New recipes, February 29, 2012

Need to have something fabulous on leap day! And we did! Thai Red Duck Curry (sorry, no recipe online) and Jetalah Pineapple Cucumber and Chili Salad, both from John Gregory-Smith's Mighty Spice Cookbook. The salad is a 5 and the curry at least a 4. Delicious!
Wine: Droin Chablis 2010. This wine was a nice match, against challenging food. The food diminishes the wine a bit, (no surprise) but it still works!

New recipe, February 28, 2012

Veal Scallopine with Mushrooms, Marsala and Thyme, from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano, with an arugula salad, and leftover Mushroom Barley Soup from David Waltuck's Staffmeals.
Veal gets a 3.5--great flavors, I may have overcooked it as it was not very tender.
Wine: 2010 Guy Drew Russell Vineyard Riesling

New recipes, February 27, 2012

Grilled Fish Steaks with Black Pepper Rub (this link takes you to the index, click on the page 210 link to see the actual recipe), and Potato White Curry (also the index, click on the page 155 link), served with a Cucumber Raita (the raita recipe is at the bottomO, all from Mangoes & Curry Leaves, by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid. We give these all a 4.
Wine: Côté Est 2009, a nice fruity balance for all these flavors

New recipes, February 26, 2012

We ran the Fight For Air Climb today--56 stories to benefit the American Lung Association!
Today's new recipes are Stir Fried Beef with Black Pepper and Basil, and Beijing Teahouse Vegetable Stir Fry, from John Gregory-Smith's Mighty Spice Cookbook. Two more 4's--his recipes are great!
Wine: Bleasdale The Broadside 2008, worked pretty well!

New recipes, February 25, 2012

Marinated Lamb Chops with a Spicy Mango Salsa, and Chinese Tiger Salad from John Gregory-Smith's Mighty Spice Cookbook, served with roasted potatoes.  Sorry, neither recipe is available on the web.
We give both a 4--lots of delicious, complementary flavors!
Wine: Vale do Bomfim Douro Reserva 2004. If you look at the recipes, you'll see the challenge in finding a matching wine. This wine is fruity, not very tannic, so not unreasonable, but definitely not a perfect match.

New recipes, February 24, 2012

Moroccan Cinnamon and Lemon Chicken, and Fattoush Salad, both from John Gregory-Smith's Mighty Spice Cookbook. This great book is about using spices, and he has great ideas! We give the salad a 4. We used chicken breast rather than thighs--thinking it will be a 4 when we do it with thighs!
Wine: Terredora Dipaolo Aglianico Campania 2008

New recipe, February 23, 2012

Bangkok Garlic and Black Pepper Chicken and Pomegranate Fennel Orange and Watercress Salad, both from John Gregory-Smith's Mighty Spice Cookbook. Both are very nice! The chicken gets a 4, and the salad is so wonderful it gets a 5!
Wine: 1749 Sauvignon Blanc 2009

New recipe, February 22, 2012

Szechuan Chicken Stir Fry from the January February 2012 Cooking Light. Nice Chinese flavors--we give it a 3.

To review our scale:
1-we will never make it again
2-we might make it again with modifications
3-we would make this again
4-we WILL make this again
5-we can't wait to make this again!

Wine: Sommer 2000 Alexander Valley Merlot.

New recipe, February 21, 2012

Red Quinoa and Lentil Pilaf from the March 2012 Food and Wine--very tasty, and vegan. So we had it with some of the remaining Gravlax with White Grapefruit from Bon Appétit and a quick cucumber dill raita. We give the pilaf a 4 for delicious and subtle flavors and interesting textures. Yum!
Wine: Domaine Jean Pascal et Fils 2009 Meursault. Perhaps not the most obvious match, but the oak was nice with the pilaf, and the fruitiness worked with the gravlax and raita.

New recipes, February 20, 2012

Two new recipes: Roasted Cauliflower with Turmeric and Cumin from the March 2012 Food and Wine, and Karahi Chicken with Mint from The Best Ever Indian Cookbook (Hermes House). We give the chicken a 4. The cauliflower is so good it gets a 5!
Wine: Glass Mountain Chardonnay 2008, which is not oaked much so worked rather nicely here--the fruit and butteriness were good against the spicy flavors.

New recipe, February 19, 2012

Shrimp Tacos with Green Apple Salsa from the March 2012 Cooking Light. Yum! Served with some leftover Curried Carrot Soup with Tarragon Oil from the March 2012 Food and Wine. We give the tacos a 4.
Wine: Casa do Valle Vinho Verde 2010

New recipes, February 18, 2012

Tonight we hosted a dinner party for friends of Carl's.  I remembered to get pictures only of a few things.

We started with the Arctic Char Gravlax with White Grapefruit from the October 2011 Bon Appetit again (still using Icelandic Salmon since char was not available).  The wine was Cru Vin Dogs West Highland Terrier Sauvignon Blanc 2010.

The second course (at the top) is the Watermelon Chevre and Fig Salad we have made before, still delicious!  The wine was the 1749 Sauvignon Blanc Vin de Pays du Val de Loire 2009.  Since fresh figs aren't in season, we used dried.  It is a different flavor, but still delicious.

The soup course is the Curried Carrot Soup with Tarragon Oil (new) from the March 2012 Food and Wine.  This is a delicious soup, definitely worth making again!  The wine was a perfect match, Domaine Dupueble Pere et Fils Beaujolais 2010.  We give the soup a 4.

The main course included Minty Roasted Potatoes, from the New Basics, Blistered Snaps Peas with Mint from the March 2012 Food and Wine (new and so darn good!), and an old favorite, Lamb Chops with Pomegranate and Fig Relish from Epicurious.  The wine, an excellent match, was the Van Duzer Estate Pinot Noir 2008.  We give the peas a 5.

Dessert was also new, the Chia Seed Pudding (the second picture) from the March 2012 Food and Wine.  The wine was the KWV Cape Tawny Port, a nice South African port. This delightful pudding gets a 4

New recipe, February 17, 2012

A shrimp salad inspired by the Fennel and Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette from the January February 2012 Cooking Light.
No wine--we headed out to the theater tonight

New recipe, February 16, 2012

Mushroom Barley Soup from David Waltuck's Staff Meals, with leftover Roasted Beef with Roasted Tomato Salsa.  We give the soup a 4
No wine--we are headed to the theater.

New recipe, February 15, 2012

Roast Beef with Oven Roasted Tomato Salsa, from the February 2012 Food and Wine. Served with boiled potatoes and a green salad. Nice recipe! We got it a little more well done than we hoped, and the flavors were still good--we give it a 4
Wine: Stoller 2007 Pinot Noir

New recipe, February 14, 2012

We went to see The Marriage of Figaro for Valentines Day, so the new recipe us a Caipirinha, from the Mortons Cookbook. Delicious! The link is a very similar recipe, and it's good! We give it a 4.

New recipe, February 13, 2012

Roast Beef Hash (click "Look Inside," and type "Roast Beef Hash" in the search window), from David Waltuck's Staff Meals. We used left over Steak Au Poivre and Minty Roasted Potatoes, and we loved this dish! So simple, so delicious, it gets a 5! Served with steamed asparagus.
Wine: Le Clos Millésime 2008 Vin de Pays de Hauterive Domaine Sainte-Eugénie

New recipe, February 12, 2012

Minty Roasted Potatoes (the recipe is partway down the page when you click the link) from The New Basics is the new recipe. We served it with the excellent Steak Au Poivre recipe (partway down the page from the link--read the first part, which is about the pairing) from Evan Goldstein's Perfect Pairings, which we have made before, and a mâché salad with Viandox dressing. We give the potatoes a 3, and the steak is a 5 every time we make it.
Wine: Chateau Les Rosiers Bordeaux 2009. Nice wine, but it is more inflected toward Merlot, whereas a Cabernet Sauvignon inflected wine would probably have been better.

New recipe, February 11, 2012

The new recipe is Whole Steamed Fish (we used swai fillets) with Ginger Coconut Sauce and Fried Shallots from Bruce Cost's fabulous book Asian Ingredients. We give it a 4. We had it with the Fried (or Roasted) Brussels Sprouts with Fish Sauce Vinaigrette from David Chang's Momofuku, which we have made many times before (it gets a 5).
Wine: Vigneto di Gino 2009 Verdicchio die Castelli di Jesi

New recipe, February 10, 2012

Watercress and Porkball Soup (used spinach because we couldn't find watercress), from The Chinese Cookbook by Craig Claiborne and Virginia Lee. Warming and tasty. We give it a 3 (we'd like to add some spiciness to it).

No wine, as we are headed to Tabernash to ski.

New recipe, February 9, 2012

Chili Pork with Curry Leaves, and Fresh Tomato and Onion Chutney (sorry, the recipes are not available online), from the Ultimate Indian Cookbook (Hermes House).We give them both a 4!
Wine: Infinite Monkey Theorem 2009 Petite Sirah

New recipe, February 8, 2012

Maple Mustard Glazed Chicken from the January February 2012 Cooking Light. Served with rice, a tomato salad, and a bell pepper celery salad with Blood orange dressing. The chicken is quick and tasty--we give it a 4.
Wine: La Truffière 2005 Côtes du Rhône

New recipe, February 7, 2012

Chicken with Ginger and Lemon Grass from The Ultimate Thai and Asian Cookbook (Hermes House), served with rice and a quick cucumber pickle. Yummy! We give it a 4
Wine: Leitz Out 2009 Rheingau Riesling

New recipe, February 6, 2012

Chicken with Root Vegetables, from the January February 2012 Cooking Light. The title doesn't do justice to the dish--the use of a little maple syrup, balsamic, fresh thyme, and grated cheese (we used truffled pecorino) really make the vegetables and chicken sing. We give it a 4
Wine: Domaine de Pellehaut Harmonie de Gascogne 2009

New recipe, February 5, 2012

Pork and Lemongrass Meatballs in Lettuce Cups from the March 2011 Bon Appétit. We reduced the fat by grinding pork tenderloin in the food processor instead of buying ground pork. Delicious Vietnamese flavors--we give it a 5! Tomato salad on the side, and we had the remaining Chocolate Frangelico Fondue for dessert.
Wine: Ribbonwood Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2010

New recipe, February 4, 2012

We are going to a progressive dinner tonight on cross country skis (!), and we had some leftover duck, so today's new recipe is a Beijing Roast Duck Frittata, from Martin Yan on MSNBC Today. It is a nice dish--we give it a 3 (would make it again), and we are still trying to decide what would make it over the top. But it is a nice way to use duck if you have it leftover!
Greek yogurt with berries and cherries on the side.

New recipes, February 3, 2012

Today we made Marinated Eye of Round Elk Roast from eatingelk.com. This was excellent, we give it a 5! We served it with another favorite, the Root Vegetable and Mushroom Pie with Rosemary Biscuit Topping from Epicurious. (We last made this before we started rating recipes, but it is another 5--too good to be true!)

Wine: Bleasdale The Broad-Side 2008 (Shiraz-Cabernet Sauvignon-Malbec). Nice match to both!
We celebrated Carl's nephew Zac's 26th birthday with the Chocolate Frangelico Fondue from the January February 2012 Cooking Light, with cherries and strawberries. Delicious as well--another 5.

New recipes, February 2, 2012

Fennel and Zucchini Soup with Warm Tomato Relish from the April 2011 Bon Appétit, and Duck with Cherries Spinach and Pine Nuts from the December 2010 Bon Appétit. These were both spectacular, and worked well together. We give them both a 5!
Wine: Brophy Clark 2009 Santa Barbara Pinot Noir. Not quite the right wine--a fair amount of vinegar in the sauce for the duck. Not sure what would be right--perhaps a chianti, because of the acid in the dish?

New recipes, February 1, 2012

Quail in Pomegranate Jus from the September 2006 Gourmet, and Green Bean Slaw from the August 2011 Food and Wine. These were both very tasty, and worked well together. This is the second time we have boned quail--it looked like we really butchered them (not in a nice way!) but they looked great after they were cooked. We give them both a 4.
Wine: Barnard Griffin Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008