Wines of the Giro Stage 3: Birthday Boy Kittel & Tyrconnell

Where are we: Heading South from Armagh to Dublin in a 187km cross border section that will leave Armagh and head south, crossing the border at Forkhill en route to Dublin, via Dundalk, Castlebellingham and Drogheda. Somewhere, probably my mother's basement, there are pictures of me in Drogheda, wearing a pink Esprit sweatshirt and the glasses that I thought were a good idea as a high school freshman. Yikes!

The route: 187 flat kilometers that are likely to end in a bunch sprint. But maybe a few crosswinds along the way to keep things interesting? Our favorite for the win, again, is Marcel Kittel.

The race: Happy birthday to Marcel Kittel and Adam Hansen! I've said it before, but Hansen is one of my favorite cyclists on Twitter. More on him here.
Neither of them are in our break of the day, instead: Yonder Godoy (Androni), Maarten Tjallingii (Belkin), Miguel Angel Rubiano Chavez (Colombia), Gert Dockx (Lotto Belisol) and Giorgio Cecchinel (Neri Sottoli - Yellow Fluo). The break is not being given much of a chance today, with 100 kilometers to go, they had only a bit over three minutes. With ninety kilometers to go, the gap was already under two minutes. Great crowds again, despite the wet weather. 
Seventy five kilometers to go and the gap was out again to around four minutes. Also, more rain and very wet images of the finish in Dublin have been alternating with hints of blue sky. 

Drogheda! And a Bernie Eisel sighting. Giro thought: Sky's lack of a gc (general classification) contender means less Eisel at the front of the peloton. Caduta! (crash) Lots of bikes on the road, but everyone was soon back up and riding. 
Race update:

giroditalia 7:03am via web

55 km to go: @GiantShimano and @EquipeFDJ leading the bunch. 4'14'' for the break. #giro

I spent a summer at a school in Gormanston when I was in high school. Blink and you could miss it along today's route. Forty kilometers to go and the gap was just under three minutes. Ahead, there are repeated issues with the barriers in Dublin. Another crash on a roundabout and a few went down hard, though all got back on.

Nueva caída a la salida de una rotonda con varios OGE al suelo. #giro pic.twitter.com/ykOLfTcxZO
— Cobbles & Hills (@cobblesandhills) May 11, 2014

Thirty kilometers to go and the gap was about one and a half minutes. Here come the GC guys to the front to try to stay out of trouble. That trouble? Likely to be caused by the tight narrow roads, with lots of technical sections and speed bumps. Twenty kilometers to go and the gap was just under one minute.

Crosswinds and sure enough Cadel Evans and his BMC team to the front. Fourteen kilometers to go and the gap was down to ten seconds. Ever so slowly, they were caught with Cecchine briefly taking off in search of the day's combativity prize. Under seven kilometers to go and the bunch was all together. 

And, wow, from seemingly out of nowhere, it was the birthday boy, Kittel with the win. I thought for a moment or two there that Swift would take the stage. But, no, a very impressive win for Kittel.

Stage winner: Marcel Kittel
Pink: Michael Matthews

The wine: Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey: Named after a race horse. Seems like a perfect whiskey for a likely sprint stage. On the other hand, Guinness would have also been a fine choice.

From the producer: Tyrconnell Single Malt Irish Whiskey is an historic Irish whiskey brand from the 1900’s named after a horse that won a legendary race at odds of 100 to 1. Made from 100% malted barley in traditional copper pot stills Tyrconnell has a beautiful fresh, fruity bouquet with a smooth sweet taste and a delicate dry finish.

Colour: Golden Yellow
Nose: Full and fruity aroma with a citrus – spiciness taste
Taste: Well structured with honey notes hanging from the nose. A tang of oranges and lemons, a strong malt presence that balances well with the oily sweetness
Finish: A long finish with the malt becoming more dominant to the end without the soft fruits and honey, which helped make up the middle.
Alcohol content: 40%
Serving Suggestions: The Tyrconnell can be served neat in a tumbler, or with a little water to taste.  

I say: Neat in a tumbler indeed. Like the Bushmills, smooth and easy to drink. Honey and fruit dominate. My favorite of the three "Giro whiskeys."

Giro Stage 2: Kittel (As Expected) and Bushmills

Where are we: Still in Northern Ireland. Starting at the Titanic Quarter, (cue sinking ship jokes), and then on to Antrim, Ballymena, Bushmills (whiskey!), the Giant's Causeway, Cushendall, Larne, Whitehead, Carrickfergus before returning to Belfast.  

The route: Today we have 219 kilometers, heading further north and then back to Belfast along the coast. Weather may be an issue. Perhaps crosswinds will provide some excitement, but a bunch sprint is likely. The favorite of the day? Probably Marcel Kittel. Have i mentioned too many times already how I wish Cav was here?

The stage: Yesterday provided a bit more excitement than expected, with the Dan Martin crash. He is not starting today, along with Koldo Fernandez who missed the time cut. Early on, there was the usual formation of the likely to be doomed break, this time featuring Jeffry Johan Romero Corredor of Colombia, Maarten Tjallingii of Belkin Pro Cycling Team, Sander Armee of Lotto Belisol, and Andrea Fedi of Neri Sottoli - Yellow Fluo. Of course, it was raining, which led to a few rather expected crashes along the route. Meanwhile, the announcers were asking for questions on twitter: a sure sign that they expected a rather dull stage, until the finish.
Our first King of the Mountain winner: Maarten Tjallingii. A second 4th category climb would come later in the stage. A time check: the gap was around 5 and a half minutes with 79 kilometers to go. With 60 kilometers to go, it had dropped to 4 and a half minutes. 

Plenty of horsepower in the #giro peloton. pic.twitter.com/zotXmVrkTd
— Dan Wuori (@dwuori) May 10, 2014

Moving along, the gap was at about three and a half minutes with 40 kilometers to go. Thirty three to go and it was down to two and a half minutes. Such it went, until towards the end, Tjallingi attempted a solo escape. He was, to the surprise of absolutely no one, caught, setting up the expected sprint finish. Also expected, the winner of the day, Marcel Kittel. 
Kind of a dull stage, but at least they mainly stayed upright in the rain.

Stage: Marcel Kittle
Pink:  Michael Matthews

The wine: Bushmills 10-Year Single Malt Whiskey, from what is probably the oldest distillery still in operation. A license to distill was granted by King James 1 in 1608. The
The Old Bushmills Distillery was registered in 1784. 
 
From the producer:  So‚ the first of the single malts‚ and one that will leave you with an exceptionally smooth finish. The distinctive Bushmills light fruity aroma travels over the lip of your tumbler to deliver 10 years of maturation mostly in bourbon seasoned barrels. That old Kentucky spirit becomes melted chocolate and honey that sits on the tongue and‚ for me‚ slightly dries the back of the throat.”

I say: Smooth and very easy to drink. Soft comes to mind. Fruity, with notes of vanilla and caramel.

Giro Stage 1: A Team Time Trial in Belfast = Whiskey

Where are we: Belfast, Northern Ireland. Indeed, this year's "Big Start" has 2 days of racing in Northern Ireland before the riders head to Dublin for the third stage 3. Why? Well, why not? Seriously though, in recent years, the Giro has a tradition of starting abroad every other year. This time, Belfast, where I expect perhaps far too many twitter jokes connecting the Titanic shipyard and the sinking ships of certain teams. We shall see.

The route: Starting things off a 21.7 km team time trial, with the stage starting in the Titanic shipyard. I've explained team time trials before, here and here, essentially though, in a TTT,  each team rides together with the time taken as the fifth rider crosses the line. As I've also said before, a TTT rarely wins a Grand Tour for a rider, but a loss of time to rivals can be significant. This course looks to be flat and fast, though weather may be an issue. 

For the record, my fantasy cycling team at the race is making me miss Cav. Team Oolongcat is bringing: Adam Hansen, Alessandro Petacchi, Ben Swift, Bernhard Eisel, Brent Bookwalter, Ivan Basso, Johnny Hoogerland, Manuel Quinziato, Moreno Moser, Ryder Hesjedal, and Steve Morabito. 

Also for the record, my race "rules." 

 Before we start: 

Our favorite for the Maglia Rosa? Here he is! Thank you @pontifex Pope Francis. #Giro pic.twitter.com/tfr204IYeg
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 9, 2014

The race: Yes, that is the city hall of Belfast all lit up in pink to celebrate the start of the Giro. See also: sheep with their wool colored pink. 
True story: On the walk to school this morning, my daughter told me what she was happy that the Giro was starting today. It turns out she did not enjoy my rendition of "The Giro Starts Friday/Tomorrow," that I had been singing all week. Sung, by the way, to the tune of "Tomorrow" from Annie.

The order of the day:

17:50 Colombia
17:55 Orica-GreenEdge
18:00 Tinkoff-Saxo
18:05 FDJ.fr
18:10 Team Katusha
18:15 Movistar Team
18:20 Lotto-Belisol
18:25 Trek Factory Racing
18:30 Belkin Pro Cycling Team
18:35 Team Europcar
18:40 Lampre-Merida
18:45 Team Sky
18:50 Cannondale
18:55 Team Giant-Shimano
19:00 AG2R La Mondiale
19:05 Androni Giocattoli-Venezuela
19:10 Garmin-Sharp
19:15 Bardiani-CSF
19:20 BMC Racing Team
19:25 Omega Pharma-Quick Step
19:30 Astana Pro Team
19:35 Neri Sottoli

Great crowds along the road. And what is that, rain at the finish? That may make things more interesting. As expected, Orica GreenEdge took the early lead. First to cross the line for them, and the likely first wearer of the pink race leader's jersey, is Svein Tuft, the birthday boy. The first possibly significant news though was the really poor showing by Katusha. How much time will J-Rod/Purito have lost to his rivals by the end of the day? 
Halfway through and the top five were:

1 @ORICA_GreenEDGE 0:24:42
2 @tinkoff_saxo 0:00:23
3 @Movistar_Team 0:00:55
4 @TrekFactory 0:01:00
5 @TeamBelkin 0:01:01

A negative split by SKY brought them into third. If only they had a GC rider here. Alas, injuries and illnesses have them with a rather odd team here this year. 

inrng 11:11am via web

Joaquim Rodriguez after Katusha's team time trial: "muy jodido" ("really f*%ked") via @JAEzquerro

And then as the roads seemed to be drying out, a big crash for Garmin. Dan Martin went down and stayed down. Early signs pointed to a collarbone injury. 

From twitter:

Jonathan Vaughters ‏@Vaughters 1m

So sad. Nothing to be done. Professional bike racing is cruel.

Back on the road, as the Garmin stragglers continued to finish, BMC came in with the second best time, seven seconds down on Orica. A good day for the GC hopes of Cadel Evans. That second place lasted only briefly as OPQS came in two seconds ahead of BMC. 
At the end of the day, our top 10:

1	Orica Greenedge	0:24:42
2	Omega Pharma-QuickStep	0:00:05
3	BMC	0:00:07
4	Tinkoff-Saxo	0:00:23
5	Team Sky	0:00:35
6	Cannondale	0:00:53
7	Movistar Team	0:00:55
8	Giant-Shimano	0:00:56
9	Ag2r-La Mondiale	0:00:58
10	Trek Factory Racing	0:01:00

 

Maglia rosa: Svein Tuft (Happy birthday indeed!)

Wine: Well, whiskey of the day. Rather than engage in a likely to be fruitless search for Irish wine, for the Giro's opening weekend, why not try some whiskey? I naively assumed that I would have no problem finding bottles made along the daily routes. Instead, I discovered, thanks to Serious Eats and several whiskey salespeople, that there are only ten distilleries either operating or under construction, but that two of the ten aren't open yet, and three have whiskey stocks not sufficiently aged for sale. So I opted for as close as possible, which meant skipping a few highly recommended bottles. As always, price is also a consideration, which means no $100 bottles.

The first of the three I'll be drinking while the race is in Ireland. I meant to start out with Bushmills, but tomorrow's route rides right by.  So for today, Michael Collins. How could I resist a bottle with a bike on the label to start the Giro? Made at the Cooley Distillery. 
 
 Note: Like during the Tour de France last year, my picks will be on the Podium Cafe website, along with their stage previews. The write-up for the first three stages can be found here.

From the importer website: Traditionally, Irish whiskey is a triple-distilled product, but Michael Collins switched things up by double-distilling and using peated malted barley in its single malt. Made at the Cooley Distillery, which was recently acquired by Jim Beam for $95 million, both the blended Michael Collins Irish Whiskey ($22) and Michael Collins 10 Year Old Single Malt ($40) are double-distilled in small, long-necked copper pot stills. Both are aged in bourbon casks.
The Single Malt earned Best Irish Whiskey and Double Gold at the 2011 San Francisco World Spirits Competition, earning critics’ admiration for its sweet nose of caramel, rich ripe fruit, peat and white flowers, followed by a clean palate with a smoky finish.

The blended Michael Collins might be the best value in all of whiskey. It earned the 2011 Chairman’s Trophy at the Ultimate Spirits Challenge. Both Michael Collins whiskies are a great tribute to the man on the bicycle who negotiated Ireland’s 1921 Treaty of Independence. 

I say: I'm drinking the 10 year single malt. It is the smokiest of the three Giro offerings, with vanilla on top of fruit and honey. To me and I am far from an expert on such things, it tastes kind of like Scotch. Turns out that the Whiskey Advocate did not love it. On the other hand, it has also won awards. 
Since it is our opening stage, I decided to try a cocktail.  After some consideration, I suggest an Emerald, which I found on Serious Eats.  What is in it? Irish whiskey, sweet vermouth and orange bitters, in this case, homemade from a long ago bitters making project.

Coming Very Soon: The Giro!

The wines and whiskeys (spoiler) are being pre-tasted and it is almost time. Coming Friday, May 9th, Wines of the Giro returns.

Winter Fruit Mostarda

"Have you ever made mostarda?"

"No, but we make chutney every year."

"You should make mostarda."

(Googles mostarda recipes.) "Sure. I'll do that."

So mostarda: Google suggests that it is essentially a chutney-like an Italian condiment made of candied fruit and a mustard flavored syrup.  Traditionally, the mustard flavor comes from mustard oil, but as that is not readily available in the US, most here substitute mustard seed or powder. The fruits used vary from region to region, I found recipes including everything from peaches to cranberries to quince. 

In the end, we ended up modifying a recipe from the soon to be released Preserving by the Pint, the second book by Marissa McClellan. We cut our fruit into chunks rather than segments and added dried cherries to the mix. For this recipe I've increased the amount of honey and water in the syrup as our original attempt left us without enough syrup for all of our jars. We adjusted the cooking times, as we found that our doubled syrup took longer to reduce. Also we chose to keep our jars warm in the oven while the syrup reduced, in order to avoid thermal shock when processing them.

2 pounds pears

2 pounds firm tart apples

2.5 cups honey

2.5 cups water

4 tablespoons yellow mustard seeds

4 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 teaspoon Aleppo pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 cup dried cherries (optional)

Combine the honey, water, mustard seeds, vinegar and peppers in a pan and bring to a boil over high heat.

Pre-heat your oven to 250. 

While the syrup heats, peel, core and slice the fruit into 1/2 inch chunks. Add to the cooking syrup as you chop to avoid discoloration.  Continue to cook until the apples are pears are translucent, but not falling apart. 

With a slotted spoon, transfer the fruit into jars. Place jars into the pre-heated oven on baking sheets to keep them warm. 

Return the syrup to the stove and bring back to a boil, cooking it for 30 minutes or until reduced by almost half. Ladle over the fruit in your jars and cover with dried cherries, maintaining a 1/2 inch head space. Seal and process for 10 minutes in a hot water bath canner.

An Excess of Radishes

I have written before about my love of my Mariquita Mystery Box. I love the variety and quality of the produce, the sometimes conveniently located near K's favorite ice cream shop rotating pick up spots and the fact that it is an opt-in system, so I can skip a week or two with no problem. 

That said, sometimes I get more of one item than I think I can use. This week, that was radishes of all sorts, including green heart and watermelon. As much as I like radishes, and I do like them, four pounds is a lot. What to do? Quick Pickles! 

Quick pickles, unlike the water bath processed pickles I often make, are designed to be kept in the refrigerator and, as the name suggests, are quick and easy. Essentially, you chop vegetables, put them in a jar and then cover them with a brine made from vinegar, a little bit of salt and sugar and herbs and spices of your choice. In this case, I chopped enough radishes (about two pounds) to fill two quart jars. Since I had Mystery Box green garlic on hand, I chopped that and added some to each jar. I then added the two kinds of pepper before covering with a vinegar brine.  Active time? Less than 15 minutes.

Pickled Radishes
Makes one quart 

1 pound radishes
1/2 bunch green garlic (Garlic cloves are an excellent substitute, 3-5 per jar)
1 teaspoon black peppercorns  
1 dried hot peppers(optional)
1 cup vinegar (I used white for one batch and cider for the second)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Wash and chop your radishes and green garlic. Place them in a quart size jar. Add your peppercorns and if using, hot pepper. Combine vinegar, sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Pour over the radishes. Seal and allow to cool. Once cool, refrigerate for at least 24 hours before use to allow the flavors to blend.

K's "Please no more cookies right now" Blondies

K's favorite thing to bake is chocolate chip cookies. I know that it is a very first world problem, but sometimes I just can't take anymore cookies. See also: layer cakes. So this fall she has been experimenting with both brownies and blondies. Although we are still searching for our perfect brownie recipe, the recipe below, modified from one on the Ezra PoundCake blog, is both kid and parent approved. 

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla salt
• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 2 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons rye or bourbon or rum (optional)
• 1/4 cup butterscotch chips
• 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking pan that is in K''s words: "as big as a piece of paper", and line with parchment, letting the ends of the paper hang over two opposite edges of the pan.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the melted butter and brown sugar and stir until smooth. Stir in the eggs, vanilla and rye. Stir in the flour mixture, 1/2 cup at a time. Stir in the butterscotch and chocolate chips.
Scrape the batter into the prepared pan, and smooth the top with a spatula. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the top is golden brown. When the pan is completely cool, use the parchment paper to pull the blondies out of the pan.