Thursday, October 14, 2010
Branching Out
Monday, October 11, 2010
24th Anniversary, Dinner at Home
After discussing going out to celebrate our anniversary, SWMBO and I decided to stay home. Figuring the places where we'd have liked to eat are closed on Monday, and even if we found one open it'd be too late after I got done with chores and came in to clean the delicate aroma of Toggenburg Buck in full rut off every square inch of my body.
So dinner tonight wasn't rib steaks, it wasn't king crab, or lobster or anything remotely fancy or foo foo. It was a cut up 4 pound fryer, marinated all day in buttermilk and spices, rolled in seasoned flour and panko bread crumbs and fried, mom style until it was golden brown and crunchy as all get out. Garlic mashed potatoes with sweet butter and pecorino romano, forget the gravy, and homemade cole slaw.
The wines? Page Springs Cellars Vino del Barrio Blanca. A white table wine listed as containing Muscat, Chardonnay, Malvasia Bianca, Viognier and Roussanne grapes. It's a pretty nice wine in the 17 dollar neighborhood, but there's a bit of unfulfilled promise. The fruit and flowers of the Malvasia Bianca comes right up in front on the nose but is nowhere to be found on the palate. The Chardonnay is the most apparent. I'm not a huge Chardonnay fan, especially the California types that have been oak aged. This one isn't oaked though, and the grassiness of the grape isn't obscured by wood. A nice drink with the chicken.
For dessert we opened the bottle of Keeling-Schaefer's Turkey Creek Caldera. It's pure Sirah and checks in at 18.5% alcohol. Chocolate, dark fruit, raisins, perfect sweetness, just shoot me. A tiny glass is all you need.
Once in a great while the weather will conspire to cause an excess formation of raisins on the vine before the harvest. Too many raisins means less juice and higher sugar content. Higher sugar means higher alcohol and sweeter wine. Winemakers will sometimes try to salvage their harvest by making a dessert wine from this kind of crop. They may get lucky and end up with a port-like hit, or flop with an MD 20-20 style bomb. This one's a hit. We realized how good a little piece of good dark chocolate would go with this, and so put it away till we're better prepared. So many of these wines are in short supply, I'm going to start keeping an eye out for a special red, white and dessert to put away for next year's quarter century anniversary. Shoot, maybe I'll go all out and make gravy.
Just a short rant about the Page Springs Vino's name. What is it about these people who want to affect Spanish names for their wines (not to mention their housing subdivisions, shopping centers and whatever else) but can't be bothered to GET THE SPANISH RIGHT??
The best translation of "Vino del Barrio Blanca" is "Wine of the white neighborhood". Is that really what they wanted to say?? My guess is they actually wanted to say something like "Neighborhood white wine". A much better name would be "Vino Blanco del Barrio". Wherever they decide to put the adjective "white", it needs to agree with the noun "Vino" and end with an O. Given the number of easily available native Spanish speakers around here, this mangling of the language is really unacceptable. There. I'm all done now.
The wines? Page Springs Cellars Vino del Barrio Blanca. A white table wine listed as containing Muscat, Chardonnay, Malvasia Bianca, Viognier and Roussanne grapes. It's a pretty nice wine in the 17 dollar neighborhood, but there's a bit of unfulfilled promise. The fruit and flowers of the Malvasia Bianca comes right up in front on the nose but is nowhere to be found on the palate. The Chardonnay is the most apparent. I'm not a huge Chardonnay fan, especially the California types that have been oak aged. This one isn't oaked though, and the grassiness of the grape isn't obscured by wood. A nice drink with the chicken.
For dessert we opened the bottle of Keeling-Schaefer's Turkey Creek Caldera. It's pure Sirah and checks in at 18.5% alcohol. Chocolate, dark fruit, raisins, perfect sweetness, just shoot me. A tiny glass is all you need.
Once in a great while the weather will conspire to cause an excess formation of raisins on the vine before the harvest. Too many raisins means less juice and higher sugar content. Higher sugar means higher alcohol and sweeter wine. Winemakers will sometimes try to salvage their harvest by making a dessert wine from this kind of crop. They may get lucky and end up with a port-like hit, or flop with an MD 20-20 style bomb. This one's a hit. We realized how good a little piece of good dark chocolate would go with this, and so put it away till we're better prepared. So many of these wines are in short supply, I'm going to start keeping an eye out for a special red, white and dessert to put away for next year's quarter century anniversary. Shoot, maybe I'll go all out and make gravy.
Just a short rant about the Page Springs Vino's name. What is it about these people who want to affect Spanish names for their wines (not to mention their housing subdivisions, shopping centers and whatever else) but can't be bothered to GET THE SPANISH RIGHT??
The best translation of "Vino del Barrio Blanca" is "Wine of the white neighborhood". Is that really what they wanted to say?? My guess is they actually wanted to say something like "Neighborhood white wine". A much better name would be "Vino Blanco del Barrio". Wherever they decide to put the adjective "white", it needs to agree with the noun "Vino" and end with an O. Given the number of easily available native Spanish speakers around here, this mangling of the language is really unacceptable. There. I'm all done now.
Hopi Mystery Grape Update
This is exciting, in a nerdy sort of way. I emailed UC Davis dept. of AG viticulture department today. I didn't know who exactly to email, so I just sort of pulled an email address out of the list on their incredibly informative website. I didn't get the right person right off the bat, but got a nearly instant reply from the person I'd mailed, saying he would copy the mail to Dr. Andy Walker, their grape geneticist. The person I mailed said "If there is anyone in the country who can identify your grapes, Andy can, usually on sight." In about 10 minutes, here comes a mail from Dr. Walker him/herself, excited to help me out. Instructions on what to photograph, where to cut samples and how to ship them to UCD. Tomorrow's task is to get in touch with my brother in law Steve and get him going on photos and samples. Dr. Walker is particularly excited about the possibility that these may be Mennonite grapes, as there is little documentation of eastern native grape varieties this far west until well after the turn of the century.
Funny footnote, I got another mail from someone at UCD in the same department. She wished me well on my quest and finished up by saying "Isn't there a winery in Cornville? I remember hearing about a couple of guys there trying to grow grapes and make wine, or something."
Stay tuned.....
Funny footnote, I got another mail from someone at UCD in the same department. She wished me well on my quest and finished up by saying "Isn't there a winery in Cornville? I remember hearing about a couple of guys there trying to grow grapes and make wine, or something."
Stay tuned.....
Sunday, October 10, 2010
A Recipe to go with Caduceus Chupacabra
While I'm waiting to get a chance to check out Harry's Hideaway and get ready for this weekend's winefest at the Cottonwood Airport, I thought I'd share tonight's dinner. Chupacabra wants big, rich, greasy heavily spiced flavors. Tonight we had a braised breast of lamb with a bottle of Chupacabra. Breast of lamb, if you can find it, is silly cheap. Less than two bucks a pound. I actually found mine at WalMart. Safeway, Fry's, Basha's all sell New Zealand or Australian lamb and only normally partially boned leg roasts. Maybe an occasional shank, but never breasts. WalMartWorld actually sells real American Lamb, and they have interesting cuts. I despise their beef, but hey, U.S. Lamb? My new favorite meat market. A whole two piece braised breast will feed 4. Be advised that you'd better like lamb fat; the breast is easily 50/50 fat to meat. The meat is tough as all get-out, until you braise it. After you braise it with vegetables for several hours, it falls off the bone and the vegetables turn into sort of a confit underneath it. A few slices of real tomatoes, or some melon, something acidic on the side in other words is all you need.
So take a breast, which will usually come in two pieces. Cut each piece in half making four pieces. In a big, heavy skillet that has an ovenproof lid, heat up a tiny bit of olive oil till it's almost smoking. Salt and pepper the meat and add it fat side down to the pan. Brown it until it's almost burnt or the smoke alarm goes off, whichever comes first. While it's browning, chop up a couple of carrots, at least a half head of celery, a big sweet onion and peel but do not chop 6-8 garlic cloves. Also mince about 2 tablespoons each of fresh oregano, rosemary and sage. Preheat the oven to about 325.
When the lamb is brown on the fat side, flip it and brown that side. When it's brown, pour off some or all of the fat. Don't worry, there'll be plenty more. Sprinkle the minced spices evenly over the meat and add the chopped up vegetables, pushing them into the pan and around the meat pieces. Fill the skillet up to almost the top of the meat with red wine or stock but don't cover the meat. I use a half and half mixture of wine and chicken stock.
Turn the fire up to high and bring the pan to a full boil, then cover it and put it in the oven. Let it braise for about 2 and a half hours, checking it a couple of times to add more stock or wine as necessary to keep it moist. Serve a portion of the cooked down vegetables topped with one of the lamb pieces and whatever acidic side you've decided on. A simple salad would work well. Some chunks of ciabatta bread to mop up the glorious goop and you're all set. Chupacabra, Ray's Red, Javelina Leap's peppery Zinfandel; any of them will stand up well to this rich supper.
So take a breast, which will usually come in two pieces. Cut each piece in half making four pieces. In a big, heavy skillet that has an ovenproof lid, heat up a tiny bit of olive oil till it's almost smoking. Salt and pepper the meat and add it fat side down to the pan. Brown it until it's almost burnt or the smoke alarm goes off, whichever comes first. While it's browning, chop up a couple of carrots, at least a half head of celery, a big sweet onion and peel but do not chop 6-8 garlic cloves. Also mince about 2 tablespoons each of fresh oregano, rosemary and sage. Preheat the oven to about 325.
When the lamb is brown on the fat side, flip it and brown that side. When it's brown, pour off some or all of the fat. Don't worry, there'll be plenty more. Sprinkle the minced spices evenly over the meat and add the chopped up vegetables, pushing them into the pan and around the meat pieces. Fill the skillet up to almost the top of the meat with red wine or stock but don't cover the meat. I use a half and half mixture of wine and chicken stock.
Turn the fire up to high and bring the pan to a full boil, then cover it and put it in the oven. Let it braise for about 2 and a half hours, checking it a couple of times to add more stock or wine as necessary to keep it moist. Serve a portion of the cooked down vegetables topped with one of the lamb pieces and whatever acidic side you've decided on. A simple salad would work well. Some chunks of ciabatta bread to mop up the glorious goop and you're all set. Chupacabra, Ray's Red, Javelina Leap's peppery Zinfandel; any of them will stand up well to this rich supper.
Friday, October 8, 2010
Drink Pink?
I don't know what to think of this, other than maybe it's a good way to sell a bit more wine. It seems Arizona Stronghold has jumped on the Drink Pink campaign. If you're unaware of this campaign, here's how it works. You buy a participating company's product during the month of October and they donate a usually unspecified "portion of the proceeds" to the Susan G. Komen research outfit.
Isn't alcohol a risk factor in the development of breast cancer? What am I missing here? How 'bout this, I'm going to start the Goatherder Campaign to End Lung Cancer. My symbol will be a brown ribbon. Can't use pink, that color's taken. A nice mahogany brown, the color of a heavy smoker's lungs. Then I'll get the tobacco companies to jump on board and donate a portion of the sale of their cigs as part of a Smoke Brown campaign. Drink to end breast cancer, smoke to end lung cancer. Seems reasonable to me!
Isn't alcohol a risk factor in the development of breast cancer? What am I missing here? How 'bout this, I'm going to start the Goatherder Campaign to End Lung Cancer. My symbol will be a brown ribbon. Can't use pink, that color's taken. A nice mahogany brown, the color of a heavy smoker's lungs. Then I'll get the tobacco companies to jump on board and donate a portion of the sale of their cigs as part of a Smoke Brown campaign. Drink to end breast cancer, smoke to end lung cancer. Seems reasonable to me!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Stay With Me!
Sidetracked by the weather yesterday and sidetracked by a sick doe today. Once I get her sorted out I'm planning a trip to Javelina Leap for a tasting. My dear spouse, She Who Must Be Obeyed, is finally home for a weekend and I'm gonna take her with. Hopefully tomorrow, but realistically more like Saturday. We're also going to have a chance to try out Harry's as there'll be somebody home to go get the grub before they close. It's going to have to be takeout I'm afraid, unless we can swing a lunch date. Yeah, a lunch date. We'll do that. Takeout's not a good way to get a first impression of a new place.
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Sidetracked by The Weather
I don't know that in my nearly 6 decades I've EVER been under a tornado WARNING before, but i am now and have been since 4:30 or so. My pal Johnny Montezuma calls me at 4:45 this morning from his summer camp in Idaho Falls (aka Mayberry West) as I'm groggily listening to hail beat against the bedroom window. "Did you know you're under a tornado warning? Not a watch, a WARNING?" Holy crap. Thunder, lightning close, wind is whipping hail against the windows. Little hail thank god, not like the ice-cube sized stuff they got in Phoenix yesterday.
I put on the slicker and muck boots and head outside with the flashlight to check on the goats and sheep. Everybody is under cover and dry, but clearly not happy about this turn of events. It's close to breakfast time and they already know they're gonna have to wait. Bawling their general dissatisfaction with every aspect of their miserable existence at me. Taking their frustrations out on each other; there are already some bloody heads I'll have to spray with BlueKote later. Back inside to check the NOAA radar page for Cornville. Guess I'm not going to Javelina Leap today. The grape harvest is in for the most part in our neck of the woods, but there are still a few vineyards that have late maturing varieties yet on the vine. Here's hoping they've not suffered any damage.
It's 10 after 9 now and new warnings are popping up on the radar. At this moment we are just east of one and it's trending our way. It's guaranteed that somewhere in this valley, some fool is at this very moment saying "but we NEED the rain". Of course we need the rain. It's a desert for pete's sake. We always need the rain. Nothing like overstating the obvious. I'm sure the trees are real happy, at least the ones that don't get torn from their comfy spot in the earth and sent flying onto some unsuspecting person's roof. This isn't Kansas, we don' need no steenkeeng tornadoes!
I put on the slicker and muck boots and head outside with the flashlight to check on the goats and sheep. Everybody is under cover and dry, but clearly not happy about this turn of events. It's close to breakfast time and they already know they're gonna have to wait. Bawling their general dissatisfaction with every aspect of their miserable existence at me. Taking their frustrations out on each other; there are already some bloody heads I'll have to spray with BlueKote later. Back inside to check the NOAA radar page for Cornville. Guess I'm not going to Javelina Leap today. The grape harvest is in for the most part in our neck of the woods, but there are still a few vineyards that have late maturing varieties yet on the vine. Here's hoping they've not suffered any damage.
It's 10 after 9 now and new warnings are popping up on the radar. At this moment we are just east of one and it's trending our way. It's guaranteed that somewhere in this valley, some fool is at this very moment saying "but we NEED the rain". Of course we need the rain. It's a desert for pete's sake. We always need the rain. Nothing like overstating the obvious. I'm sure the trees are real happy, at least the ones that don't get torn from their comfy spot in the earth and sent flying onto some unsuspecting person's roof. This isn't Kansas, we don' need no steenkeeng tornadoes!
The black dot just west of the center of the image is about where we are.
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