obviously talking about a happy cry, not “I just opened a giant box of paperclips” cry. Completely different! 🙂 We have some big IDEAS and the website might be a means to fulfill those ideas. We shall see.
What we drank and what we ate:
Wine # 1 – Bouvet Brut Signature Sparkling Wine NV – $9.99 at BevMo! – 90% Chenin Blanc, 10% Chardonnay
Wine # 2 – Laporte Le Bouquet Sauvignon Blanc 2009 – $15.99 at The Wine House – 100% Sauvignon Blanc
Wine # 3 – Delaunay Les Cabotines Rose 2008 – $12.99 at BevMo! – Blend of Gamay and Pineau d’aunis grapes
Wine # 4 – B&G Vouvray 2007 – $11.99 at BevMo! – 100% Chenin Blanc
The first course contained one of our biggest challenges….Pork Rillettes de Tour. In planning menus for our French regions, I was presented with some common hors’dourve options like pate, duck confit, fois gras and rillettes. Since I “poo-poo’d” pate, denied duck confit, and forgot about fois gras, I figured we HAD to do something completely out of our comfort zone…..enter rillettes. When the first two ingredients in a recipe are Pork Belly and Pork BACK Fat, you have to wonder…….. How the HELL is this going to turn out? Results…not so fantastic. It’s literally fat on top of bacon. I don’t think you can get much worse than that. In anticipation of a not-so-excellent result, I made a trip to the Whole Foods for some cheese. BIG PROPS to the gal at Whole Foods Cheese Department in Venice CA, she was AWESOME!! She directed my attention to two lovely French cheeses that ended up saving our first course. One of the cheeses had ASH in the middle, called Morbier and the other was Pyrenees d’ Argent. The Morbier, while it smelled stinky, was actually very creamy and mild. It was great on the herb crostinis with a little tomato. MMMM! The Pyrenees d’ Argent also smelled a little pungent, but tasted mild and even a bit grassy. They were both very yummy! We had one more tasty cheese that was left over from a previous Girls Day In, but we couldn’t remember the name of it. VERY NICE! With the first course, we opened the Sparkling Wine and the Rose. The Sparkling wine was dry, light, crispy and a little citrusy. We both liked it. The Rose was one of the STARS of the day. It had a little bit of herby aromas, but was absolutely lovely with beautiful berry flavors. It went with everything!! It paired wonderfully with the Morbier. All around, it was a fantastic Rose and we’d definitely buy it again to enjoy on a warm summer day! As for the Pork Rillettes, THAT’S ALL FOLKS, forgive the Porky Pig reference, but I’ll never make these again!
This is a lovely compilation of glasses,with the lone Pyrenees d’ Argent cheese in the center:
This is what the rillettes looked like in the crock pot, followed by the complete first course:
The courses just kept getting better from here. For our main course, we had Julia Child’s Coq Au Van with braised white onions and sauteed mushrooms. We served this with a Lentil Salad and Goat Cheese Crostinis. For the Coq Au Van, I don’t normally work with chicken thighs, but figured that would be the next best thing to “cut-up frying chicken”. WOWEEE! The chicken was delicious. It just fell apart. The flavors were spectacular and honestly, it’s not such a difficult dish to make. It just sounds scary. The lentil salad was a breeze. We used pre-cooked black “beluga” lentils from Trader Joes tossed with chopped fennel, endive, cherry tomatoes and Dijon vinaigrette. It was a very nice semi-warm accompaniment along with the goat cheese crostinis. Hallelujah… redemption from the rillettes disaster. With this course, we opened up the Laporte Sauvignon Blanc and the B&G Vouvray. The Sauvignon Blanc was not surprisingly crisp and citrusy. It was light and refreshing. We both LOVED the Vouvray. What a surprise because it had a little sweetness to it, but not at all overwhelming. It had beautiful fruity aromas with good acidity, which made for a great match with this course. We actually opened up the Vouvray at the tail end of the first course (which lasted for 3 hours) and it also meshed well with the cheeses. We loved this wine. It was our favorite for the day and another perfect summer white. I might actually introduce some non-wine drinkers to this one. It’s sweet enough to sway my White Zinfandel drinking relatives to try something different. Alexis referred to this wine as a “GIGOLO”, because she thinks that everyone will love it. Don’t we all love gigolos??? Need to think about this one for a while. 🙂
And for dessert……….our finest hour…….. the Tarte Tatin. Once again, this recipe scared the pants off of me. Perhaps it was the way we needed to cut the apples or concern over properly caramelizing the sugar OR the fact that you have to flip it over when it’s done?? I think it was a combination of all three, but in the end, it looked absolutely amazing. I wanted to cry. THEN, I really wanted to cry when I, in a moment of immense excitement, wrapped my left hand around the handle of the pan that JUST came out of the oven. OUCHHHHHHHH!!!! Despite having to keep my thumb and most of my other four digits immersed in ice water for the next 8 hours, I enjoyed every last bite of that tarte tatin. It was absolutely worth a little 1st degree burn on my thumb!
These are photos of the ice bath for my burned fingers.
This is a picture of an almond/chocolate croissant from a local French bakery. This was bought as a back up if the Tarte Tatin didn’t work out…. we ate it anyway.
Since, for the first time in a while, it was JUST us for this Girls’ Day In, we moved at a snail’s pace. As I said, we spent 3 hours staring at the cheese and FATTY FATNESS of the rillettes, while Alexis caught up on the two recent Episodes of Deadliest Catch, where Captain Phil passed away. We were bawling our eyes out, as if Captain Phil was a close friend. It was like Niagara Falls in my living room. When you get wrapped up in the characters of a show or have a particular fondness for an actor/actress, it’s really sad when they pass on. So we dedicated this day to Phil (and to Kleenex!)
Cheers again to Captain Phil!
I’m thankful that I was able to lighten the mood with a couple of Episodes of The Real Housewives of New Jersey. Nothing breaks a little somberness like a good old fashioned CAT FIGHT! Now, our tears of sadness became tears of laughter. WHEW!
And Cheers to the ladies of New Jersey for drinking out of the same silly wine glass.
Loire (pronounced LWAHR) was difficult right down to the pronunciation of the region. By far, I believe this was the trickiest menu we’ve executed thus far. YES, the trickiness was self-inflicted, but big risks can also lead to big rewards. While my aching thumb recognizes the trials of Loire; my heart only acknowledges the achievements. We laughed, we cried, we ate pork fat and we leaned on each other. Those are all ingredients of a wonderful friendship…….minus the pork fat (presumably.) We avoided the inevitable “Loire Valley” long enough and despite some setbacks, we came out on top. We only have two more weeks left “in” France. This may not be the last of challenging menus or charred fingers, but one thing is for sure, we’ll always have a damned good time putting it all together!
Girls' Day In 
