winebookgirl

Lime Jelly

2012-01-28T16:05:00.000-08:00

Limes are by far my favorite citrus. I use lemons more often, as I have a tree in the garden, but limes always feel like a treat. Even as a child, lime was my favorite Sweet Tart or lollipop flavor. When people talk about their love for meyer lemons, and many talk about that love, I think of limes.

So, when Lisa and I emailed about a January canning project a few days after Mariquita offered limes as an addition to their Mystery Boxes, I was determined to can limes. A search of both the internet and my stash of canning books seemed to steer me towards marmalade. But, to be honest, although I like marmalade, I wanted something less bitter and more, well, lime. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted lime jelly.

More googling came up with many gelatin based desserts and surprisingly few jelly recipes. Expanding my search to lemon gave me more results and a lot of recipes for honey-lemon-jelly. That sounded lovely, but it also seemed that honey would mask the lime flavor I was after. It was clearly time to experiment.

First off: squeeze the limes. We ended up with about 6 cups of juice from 10 pounds of limes. We used the extra cup to make lime curd.

Recipe:

5 cups lime juice

3 1/2 cups water

7 1/2 cups sugar

2 (3 ounce) envelopes liquid pectin

Squeeze limes and measure 5 cups of juice into a saucepan. Add water and sugar and bring to a boil. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches 220 degrees. Add the liquid pectin and allow to boil for 10 more minutes.

Funnel the jelly into jars and process for five minutes in a boiling water canner.

Lime Curd

Turns out that if you don't add food coloring, your lime jelly looks kind of like apple juice.

Cooking from the Books With K: Because of Winn Dixie

2012-01-21T14:17:00.000-08:00

"All I had wanted to do waspurchase a box of macaroni & cheese, some white rice and two tomatoes. But then, I heard the store manager yelling, "Who let that dog in? Who let that dirty dog in?" I couldn't see anything butrolling vegetables and Winn-Dixie employees waving their arms, until abig, ugly dog skidded to a stop right in front of me and smiled. What was a lonely 10 year old to do? I told the store manager hewas my dog and that his name was Winn-Dixie. So I don't think veryfast .. so what if the store's name is Winn-Dixie. Anyway, I yelled"Here, boy! Here, Winn-Dixie!" And what was a stray dog todo? He obediently came to me and smiled so hard that he sneezed. It was love at first sight. Now, I, India Opal Buloni,of Naomi Florida need to convince my preacher Dad that we need a dog. After all, my Mom isn't around, and I need company. And we all knowa dog can change your life, can't it?"

--BECAUSE OF WINN-DIXIE,by Kate DiCamill

We are back after a Cooking from the Books holiday hiatus, with mac-n-cheese for a school potluck inspired by Because of Winn Dixie, a book that K's 4th grade teacher read out loud to the class earlier this year.

From K: "It is about a girl who finds a dog at a supermarket, called Winn Dixie. The girl takes the dog home and the story is about the girl and the dog, who she names Winn Dixie. The dog goes everywhere with the girl. Everywhere. The girl has red hair and is 10 and he name in India Opal Bologna (sp), like the lunch meat. The librarian gives the girl lozenges that taste like strawberry, root beer and sorrow. There is a party and Winn Dixie goes missing but the girl and her dad find her."

"I liked the book. I usually like the books that Jeff, my teacher, reads to the class. It was the first one we heard this school year. I had read it before and liked it then too. My favorite thing is that the girl is a red head like me. Usually stories with redheads are good stories. There is no mom in the book. Why are there so often not moms in books or movies?"

Mac N Cheese

Based on a recipe K learned in her Sprouts Cooking Class.

Note: Oddly, I have never made baked mac-n-cheese before, probably because it has only been in the past six months that K has been willing to eat it. Although everyone raves about the Martha Stewart version, K voted for the one she learned at Flour & Water so that is what we made.

2 oz butter

2 oz flour

1 qt milk

1 pound cheddar cheese (grated) (As always grating is an excellent job for kids)

2 T kosher salt

1 T black pepper

2 boxes pasta, cooked (In class they made pasta, at home we used whole wheat cause K likes it)

2 cups chopped romanesco broccoli, blanched (optional, but we had some from our Mystery Box)

1 cup of breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Melt butter and add flour, whisk aggressively to combine and cook until golden. Add milk and whisk until it boils. Make sure to scrap bottom with rubber spatula so the sauce doesn't burn. Add cheese, salt and pepper and continue to whisk until all of the cheese is melted.

Add the cooked pasta to your cheese sauce sauce and mix well. Pour pasta and sauce into a greased 9x12 baking dish (or two smaller pans). Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 30-45 minutes or until breadcrumbs are toasted.

Wine Samples

2012-01-08T16:38:00.000-08:00

I sometimes get wine samples. Often these are specifically sent for some sort of online event, like the twitter tastings, but occasionally they simply arrive for tasting at my leisure. I do my best to taste them promptly, but, like others ,I sometimes fall behind, and, perhaps not like others, start to lose far too much of my dining room floor space to bottles. If I had better storage this would not be as much of an issue, but in an urban apartment, space is at a premium.

The samples though, do need to be tasted. So rather than tasting them alone, I asked a few friends over to taste with me. I told them ahead of time that we would be tasting random samples and that they could be wonderful or awful or most likely, something in between. The food: burgers, inspired by a bottle of Cheeseburger Red.

To drink: 4 bottles of red and a sparkling rosé to start. We all tasted each bottle and wrote a short note. Everyone could then have more of their favorite or, if we didn't like any of them, we could open something else. The group that joined me is both understanding (read: willing to humor me on this) and wine drinkers, but not experts.

I'll post the tasting notes here because the contrast in opinions is kind of fun to see. Not all of the comments are positive and I thought about not posting some of the more negative ones, but instead, they appear, as transcribed from the wine-stained, hand-written note pages. The comments are in the same order for each wine, person #1 is comment #1 for each wine, etc.

Gloria Ferrrer 07 Brut rosé:
"Delicious."
"Crisp. Easy to deal with (inoffensive) bubbles. Very drinkable, would have more than 1 glass."
"Salmon colored. Full and rich with many small bubbles."
"My favorite."
"Dry, light: banana citrus as it warms, peppery melon."

Cheeseburger Red: Blend: 28% Petite Sirah, 44% Barbera, 28% Syrah.
"Not bad"
"Label unappetizing. Good with potato chips."
"Sweet, smooth, not edgy. Paired well with the burger. Better than I expected."
"Flintstones vitamins."
"Sharp, peppery, hot chocolate."

Ridgeline 05 Cabernet Sauvignon (Magnum)
"Fave thus far for the reds."

"Super tanniny, very dry. Good with olives."

"Tanniny. Just dull."

"D."

"Berries. Dry finish. Fruity apple."

Folie a Deux 09 Amador Zinfandel
"Like. Tastes good with the burger"
"Sweeter than I normally like but easy to drink."
"Not for me. Bad aftertaste."
"Eww."
"Roasted red pepper, pesto, cranberry."

Chateau Moulinet-Lasserre 03 Pomerol
"Barnyard."
"Oaky, generic."
"Very light."
"My favorite of the reds."
"Strawberries, leather, brown sugar on finish."

Haven

2012-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

This post is really for my mother, who always asks for details on what I eat when I go out.

I keep a running list of restaurants I'd like to try. Friday night I got to cross off one near the top of my list: Haven. Haven is the third restaurant from the Daniel Patterson Group, joining Coi and Plum. At Haven, the chef is Kim Alter, formerly of Plate Shop in Sausalito.

After wandering Jack London Square for a little bit in search of the address, we were shown to counter seats with a perfect view of the kitchen, always my favorite place to sit. Sparkling water in hand and a glass of Leitz ‘Rudeshweimer Klosterlay’ Kabinett on the way, it was time to make some food choices. Although they offer an ala carte menu, the menu header suggests you let them feed you: you can specify either 4 or 5 courses and they will adjust for any food allergies or aversions. Although I had come in with a few recommendations from twitter, the chef's choice seemed the way to go. It turns out that we ended up eating a rather high percentage of the menu. So much so that I will paste the complete menu below with dishes eaten and comments in purple.

Both the food and service were excellent. Dishes were well executed and presented on an amazing array of different plates. So many different plates, that it became almost a game to guess which dish would be served in the plates we saw on display. Service was attentive, but not obtrusive and the recommendation for the Marchesi di Gresy nebbiolo off their by the glass list, was a good one.

My one real complaint is a first world problem: they really sent out far too much food, especially given how filling some of the dishes were. I think a lot of that had to do with the restaurant being new and eager to please, as the chef stopped by to ask if we wanted more at one point. But it is also the reality of the seasonal ingredients available. Almost every single produce item was something I had gotten in my veggie box in the last month or so and even with our enviable growing season, the reality of January is heavier than the tomatoes of summer.

Food Menu

"We invite you to enjoy the chef’s menu served family style for tables of two or more.
We will carefully prepare four or five courses to your taste and preferences. Experience our intriguing menu and its delightful surprises prepared specially for you."

Watermelon radish, avocado amuse: A perfect fresh bite.

Parker house rolls: I admit it, I love rolls. These are served by request only and worth asking for.

TO START

FENNEL SOUP, lemon preserves, anise, pearl onions – 10: One of the highlights of the night and I'm not even that keen on fennel. Comfort food made special with the addition of the lemon and fennel. Beautifully presented with the accompaniments in a bowl and soup poured at the table.

CHICORY SALAD, shiso, apple, persimmon, pomegranate – 12

LITTLE GEM, gorgonzola, celery, crisp chicken skin – 12: -Love the idea of the chicken skin in place of the more common bacon. I felt though that it could have used an additional piece or two of skin and that the skin could have been a bit crispier.

HEIRLOOM SQUASH, barley, celery root, sage – 13

CLAMS, turnip, garlic toast, bacon and bourbon broth – 14: A dish I would not have ordered as I'm not a big clam fan. But, the broth and other elements were so good that I enjoyed it anyway. Plus, I do love garlic toast.

SMOKED PASTA, egg, bacon, pepper, chive – 13: This has gotten lots of comments online, but I had mixed feelings about it. It was creative as the pasta was prepared with smoked flour, something I'm curious about. Do they place bowls of flour in a smoker? But in the end, despite being very glad to try it, it reminded me a bit too much of kissing a smoker.

BONE MARROW, yuzu, radish, leek, toast, parsley – 15

ENTREES

VEGETABLES FROM THE MARKET – 18

DAY BOAT SCALLOP, beets, black trumpet mushrooms, blood orange – 27

QUAIL, quinoa, trumpet mushrooms, pickled mustard, almond – 23

CHICKEN, wheat berry, root vegetables, foie, banyuls – 24-: Another highlight that I probably would not have ordered on my own.Chicken served 3 ways: sous vide, confit and fried with some of the best root vegetables I have ever eaten. The wheat berries beneath enhanced by small cubes of foie.

SHEPARD’S PIE, pig, potato, winter spice – 25: We were very full so we only got a mini version, but a real standout. Will go back for this alone. Amazing light. Ground pork, foam and roasted potatoes.

BAVETTE, sunchoke, artichoke, béarnaise – 28

BRAISED LAMB, carrots, allium, firelit liquor – 26

SIDES

Non menu cauliflower baked in cream sauce with raw pieces added for texture: Like the best cauliflower cheese you could imagine.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS, mint, lime, garlic – 7: I do love fried Brussels sprouts, but have never had them before with soy and fish sauce. At my first bite thought it was too sweet, but found them rather addictive.

FRIED FINGERLINGS, seaweed, shiro soy, miso – 7: I could not really taste the shiso, but perfectly fried. Much like the Brussels sprouts above, they'd be perfect with a cocktail. I'd order these again as well, but they may want to rethink serving them immediately following the pasta.

SWEET POTATO, maple marshmallow, crisp shallot – 7

DESSERT FOR 2

Non menu scoop of quince ice cream with pickled persimmon: Oh how I love quince. This was perfect, unlike some dishes that mask the floral notes of quince with too many spices.

BAKED CALIFORNIA, citrus, avocado, fennel meringue – 12

LIME TART, sesame, milk jam – 12

CHOCOLATE CAKE, coffee, rice ice cream – 12--Nice, rich =, dark chocolate cake that pleased me by tasting more like chocolate than coffee. The ice cream was unsweetened, which surprised me. The crispy rice alongside was a great for contrast.

2012: Time for Pressue Canning

2012-01-01T11:58:00.000-08:00

Willow and Oolong hoping the box will be emptied and available soon.

Pressure canning is one of those things that I have meant to try for a few years now. I had all sorts of excuses: I was still mastering water bath canning, I didn't have a pressure canner, Even if I had a pressure canner I had no storage space for it, etc.

An early birthday gift, courtesy of friend Amy, suggests that I may have run out of excuses.

So the question now is what to start with? I'll read guidebooks and research on my own, but I'm guessing that like with water bath canning, there are a few tips that I might like to know ahead of time. I'd love some suggestions of favorite recipes. Stock, pumpkin, beans? Oolong and Willow, by the way, are hoping for home canned fish and meat.

When asked to look at the camera, they prove once again that cats do not obey orders.

K's Gingerbread Houses

2011-12-22T16:14:00.000-08:00

Due to poor planning on my part, we missed out on the Bi-Rite/18 Reasons Gingerbread House decorating session this year. Instead, for the first time, we made our own at home. Are they as beautiful as the ones the workshop would have provided us with? Definitely not and there are certainly more toothpicks involved. Would it be nice to have a perfect looking house? Sure. But that is a very different sort of project. When baking with K, it is the project that matters and not the outcome. Our baking adventures almost always taste good, but their appearances can be messy. For K, making the house together is what mattered. And the crookedness and drippy frosting and mess are what she is excited about because, "I made it myself!" Plus, R2D2!

Note that even the template is crooked.

Rolling the dough.

Crooked, flour "stained" pieces.

K is all Star Wars, all the time these days.

Initial construction, left to dry overnight with support.

Are they ready yet? Sure. Rather crooked though.

I believe the phrase of the day was: Never too much frosting.

R2D2 on the house.

House #2.

Yes, that is more leftover Halloween candy.

Cooking from the Books with K: Heidi

2011-12-11T18:09:00.001-08:00

"I feel like Heidi eating bread and cheese."

Ah, Heidi. I still remember wishing I could live on a mountain, instead of in suburban Connecticut. How wonderful does this sound?

“She started joyfully for the mountain. During the night the wind had blown away all the clouds; the dark blue sky was spreading overhead, and in its midst was the bright sun shining down on the green slopes of the mountain, where the flowers opened their little blue and yellow cups, and looked up to him smiling. Heidi went running hither and thither and shouting with delight, for here were whole patches of delicate red primroses, and there the blue gleam of the lovely gentian, while above them all laughed and nodded the tender-leaved golden cistus. Enchanted with all this waving field of brightly-colored flowers, Heidi forgot even Peter and the goats. She ran on in front and then off to the side, tempted first one way and then the other, as she caught sight of some bright spot of glowing red or yellow. And all the while she was plucking whole handfuls of the flowers which she put into her little apron, for she wanted to take them all home and stick them in the hay, so that she might make her bedroom look just like the meadows outside. Peter had therefore to be on the alert, and his round eyes, which did not move very quickly, had more work than they could well manage, for the goats were as lively as Heidi; they ran in all directions, and Peter had to follow whistling and calling and swinging his stick to get all the runaways together again.”

K says that Heidi "is about a girl who goes to live with her grandfather on the mountain. Everyone thinks her grandfather is mean and should not be allowed to take care of her. But, he's nice to Heidi. There are friends, a boy and his family and a girl. The girl is in a wheelchair and the boy is really poor. She meets the boy while he is herding goats. She meets the girl when she has to go to the city for some reason. The girl is really nice. Someone gives Heidi kittens. The kittens get into trouble. Heidi comes back and later the girl comes to visit and the boy, Peter, pushes her wheelchair off a hill and the girl, Klara, learns to walk. That is most of the story.

I thought the story was awesome. Because it is a good book and the characters seem like real people. I read this when I was 7 or 8 and I liked that it was a chapter book. It kind of reminded me of the Little House books. "

So how could we not do a Cooking from the Books: Heidi? The obvious dish: fondue. I put this off a bit because not only do I not own a fondue pot, but I had no idea if my cheese-averse child would enjoy it. Unlike most kids, K is rather anti-cheese, except on pizza. But after she learned to eat grilled cheese, albeit with the blandest cheddar possible, I figured it was worth a shot.

First off, I sent a plea out on Facebook for a loaner fondue pot and got two offers. It seems that most people who own fondue pots simply don't use them. As for having never made fondue, well, sometimes opportunity knocks. From our place in the Della Fattoria bread line at the Ferry Plaza Farmers market this past Saturday, we spotted a tub of fondue mix at Andante Cheese. To me, it was a clear sign that this was our weekend for Heidi. Sure enough, Sean Timberlake, of Punk Domestics fame, had a fondue pot we could borrow, mere blocks away. Social media: the modern way to meet your almost neighbors and thus, borrow their cookware. So after a trip to the hardware store for sterno, we were set.

How could I resist an Andante fondue mix?

Our recipe is as simple as it comes and was adapted from the Joy of Cooking. Not wanting to push my luck with K, I skipped the kirsch, though for less picky eaters I highly recommend it.

1 tub Andante Fondue Mix (about 8 oz. grated cheese)

1 cup white wine (from the Savoie in this case)

As much nutmeg as K felt like grating

1 teaspoon corn starch

Heat wine over a medium-high heat until it begins to foam but does not boil. Add cheese gradually, stirring all the while. Grate in nutmeg and continue to stir until the mixture begins to thicken slightly. Add cornstarch and stir until the mixture thickens enough to coat your dipping items. Pour into a fondue pot and place over sterno to keep warm.

We dipped Della Fattoria semolina bread, apples slices, salami and mystery box purple cauliflower.

Purple cauliflower, apple slices, Boccalone salami and bread for dipping.

To my delight, it was a hit. K reports that "the fondue was awesome. It made me kind of feel like Heidi because I was eating bread and cheese. It was fun to dip the bread and the apples. I want to try chocolate fondue next!"

"The apples are good!"

Holidy Cookies: A Creative Use of Leftover Halloween Candy

2011-12-10T11:11:00.001-08:00

Using the recipe I posted here, this year K and I decided to use leftover Halloween candy to help decorate our first batch of holiday cookies. I made a batch of dough Thursday. We baked the cookies Friday night and this morning was decorating time. Pictures below.


Preparing the frosting: Royal icing and gel food color, mixed with a take-out Chinese unused chopstick.

Frosting, now mixed and colored, assorted sugars and leftover candy.

At work. Chopstick now serving as a "paintbursh."

Squeeze bottle is another frosting option.

Hard at work.

Trees, stars, hearts and a K. K likes the tree with the grape "berries" best.

The "men." My favorite is the guy with the candy corn tie.

Cookie Time Again

2011-12-05T13:04:00.001-08:00

This year, I have promised K we can make a gingerbread house. To say that I am nervous about it would be an understatement. So in the meantime, I'm making up a batch of my favorite shortbread dough, which we use for cut out holiday cookies, to keep on hand in case our house has construction issues.

The recipe we use is from the Cookie Swap book, which I have mentioned here before. I've included some photos of earlier projects below. Like always, we modified the original recipe, in this case substituting almond extract for the ground almonds in the recipe as K had insisted that nuts would "make the recipe gross." I expect that I could add them back in at this point, but I am more likely to have the extract in the house than almonds anyway. I also flavor the royal icing we use with either almond or vanilla extract to add a but more flavor.
The original recipe can be found on the Kitchen Musings blog.

Last year

Slightly less traditional colors

Same dough, set up for a cookie decorating party.

Shortbread

Makes about 2 1/2 dozen (2 1/4 to 2 1/2 inch cookie). We often make 2 batches.

2 cups all purpose flour, divided
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract

Place the butter and sugars in the bowl of an electric mixer and beat on medium to medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute. Turn the mixer to low speed and add the vanilla and almond extracts. Gradually add the flour mixture, blending just until incorporated. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Flatten the dough into a disk and wrap tightly in plastic. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or until firm enough to roll without sticking.
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Line two or more cookie sheets with parchment paper.
Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface to a 1/4-inch thickness. Cut with cookie cutters of your choice. Carefully transfer the cookies to the prepared cookie sheets, spacing them about 1-inch apart.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom and firm to the touch. Immediately transfer to wire racks with offset spatula to prevent breakage. Cool completely before frosting.

K Cooks at Flour + Water

2011-11-30T19:31:00.001-08:00

Checking out the set up, pre class.

Well, sort of. As you may know, Flour + Water is a James Beard nominated restaurant here in San Francisco: a finalist in 2010 for Best New Restaurant and in 2011 for Rising Star Chef. I'm a big fan of their pastas, even though I don't eat there often enough.

Last weekend, a tweet appeared in my time line that sounded just about perfect for K:

@ SproutsCooking Join us & @flourandwater in Sprouts' Celebrity Chef Series! 11/30 5-7pm We're making macaroni and cheese from scratch! sproutscookingclub.org/current-classe…

Sprouts Cooking is, according to their mission statement, an organization that: "strives to teach Bay-Area children of all socio-economic backgrounds how to cook, hands-on, with real chefs, using real ingredients, in real restaurants whenever possible. We keep cooking real." They have classes, a garden, run a summer camp that may be in K's future, and more. Take a look at this article from the Bay Citizen/NY Times for more info.

Today was class day. We packed up K's "kit": grater, knife, peeler, kitchen rag, water bottle and Tupperware (in case of leftovers )and drove over to Flour + Water. Once there, I checked K in and left, wishing I could stay for the class. I will admit that I, and I would guess many of the other parents, spent the class time hoping for leftovers.

The table, pre-class

K's report on the class:

"We went upstairs and then we put our stuff down and Mama left. After all the kids got there, we stood around the table and introduced ourselves. Then the teacher showed us how to make dough for the pasta we would be making. The dough had about 20 or 25 eggs. Then we worked some of the dough. That means you knead it. Then we wrapped the dough up in plastic wrap and got to use some other dough that was already prepared.

We got to split it up and roll it out on the metal pasta roller. The handle kept falling off. Then we cut the pieces we rolled out into 1.5 inch by 1.5 inch squares and then we wrapped them diagonally around a wooden stick. Then we got to grate the cheese and wash the broccoli.

Then the craziness started. We made pasta with up to 32 layers, stacked on each other. Really thin ones, really small ones, anything you could think of. And then the teacher put it in the pan with a sauce made out of cheese and milk and the broccoli. Then it cooked, while we kept making more crazy shapes until there was no dough left. We also got to meet a pig. He was black and a pet. Then the parents came and we got soda and mac and cheese. Mama had some of my soda. And then we went home and Mama ate the leftover mac and cheese.

I liked rolling out the dough and meeting the other kids. I would like to take more of their classes."

Time to eat.

The chef with her leftovers and soda.

My much anticipated dinner.

Fall at La Clarine Farm

2011-11-27T17:25:00.001-08:00

Vines, goats, dogs and rosé.
A few pictures from a Sunday visit, my second to La Clarine Farm up in the Sierra Foothills. You can read a lot more about the winery on Alice Feiring's site or in this article she wrote for the SF Chronicle.

K admires the view. Her hair and the leaves are just about the same shade.

Fall in the foothills.

A new planting, tannat, if I remember correctly.

Hank Beckmeyer in conversation with Sarah Chappell.

Winery dogs: A very good life.

Also a good life: winery goats. This is either 8/9 or his mother 10/10.

Sometimes a barrel is a book rest.

The rosé is coming this spring! We also tasted the white blend (with semillon) this time, the home vineyard blend, the syrah and the Piedi Grandi (see below).

Also coming soon. A bit further along then when we tasted it in August, a fun blend.

Make the Bread, Buy the Butter: A Review

2011-11-15T13:30:00.001-08:00

I've not reviewed many books here. Given my former day job, it always seemed a bit of a conflict of interest. Honest praise for projects I worked on could have seemed self-serving. Sure, I could have written about books that I did not have anything to do with, but ignoring my titles and only praising those from other publishers also seemed strange. So, I generally avoided it. Which was hard for me, because I read a lot.

As I've mentioned before, my parents were librarians who opened bookstores and I've worked in books for almost my entire professional career. Whether I will do so in the future, either freelance or full-time, remains up in the air. In the meantime, I'm going to start writing more often about the books that cross my desk.

First up, the very appealingly titled: Make the Butter, Buy the Bread from Jennifer Reese, which was sent to me as a review copy.

From simple projects like make it yourself peanut butter and home baked bread to onion rings, backyard ducks and raising goats for their milk, Jennifer Reese takes us through a diverse range of projects, both successes and failures, with 120 recipes and corresponding “make or buy” recommendations. The press release included featured this blurb from Mollie Katzen and I tend to agree "I knew this important, original, and necessary book would be informative—and it is, very. What I didn't expect: pure entertainment in an original, fresh voice that will make readers feel they have a smart new best friend. I lapped this up in one sitting, learned a bunch, laughed out loud - and am about to try several of the recipes. You nailed it, Jennifer Reese!” The writing is inviting enough that I sat down and read the book through, eager to learn the results of each experience. The animal experiments, chicken, goats, ducks and turkeys, are particularly entertaining, as are the honest and often hilarious reactions from Reese's family.

The idea behind the book is one that resonates with me: when does it make sense to make a product versus buying it, in terms of taste, cost and hassle involved? This is something I wish people talked about more often when discussing home cooking and the ongoing debates about convenience foods. For some, the major issue is expense but for many, it is time. A large part of the make versus buy equation becomes how much we enjoy an activity. For example, I could devote hours to making a homemade croissant, but I've tried it, not enjoyed it, and with Tartine down the street, I am not motivated. Yet, although I can buy excellent jam at Bi-Rite, I don't hesitate to spend just as many hours as I would on the croissants, if not more, making jam. Jam making for me is a hobby, rather than a burden. Although some people do work incredibly long hours, most of us have lives with a certain amount of leisure time. If you enjoy cooking or baking or jam making or urban farming, the time is not the burden it would be if even the idea of stirring a pot for hours sounds tortuous. I can or bake or cook because I enjoy the process and not just the results. I'd rather be doing that than playing online poker or golfing or many other activities. Do I save money with these projects, something that I am clearly even more sensitive to today than ever? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Which is why my personal make or buy recommendations don't always mirror Reese's and that is to be expected.

As to the projects themselves, I appreciated the sheer number Reese tried. Personally, I'm not a backyard chicken girl. Having been attacked by a rooster at 5, I may be one of the only people out there scared of chickens. But, I regularly make jam, pickles, chutneys, tomato sauces ryed or bourboned cherries and the like, have made cheese, bacon, corned beef, pates, smoked fish and meats, along with all of my everyday cooking and baking. This year we even grew our own corn for popcorn. Although I haven't tried many of the projects Reese did, I have done quite a few. In general I agreed with the make/buy recommendations, though I feel strongly that she is wrong about strawberry jam. That aside, I highly recommend the book.

I wanted to test a recipe, so I handed it to K, with the caveat that no sweets were to be selected. She chose bagels, a fraught topic for many East Coast transplants. The recipe can be found here. It turned out to be an excellent choice, because, although I buy few bagels these days, K eats them for lunch on days she heads to school from her father's house. Convenient to have a critic available!

After walking K to school this morning, I made the very simple dough (flour, yeast, warm water, salt and sugar) and let it rise while I went about my day. It took, mixing and kneading including, all of 10-15 minutes. After school, we came home and started in on the more interesting side of the project: shaping, boiling and then baking the bagels. Shaping and boiling probably took about another 15-20 minutes, including resting time. Then, into the oven for 30 minutes. The verdict: I was delighted with their chewiness. K felt they were "maybe a little better than store bought," though she was less delighted by the chewiness. I'd make them again, but next time experiment with onions or other flavors. I'm also planning on trying a few more of the projects in the book. Next up? Maybe I will finally try fried chicken at home.

Shaping

Boiling

With our homemade strawberry, balsamic, black pepper jam

Cooking the Books with K: Mary Poppins in the Kitchen Lemon Souffle

2011-11-13T07:51:00.001-08:00

What is there to say about Mary Poppins? It is one of the most beloved movies of all time. Like many families, we own a copy and I credit it with helping me survive having food poisoning and single-parenting a two year-old one Thanksgiving weekend. The movie was one of K's favorites for many years and the sing-along version at the Castro Theater is not to be missed, though not currently on their schedule.

K says:

"It is a very awesome movie. "

"I love the songs."

"I really like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

"When I was little I watched that and Bedknobs and Broomsticks a lot."

"I think the penguins are really funny."

I don't remember if I read the books as a child or not. It seems like I must have, but I have no memories of them at all. One day at the library, K discovered the books.

She says:

"I've never read the original one because it is always checked out."

"They are really exciting and one has Michael getting transported to a planet of cats."

"I think there are four if you don't include the cookbook."

(Note: there are actually eight.)

"There is also one where they ride candy canes. Like the candy sticks you brought me."

"There is one where she tells them a story about the king of the castle and

the dirty rascal."

So, clearly, an obvious choice for Cooking the Books, especially after we discovered: Mary Poppins in the Kitchen: A Cookery Book with a Story. The joy of this book is that it is both a story and a cookbook as Mary and the Banks children take over the kitchen for a week. Mary Poppins teaches the children the basics of cooking, from A to Z, with thirty recipes to re-create the week's menus.

As we always do, we took turns marking the recipes we wanted to make. After much discussion about Gingerbread Stars and the fact that Christmas cookies will be on the agenda soon, we decided on Lemon Soufflé. Much like the lemon meringue pie we made recently, the recipe is a nice mix of child-friendly steps, combined with some that probably require adult help. We opted for individual soufflés in ramekins, rather than the large single soufflé in the original recipe, because K wanted her own. The language of the original recipe is charming, but I've altered it here to make it easier for K to follow along.

1/2 stick butter, plus extra for greasing the ramekins

4 T all-purpose flour

1 cup whole milk

1 large lemon, juiced and zested

4 T granulated sugar, plus extra for the ramekins

3 egg yolks

4 egg whites

pinch of cream of tartar

pinch of salt

Heat the oven to 400.

Butter the inside of the ramekins and sprinkle with sugar. Turn upside down to remove excess sugar.

In a saucepan, melt the butter until it foams. Turn down the heat and stir in the flour. Cook for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly to make a roux, a fine cooking vocabulary word for K. Take the pan off the stove and pour in the milk. Stir vigorously and return to the stove over gentle heat. Continue stirring until it thickens. Add the lemon zest (K loves zesting lemons with the microplane). Stir in the sugar and take off the heat. Allow this mixture to cool.

Separate three eggs. Stir in the yolks and lemon juice to your slightly cooled milk-butter-flour-sugar mixture to make your soufflé base. Separate one more egg and add the white to the others in the bowl. Beat until they foam. Add a pinch of cream of tartar and a pinch of salt. Continue beating until they form stiff peaks.

Stir a heaping spoonful of egg whites into the soufflé base. Spoon this mixture into the egg whites and fold very gently until combined. Spoon into prepared ramekins.

Place ramekins on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Fall in New England

2011-11-12T12:27:00.001-08:00

My mom has lived in this house for 42 years. Thus, home.

A look at my trip back home to Simsbury and Boston this past week. Some food, some nature, some wonderful friends, some leaves. Much scuffing.

It is a town filled with soccer fields.

A couple of notes: power came on at my Mom's house 10 minutes before I arrived after 10 days without. Simsbury had been called the most devastated town in the state and the level of destruction was incredible, on some roads every other tree had lost significant branches if not collapsed completely. But, because it was fall in New England, it was still beautiful with a light that I miss dearly living in SF.
My mother voted in my old junior high, a place I thought I would never visit again. Wandering the halls, I ran into two home ec teachers decorating. Not only did she remember me, but my older brother as well. Small towns are like that. Also, there is no photo of one of my favorite bites from the trip: a-so-good-I'd-like-to-fly-back-now-and-eat-it oyster slider at Island Creek Oyster Bar.

One of my childhood favorites: A sausage grinder from Apollo's.


And the next night, their sausage pizza, with a bit of a beverage upgrade.

Storm damage

More storm damage

Belden, my first elementary school and now the town hall. My favorite building in town. The sycamores survived.

Last view of town: bridge, famous sycamore. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinchot_Sycamore

A most important stop on the way to Boston in Sturbridge for a Joe Frogger and candy sticks for K.

Pouring rain meant I spent a lot of time at the MFA.

There until the end of the year. I was mesmerized.

Pre-scuffing

When I first moved to SF, my family sent me boxes of all leaves. . . .

I would pour them out on the living room floor and scuff. . .

And then, vacuum.

There were oysters.

Lobster BLT at B&G for lunch.

A birth year wine!

Maple Cranberry Apple Sauce

2011-11-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

A week or so ago, in the midst of our annual too-hot-to-cook Indian summer, Serious Eats published a recipe for Maple Cranberry Applesauce. I've made cranberry applesauce before, in a failed attempt to convince K that applesauce was a joy and not a punishment. I naively assumed that a food she did not like would appear magical in pink. Alas. I had not thought of adding maple, another of my favorite flavors. With a fridge full of apples, from our own tree, the farmers market and our Mariquita box, I just needed a cool day. Today, finally, I awoke to cool winds and later, rain, a perfect day for apple sauce.

The original recipe, from Lucy Baker, can be found at the link above. I used unpeeled apples figuring that the peels might provide a bit of nutrition, upped the cranberries and used the smallest recommended amount of maple syrup. I also upped the cooking times a little bit because canning at my house rather than Lisa's means a less powerful stove. The resulting sauce is on the sweet side and would probably be perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

6 pounds apples, cored
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cinnamon stick
2 cups fresh cranberries
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup

Combine the apples, water, lemon juice, and cinnamon stick in a large, heavy-bottomed pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the apples are tender and easy to mash with a fork, about 30 minutes.
Remove the cinnamon stick. Using an immersion blender, puree the apple mixture until it is mostly smooth with a few small chunks. (Alternatively, puree half of the mixture in a food processor or blender.) Stir in the cranberries, brown sugar, and maple syrup. Return the mixture to a simmer and cook until the cranberries begin to pop, about 15 minutes.
Ladle the hot applesauce into sterilized jars and process for 20 minutes.

Cooking the Books with K: Little House Cornbread

2011-10-30T08:26:00.000-07:00

"Almanzo ate the sweet, mellow baked beans. He ate the bit of salt pork that melted like cream in his mouth. He ate mealy boiled potatoes, with brown ham-gravy. He ate the ham. He bit deep into velvety bread spread with sleek butter, and he ate the crisp golden crust. He demolished a tall heap of pale mashed turnips, and a hill of stewed yellow pumpkin. Then he sighed, and tucked his napkin deeper into the neckband of his red waist. And he ate plum preserves and strawberry jam, and grape jelly, and spiced watermelon-rind pickles. He felt very comfortable inside. Slowly he ate a large piece of pumpkin pie." –From Farmer Boy

K loves the Little House books. They were the first series of "big kid" books she read to herself, sometime in kindergarten. I fondly remember sitting in bed with her one night, as she read Farmer Boy and I read a Robert Parker Spenser mystery. I don't have a photograph as it was just the two of us at home with the cat, but it is a moment I can picture clearly in my memory, flannel pajamas and all.

A few thoughts from K on the books:

"I remember that I liked the first one so much my Grammy got me the whole set."

"I read them all the time and I even got the Little House Cookbook."

"I liked that they were actually real life and they were exciting, most of the real life ones are boring."

I found out that there were other Little House books and I looked for them every time I went

to a library. I checked out like 50 books when I went to Grammy's and that included the extra Little House books." "Laura when she is younger is my favorite character, because she is a kid she is mischievous and she is kind of like me."

The Little House books are full of food, some of it very appealing as in almost all of Farmer Boy, a book that was my favorite in the series as a child. When I asked K what she should make, her first choice was apple pie. But, as it is Halloween weekend and the pre-sugar rush has already set in, I suggested she try something a bit more savory. Her instant response "Cornbread, they eat that all the time."

The Little House Cookbook has two cornbread recipes, one with simply fat, cornmeal and salt and a second that includes butter, eggs and buttermilk. The second seemed the one to try, though we skipped the cracklings, as I did not have any on hand. We also added a small amount of sugar. Note that this is a recipe a 9-year-old can do essentially alone, though I'd suggest an adult help with pouring the batter into the warm skillet.

"Farmer Boy" Cornbread

1/4 cup butter, melted, plus more to grease the pan (or be more authentic and use bacon grease)
2 cups stone ground cornmeal
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 T sugar (optional)
2 cups buttermilk
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425. Grease a cast iron skillet with butter or bacon grease and put it in the pre-heating oven while you make the batter.
In a large bowl mix cornmeal, salt, baking soda and sugar. Stir in buttermilk. Beat eggs in a small bowl and add them to the batter. Finally, stir in the melted butter. Pour batter into the greased cast iron skillet and bake about 30 minutes, until the brown edges pull away from the pan and the center of the bread bounces back when pressed. Cut and remove from pan before the bread cools. Serve warm.

Mystery Box

2011-10-27T17:47:00.000-07:00

Almost every other Thursday, K and I pick up a "Mystery Box" from Mariquita Farms. In their words, the box program is:
"What: Guerrilla vegetable deliveries: Not a CSA, we have one of those. More like a taco truck-meets-the farmers market. No prepayment, no credit cards. You give me your cell phone number as collateral that you'll show up, I give you mine so you can find me/contact me that night. We don't abuse each others cell numbers.
Why: Mariquita Customers at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market missed us when we chose to stop attending spring of 2007. Some of our customers begged for a way to still receive our erbette chard, boxes of San Marzanos, sweet peppers, basil, red carrots etc. We still grow it all and we're delighted to find a way bring it to SF, even if you *don't* own a restaurant!"

I love the mystery box for a few reasons. Foremost, living with just K, who hates almost all vegetables, a weekly CSA is simply too much for me. Second, I like, even these weeks when I groan at the site of more celery, being forced to experiment with produce I would not select at the market. Thankfully, they provide a link to recipes. Third, it is simply an incredible deal for some of the best produce available. That said, here is a look at this week's box.


How it comes, or, a bag, not a box.


Cheddar Cauliflower: Halloween vegetable number one.


Broccoli Romanesco: Halloween vegetable number two.

Perhaps we have found a use for all of that celery?

Red Friarelli Peppers: No plan, yet.

Sweet Potatoes: Roast or perhaps a pie?

End of the season heirloom tomatoes: salad, eaten out of hand and blts.


French breakfast radishes: Braised? Or simply with salt and butter?


Turnip Greens and Red Oak Leaf Lettuce One to saute, one to make a salad.

Braeburn Apples: Pie? Apple Sauce? Sauteed and served with pork?

Galeux D’Eysines Pumpkin and Willow, the cat who likes to pose. Note Secret Garden Cookbook in the background.

Weekend Picture:Because Sometimes the Internet is All About Cat Pictures

2011-10-23T17:19:00.000-07:00

Fall Garden Update

2011-10-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Lots and lots of lavender.

My garden is not beautiful. But I am grateful to have it. Especially with the addition of many half wine barrels from Kevin Hamel to replace the decaying containers I had had used for many years.

Perhaps more for myself, a record of our successes and failures.

A great year for berries, again. A mediocre year for tomatoes, again. Though, if you look carefully, you can see that the plants have at long last filled with tomatoes. Will they ripen before the rains come? Uncertain. It was also a good year for pumpkin blossoms, but no pumpkins, again. K's strawberry popcorn thrived, so I take back everything I said to her about corn not growing in San Francisco. The apple tree is very much in need of pruning, but we had a large enough harvest to both snack and make an apple pie. For year two, that is exciting. The peach tree that K insisted we buy at Whole Foods is still alive. For $10, why not experiment?

End of season blackberries

Will they ripen pre-rain?

Another great year for strawberries and raspberries. Average for the blueberries.

The cats are allowed out when we are there. Violet is hoping I won't remember to bring her back in.

Strawberry popcorn, curing

From above:lavender planted by the landlord, blackberries, my container crops, and more

2012 Tour de France Route Announced (Officially)

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-07:00

Speaking of planning ahead, now official is this year's Tour de France Route. Much like with the Giro, wine suggestions very welcome.

2012 Tour de France stages:

P Prologue Sat 30 June Liège > Liège 6.1 km Belgium
1 Road stage Sun 1 July Liège > Seraing 198 km Belgium
2 Road stage Mon 2 July Visé > Tournai 207 km Belgium
3 Road stage Tues 3 July Orchies > Boulogne-sur-Mer 197 km

4 Road stage Weds 4 July Abbeville > Rouen 214 km

5 Road stage Thurs 5 July Rouen > Saint-Quentin 197 km

6 Road stage Fri 6 July Épernay > Metz 210 km

7 Road stage Sat 7 July Tomblaine > La Planche des Belles Filles 199 km

8 Road stage Sun 8 July Belfort > Porrentruy 154 km
9 Time trial Mon 9 July Arc-et-Senans > Besançon 38 km

10 Road stage Weds 11 July Mâcon > Bellegarde-sur-Valserine 194 km
11 Mountains Thurs 12 July Albertville > La Toussuire - Les Sybelles 140 km

12 Mountains Fri 13 July Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne > Annonay 220 km

13 Road stage Sat 14 July Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux > Le Cap d’Agde 215 km
14 Road stage Sun 15 July Limoux > Foix 192 km
15 Road stage Mon 16 July Samatan > Pau 160 km
16 Mountains Weds 18 July Pau > Bagnères-de-Luchon 197 km
17 Mountains Thurs 19 July Bagnères-de-Luchon > Peyragudes 144 km
18 Road stage Fri 20 July Blagnac > Brive-la-Gaillarde 215 km
19 Time trial Sat 21 July Bonneval > Chartres 52 km
20 Road stage Sun 22 July Rambouillet > Paris Champs-Élysées 130 km

2012 Giro Route Announced

2011-10-16T09:32:00.000-07:00

That time again? No, not quite. The race is not until May. But today was the route announcement. I've listed regions as well as google could identify them. Perhaps this will be the year I plan ahead, rather than scramble at the last minute? Stage list below, suggestions very welcome:

Stages of the 2012 Giro d’Italia

Stage 1, May 5: Herning (Denmark), Herning (8.7km, time trial)

Stage 2, May 6: Herning, Herning (206km)

Stage 3, May 7: Horsens (Denmark), Horsens (190km)

Rest day, May 8

Stage 4, May 9: Verona, Verona (32.2km team time trial) Veneto

Stage 5, May 10: Modena, Fano (199km) Emilia-Romagna to Marche

Stage 6, May 11: Urbino, Porto Sant’Elpidio (207km) Marche

Stage 7, May 12: Recanati, Rocca di Cambio (202km) Marche to Abruzzo

Stage 8, May 13: Sulmona, Lago Laceno (229km) Abruzzo to Campania

Stage 9, May 14: San Giorgio del Sannio, Frosinone (171km) Campania to Lazio

Stage 10, May 15: Civitavecchia, Assisi (187km) Lazio to Umbria

Stage 11, May 16: Assisi, Montecatini Terme (243km) Umbria to Tuscany

Stage 12, May 17: Seravezza, Sestri Levante (157km) Tuscany to Liguria

Stage 13, May 18: Savona, Cervere (121km) Liguria to Piedmont

Stage 14, May 19: Cherasco, Cervinia (205km) Piedmont to Valle d’Aosta

Stage 15, May 20: Busto Arsizio, Lecco/Pian dei Resinelli (172km) Lombardy

Rest day, May 21

Stage 16, May 22: Limone sul Garda, Falzes (174km) Lombardy to Trentino-Alto Adige

Stage 17, May 23: Falzes, Cortina d’Ampezzo (187km) Trentino-Alto Adige to Veneto

Stage 18, May 24: San Vito di Cadore, Vedelago (139km) Veneto

Stage 19, May 25: Treviso, Alpe di Pampeago (197km) Veneto to Trentino-Alto Adige

Stage 20, May 26: Caldes/Val di Sole, Passo dello Stelvio (218km) Trentino-Alto Adige

Stage 21, May 27: Milan, Milan (31.5km time trial) Lombardy

Cooking the Books with K: Secret Garden Currant-Peach Buns

2011-10-15T15:34:00.000-07:00

“The Secret Garden was what Mary called it when she was thinking of it. She liked the name, and she liked still more the feeling that when its beautiful old walls shut her in no one knew where she was. It seemed almost like being shut out of the world in some fairy place. The few books she had read and liked had been fairy-story books, and she had read of secret gardens in some of the stories. Sometimes people went to sleep in them for a hundred years, which she had thought must be rather stupid. She had no intention of going to sleep, and, in fact, she was becoming wider awake every day which passed at Misselthwaite."

Sitting in the bookstore window with my Mom and a giant Curious George

I've always had a theory that all of us have one thing we are really great at. A super power so to say. My super power is reading. I read a lot as a child. My parents originally met when they both worked for the Brooklyn Public Library system. They moved to Connecticut before I was born for my dad to become the director of a public library. When I was three, they opened a bookstore. At one point in my childhood they had three, but post-divorce, ended up with a store each. On sick days or holidays, I would sit in the backroom of my mother's store and read. Later, as a pre-teen, I packed boxes of books to go to school bookfairs in the dingy basement of my dad's store. By the time I had my driver's license and could drive myself there, I was working two nights a week and Saturdays at my Dad's store.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that because of this background, I read more children's books than many kids. When I came up with the idea of this Cooking the Books with K series, I realized it would be a chance both to revisit some old favorites and to read some newer books that K adores. I did not have a firm list of books, rather, I figured we would come up with them along the way.

There was one book though, that I knew we had to include: The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. My original paperback copy has traveled with me from my childhood home, to college, and into every apartment I have rented. I can list a lot of books that I adored as a child, but it would be fair to say that The Secret Garden was my favorite at K's age. Rereading it last week, I was delighted to still love it. The story is that of the orphaned Mary Lennox who comes to live with her uncle in a large house on the Yorkshire moors. She is described as "the most disagreeable-looking child ever seen. It was true too . . . she was as tyrannical and selfish a little pig as ever lived." The house is full of secrets including a locked garden, which Mary becomes intensely curious about. She sets out to find the garden, along the way meeting the magical Dickon, a boy who charms animals, and Colin, a hidden cousin who may be even more disagreeable than Mary herself. I'll stop there to avoid spoilers for anyone who may not have read the book. If you haven't, do so. If you have, read it again.

To my delight there exists a Secret Garden Cookbook. As we usually do, K and I took turns marking the recipes we liked before deciding upon Currant Buns. The buns are yeast-risen, with spice and some sweetness. Because we like to experiment, we made a few changes. We added whole wheat flour, upped the spices, and because K wanted to, added chopped dried white peaches to the currants and upped the fruit amount a bit. We also added vanilla to the glaze, also because K wanted to. Luckily, we have a garden of our own to eat them in.

"The morning that Dickon--after they had been enjoying themselves in the garden for about two hours--went behind a big rosebush and brought forth two tin pails and revealed that one was full of rich new milk with cream on the top of it, and that the other held cottage-made currant buns folded in a clean blue and white napkin, buns so carefully tucked in that they were still hot, there was a riot of surprised joyfulness. What a wonderful thing for Mrs. Sowerby to think of! What a kind, clever woman she must be! How good the buns were! And what delicious fresh milk!

"Magic is in her just as it is in Dickon," said Colin. "It makes her think of ways to do things--nice things. She is a Magic person. . . ."

More kneading practice for K.

Currant-Peach Buns

1 1/4 cups milk

1/4 cup brown sugar

4 tablespoons butter, plus more for greasing the baking pan

3 cups white flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 package yeast

1 large egg

1/2 cup dried currants

1/2 cup dried peaches chopped

Optional glaze (You will have extra. K had the leftovers with her bun.)

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla paste

Sugar (We used pearl sugar leftover from Blue Bottle recipe testing.)

Warm the milk, sugar and butter in a small pan until the butter is melted and the mixture is the temperature of warm bathwater. Do not let boil.

Meanwhile, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in a bowl.

Put the yeast in a small bowl.

When the milk mixture is heated, add 1/4 cup to the yeast and stir well to combine. Let sit to dissolve the yeast, about 3-5 minutes and then add to the flour.

Break the egg into the remaining milk mixture and stir well. Immediately pour into the flour bowl. Add the dried fruit and mix well. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead until the dough is rubbery, about 5 minutes.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit in a warm spot until doubled in size, about 1.5 to 3 hours.

Cut the dough in half, then quarters, and then into quarters again. Shape into 16 rounds. Place on one or two greased baking sheets, buns almost touching. Let rise again until doubled in size, 30-60 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Combine milk and vanilla and brush over the tops of each bun. Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until browned and cooked all the way through, 15-25 minutes.

Lemon Meringue Pie With K

2011-10-10T08:51:00.000-07:00

K has been asking for a lemon meringue pie for a while now. I think it started with her love of the lemon tart at Piccino. After reading about it in Harry Potter, she began asking more frequently. Like, oh, daily, saying "I have never had lemon meringue pie." Which is true. I resisted baking one. Because, to be honest, I am not a huge fan. Last week though, I went to a preview showing of the new movie Toast. The movie is based on a memoir by British food writer Nigel Slater, and if you can see it without developing a desire for lemon meringue pie, you are less suggestible than I am. I even found the food stylists's recipe from the movie here.

The only question became which recipe. Asking on twitter led me to one suggestion for the classic Betty Crocker recipe and one for a rather intriguing Plum Meringue Pie. I also found one online from Alton Brown that looked doable, especially as his meringue technique looked much simpler than many others I found. Clearly, I wanted to combine recipes. The only question was whether or not I could convince K that plum meringue held the appeal of lemon.

While waiting for her decision, I made a pie crust from the Easy Pie Dough recipe by J. Kenji López-Alt, on Serious Eats. I've been enjoying the site for years and am very happy with their expanded drinks coverage, including a Summer of Riesling series.

Crust made and chilling in the fridge, it was time to wait for K's verdict. Plum or lemon? I even arranged the plums on the table to form a K. Alas, the the answer, lemon. Why? "Because I love lemon tart and I really want to try meringue." Sensible enough I suppose.

A few notes:

I'll paste the recipe below. We reduced the sugar and upped the zest, but beyond that made it is written.

1 Zesting and juicing lemons is an excellent job for a 9-year-old. As is stirring, but you may find yourself saying, repeatedly, that "stirring is not just dragging a spoon along the surface of a pan."

2 The same 9-year-old will probably also be fascinated by cornstarch and the stiff peaks formed by beating egg whites. "It is really cool to see what the cornstarch looks like when it gets all jiggly. And the egg whites look like a pile of snow when I put them on the pie."

3 Although you may have a need to make the pie look pretty, it is a far better thing to let the 9-year-old arrange the meringue. Really.

4 When the pie comes out of the oven, your 9-year-old may say "It smells like heaven."

5 Pie for breakfast is a fine day to celebrate a day off from school.

Alton Brown's Lemon Meringue Pie

Ingredients

Lemon Filling:

4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest
1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Directions

Preheat oven to 375.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

4 egg whites
1 pinch cream of tartar
2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

Cooking the Books with K: Harry Potter Pumpkin Pasties

2011-10-01T16:17:00.000-07:00

A tea cup out to good use.

It could be said that K overfilled the pasties.

When we first discussed our Cook from the Books project, one of K's requests was something from Harry Potter. Despite being resistant to the books for several years, at some point they became favorites. She will tell anyone interested that "Harry Potter is awesome." To be honest, she will talk about Harry Potter whether or not one is interested. Her Halloween costume this year is Ginny Weasley. The current plan is that I will also be a Harry Potter character, so if anyone has a loaner robe, please let me know. K even owns a copy of The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook, as well as the highly recommended Harry Potter Uno.

Last night, we sat down to decide on our recipe. After some debate between lemon meringue pie and pumpkin pasties, the pumpkin won out. In Harry Potter, Pumpkin Pasties are a wizarding food sold on the Hogwarts Express food trolley, and were enjoyed by Harry and Ron on their first trip to school. Essentially pie crust with a pumpkin filling, they seem just the thing to comfort nervous students on the way to adventure.

What are pasties? Well, I remember eating and enjoying the beef filled version as a child. Epicurious tells me that: "Named after Cornwall, England, these savory TURNOVERS consist of a short-crust pastry enfolding a chopped meat-and-potato filling. Other vegetables and sometimes fish are also used. In the 18th and 19th centuries, pasties were the standard lunch of Cornwall's tin miners. It was common to place a savory mixture in one end and an apple mixture in the other so both meat and dessert could be enjoyed in the same pasty."

Pumpkin Pasties

Adapted from The Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook

Cooking with K is all about changing recipes, mainly to simplify, but also to better suit her taste. The original recipe called for shortening in addition to butter, but we opted for all butter. We adjusted the spices and substituted the last of our roasted squash/pumpkin mixture from last fall's Mariquita Mystery boxes. We used a mixer rather than a food processor, because, well, it was already out. We also ended up using a bit extra pumpkin, as someone got a bit overexcited with the grating of the nutmeg.

Pastry Crust

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 T granulated sugar

1/4 t salt

8 T cold butter, cut into chunks

4 to 6 T ice water

Filling

1 cup pumpkin

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/2 T ground nutmeg

1/4 T ground cinnamon

Plus 1 T sugar for sprinkling

Place the flour sugar and salt in the bowl of a mixer. Mix until combined. Add the butter to the bowl and mix until it resembles "coarse yellow meal." Add 4 T ice water and mix on low until it clumps. If it is too dry, add more water. We ended up with 6 T. Pat the dough into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least one hour.

For the filling:

Place all ingredients in a mixing bowl and combine.

Preheat the oven to 400.

Roll out the dough an 1/8 inch thick. Use a tea cup to cut out 6 circles. Put 2-3 T in the filling in the center of each circle of dough. Moisten the edges with water and pull the dough over the filling and crimp with a fork to seal the edges. Note that we had a bit of filling leftover. It made a lovely snack. Cut slits (in our case Ks) to make vents. Sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bake on an ungreased cookies sheet for 30 minutes or until browned.

Makes seven pasties. (The recipe claims six.)

Lytton Springs Tasting

2011-10-01T10:52:00.000-07:00

There are some invitations that come arrive in my inbox that sit for a few days before I decide whether or not I can attend. It happens to all of us. And then there are the emails that Christopher Watkins sends about his quarterly Ridge Bloggers Tastings. For those, I check my calendar right away and attempt to reschedule if I have a conflict. In June, my conflict was a trip to Germany. This time, it was a canning project. The German trip I could not reschedule, but, I was able to move my canning project--40 pounds of tomatoes this time- clearing September 25th for a trip to Lytton Springs.

More than a bit exhausted from my jam-judging stint at the Eat Real Festival, followed by the tomato project, I drove to Healdsburg, delighted that unlike last year's tasting, when temperatures were over 90, it was a beautiful day. As always, the tasting had a theme, this time: small-production, winery-only library wines from the Lytton Springs Estate Vineyards. But before we could get truly started, it was time for a trip outside to witness the arrival of some zinfandel grapes.

Grapes that had come in earlier.

On our way back inside, we were lucky enough to stop by a "Carignane Fountain" for a taste of some amazing juice. I found myself wishing that I could take a bottle or two home.

Back at our tables, it was time to start tasting. I'll list all the wines below, but a few general thoughts first. One, as always, it is a lot of fun to see what Christopher will pull out of the cellars for these tastings. All too often, when tasting young wines, especially ones that I do not know well, it is a bit of a guessing game as to how they will evolve. Tastings like this provide a valuable education that most of us can not duplicate at home. I am also always impressed with the consistency shown. Although I can pick favorites, I would quite happily drink any of these wines. That is something one can rarely say at most tastings. But what did we drink?

The first two wines were:

2002 Ridge Grenache Lytton Estate 78% Grenache/13% Petite Sirah/9% Zinfandel As I have had many times, 02 is K's birthyear and I wish I had a lot more in my cellar. Alas. Medium bodied with blackberry, spice and good acidity.

2003 Ridge Syrah/Grenache Lytton Estate 50% Syrah/50% Grenache Dark fruit, cocoa, more tannins.

Next up was a special treat: A mystery wine brought by Richard Jennings of RJonWine, served to us blind. We were told that it was a Ridge wine, no longer produced, and were asked to guess the vintage and grape. Although I failed miserably at the grape portion of the challenge, I was closest on vintage, guessing 89. Apparently there will be a prize.

The wine? A 1990 Ridge Barbera Rancho Pequeno

To follow, three flights of syrah:

2003 Ridge Syrah Lytton West Vineyard Co-fermented with 9% Viognier. Rich, jammy with a dusty nose. Although this tasted to me like it came from a very warm year, I was told that in fact, 03 was cold and wet.

2005 Ridge Syrah Lytton West Vineyard 6% Viognier Very pretty, with black pepper and a very grapey, fruity nose.

2002 Ridge Syrah II Lytton Estate 76% Syrah/22% Grenache/2% Viognier This had an almost rubbery nose when first poured, but opened up to show black cherry and pepper.

2001 Ridge Syrah Lytton Estate 1% Viognier My favorite of this flight. Dark color, vibrant and spicy.

2000 Ridge Syrah Lytton Estate 1% Viognier This was originally poured to me in a smaller glass and I found it edgy and a bit closed. Switching to a different glass, it showed leather and cocoa.

1999 Ridge Syrah Lytton Estate 92% Syrah/7% Grenache/1% Viognier Minerals, Cherries and cocoa.

1997 Ridge Syrah Lytton Estate 88% Syrah/12% Viognier My wine of the day. Smooth with black fruit and spice, really, just about perfect.

Thanks as also to Christopher and Brandye and everyone at Ridge and my fellow attendees:

Alison Smith
Chiara Shannon
Dave Tong
Deb Kravitz
Fred Swan
Joe Manekin
Marcy Gordon
Martin Redmond
Richard Jennings
Thea Dwelle

Riesling Hour Tasting

2011-09-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

Oolong and the wines awaiting my guests

A few months back, an announcement went out on twitter about a promotion called Riesling Hour: "Join us on Thursday evening, September 22 during the height of harvest for our next Riesling Hour, the world's largest virtual Riesling tasting, as we celebrate the arrival of the 2010 Finger Lakes Rieslings. This time we are extending the party (to three hours) and adding a bunch more venues around the country. Get more details on the participating wineries, restaurants and wine shops at www.RieslingHour.com. Cheers to Finger Lakes Rieslings!"

As part of the promotion, they selected bloggers and tweeters around the country to receive a shipment of Finger Lakes Rieslings so we could taste along. I signed up right away because, having heard so much about Finger Lakes wines, I had not had the opportunity to try very many at all as they are not very available in the Bay Area. I then forgot all about the event. So much so that I did not change the mailing address for the package and had to make a trip back to my old office to pick up my shipment.

Wines finally on hand, I invited a few friends over to share the the wines and their opinions. For those concerned about such things, our tasting panel was 2 men and three women, none very familiar with Finger Lakes wines. We had six wines to taste, ranging from dry to medium sweet. All of the wines were from the 2010 vintage which had been the warmest growing season in forty years and was also the wettest since 1973.

First up was the Anthony Road 2010 Dry Riesling, $15.00 on their website. I thought that this wine suffered a bit from being a bit cold when first opened. It seemed very light and in the words of one of the tasters "innocuous." But after a little bit of time and air, the apple and citrus notes grew more pronounced and innocuous changed to "Can I take this home to try again later?" One of the favorites of the night for everyone and the favorite for one.

Next up was the Fox Run Vineyards 2010 Dry Riesling, $15.99 on their website. Two out of the five tasters picked up some petrol notes, though the others did not agree. This wine was richer, with stronger mineral notes. The favorite of the night for 2 out of five tasters.

Third in our lineup was the Ravines Wine Cellars 2010 Dry Riesling, their website lists the 2008 vintage at $16.95. The two men in the group both liked this one a lot, saying that they tasted more "minerally." The women picked up more tropical notes. I thought it needed to open up a bit, but showed promise. The favorite of the night for one taster.

Fourth was the Dr. Frank's Semi Dry Riesling 2010, $14.99 on their website. One taster felt that the best descriptor for this wine was "white melon." Although not everyone agreed with that, all agreed on fruitier and rounder.

Fifth up was the Wagner Vineyards Semi Dry 2010 The 2008 on their website is $12.99. This was the least favorite bottle of the night. Because I have not tasted it before, I can not be certain there was a problem with the bottle, but given the reviews I looked up online, that is probably be the case. Almost all of the tasters agreed that the nose was very off-putting and that they were only willing to taste it because they thought they should give it a try. Swirling and eventually decanting did nothing to help. It was the only bottle that someone did not take home at the end of the night.

The final wine was the 2010 Red New "Circle" Riesling $12.95 on their website. Stepping up again in sweetness, this was a hit with almost everyone. "Easy to drink," was the most common refrain. Four out of 5 tasters would buy this wine if available locally. Lots of ripe fruit. The favorite of the night for one taster.

Hard to reach conclusions after tasting six very young wines. As you can see above, the favorites were not all the same. I was pleased by most of what I tasted, particularly the dryer wines, especially given the price of some of the wines. Would I rather drink these bottles than my favorites from the Mosel? No. But, I don't drink those every night. I was impressed enough to want to taste more and will seek some out on my next East Coast trip. As for my guests, I think all of them would be pleased to see more of these wines available locally. None of them drink as much Riesling as I do, but felt that these wines were ones they would buy and drink again.

Cooking from the Books with K: Anne of Green Gables

2011-09-18T17:41:00.000-07:00

"But it isn't good manners to tell your company what you are going to give them to eat, so I won't tell you what she said we could have to drink. Only it begins with an R and a C and it's bright red color. I love bright red drinks, don't you? They taste twice as good as any other color."

K: "I like imagination a lot. She even had an imaginary friend named Katie.
Also that she has red hair like I do."

How is it possible that I did not know that an Anne of Green Gables Cookbook existed? It was a book or really, series, that I read countless times. Anne's stories of Avonlea, along with her imagination, are not to be forgotten and remind me more than a little of K's imaginary worlds. But thanks to a few tweets from tea_austen and @poeticappetite, I am rereading the books for the first time as an adult. It is one of my favorite things about twitter, shared interests coming together in creative ways. In fact, after a few tweets, it was decided that:

"@tea_austen Some of us are getting together an Anne of Green Gables read-along, for anyone interested. Read next week, virtual potluck after #AnneofGG"

After a bit of research, I discovered that this is far from the only cookbook from the books of my childhood. There is a Secret Garden cookbook, one from Mary Poppins, Encyclopedia Brown, Green Eggs and Ham and the Little House book, among many others. K and I decided that we would choose a new book and recipe each week.

From Anne, it seemed that cordial was the clear way to start. Especially on a hot day when I had been been slow roasting tomatoes for four hours. Indeed, when I first told K about the cookbook, her first comment was about "the drink that made Diana drunk." After a frustrating few days trying to track down a hard copy of the book, I discovered the recipe online. Having promised K a non-alcoholic version, we were off. We changed the recipe a bit because we are still in the backyard blackberry season. So rather than straight raspberries as in the book, we added blackberries for a slightly more dramatic color. For adults, I think that a bit of my blackberry-infused bourbon might be a fine addition. K will be pairing it with yesterday's custard. I'll be having it with an egg salad sandwich, inspired by Anne's Poetical Egg Salad.

2 cups raspberries
2 cups blackberries
1 1/4 cups sugar
6 cups boiling water
3 lemons

Directions:

Put the berries into a saucepan and add sugar.
Cook on medium, stirring occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved.
Using a potato masher, mash the raspberries and syrup thoroughly.
Pour the mixture through a strainer, extract all the juice.
Squeeze two of the lemons and strain the juice, add it to the raspberry juice.
Add the boiling water to the raspberry juice.
Allow the cordial to cool, then chill it in the refrigerator.
Serve cordial with a thin slice of lemon in each glass.

Cooking with K: Baked Custard

2011-09-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

The very serious grating of the nutmeg.

It is probably not surprising that K has a list of recipes that she wants to try. She spent most of kindergarten carrying around a copy of Charlie Trotter's Desserts. Her backpack resembled more the overly full ones of middle schoolers rather than the empty but for a lunch and folder ones of the five-year-olds. She later moved on to carrying a very battered copy of Cookie Swap, a Whoopie Pie book, and several different David Lebovitz books, among others. One of her favorite games was to sit in bed, read a recipe, and then pretend to make it, imaginary stirring and all.

It turns out that the recipes on her list include: jello (not the homemade with raspberries kind I made), lemon meringue pie, Neapolitan ice cream and "that custard Grammy used to make when you were sick." K likes to hear "stories of my childhood" and often asks for ones with food. She has heard many times that my mother used to make me baked custard when I was sick.This was always an event because my mother did not believe in sick days unless you were really ill. No minor stomach aches or not enough sleep, only a full on flu or fever would do. There were several years I had no sick days. Probably because of this rarity, the custard is still the first thing I think of when someone uses the phrase comfort food.

We were also very much a no-sugar-allowed household, which made the custard even more special All bread, except for bagels, was wheat. Kool-aid and soda were forbidden, and some days, the morning bowl of cereal included the dreaded wheat germ. How I longed for the Oreos and sugared cereals found at our neighbor Sean's house. There is a story that I like to tell to make K laugh. At age six I was at a gathering of the Lithuanian side of my mother's family. These gatherings were great treats for us, because there was always powdered sugar covered fried cookies (Which I'd love the name of and a recipe for) and other sweets. One of my great-aunts asked if I would like a soda and a brownie. I said yes, turned to my older brother and reportedly asked: "What's a brownie?"

Feeling in need of a bit of comfort this weekend myself, I suggested K write to her Grammy to ask for her custard recipe. This morning, she got an email reply so today, "Grammy's" custard. Her emailed recipe is below:

Katie, the recipe is from the Fannie Farmer cookbook:

2 egg yolks, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 3 cups very hot milk, 1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. nutmeg (I like lots)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees--butter a 1 quart baking dish (or 8 ramekins). Set a shallow pan large enough to hold the container or ramekins in the oven and fill it with 1 or1 1/2 inches of hot water. Beat egg yolks and eggs together just enough to blend. Stir in the sugar and salt and slowly add the hot milk, stirring constantly. Add the vanilla. Strain into the baking dish or dishes and sprinkle with some nutmeg. Put in the pan and bake for about 45 minutes; the custard is set when a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Can add 1/4 cup flaked coconut to the custard mixture before putting it into the baking dish--or, dishes.

Love and kisses, Grammy

Speaking of Jam. . .

2011-09-15T18:17:00.000-07:00

Feel like being judged by me? And, well, several better known others? Thanks to the fine folks at Punk Domestics and the Oakland Eat Real Festival, I'll be helping to judge their upcoming jam competition. There is still time to enter and I'll include a link to details below, including the very impressive lists of judges for all of the categories. I wonder: could we have the leftover pickles and infusions to help with the expected sugar high? Though this tweet makes me wonder:

BlueBottleSweet: @amybcleary @punkdomestics I was a jam judge last year. Many gross, a few lovelies and, a clear winner. Prepare for lots of jalapeño jam.

For the full list of rules and submission guidelines, please visit http://eatrealfest.com/event/Oakland/California/2011/make-contests.

Here's the event press release:

Eat Real Fest and Punk Domestics present 2011 DIY Contests
Two new categories announced

Eat Real Fest, the urban street food festival, and Punk Domestics, the premier content and community site for DIY foodies, have joined forces to present this year's DIY food contests. Bay Area amateur preservationists and homesteaders may submit their handmade foods in five categories, including two new categories introduced this year.
As with years past, contestants may submit their homemade preserves, pickles and home brews. New this year is the opportunity to submit honey from their own hives, as well as a new infusions and liqueurs category.
Submissions will be tasted and judged by panels of esteemed local professionals, media figures and bloggers, all experts in their respective fields. Contest submissions may be dropped off at the eat real offices on September 21-23, and judging will occur September 24, with the winner announced at 6:30 pm that evening. The list of panel judges includes:
Homebrewing:
Bryan Hermannsson, Co-Founder/Mad Brewer, Pacific Brewing Laboratory
Johnny Van Houten, Brewer, Van Houten Brewery
Patrick Horn, Pacific Brewing Laboratories
Regan Long, Founder/Brewer, Local Brewing Co.
Richard Brewer-Hay, Brewer, Elizabeth Street Brewery
Tiila Abbitt and David Buckingham, FemALEist
Honey:
Amy Sherman, Blogger, Cooking with Amy
Bryon Waibel, Her Majesty's Secret Beekeeper
Donna Suh Wageman, Owner, Pot + Pantry
Nicole Kramer Easterday, Founder, FARMcurious
Rachel Hoff, Owner/Blogger, Dog Island Farm
Stephanie Rosenbaum, Author, "Honey from Farm to Table"
Infusions and liqueurs:
Anita Crotty, Writer/Photographer, Married ...with Dinner
Chaz French, Chef, Baker, Writer
Jesse Hirsch, Food writer, Bay Citizen
John Wight, Wine Steward/Sommelier, InterContinental San Francisco
Michael Cecconi, Instructor of Mixology at The Institute of Culinary Education, NYC
Michael Procopio, Author, Food for The Thoughtless
Pickles:
John Birdsall, Writer
David Hawk, Publicity Manager, Food & Drink, Chronicle Books
Emily Olson, Co-founder, Foodzie
Jonathan Kauffman, Restaurant Critic, SF Weekly
Lisa Kramer, last year's winner
Karen Solomon, Author, "Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It" and "Can it, Bottle It, Smoke It"
Vanessa Barrington, Author, "DIY Delicious," Co-Author, "Heirloom Beans"
W Blake Grey, Food Editor, SF Weekly
Preserves:
Amy Cleary, Blogger, winebookgirl.blogspot.com
Anita Chu, Author and Blogger, Dessert First
Dianne Jacob, Author, "Will Write for Food"
Heidi Kooy, Blogger and Urban Farmer, Itty Bitty Farm in the City
Irvin Lin, Blogger, Eat the Love
June Taylor, Owner, June Taylor Company
Paige Bayer, Founder, SV Local Market (www.svlocalmarket.com/)
Shae Irving, Prizewinning Jam Maker and Blogger, Hitchhiking to Heaven
Tabitha Stroup, Chef and Founder, Friend in Cheeses Jam Co.

An Excess of Jam

2011-09-12T11:08:00.000-07:00

Things that happen when I spend a bit too much time at home. . .

Top 4 shelves, all jam.

Not the canning itself, but the time to really look at what I have on hand. As I sorted through my bookshelf of jars this weekend in advance of a planned tomato sauce day, I was left with two conclusions:

1 I need to make more pickles. Although I had thought it virtually impossible, I am out of both pickled green beans and carrots, my go-to cocktail party items. On the other hand, I have pickled mango, rhubarb, plums and many other random jars.

2 I have too much jam. Now that K has been weaned off of her daily nut butter with jam sandwich and has decided that she prefers honey on her yogurt, I have more jars than even an upcoming holiday gift bonanza can take care of. Though, not to worry, I will still be sending jam. But I have multiple jars of apricot, peach, blueberry, strawberry and plum jam along with a few others. That does not even include the assorted fruit butters and chutneys.

So, given my limited budget these days, it seems a fine time to make use of some of these jars. I have plenty of recipes for all sorts of baking projects but am wondering if any of my readers have suggestions for savory uses? Marinade, glazes, secret chili additions, cocktails, whatever you have found that works for you. I'll choose a favorite, try it out and send you a jar of jam as a thank you.

Chocolate Covered Blackberries

2011-09-04T10:35:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is chocolate near her eye.

If you follow me on twitter, you have heard about our backyard blackberries. For much of August and September, I frequently bemoan the fact that I am currently lacking a tall friend who wants to visit and help me pick. I look like I have been mauled, due to the fact that the berries just slightly out of reach always look oh so perfect. As much as I love the berries and I do love them enough to have had a minor meltdown when the new upstairs neighbors trimmed a bit last year, we have more than we can use. This year we have already made cobblers and buckles, "pink" lemonade and multiple batches of yogurt muffins, plus have many in the freezer that will end up in a jam. I've also eaten, well, enough to wonder if my fingers will ever return to their original color. But I am always looking for new uses.

A few weeks back, I finally let K have her own email account. The first rule, and yes, there are several, is that she only email people she knows and that I can read everything. To my delight, one of her first emails read: "We have too many blackberrys and need to use them up. Do you have any ideas?" Even better was the reply that came a few days later from Odessa Piper. K, it turns out, knows the right people.

The reply read: "I hope this idea for blackberries will still be useful for your next batch of blackberries.
I like to pop my extra blackberries right into the freezer. Put them on a tray and when they are solid frozen, take them and store them is a strong plastic freezer bag.
Then they are simply waiting there for me in the freezer when I come up with an idea for blackberry muffins or to make a very special chocolate.
Have you ever had a chocolate covered cherry? You can make something sort of like that by dipping the blackberry in chocolate when it is still frozen. The chocolate firms up quickly because chocolate hardens when it comes in contact with cold.
First you dip the frozen blackberry in chocolate ganache. Ganache is like a firm chocolate mousse( you can ask your Mom for help on this) . So you dip the frozen blackberry in the ganache and put it back in the cooler to get firm. Then you dip that in melted chocolate. Because the ganache is cold, the melted chocolate will cling to it quickly. Keep these chocolates in the cooler until you eat them. They are very good!"

I immediately was obsessed with the idea. Blackberries! Chocolate! Sounds easy! I followed up to ask if I could blog about the project and was told that:

"You can indeed, but with proviso that this breaks every rule of chocolate handling- but it does achieve capturing a bursting ripe berry at its peak. Freezing it allows one to handle it intact and 'entomb ' it's goodness in chocolate. I actually came up with the idea when I wanted to serve a fancy mid winter meal using only three ingredients from afar (the other two being salt and pepper.)"

Practicing her knife skills. Note my Life in Hell t-shirt. Purchased with funds from my high school bookstore job.

How then could we resist? So this morning, it was time to try it out.

First off, we made a very simple ganache: We boiled 1/2 cup of cream and poured it over 6 oz of chopped Scharffenberger unsweetened dark chocolate (what I had in the cupboard) and whisked. We then added 1/4 cup powdered sugar and continued whisking till combined.

Then came the fun part as we dipped frozen blackberries into the ganache and rolled them around to coat before putting on a baking sheet. The sheet then went into the freezer for 20 minutes or so to harden.

Dipping the ganached berries into the chocolate

After the ganache hardened, we melted 4 oz of chocolate, a combination of Valrhona Jivara and Lindt 70% (again, what we had on hand) in the microwave. Allowing it to very slight cool given the impatience of my assistant, we dipped each berry in and once again returned them to the freezer to set.

The end result made K and I very happy.

Wines of Croatia Tasting

2011-08-31T07:42:00.000-07:00

View Larger Map

First a few maps, because, I like them. The first shows Croatia's location within Europe, important to those of us who are old enough to have grown up with a very different map of Europe, and the second, some detail of the country itself. As for the country itself, the CIA World Factbook (I couldn't resist) tells me that "The lands that today comprise Croatia were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the close of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal independent Communist state under the strong hand of Marshal TITO. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision, the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998. In April 2009, Croatia joined NATO; it is a candidate for eventual EU accession."

As for the wine, Croatian wine is not something I know very much about. I've tasted a few here and there, but not enough to reach and conclusions. I would guess that statement puts me in with the majority of wine consumers. So pre-tasting I did some research.

The internet told me that: Croatian wine has a history dating back to the Ancient Greek settlers and their wine production on the southern Dalmatian islands some 2,500 years ago. Today there here are over 300 geographically defined wine regions with 17,000 registered vine growers, 33,000 hectares of vineyard surface area and 61 million liters of wine produced each year. Although there are more than 200 varietals grown, 60 of them indigenous, the major three, Grasevina (welschriesling), Malvazija (Malvasia Istriana) and Plavac Mali account for 47% of what is planted.

With that background it was time to head to Sebastapol for a tasting courtesy of Marcy Gordon and Frank from http://www.bluedanubewine.com/:

1. CORONICA -- Malvasia--Istria 2009

2. KORTA KATARINA--Pošip--Island of Korčula 2008

3. KRAJANČIĆ--Pošip--Island of Korčula 2009

4. ENJINGI--Venje--Slavonia 2003

Graševina, Riesling, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc, and Traminac

5. TERZOLO--Teran--Istria 2008

6. PIQUENTUM--Teran--Istria 2008

7. MILOŠ--Stagnum Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2005

8. KORTA KATARINA--Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2006

9. SAINTS HILLS--Dingač Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 200

10. BURA--Dingač Plavac Mali--Pelješac Peninsula 2007

11. ZLATAN PLENKOVIĆ--Crljenak Kaštelanski--Island of Hvar, Makarska 2008
Plus 3 add-ons: both a Grgic Pošip and Plavac and a Korta Katarina rosé

So what did I think? Well, in general, I found the whites and rosé more to my taste than the reds. The whites were fragrant and herbal with lots of minerality and acidity. Refreshing and crisp, they were perfectly suited to a warm day on Marcy's back porch.

In contrast, the reds were big wines. I found them very fruity, but also hot." Frank mentioned that some of the entry level reds have alcohol levels around 13% but everything we tasted was over 14% with some 15% and above. Indeed, the Saints Hills, with a 15.5% abv was designed as "designed to be the cult wine of Croatia." Otherwise put, not a Sunday afternoon sipping wine. I thought they called out for a meal and think they probably show better with food, though am suspicious of the suggested pairing of the MILOŠ--Stagnum Plavac Mali and oysters. They were concentrated wines, reminiscent of zinfandel, which is not surprising given that researchers have found a connection between the grapes.
In all, an excellent introduction to a region.

On Not Drinking the Wines of the Vuelta

2011-08-20T08:51:00.000-07:00

The Vuelta starts today. The third of the cycling Grand Tours, it follows the Giro and the Tour de France. For both of other tours, I pair a wine to each stage. I've done it for several years and very much enjoy the planning and the opportunity to drink outside of my comfort areas. Though, I admit to Riesling cravings.

This year, l thought that perhaps I should try the wines of the Vuelta. Because, to be completely honest, I know very little about Spanish wine and I figured it would be good to learn. I even thought that this might be the tour to pair food and wine. Something that some year I will be organized enough to do. But then my position was eliminated at work. So there went the wine budget. And despite a wine rack reorganization project and a careful search, it became clear that I did not have a single bottle of Spanish wine in my home. That is right, of the of 400 or so bottles here, not a single one is from Spain. Which, is kind of odd and something I should probably rectify. But, not today. I've got a Street Food Festival to attend after all.

So like the cyclists who sometimes do the double (two tours) but never attempt all three, I'm taking the Vuelta off. I'll be watching, indeed, I am watching the Team Time Trial as I write. But there will be no wines to pair. Perhaps next year? Or maybe what I really need is a trip to Spain.

Note: It has been pointed out to me that I do have two bottles of rioja in the stash of 2002 wines I am saving for K. I had put them away and forgotten all about them.

Cocktail Party Suggestions

2011-08-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Party Cat Willow after a long night.

A confession: I have about 12 posts partially written, but K is off of school and camp this month and I am job searching and well, avoiding reality by planning a cocktail party. Which is exactly the sort of thing I tend to be slightly ocd about. So, I'd love some thoughts on things like :

• Your favorite cocktail party recipes, make-ahead if possible.

• Little plates or just fingers and napkins?

• Is a cocktail party dinner (for me, usually) or not?

• How many kinds of pickles are too many?

• Many bottles of one kind of wine or a mixed case or so?

• Cheese: Crackers or bread?

• Is there ever too much pate?

• Am I the only one who truly loves deviled eggs?

• Pimento cheese: Is celery really the best option?

Your questions and comments very welcome!

K's favorite parties involve cookie decorating

Chicken Liver Pate

2011-08-07T17:52:00.000-07:00

So after skipping Charcutepalooza for a few months due to travel commitments, this month we planned on participating. A terrine sounded doable and indeed, I may still try one by deadline day. But today, we opted for pate, indeed, three different chicken liver pates. Because, well, we generally choose multiple options. There were two basic variations: the Chicken Liver Mousse from The Balthazar Cookbook and the Chicken Liver Parfait from Michelle Bernstein's Cuisine A Latina, involved combining ingredients while raw and then baking in the oven in a hot water bath and before chilling. The second technique involved sauteing the chicken livers and additional ingredients before combining and then chilling, used in the Bourbon Chicken Liver Pate from Epicurious. The Epicurious recipe also used butter as a binder, whereas the other two used egg, in the case of the Bernstein recipe, 12 yolks and half and half, making almost a chicken liver custard. The Balthazar version was a hybrid, using one egg and butter, although we substituted duck fat for part of the butter. We also used Charcutepalooza bacon for the Bernstein recipe.

My favorite, happily, turned out to be the simplest of the bunch, the Epicurious recipe.

Bourbon Chicken Liver Pâté

Gourmet | November 2003

Unlike usual, we made the recipe as described, though we did eliminate the clarified butter covering.

1 stick unsalted butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon minced fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon minced fresh sage
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 pound chicken livers, trimmed
2 tablespoons bourbon

Melt 1 stick butter in a large nonstick skillet over moderately low heat, then cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add herbs, salt, pepper, allspice, and livers and cook, stirring, until livers are cooked outside but still pink when cut open, about 8 minutes. Stir in bourbon and remove from heat. Purée mixture in a food processor until smooth, then transfer pâté to crock and smooth top.

Chill pâté until firm, about 30 minutes, then cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours more.

I simply could not take a pretty picture of our pate. Alas.

Cats and Muscat

2011-07-30T19:02:00.000-07:00

Still suffering from withdrawal symptoms from the Tour and dealing with the recent job news. I have a piece on my Mosel visits in process, but for now, cats.

Heidi Schrock Muscat '08. The importer says: At first the Sauv-Blanc is prominent – somehow – and Muscat is a high note imposed atop it, but this shifts with each sniff, growing catty here and orange-blossomy there; a creamy hologram of shifting exotic flowery spice that leads into a white-pepper finish.

I say: Hard to know exactly why this has been a comfort wine for me. Note the past tense, as this seems to be my last bottle. I can agree on orange blossom and white pepper, but more importantly, this is in simplest terms, a happy wine for me. Said importer once wrote in an email, "that wine’s a lot of fun," and some nights that is enough. Especially when the Red Sox have just gone up 10-2 on my TV.

And speaking of cats and comfort, the pride:

Violet on the left, Willow in the middle, and Oolong on the right.

Tour de France Stage 21

2011-07-24T08:51:00.000-07:00

http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/2100/etape_par_etape.html

From LeTour: “It has been the tradition since 1975 for the Tour de France to end with a prestigious stage finish on the Champs-Élysées. At the start in Créteil, we will remember Laurent Fignon, who held a licence with the local club. In 1989, his duel with Greg LeMond maintained the suspense right to the finish, where Fignon was sure that he would be the winner. That was the only occasion that the final stage was run as a time trial. Every other time, it has been a road stage that has been decided in a bunch sprint, except on four occasions. Those exceptions were the victories taken by Alain Meslet in 1977, Bernard Hinault in 1979, Eddy Seigneur in 1994 and Alexandre Vinokourov in 2005. It is incredibly hard to get a telling gap on this stage when breakaway riders are always within sight of the peloton.”

We have reached the end. Three weeks, thousands of miles and a compete disruption of my sleep schedule have come to their expected conclusion--a dramatic sprint along the Champs-Élysées. I have said this before, but my love of the sport stems from coincidentally being in Paris for the final day of the tour in 1998. I was charmed. Each year since, I have said that I will return to watch. It hasn't happened yet, but as they say: There is always next year.

The day began with the four jersey holders (Evan, Cavendish, Sanchez and Rolland) at the front, along with the two Norwegians, Thor Hushovd and Edvald Boasson Hagen, for a moment of silence to honor the victims of the recent tragedies in Norway. 167 riders started today, which means that 31 have dropped out along the way, many due to crashes. A special shout out to one of my favorites with a stat that amazes me: Riding in his 16th race, George Hincapie has now ridden for NINE tour winning teams, seven with Lance Armstrong, one with Contador and today for Evans. Fingers crossed that he comes back next year to complete what would be a record setting 16th tour as he did not finish his first attempt.

Next up was one of the scenes I have come to expect: The yellow jersey wearer drinking champagne on the stage. Indeed, a glass was passed from the team car to Evans. I wondered, as always, exactly which champagne?

Meanwhile, back in the race, it was time for some actual racing as teams struggled to get riders into a break. That established, it was time for the intermediate sprint point. Important of course, because unlike the other jersey wearers who were enjoying a relaxed day, Cavendish's green jersey was still in play. With six riders up the road, Cavendish easily took the seventh place, padding his lead slightly. However, rather quickly afterwards he flatted, adding additional drama as he had to use some energy to catch back on as the tv coverage treated us to the beauty of Paris.

As expected, the teams with stage win dreams came to the front, intent on bringing the break back in time for some final drama. And: Cavendish! The stage win, number 20 for him, and the green jersey after yet another brilliant performance by team HTC. Now I can hope that Cavendish and Renshaw remain together next year.

Stage: Mark Cavendish

Yellow and our winner: Cadel Evans

Wine: As is tradition, champagne: H. Billiot "Brut Reserve"

From the importer (I'm not objective, but will say that his book is a joy. Note that a paperback edition is coming with fall with a new preface):

Henri Billiot at a glance: 100% Grand Cru, particularly satisfying Pinot Noir here. Fresh, bracing red-grape Champagnes with long, swollen mid-palate flavors. Just 5 hectares in size, so availabilities are scarce! How the wines taste: Billiot does not filter his wines, and they never undergo malolactic fermentation. That makes them very frisky and reductive when they’re first disgorged, and occasionally a Billiot bottle will show a slightly metallic aroma for the first few minutes. That’s rare and nil if you hold the wines six months after disgorgement. Billiot seems to want liveliness most of all, as he can presume upon lavish and deep fruit flavors.
If you know the wines of Egly-Ouriet (Billiot’s friend and neighbor) they couldn’t be more different. Egly pulls you down into its mealy-ripe depths; Billiot lifts you up on a billowing fountain of fruit. His wines have marvelous stamina and brightness. They’re hedonistic but not sloppy. Too firm and impeccable to be sloppy!

My thoughts: I actually consulted with said importer, as I was deciding between this and another bottle. He said "Billiot if you want something full and sumptuous" and as this is a day of celebration, that sounded just about right.

Tour de France Stage 20 The Time Trial

2011-07-23T09:45:00.000-07:00

After almost three weeks on the roads of France, it all came down to the time trial. A fitting end for a tour that has been unpredictable from the start. For those not familar with cycling's unofficial rules, the final stage of the Tour de France is a mainly ceremonial ride through Paris, with only the final sprint truly contested. So as the time trial started this morning, it was up Cadel Evans to make 57 seconds on Andy Schleck to win yellow. Most, myself included, expected that he would. In my case, I will even admit to yelling encouragements at the tv as he rode along.

Evans had a virtually perfect ride. Shortly after the first time check, he already held the virtual race lead and the lead only grew from there. Sunday, he will become the first Australian ever to win the Tour de France. Andy Schleck has now finished second in the Tour de France three times (well, depending upon the results of the Contador inquiry.

In the battle for the stage victory, well, Fabian Cancellara did not win. Rather, Tony Martin did. Evans finished second, just 7 seconds behind. Alberto Contador in a last-ditch effort to finish on the podium or perhaps simply to win the stage, finished third.

And a story from twitter: (Millarmind is the twitter handle of cyclist David Millar)

millarmind 9:19am

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.

millarmind 9:19am

In team car being driven to hotel. Chatting to VdV & spot cyclist on autoroute ahead, dressed in full Europcar kit. Looks oddly familiar.

millarmind 9:21am

Chat stops, tell car to slow. As we pass have time to look into eyes of a tired and broken Voeckler. Tragic doesn't come close to describe.

Stage:

1	Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad	0:55:33
2	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:00:07
3	Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard	0:01:06
4	Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:01:29
5	Richie Porte (Aus) Saxo Bank Sungard	0:01:30
6	Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	0:01:33
7	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:01:37
8	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek	0:01:42
9	Peter Velits (Svk) HTC-Highroad	0:02:03
10	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne

Current GC:

1	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	83:45:20
2	Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek	0:01:34
3	Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek	0:02:30
4	Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar	0:03:20
5	Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard	0:03:57
6	Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:04:55
7	Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD	0:06:05
8	Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:07:23
9	Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo	0:08:15
10	Jean-Christophe Peraud (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale	0:10:11

Wine: I had plans for something French, I really did. But, while champagne is not negotiable for tomorrow, today I could open something Australian : Torbreck Barossa 06 The Struie

From their website: The Eden Valley lies within the Barossa Range and consists of river valleys and undulating hills covered with large gums, rocky outcrops and Aboriginal sites. It is a high-altitude area of between 400 and 500 metres, compared with the Barossa Valley's elevation of 200 to 300 metres. This higher altitude, with its (one to two weeks) later ripening pattern, results in more distinctive varietal flavour characteristics, lower pH and higher acidities. Whilst the Eden Valley region is most associated with the white wine variety, Riesling, it produces elegant, tautly structured Shiraz which is highly prized by winemakers.
This Torbreck Shiraz cuvée from the cooler climate, higher altitude vineyards of Eden Valley is skillfully blended with fruit from Barossa Valley which traditionally provides greater richness and intensity. A blend of 44 year old Eden Valley Shiraz vines and 80 year old Barossa Shiraz, The Struie is aged for 18 months in a combination of old and new French oak barriques prior to bottling.

I say: Not a bad trade I made, as this is lovely. Dark berries, vanilla and cocoa. A long finish with integrated tannins. I probably could have aged this for a while to come, but it is breathing now and tonight, I'll celebrate Cadel's win with this and a steak from Prather Ranch.

Tour de France Stage 19 Alpe d'Huez

2011-07-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well, now. That was not a day to sleep through the alarm. Luckily, Oolong is very reliable. She bites my feet every morning around 4:30.

General Classification
Andy Schleck
Fränk Schleck :53
Cadel Evans :57
Thomas Voeckler 2:10
Damiano Cunego 3:31
Alberto Contador 3:55
Samuel Sánchez 4:22
Ivan Basso 4:40
Tom Danielson 7:11
Pierre Rolland 8:57

The stage started very quickly with an early attack from Alberto Contador, followed by Andy Schleck, on the first climb of the day - the Col du Télégraphe. It looked like this might be the end of the yellow jersey hopes for Cadel Evan,s as he was clearly struggling, and eventually needed a bike change.

However, after another fine piece of riding by Evans and a few teammates, the main contenders were back together at the base of the storied Alpe. Contador went on the attack again on the steep early slopes. This looked like a winning move, but Pierre Rolland had other plans. Rolland, who has been a super domestique all tour for Thomas Voeckler chased back on, joined by Samuel Sanchez. Rolland then surged forward with a late attack that earned him the stage victory. Sánchez finished second and secured the mountains polka-dot jersey, with Contador finishing third.

Behind the trio was a fierce battle for yellow. Thomas Voeckler, who clearly struggled all day, was dropped, showing his displeasure with a water bottle toss. Meanwhile, Cadel Evans tried several times to shake the Schleck brothers, but was unable to gain any time. Andy Schleck now leads the general classification, his brother Fränk is second at :53, and Cadel Evans is in third just :57 seconds back. This sets up tomorrow's time trial as one of the most exciting in years. Evans is clearly a better time trialist than either Schleck, but can he make up enough time to take yellow?

Wine: More Savoie, the Château de Ripaille Chasselas

From the importer, a history worth reading:

There was a Roman villa with vines on the grounds from the first to the fourth centuries. Bonne de Bourbon built a hunting lodge here at the end of the 14th century. The area surrounding the Château de Ripaille was used as the hunting grounds for the Comtes de Savoie and eventually became their preferred place of residence. In 1434, Amédée VIII, the first Duc de Savoie who later became the last antipope in the history of the Catholic Church and reigned as Felix V from 1439 to 1449, built the château. It originally had seven towers, of which four still exist. At the end of the 15th century the property was occupied by invading Swiss, and records show that they sent wine in barrel back to Berne.

The château became the center of the brilliant culture of the Savoie. After the wars of the reformation, Ripaille became for two centuries a Carthusian monastery, protected from the world by its formidable walls. After the French Revolution, the estate was sold to Général Dupas of Evian who retired there after the Napoleonic wars. In 1892, the site, in ruin, was restored and rehabilitated by Frédéric Engel-Gros of Mulhouse. With the help of noted architect Charles Schule and ten years of painstaking work, the château was restored to the condition in which it is found today. The château itself, once standing in ruin, was renovated in a style of a remarkable combination of Medieval and Art Nouveau. Their descendents, the Necker-Engel family, still own the Château de Ripaille.

In 1976, Madame Harold Necker, with government assistance, created the Ripaille foundation to conserve and maintain its legacy. Ripaille was designated in 1994 by the National Culinary Arts Council as one of the 100 sites remarquables du goût in France.

The château is surrounded by 21 hectares (52 acres) of vines, which produce about 160,000 bottles of wine a year. The vineyards are on fairly flat ground, which gently slopes toward the lake. The soil is stony, with sun-baked glacial deposits, mostly limestone. All the vines on the property are of the Chasselas variety. Chasselas is the oldest known grape variety, originally coming from Egypt where records indicate its presence 5,000 years ago. Harvest is done manually at the château, and the wine is aged in stainless-steel. All the wine goes through malolactic fermentation. The resultant wine is pale in color with an intriguing nose that combines creamy mineral notes with a touch of quinine. The wine is medium-bodied, with additional hints of lime, almond and dried peach.

I say: Again from Greg Borden at Cheese Plus. I'm going to miss the Savoie. At $11.99 this is another bargain, though yesterday's wine was more to my taste. Round and creamy with enough mineral to keep it interesting.

Tour de France Stage 18 Back to France

2011-07-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

From LeTour: “We return to France and there are three very big cols on the menu. The Agnel will be tackled for the first time ever from this side, then there’s the Izoard and its legendary Casse Déserte, followed by the Galibier. This will be our chance to celebrate the centenary of this mythic climb’s first appearance on the race route back in the 1911 Tour de France. In addition, the finish, located at an altitude of 2,645 metres, will be the highest in the race’s history. It will remove from the history books the place held since 1986 by the 2,413m Col du Granon. This stage will certainly see a match-up between all those riders who are in contention for the overall title, as will the stage the following day. Whoever is leading the race runs the risk of succumbing to such physical demands.”

Well now, that was a bike ride with some very interesting tactics. Attacks were expected and indeed they came. Andy Schleck won the stage after attacking on the penultimate climb of the day, the Col d'Izoard. To my surprise, his competitors let him go and he gained valuable time.

Frank Schleck and Cadel Evans finished second and third, after Evans towed, with essentially no help at all, the leaders group up the Galibier to turn keep things much closer than it looked like they would be. Ivan Basso crossed the line fourth. Thomas Voeckler continued to defy expectations by holding on for 5th on the stage. He may want to thank Evans for the assist.

The story of the day was the change in the GC (see below) and the cracking of Alberto Contador on the final climb. Can he improve tomorrow or is the knee injury combined with the Giro miles too much?

My rides of the day: Andy, Cadel and Voeckler, all impressive. The question on every one's mind now is will these riders pay for their efforts tomorrow as it is another day in the Alps.

Also via Podium Cafe:

Mark Cavendish retained the Green Jersey, but not without a bit of drama. The grupetto finished outside the time cut, but because the group numbered some eighty riders, the race jury applied the 20% rule and allowed them to continue the race. If 20% of the race field is outside the limit, they will not be time cut, according to the rules. The race jury did apply a 20 point penalty to the riders in the group. Cavendish now leads the points classification by 15 points over JJ Rojas.

General Classification

Thomas Voeckler
Andy Schleck :15
Fränk Schleck 1:08
Cadel Evans 1:12
Damiano Cunego 3:46
Ivan Basso 3:46
Alberto Contador 4:44
Samuel Sánchez 5:20
Tom Danielson 7:08
Jean-Christophe Péraud 9:27

Wine: Le Cellier du Palais Apremon

100% Jacquere, another Greg Borden suggestion

Charles Neal: The property surrounding Le Cellier du Palaishas been in the Bernard family since 1700. Bottling at the domaine started two generations ago; Rene took over for his father in 1974, and his daughter, Béatrice, has now taken over the vinification. Their small vineyard is scattered over just 7 hectares. Some of these have a subsoil very rich in chalk, others with decomposed glacial deposits. The Bernards have three grapes planted, Jacquère, Altesee and Chardonnay.

Béatrice works her vines according to the practices of lutte raisonée keeping treatments to the absolute minimum while organically working the soil to promote healthy support for the vines. Some leaf plucking and green harvesting helps to maximize the concentration of the remaining grapes.The harvest is done by hand by a small team of workers. A gentle pressing is followed by a cold fermentation in an effort to guard the maximum aromas of the grapes. Afterwards the wine stays sur lie for between 4 and 10 months, depending on the cuvée. The wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation, so that they retain their bright, refreshing acidity. Le Cellier du Palais, the name of their winery, comes not only from the name of its location (called Le Palais) but also from the play on words with what we taste wine, the palate (palais in French). Production at the domaine averages 45,000 bottles a year (3,750 cases).

The Apremont cuvée in the United States is made with pure Jacquère, and provides clean, citrus fruit notes along with soft mineral notes and thirst-quenching acidity. This wine makes for a light and crisp aperitif, and is also excellent at the table with trout, perch, smoked salmon, or mountain cheeses like tomme and raclette.

The wine: Vibrant. Crisp with minerality and green apples. Another one to refresh after a long day riding or, you know, watching.

Tour de France Stage 17- Now with Italy

2011-07-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1700/etape_par_etape.html

Gap Pinerolo 179 km

From LeTour:

“There are still four intense race days left. Heading to Briançon, the road rises gently. Then the riders must cross climb the Col de Montgenèvre, descend, then climb again up to Sestrières this time, then descend again into Pinerolo. Ahead of them is still the Pra Martino, a small climb that’s 7km long and of modest gradient. A rider who is good in the mountains such as Cadel Evans may well be able to make an impression there, because the final run-in, which enables tribute to be made to the 150th anniversary of Italian unification, doesn’t feature any notable difficulties. This stage will bring huge satisfaction to the people of Pinerolo, who for many years have been keen to host a stage finish. The town is near to the border and offers the opportunity for this year’s only incursion into foreign territory.”

Another day, another Norwegian as Edvald Boasson Hagen bounced back from the disappointment of his second-place finish on Tuesday to take another stage victory. Meanwhile, the contenders had another interesting stressful day.
Two consecutive sharp climbs and a sometimes frightening descent combination just before the finish saw Alberto Contador again trying to make up some of the time he lost so early in the race. Contador attacked twice on the way up the Pramartino and then escaped on the descent along with Samuel Sanchez It looked like the two would gain significant time, but Cadel Evans led a chase that brought back the bulk of the contenders, including the Schlecks.
It was another mistake-free day for Evans: not only did he catch with Contador, but he narrowed his deficit to yellow jersey Thomas Voeckler after the Frenchman misjudged a bend on the descent and ended up in a conveniently located driveway.
Tomorrow the race now moves on to two successive summit finishes in the Alps, where one would expect more gaps to develop between the overall contenders.

Stage: Edvald Boasson Hagen
Yellow: Thomas Voeckler

Wine: Valli Unite, Il Brut and the Beast

Region: Piemonte

Grapes: Cortese with Moscato, Favorita, Chasselas, and Timorasso (Though I have seen different grapes listed)

I think this was another recommendation from Melissa Sutherland at 67Wine.

From the Valli Unite website: The co-operative was born over thirty years ago.
At a time in which increasing numbers of people had moved to the cities and to factory work, three young men from local farming families got together to discuss the future of farming in this area.
They were deeply attached to the work and to their own land, but they wanted to find new ways of using traditional methods. To begin with they merged their vineyards and built stalls for farm animals so they could use organic manure to fertilise their fields and vines. The old ways were combined with a very modern belief in organic farming as the way of the future, as part of the wider project known as 'contraction', involving reducing our human impact on the natural environment.

As time went on the co-operative became bigger, and at present there are 25 of us working together.

The viticulture aspect of our work follows an old saying dear to wine-lovers: drink little but well.
In the production of our wine, our 10 labels and our bulk wine, the aim is to let the wine remain as alive as possible so that it truly is 'the son of the grape'.

My thoughts: Yum. Slightly sparkling and, well, zingy. Apples, pears and a lot of refreshment. Probably be nice after a long and terrifying descent. This is a wine to buy a case of and enjoy all summer long.

Tour de France Stage 16

2011-07-19T13:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/etape_par_etape.html

Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Gap 163km

From LeTour: “It’s the start of the final week. The race heads into Gap, crosses the Col de Manse, then drops down again into the finish after completing a small circuit. As we’re heading towards the Alps, this stage is not flat, which is what you would expect, but it isn’t too hard either as it just rises steadily throughout. . . Be aware also that something often happens after the second rest day, and it may be something completely unexpected. In 2003, for example, in order to avoid crashing into the prone figure of Joseba Beloki, Lance Armstrong opted, on pure instinct, to indulge in a bit of cyclo-cross over an Alpine meadow. That stage ended up making the headlines without any previously expecting it to."

Nice call by LeTour. Indeed on a day that was expected to be dominated by breakaways, the main competitors decided to come out and play. The stage winner did come from the breakaway with Thor Hushovd getting his second (smash) victory after a massive effort in the day's escape group. But more interesting is what was happening on the road behind him. Pre-race favorite Alberto Contador decided to show that he was still in the game, opening an attack on the final climb. Then came the usual series of counterattacks. At the end of the day, the big winner was Cadel Evans. Evans showed that he's on fine form, soloing away from the rest of the group, gaining 4 seconds on Samuel Sanchez and Contador and 21 seconds on Frank Schleck. The Schleck brothers were the big losers today, with Andy losing 48 seconds. Is this a preview of what will happen in the Alps or just one bad day? A partial answer to be found tomorrow.

Stage Winner: (Again) Thor (smash)

Yellow: Thomas Voeckler (Hanging on far longer than anyone expected.)

Wine: Well, here we are in the Haute Alpes. I tried, albeit at the last minute, to find a wine from the area. But after coming up empty at three stores, it was off to the Savoie, a region I'll be drinking several times for during the last week of the Tour.

Tonight: 09 Andre & Michel Quenard Chignin (Mondeuse) Vieilles Vignes

From the importer:The Savoie is a picture of fairy-tale perfection: snow-capped peaks, green rolling hills, wildflowers, and cold, sparkling mountain streams. This idyllic region hugs the western Alps, where Michel Quenard farms twenty-two hectares of vineyards along the steep, terraced slopes of the Coteaux de Torméry around Chignin. The limestone scree that dominates this vineyard land has brought great diversity to the soils, and consequently, the wines. His grandfather started the domaine in the 1930s. Though he slowly increased the vineyard holdings, he also sold off most of his wine in bulk. It was not until 1960 that Michel’s father, André, began bottling under their own label. Michel joined the domaine in 1976. Today, his son, Guillaume, joins him, fresh out of wine school in Switzerland. While they are far from the only Quenards in Chignin, they are certainly the most well-known—perhaps this is due to the severity of their terrain and the quality of wines it produces. Andrew Jefford writes in his contemporary classic, The New France, “Michel Quenard and his father André are masters of the Bergeron grape, known in the Rhône Valley and elsewhere as Roussanne. They argue it should be limited to the best and steepest local sites where it can ripen fully, like the Coteaux de Torméry, giving wines of real texture and perfume as it does so.” (p 122). We think it is one of the most unique and beautiful renditions of Roussanne in the world.

Despite the domaine’s proximity to the Alps, the vineyards enjoy a surprisingly warm microclimate with southern sun exposure. Fig and olive trees are also found among the vines, unusual for such a snowy region. There are sixteen crus in the Vin de Savoie designation, and each commune is known for a different grape varietal. Michel’s vineyards are planted to some of the region’s best known: Bergeron, Jacquère, Mondeuse (also known as Refosco in northern Italy), Altesse, and Pinot Noir. Michel bottles eight different cuvées, seven of which are still, and the other a sparkling Vin de Savoie Brut, which is made in the méthode champenoise. The minerality of Michel’s vineyards expresses an alpine freshness and liveliness in his wines. His cuvées go beyond the simple “eclectic” that categorizes wines from the region; whether they are quaffed or savored, they are all unique revelations that reflect the complexity of their terroir and the fine artistry of this master vigneron.

My notes: Red fruits, violet and earthy notes. Nice acidity. Very easy to drink with my Fatted Calf salumi.

German Trip Day 4

2011-07-19T08:04:00.000-07:00

This was a very busy day.
First up, a visit to monastery and Staatsweingut Kloster Eberbach

We started off with a tour by Managing Director Dieter Greiner of the very modern and efficient winery. Opened in the summer of 2008, this is the most state of the art facility I may have ever seen. Featuring a three-story pressing house that makes use of gravity to move the grapes and juice, they can process up to up to 7000 liters of grape juice daily. The cellars stretch out on 5000 square kilometers and on several levels below the earth. Indeed, I was reminded of a statement made a few days earlier about an over sized bridge: Germans love concrete.
As for the wines, they are the largest winery in Germany with 220 hectares, including 32 that make up the Steinberg vineyard. 2010 was their smallest crop in 30 years. We tasted four wines: the 09 Steinberger Riesling sekt brut, an 09 Hollenberg Spätburgunder dry Spätlese, a 2010 Steinberger Riesling Kabinett trocken and my favorite, an 07 Steinberger Riesling "aus dem Cabinetkeller."

We then took a short ride to the monastery. In 1135 famous Cistercian Abbot Bernard of Clairveaux visited the valley with Archbishop Adalbert from Mainz when, a boar jumped out of a hedge and over the brook. Whether this is really the origin of Eberbach's name – meaning the boar's brook – is not accounted for by historic sources. The next year, 13 monks from France established the monastery and, they brought grapevines with them. The monastery grew to be one of the biggest and most important cloisters in Germany. The monks, freed from toll charges along the Rhine, dominated the wine trade all the way down the river to Cologne, a very profitable business. In 1803, the monastery was secularized. It was owned first by the Duke of Nassau, then from 1866 on by the Prussians and finally, since 1945, by the State of Hessen.

Today, the Estate Monastery of Eberbach administers six Domains belonging to the State of Hessen, five of them situated in the Rheingau and one on the Hessische Bergstraße. The site was used for the interior shoots for the movie Name of the Rose and since 1988 the abbey has been a principal venue for the concerts of the Rheingau Music Festival.

Next up was lunch at Weinhaus „Zum Krug.“
Much to my delight, lunch was one pound each
of almost perfectly prepared white asparagus,
served with hollandaise and a small piece of
schnitzel paired with a 1997 Johann Maximilian
Riesling Spätlese trocken

After lunch we visited to Schloss Vollrads, where wine has been made for over 800 years. In 983 the archbishop of Mainz, the estate's owner, invested in vine growing, although vines had been cultivated there since Roman times. The core building of the estate is a substantial tower house, surrounded by a square moat. It can be traced to the first third of the 14th century and the family of Greiffenclau, a very Harry Potterish sounding name. The octagon stage tower was erected in 1471. In 1684 the present two-winged manor house was built by Georg Phillip Greiffenclau von Vollrads near the tower. His son Johann Erwein erected the estate buildings around 1700, as well as boundary walls around the manor garden, and finally equipped the tower with a typical baroque roof.
Sadly, the original family no longer owns and operates the estate. In 1975 Erwein Matuschka Greiffenclau took charge of the property, which was heavily in debt. An important figure in the emergence of a new or rediscovered style of high quality dry Rheingau wine, he was not successful in reorganising his estate. In 1997 with bankruptcy apparently inevitable, Erwein committed suicide. Since then, the estate has belonged to the bank, which runs the manor house as well as the vineyards and a restaurant.

We toured the manor house, which looked strangely as though the family might return at any moment, with their pictures still on the walls and furniture in place. We then climbed the spiral stairs to visit the tower to see more of the estate's history.

The highlight for me was a book from 1463. Kept in non temperature controlled bookcases, it creaked as opened. When I questioned the storage, I was told that it had survived this long in those conditions and that when national archivists visited they had approved. I did shudder a bit to think of it on the table, with so many wine glasses nearby. But, I'm a book person. While in the tower, we tasted a 1977 dry Kabinett. Which was interesting to me because I have rarely had older trocken wines. My favorite current wine was an 09 Auslese.

Next was a tasting at Weingut Georg Müller-Stiftung.This VDP estate, situated in Hattenheim, featured one of the most interesting cellars I have ever encountered. It was not just a wine storage or production facility, but an art gallery as well.

The history of the winery is interesting: Georg Müller, the co-owner of the famous Eltville sparkling wine cellar, "Matheus Müller", established the estate towards the end of the 19^th century. In 1913 he donated the wine estate to his home community of Hattenheim: Thus the wine estate became the "Georg Müller Stiftung." Things changed dramatically in 2003, when the local government decided to privatize it. Peter Winter purchased the estateand brought in winemaker, Alf Ewald.

The estate covers approximately 12 hectares. Approximately 80% is Riesling and 15% Spätburgunder. In terms of wine growing and wine making philosophy, as much as possible is done by hand. Soil management is based exclusively on a sustainable approach. In the cellar, Riesling is produced in individually temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The red wines are matured in barrique barrels.

We tasted wines in the cellar, all paired with specific pieces of art and snacks: 5 from 2009, 1 from 08 and 2 from 2007. Afterwards we tasted 3 from the 2010 vintage. The wine of the visit was the multiple award winning 07 Hattenheimer Wisselbrunnen Riesling TBA. To our delight we were all given a bottle of their 2009 Edition PW Frühburgunder Auslese trocken to enjoy at home. New to me grape alert!

We then took a short drive to Weingut Balthasar Ress and their wineBANK, where we were met Stefan Ress, the president of the Rheingau Winegrowers' Association. The WineBank is an idea I am surprised has not been tried elsewhere. It is essentially a wine storage area, in an old cave that has been decorated to be used not just for storage, but for entertaining as well. As you can see in the picture, wines can be seen through the bars in their cases and I enjoyed wandering around seeing what was there. Customers can rent a space and are thus granted key card access 24 hour a day for themselves and 6 guests to the entertainment facilities included glassware, restaurant delivery and music. With advance notice, they can arrange for larger events. We tasted several Balthasar Ress wines including an 07 Von Unserm Riesling sekt brut, which was very refreshing after our long day and my favorite, an 01 Hattenheim Nussbrunnen Riesling Auslese.

Our final stop was for dinner at Weingut Koegler, home of the first Grüner Veltliner in the Rheingau. I thought it wasn't a bad Grüner and perhaps with climate change, they are right to experiment now.
With 34 hectares of vineyards, this estate has had 5 generations in wine making since 1899. They produce annually 180,000 bottles and were the first winery to produce our Spätburgunder with the “Erstes Gewächs” accolade. I thought the Spätburgunders we tasted were a bit young but had potential. I'd be very curious to taste an older vintage. They seemed a bit pricey, but Ferdinand Koegler assured us that they can sell almost their entire production to the Asian market. Indeed, he frequently travels to Asia and there was much discussion about the importance of the Asian market to this estate. The meal was excellent, with more asparagus and finally, exhausted and full, we returned to Wiesbaden for a much needed digestif.

Tour de France Stage 15

2011-07-17T09:04:00.000-07:00

http://www.letour.fr/PHOTOS/TDF/2011/1500/PROFIL.gif

And we are out of the mountains, for a pre-rest day, mainly flat, 187 kilometer ride from Limoux to Montpellier. The favorite for the day, Mark Cavendish, having survived, barely, thanks to an almost team time trial during yesterday's mountain stage, tweeted this morning: http://twitgoo.com/2js1l1 the finish today is a little technical. Hopefully we can make the last few day's suffering worthwhile with a win.

On the road, it went as expected with a five man breakaway taking early time over the field. At the intermediate point, Cavendish took maximum points from the bunch, adding to his lead in the green jersey/points competition. Then, with concerns about crosswinds and echelons, the chase was on, with HTC spending many hours at the front of the race. As they got close to the finish in Montpellier, the break was caught and Gilbert, in hopes of both a stage win and points in the green jersey competition launched a doomed attack. To my delight however, HTC was rewarded for their hard work with yet another amazing team performance culminating with a lead out from the best in the business, Mark Renshaw.

Tomorrow, they rest.

Stage: Mark Cavendish

Yellow: Voeckler

Wine: Here we are in the Languedoc-Roussillon. I had all sorts of ideas and thoughts on what to drink but instead, something a bit different, mainly because I think it will pair well with my ugly but rather tasty apricot cake. Les Petits Grains Muscat de Saint Jean de Minervois

From their website:

Terroir:30 miles from the Mediterranean Sea on the foothills of the Montagne Noir (Black Mountain), Val d’Orbieu’s St. Jean de Minervois winery stands on a limestone plateau surrounded by steep cliffs. At an altitude of 980 feet above sea level, the sun reflects off the dry white stones in the soil, swept by northerly winds.

Grapes: Muscat à Petits Grains

Vinification: The grapes are harvested by hand when they are overripe to ensure maximum sugar concentration. Yields are low at an average of 25hl/ha depending on the year. After cold settling, the wine is kept at low temperatures, 64°F, to optimize fruit and flavor extraction. Neutral alcohol is added to halt the fermentation process and preserve the sweetness. The wine must have a minimum alcohol level of 15% and residual sugar content of 125g/l.

Their tasting notes: It has a brilliant golden color and boasts flavors of honey, quince and apricot. The bouquet reveals hints of peaches and orange zest highlighted by elegant spicy notes.

My notes: As I said, chosen to pair with my apricot cake. And, indeed, it did.

Apricot Cake

2011-07-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

I clearly need to work on my food photography. Also, my decorating skills.

Friday night I went to a canning swap sponsored by Punk Domestics and Blue Chair Fruit. I returned home with a few new items, which meant it was time to once again reorganize my overcrowded bookcase of home canned items. Hidden on the top shelf, I found two jars of "Spirited Apricots" that we had canned on our apricot day last year. Rather than flavor them with the more traditional brandy we had used a bottle of Qi. From the website: "Qi Black Tea Liqueur is a seductive spirit craft-distilled from rare fruits, exotic spices, wildflower honey, and cedar-smoked tea." The jars had been neglected long enough and it was time to find a use for them.

I've written before about Dorie Greenspan's Apple Cake. In fact, it has become one of my go-to cakes because it is easy, flavorful and takes to adaptation well. As I originally wrote, this recipe was inspired and altered from a recipe featured in this David Lebovitz post: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2010/11/dorie-greenspan-french-apple-cake-recipe/
Last time I added bourboned cranberries. This time I altered it a bit more. If you do not have spirited apricots, I would imagine that you could substitute fresh. In that case I would not puree and add to the batter, but use them more as a straight substitute for the apples in the original recipe.

Note: I used one jar of the apricots with their syrup and one without. This led to a very moist batter (no scraping needed this time!) and a cake that took a long time to bake. In the future, I will probably drain both jars and then add a little bit of their syrup to the batter, much like the original recipe uses rum. I also think this cake calls out for whipped cream, but I was baking from pantry contents and did not have any cream on hand. Next time!

3/4 cup flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
8 tablespoons (115g) butter, salted or unsalted, melted and cooled to room temperature
2 pints Qi-ed apricots, 1 drained, 1 as is

powdered sugar for dusting the top of the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF and adjust the oven rack to the center of the oven.
2. Heavily butter a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet.
3. In a mixer, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, sugar, vanilla, and butter, and mix until well combined.
4.Add one jar of the apricots and beat until fully combined in the batter. As they have been soaking in syrup, they will break down and puree quickly. The batter will be very moist.
5. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan and add the additional jar of apricots, drained, to the top. If you are more talented than I am, they should probably be in some sort of decorative pattern.

6. Bake the cake for 1 and 1/2 hours or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes, then run a knife around the edge to loosen it from the pan and carefully remove the sides of the cake pan.

7. Dust with powdered sugar or top with whipped cream and serve.

Tour de France update

2011-07-16T11:40:00.000-07:00

Crazy time right now, with many changes afoot. Apologies for the lack of a wines of the TDF post yesterday and today but expect one tomorrow. Briefly, Friday's stage was fun and Saturday's did not include the sorting out most of us hoped for. Tomorrow? If we are lucky, crosswinds.

To tide you over, a photo I took of yesterday's stage winner, Thor Hushovd, warming up at the Tour of California a few years back.

As for wine, I'm participating in the Rootstock TTL today, so look for my thoughts on twitter @amybcleary.

Tour de Franc Stage 12

2011-07-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Stage 12: Cugnaux - Luz-Ardiden 209km

And wasn't that fun? Even for those of us who got up at 3:30 a.m. to watch live on the west coast. After an intermediate sprint with more points for Mark Cavendish, it was time to climb. And the climbers did not disappoint. First, a word about teammates. I've written before about the importance of a lead out man for the sprinters. Today, we saw the importance of teammates in the mountains, with impressive performances by Jens! Voigt and Pierre Rolland in giving their all today. Voigt worked, as we have come to enjoy, for harder and longer than one could imagine, to shed the lesser climbers from the peloton today and set things up for the bothers Schleck. Rolland, the surprise of the day, shepherded Voeckler all the way to the line today.

The battle between the contenders began when Sylvester Szmyd and previously invisible Ivan Basso, calm smile in place, took the lead in a group that rapidly grew smaller. When Contador dropped back at one moment, Andy Schleck moved quickly to the front. Contador followed, but right away Fränk Schleck shot up the other side. Indeed, the game was on and other surges and chases followed.
Frank Schleck’s third try was his best, and he got away in a solo effort.
Basso and Cadel Evans led the chase and the group gradually fell apart. First Voeckler and then Contador fell off the pace and lost time. Voeckler held yellow ( A Frenchman! On Bastille Day!) but this finish had to have Contador's rivals wondering if he would be vulnerable in the mountains after all. Perhaps he really does have a knee problem? Or is he waiting as this year's tour has many mountains to come? Answers to come.

Stage: Samuel Sanchez
Yellow: Thomas Voeckler (really, really impressive ride today)

Current top ten:
1 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Team Europcar 51:54:44
2 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:01:49 (time back)
3 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:02:06
4 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 0:02:17
5 Ivan Basso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:03:16
6 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre - ISD 0:03:22
7 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank Sungard 0:04:00
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0:04:11
9 Thomas Danielson (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:04:35
10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:57

Wine: Champagne Brut Reserve, Henri Billiot

Yes, I know. But it is Bastille Day and I really needed champagne.

From the importer (Italics very intentional):
When this is “on” I am sure you won’t find a better N.V. Brut in all of Champagne. The solidity, length and complexity are incomparable, and the wine soars above its category. This cuvée is the same as last year’s (though with new corks!), 50% ’07 and 50% ’06- ’05, only cuvée, disgorged 1/10, and with, let us say, sufficient dosage. It was hard to read when I visited, so soon after disgorgement, but there was a swell of mid-palate length.

Henri Billiot at a glance: 100% Grand Cru, particularly satisfying Pinot Noir here. Fresh, bracing red-grape Champagnes with long, swollen mid-palate flavors. Just 5 hectares in size, so availabilities are scarce!

how the wines taste: Billiot does not filter his wines, and they never undergo malolactic fermentation. That makes them very frisky and reductive when they’re first disgorged, and occasionally a Billiot bottle will show a slightly metallic aroma for the first few minutes. That’s rare and nil if you hold the wines six months after

disgorgement. Billiot seems to want liveliness most of all, as he can presume upon lavish and deep fruit flavors. . . . Billiot lifts you up on a billowing fountain of fruit. His wines have marvelous stamina and brightness. They’re hedonistic but not sloppy. Too firm and impeccable to be sloppy!

Wines of the TdF Stages 10 and 11

2011-07-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

Stage 10: Aurillac > Carmaux
Stage 11 165.7 kilometers from Blayes-les-Mines to Lavaur

Skipping a day to keep the German post on the front page overnight. Tuesday was a day of no crashes, no significant GC changes and an upsetting (for me) ending that featured Andre Greipel crossing the line inches in front of Mark Cavendish.

Wednesday: And a happier finish for me. Another sprinter's stage with the requisite doomed breakaway. The only real questions of the day: Would the pouring "cats and dogs" rain change things? Also, did HTC do too much work early? The answer to both was no, as Mark Renshaw gave an absolutely perfect leadout for Cavendish and he won easily. If you are not a cycling fan, a leadout man rides in front of the sprinter, positioning him for a last quick burst, almost, and sometimes quite like a blocker in football. Renshaw is the best in cycling. By the way, that effort and the one in the intermediate sprint, led to Cavendish in green, the highly contested points jersey.

Tomorrow: Real mountains!

Stage: Cavendish
Yellow: Voeckler

Wine: 2009 Domaine Le Roc "La Folle Noire d'Ambat" Fronton $12.99
Thanks to Greg Borden at Cheese Plus, I'm having a very Charles Neal week.

From the importer:
The Côtes du Frontonais is a highly unique winemaking region located on the left bank of the Tarn River about twenty miles north of Toulouse. The area is generally flat, with occasional hills that create small slopes. The subsoil is composed of ice age deposits, topped by alluvial soil and rouget, a material very rich in iron that lends a particular flavor to the wines. The typical climate of the region is similar to that of Bordeaux: warm and dry in the summer, and mild and wet in the winter.

The Côtes du Frontonais is a highly unique winemaking region located on the left bank of the Tarn River about twenty miles north of Toulouse. The area is generally flat, with occasional hills that create small slopes. The subsoil is composed of ice age deposits, topped by alluvial soil and rouget, a material very rich in iron that lends a particular flavor to the wines. The typical climate of the region is similar to that of Bordeaux: warm and dry in the summer, and mild and wet in the winter.

Jean-Luc and Frederic Ribes took over the 32 acre Château le Roc property in 1988. Frederic, fresh out of university with a degree in enology, had dreams of creating a deep, rich wine never before experienced in Fronton. His brother set out to insure that the vines produced low yielding grapes with maximum concentration. They already had a head start: soil composed of gravel and stone gave them the advantage of an excellent terroir.
After the grapes are picked, they undergo a rigorous selection: those that make the cut go directly into small concrete cuves after a partial destalking. A macération period of between 17 days and three weeks follows.

I say: Well the reviewers were not kidding about violets and licorice. Medium bodied, red berries. Looking forward to re-trying it tonight.

Wines of Germany Day Three

2011-07-12T12:55:00.000-07:00

Rested or at least well-caffeinated, we set out the next morning for a return trip to Wurzburg. Our destination, the Bürgerspital zum Heiligen Geist. The estate was established in 1316 as a home for the elderly "Christians suffering from affliction." The first vineyards were planted in 1334 served to supply the endowment's needs. In 1598, the residents of the "old people's home" were each provided with a tankard - 1.22 litres - of wine. If the residents behaved in an unruly manner, water was mixed with the wine as a punishment. If such behavior went too far, the wine ration was cancelled! Soon, Bürgerspital was financing their charitable enterprises from their wine and estate stewardship.

Among the many treasures in their cellar they have a Stein wine from the year 1540. In 1961, Hugh Johnson sampled from a second bottle of this vintage, reporting that it was "still alive. Nothing had made me so clearly aware that wine, in truth, is a living organism, since this brown Madeira-like liquid before me still held the active life elements which it had absorbed from the sun of that so long past summer."

The estate is also considered the home of the Bocksbeutel, the distinctive bottle seen throughout the Franken. In 1726 the Council of the City of Würzburg decided that the Bocksbeutel would be be the regional mark of quality. It is still used, although some wineries do use more modern shapes. Personally, although I like the history of the bottle, it won't fit in many wine racks, which seems a problem for storage.

The wine: Their most famous vineyard is the Würzburger Stein, where they have 28 hectares. They have a total of 140 hectares, 90 of which are located within Wurzburg. They are a founding member of the VDP (Association of German Top-Quality Wine-Growing Estates). Of the wines we tasted, my favorite was the 2009 Randersackerer Teufelskeller Riesling Spätlese trocken.

After our tasting, we had lunch in their restaurant. Remember how your mother always told you not to eat anything larger than your head? Apparently the chef was not paying attention to that piece of advice and served each of us a pork shoulder large enough to serve the entire table. Personally, I fell in love with a sadly unavailable teddy bear that I had hopes of bringing home for K. If you see one like this somewhere, let me know?

On the other hand, perhaps the large lunch was designed to encourage bus napping as it was time to leave the Franken and head out to the Rheingau.

Our first destination there was Schloss Johannisberg, a site with over 1200 years of viticultural history. Their history is really quite amazing and I've included a few notable dates below:

817 The first documented mention of the vineyards by Louis the Pious

1716 The Abbey of Fulda under Prince Abbot Konstantin von Buttlar, purchases the property and begins construction of the palace on the site of the monastery

1720 The entire domain is planted with Riesling, the first vineyard in the world planted exclusively with Riesling

1748 To this day, the oldest bottle of Schloss Johannisberger Riesling lies in the palace’s treasure chamber, the “Bibliotheca subterranea”

1775 The benefits of a “Spätlese” (late harvest) are first recognized at Schloss Johannisberg

1802/03 Secularization by Emperor Napoleon

1815 The property is transferred to the emperor of Austria in the presence of Goethe

1816 Emperor Franz I of Austria cedes the Domäne Schloss Johannisberg to his state chancellor – on condition that one tenth of the annual harvest be delivered to the House of Habsburg

1971 Under the German wine law, Schloss Johannisberg is declared an independent appellation that requires no additional geographical designation

My favorite of those dates is 1775 for it was in that year that spätlese was first made. At that time, permission to commence harvesting was granted by the Lord of Fulda and delivered by a courier. In 1775, the courier responsible notified the estate two weeks late, which resulted in the grapes being riper and sweeter than ever before. The wine made from these grapes was of an outstanding quality and from then on the estate continued to allow a proportion of their grapes to ripen longer. This wine was called “spätlese” because it was harvested later than other wines. Why the courier was delayed by about two weeks on this particular occasion is still a matter of contention. The most popular belief is that he was held up by a beautiful woman!

The wine: The estate is still planted only with riesling. It was here that we had our most involved wine discussion with a wide-ranging conversation that included planting rules, de-acidification, petrol notes, and malo. We tasted 5 wines, one 2010 and four from 2009. My favorite was the 09 Rosalack Auslese, which had an excellent balance of acid and sweetness, with notes of honey, apple and citrus.
Note that unlike most of the Franken producers, these wines are imported into the US.

We then drove to dinner at Schloss Schenke / Weingut Schloss Reinhartshausen. With a relaxed setting and family style fish and vegetables, it was a nice way to finish the day. Or so we thought. It turned out that there was a local wine festival taking place in Eltville-Erbach. The event was much like a small town American fair, but with a focus on wine. The featured drink was wine with strawberries, though by that time of the day, many opted for beer. It turns out that there are over 1,000 wine festivals in Germany each year, ranging from small town events like we attended to large, regional events. I found a partial list here or in German here.

Finally, we set off for Wiesbaden, where we would spend the next two nights.

Tour de France Stage 9

2011-07-10T10:31:00.000-07:00

Stage 9: Issoire - Saint-Flour 208 km

This tweet may say it all: Bonnie_D_Ford 10:17am via web BREAKING: #TdF rebranded as part of "Survivor" franchise.

It is almost hard to write the story of today's stage without it sounding like fiction. In a race that has been marred by so many crashes already, today was supposed to be a day to see how the remaining favorites performed in the hills before tomorrow's first rest day.

This much is clear: Luis Leon Sanchez won from a three man breakaway outkicking Thomas Voeckler and Sandy Casar. Voeckler ended the day in yellow.

Beyond that, things are a bit more complicated, with three incidents that people will be talking about.

The first story is the loss of Alexandre (Vino) Vinokourov and Jurgen Van Den Broeck, both of whom abandoned after another dramatic pileup on a narrow, wet descent. Vinokourov flew into the woods and left with at least two broken bones. The image of his teammates carrying him from a ditch will stay in my mind for a long time. Vino's retirement had been rumored to come at the end of the season and, love or hate him, this is not the way anyone would have wanted his career to end. Video here.

The second story of the day was nearly forgotten after the crash. Katusha's Vlad Karpets may have shoved Alberto Contador off the road. Grainy video is inconclusive and the identity of the riders may be a rumor but there was clearly a shoving incident which the race jury will deal with. Video here.

Finally, something that I certainly could not ever imagine, a French TV car swerved into the breakaway while attempting to pass and avoid a tree, sending polka dot jersey leader Johnny Hoogerland flying into a barbed wire fence and causing Juan Antonio Flecha to hit the deck as well. You can watch the incident here. Repeated viewing does not make it any less horrifying.

Tomorrow, rest day number one and certainly far more on all of this.

Yellow: Thomas Voeckler (New storyline: Can the Frenchman maintain yellow through Bastille Day?)

Stage: Luis Leon Sanchez

Wine: Although I was vaguely tempted to break out the wine during the live coverage (5 a.m. in my timezone), I held off. For tonight: AOC Coteaux du Lyonnais Traboules 2010 from Domaine Clusel-Roch. 100% gamay. Back label tells me a Charles Neal Selection wine but a search of their website is fruitless. Attempts to "ablegrape" the producer take me to a site that did not load for the first 10 attempts. But, like Cavendish climbing in today's stage, I persevered and, finally, the site worked:

COTEAUX DU LYONNAIS
CUVÉE "Traboules"

Production: approximately 2500 bottles in 2010
Grape variety: 100% Gamay ; Age of the vines: +20 years.
Ageing: 5 month in stainless tank

In 2010 the "Traboules" was produced from grapes sourced from the village of Millery, near Lyon, on the plots "Rochipel" and "Coutois". The soil consists of glacially-formed moraines. The wine has good structure and an expressive nose, with red berries aromas reminiscent of currants, raspberries and cherries. This wine will complement a variety of meats, including cured meats and roasts. Drink now or enjoy in 5 years time.

The wine was produced from grapes in conversion to organic farming, certified by: ECOCERT

Tour de France Stage 8

2011-07-09T17:38:00.000-07:00

Aigurande > Super-Besse Sancy 190km

At last, hills! The first mountain stage of the Tour was also the first when a rider in the break held on until the finish. Rui Costa, who had joined eight others on the attack after only 8km of racing and hung to win by just 12 seconds ahead of Philippe Gilbert. Despite a notable attack from Alexandre Vinokourov (Vino Alttacks!) and a great ride from the young American Tejay Van Garderen, the best performance of the day was by Thor Hushovd, who on a day that almost everyone assumed he would lose yellow, managed to stay with the favorites group and retain the jersey. As quoted in Cycling News: "Today I surprised myself again, although I did not have a good day," Hushovd confessed. "But I just hung on, hung on, hung on, and it's just incredible that I'm still here in yellow. Cadel was the only rider I was looking for today, but I couldn't follow his move with 1k to go. I just did my tempo and managed to close a little gap at the end with a little sprint to get into his group. Tomorrow is another hard day and I'll just have to see what happens. Of course I would love to have yellow tomorrow night as well, but it's going to be really hard to control the race tomorrow."

Tomorrow, btw features eight categorized climbs as the race continues through the Massif Centrale: Issoire to Saint-Flour. with a 208 kilometer stage from

Stage: Rui Costa

Yellow: Thor Hushovd

Wine: Thanks to @greg_borden at Cheese Plus I ended up with the somewhat regionally appropriate Cuvée Lairis from Jean-Luc Martha

Made from 100% Mansois it is fermented in stainless steel for 10-12 days and sees no oak. From the label: Matha is a man in his mid-forties, with a thick moustache, laughing eyes and, more often than not, a cigarette in hand. He once studied to be a priest and a clown, before giving up both professions and returning to the earth.

From the importer: Cuvée Lairis: Deep ruby. Intriguing aromas include cassis, white pepper, and paprika. Medium to full-body. Supple, suave texture. Like a hypothetical blend of Cabernet Franc from the Loire, Gamay from Beaujolais and Grenache from the Rhône. Highly fruity mouth with well-integrated tannin on the finish.

To me: Would have guessed Cab Franc had I not researched, especially on the nose. Reminds me of my somewhat bizarre recent like for green bell peppers on pizza. Lots of pepper as well. But nice fruit in the mouth. Easy-drinking.

Tour de France Stage 7

2011-07-08T10:12:00.000-07:00

Le Mans - Châteauroux 215km

Well, that was a lot more interesting than was expected.

In what was very expected, my favorite sprinter Mark Cavendish won his second stage today in the town, where he celebrated his first ever stage win. Yellow Jersey Thor Hushovd, successfully defended his race lead for another day continuing his unbroken string of top-ten finishes in this year's tour.

Now for the unexpected as once again, several pre-race favorites, or at least favorites for a top ten finish were caught in a large crash with 30 km to go. Victims included Chris Horner, Levi Leipheimer, Ryder Hesjedal who finished 3 minutes behind the main field. The biggest victim of the crash was Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky, who was forced to abandon with a suspected broken collarbone. As expected, Tom Boonen also abandoned today due to his injuries in an earlier crash.
And tomorrow, the mountains begin.

Stage Win: Mark Cavendish (and really, if you are not following him on twitter, you should be: @markcavendish)
Yellow: Thor

Wine: Domaine Belliviere Rouge-Gorge Pineau d'Aunis 08

From their website: Le Rouge Gorge (robin) is a homage to this small bird which appears in spring.

APPELLATION:Red Coteaux du Loir.

GRAPE VARIETY: Pineau d’Aunis minimum 97%, 3 % maximum of black Gamay with white juice. 100% Pineau d’Aunis since 2004, vines aged 25 to 45 years.

SOIL (TERROIR): Clayey and siliceous clay with flint on tuffeau (limestone). The soils with strong clays are favourable for reds.

VITICULTURE: Ground works : ploughing, earthing-up and hoeing. No weed killers. Maximum yields 25 hl/ha. Manual harvest.

VINIFICATION:One month in vat for alcoholic fermentation, breaking the cap, systematic blending of free run wine with press wine, natural malolactic fermentation in recent barrels. Maturing one year to 18 months.

Wines of the Tour de France Stage 6

2011-07-07T18:46:00.000-07:00

Stage 6: Dinan - Lisieux 226km

Yes, I'm back. I took a few days off because, well, that will be clear some enough. Also, I must admit that the cyclists have not been moving through a significant wine region. And I was pretty happy with my Summer of Riesling Donnhoff Estate 09.
But we had the joy of a Cavenidsh sprint win, a continued fine showing by Cadel Evans and still in yellow, Thor! But today, we drink. Or, something like that. It was a day for a breakaway that staged a valiant effort under the now familiar grey skies. With some uphill towards the finish, it would not be a day for the pure sprinters and indeed, As expected, Philippe Gilbert was in the mix, as was Hushovd, José Joaquin Rojas and Goss but after Thomas’ perfect lead-out, it was Edvald Boasson Hagen who emerged from the pack to time his sprint immaculately and secure his British team’s maiden win at the Tour de France.

Tomorrow, what looks like a clear sprint stage. But with the importance of the intermediate sprints this year, will it go as predicted or surprise us?

Yellow: Still Thor Hushovd
Stage Edvald Boasson Hagen

Wine: Julien Fremont Brut par nature 09
(again thanks to Greg at Cheese Plus)
Well, here we are in Normandy. And I should probably be drinking Calvados. But, instead: cidre from Julien Fremont. The Dressner website tells me that: The apples are washed and sorted, then pressed in the press Frémont ancestors built in 1765. Some juice is immediately bottled for apple juice, and the must for cider is put in large vats where fermentation starts. It is essential for fermentation to go slowly, mainly thanks to natural early winter cold, and racking. When the alcohol reaches about 4.5%, the must is bottled so that the secondary fermentation, creating the fizz, can start. This bottling is called Brut par nature.

Reminds me much more of the New England (non alcoholic) ciders of my youth than almost any other cider I have had in years. Funky, fun, shall I go with fermented? Both easy enough to be a picnic/park beverage but interesting enough that I stopped to ponder. Pairs beautifully with my home-grilled pizza.