New recipe, July 31, 2011

Today's new recipe was Cucumber Sorbet on Microgreen Salad(sorry, I couldn't find it online), which is from Rick Tramonto's Amuse Bouche. This was delicious, and a hit with most of my family!

New recipe, July 30, 2011

We are now in Snowmass, for the annual Groshek family reunion. Each family is responsible for dinner one day. Since today was not our day, we made an amuse bouche, Watermelon Cubes with Balsamic Vinegar, from Rick Tramonto's Amuse Bouche. Simple and tasty--a delicious bite!

New recipe, July 29, 2011

We had dinner tonight with our friends Martin Moran and Dwight Davidson. The new recipe was Fish Tacos with Strawberry Salsa, from Epicurious. Strawberry might sound too sweet, but with a little salt and the other savory salsa ingredients, it was perfect. We had Spanish Rice on the side. Dessert was a new recipe for us, something I was served more than 20 years ago in Paraguay--Avocado with Lemon Juice and Sugar. It might sound odd, but it is fantastic--creamy, sweet and tart.

Wine: Les Sports 2010 Rosat. The strawberry notes in this rose were a great match to the tacos, and a good rose is such a great summer wine in any case.

New recipe, July 28, 2011

Today's new recipe is a Grilled Chicken and Peach Salad from Epicurious. This is simple, but makes the most of great seasonal ingredients--delicious!

Wine: Aquinas Napa Valley Pinot Noir 2007. Epicurious suggested a California Pinot Noir with this dish, and they were right.

New recipes, July 27, 2011

Tonight's new recipe was Shrimp Saltimbocca with Polenta from EatingWell.com. The recipe uses packaged fresh polenta in a tube, but instead I made it from grits using the Easy Polenta Recipe on EatingCleveland.com. Both were delicious! We had a salad from the garden with a Maggi vinaigrette and basil.

Wine: Côté Est 2009. The wine is very nice, but with the lemon juice in the Saltimbocca, a Pinot Grigio would have been a better match.

New recipes, July 26, 2011

Spiced Tuna Steaks with Fennel and Red Peppers, from Epicurious, and fresh Green Beans (from the garden) with Anchovies (sorry, no link to a recipe available) from The Good Cook series book, Vegetables. And beautiful cherry tomatoes from the garden!

Wine: Glass Mountain Chardonnay 2008

New recipes, July 25, 2011

Six Spice Hanger Steak from Epicurious, a riff (with rosemary) on the Microwave Potato Chips from EatingWell.com, and a salad with fresh lettuce from the garden with a dressing of fresh dill, Viandox, olive oil and lemon juice. And the season's first tomatoes!!

Wine: Barnard and Griffin Columbia Valley 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon

New recipe, July 24, 2011

Today's new recipe is Mississippi Spiced Pecans, from EatingWell.com. Simple to make, and very tasty!

New recipe, July 23, 2011

Microwave Potato Chips, from EatingWell.com. We are on the Courage Classic ride, where they ate feeding us a lot, so we needed to make a snack. These are very tasty!

New recipe, July 22, 2011

Sesame Shrimp and Couscous Salad, from Cooking Light--thanks to Kate Noble for the recipe!

No wine--we are on our way to Copper Mountain for the Courage Classic.

New recipe, July 21, 2011

Open Face Bacon and Egg Sandwiches with Arugula, from Epicurious. I had to adapt a little to what I had in the fridge (different bread, pancetta instead of bacon), but the basic ingredients are per the recipe, and it was tasty!

Wine: Nicolas Potel Beaune 1er Cru Clos Des Vignes Franches 2006

New Recipe, July 20, 2011

Another made up sandwich--lots of little things to get done this evening, so needed something simple and delicious. Red Pepper and Fennel Roll, with Truffled Pecorino, Prosciutto, a little Truffle Oil, and Sliced Fresh Figs. Bake at 350 til the cheese is melty. Yum! The salad is Arugula and tomato with Viandox Vinaigrette.

Wine: Nicolas Potel Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Vignes Franches 2006

New recipe, July 19, 2011

A completely made up sandwich--Red Pepper and Fennel Roll, with Manchego and Aged Cheddar Cheese and Prosciutto, with Quince Paste and Sweet Hot Mustard, baked until the cheese is melted. Leftover Cucumber Gazpacho on the side. Nice combination!

Wine: Carro Tinto 2005

New recipes, July 18, 2011

Seared Scallops with Brandied Leeks and Mushrooms, from EatingWell.com, on bed of couscous. I used dry Vermouth instead of Brandy.

The salad is almost the same as yesterday--lettuce from the garden, a vinaigrette, and toasted sesame seeds. We usually make the vinaigrette with a little olive oil, a little balsamic vinegar, and a little Viandox, which is a yeast extract based sauce we have only seen in France, but never here. Today I used Maggi, a similar sauce you CAN get here, instead of Viandox. Viandox is a little darker in flavor and color, but overall I think this tasted very similar. Sorry, I can't give exact proportions--it is very much to taste. You whisk the ingredients in the bottom of your salad bowl, toss in the lettuce, and voila!

Wine: Crane Lake Pinot Grigio 2009

New recipe, July 17, 2011

Tonight's new recipe is the sauce on the mozzarella and pistachio ravioli (which came from Costco). The sauce is very simple--an Oil, Garlic and Herb Sauce, from Sally Griffiths' Great Pasta Sauces. Very simple, but the fresh oregano and chives from the garden really make it! Simple salad on the side with lettuce from the garden, Viandox Vinaigrette and toasted sesame seeds

Wine: F Rosado, Bodegas Los Frailes 2007 Monastrell. We finally had a hot day with no rain in Denver--so I felt like having a rose! This one has hints of dried strawberry--perhaps a Pinot Grigio would have been a better match, but I liked it just fine!

New recipes, July 16, 2011

One of tonight's new recipes was Dwight Davidson, so this meal had a bit of a water theme. We had couscous and a salad from the garden.

We also celebrated Dwight's birthday! Chris and Pat brought a beautiful jello fish mold, and we made what we are now calling "Shatter Cake." To make this, make the Molten Chocolate Cakes with Cherries, add 1/2 tsp of cayenne to the cake batter for the 2 cake recipe, and then drop the just baked caked on the floor. Ugh! We were able to salvage some of the cake (it wasn't all touching the floor), and it was delicious!

Wine: Liana Pinot Grigio 2009--great with the halibut and fava beans, and pretty good with the jello fish as well!

New recipes, July 15, 2011

Shrimp two ways, both from Epicurious: Cucumber Gazpacho with Shrimp and Melon, and Spiced Stonington Shrimp Steamed in Beer. There is a story here--Carl was making the Gazpacho, and misread the amount of shrimp needed. When it turned out there was way too much, he decided to make a second recipe! Not only did these both taste excellent, they actually played off each other very nicely. And Carl had an opportunity to use the remaining delicious mayonnaise he made last week!

Wine: 2007 Piere Sauvignon Vie di Romans. Great match with both dishes!

New recipe, July 14, 2011

Tonight we had Orecchiette with Garbanzos, Tomatoes, Feta and Mint (except we had to use Farfalle--no Orecchiette at King Soopers!) from Epicurious. This is a simple pasta salad, but when you use fresh mint and tomatoes and cilantro, it tastes incredible.

Wine: Crane Lake Pinot Grigio 2009, a very good match to the herbal elements in the salad, with an acidity that brightens it up.

New recipe, July 13, 2011

Today's new recipe was Melon Panzanella, from the Denver Post. really tasty! It was served with Chicken Red Pepper Sausages.

Wine: Oak Grove Sauvignon Blanc 2010 Reserve--a nice match to the mix of flavors in the salad.

New recipe, July 12, 2011

Tonights's meal was delicious! Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Cherry Salsa (delicious repeat), and Napa Cabbage with Peas and Prosciutto (the new one), from Epicurious. The cabbage is not a spicy dish, but has lemon zest and juice, which make it work pretty well, even against the spiciness of the salsa. A surprisingly good match!

Wine: Yalumba Barossa Shiraz-Viognier 2003. Nice wine with cherry tones, leather. Great wine, would do better with a little less spicy dish.

New recipe, July 11, 2011

Tonight's new recipe was Creamy Scallop and Pea Fettuccine from EatingWell, though it ended up being spaghetti, since that is what was in the cabinet! It was tasty--can't argue with scallops!

Wine: Liana Pinot Grigio 2009

New recipes, July 10, 2011

Can you believe it is July 10 already? Tonight's new recipes are both from Epicurious: Grilled Tri-Tip with Cherry Tomato Relish, and an Apple-Carrot-Horseradish Salad. The salad was inspired by the horseradish root we had to pull up to keep our cherry tomato plant from being crowded out! Both were very tasty; they did not compete, but were not as complementary as we might wish--would do both again, maybe not together!

Wine: 2007 Stoller JV Estate Dundee Hills Pinot Noir

New recipe, July 9, 2011

Today was the Triple Bypass--a ride from Bergen Park to Avon, Colorado. 120 miles. About 10,000 feet of climbing. A very long day! I think we were both surprised by how hard it was this year (we've ridden it before, and we've trained a lot this year, but we did get tired at times), but we really lucked out--in spite of all the storms recently, we lucked out, and didn't get any rain until after we arrived in Avon. Sweet!

Needless to say, we didn't have much energy when we got home, so today's new recipes was a Singapore Sling, from Epicurious. Tasty!

New recipe, July 8, 2011

Today's meal was our pre-Triple Bypass meal--nutritious and delicious! Quinoa Stir Fry with Vegetables and Chicken, from Epicurious.

Wine: Domaine de Pellehaut Harmonie de Gascogne 2009

New recipes, July 7, 2011

Today's recipes are from Epicurious: Grilled Ribeye Steak with Roasted Pepper Salsa, and Avocado Mango Salsa on a bed of fresh lettuce from the garden. The red pepper salse has habanero in it, but the proportions keep it from being too much, and there are lovely fruity flavors in the habanero that you miss if you don't dilute it.

Wine: 2006 LAN Rioja Crianza

New recipes, July 6, 2011

Cucumber Basil Egg Salad from Epicurious, made with Basic Mayonnaise from Ruth Reichl's the Gourmet Cookbook. Yum! We had a garden salad and tomato mozzarella salad on the side.

Wine: 2010 Oak Grove Sauvignon Blanc Reserve, a simple and tasty grapefruit inflected wine that was a great match.

New recipe, July 5, 2011

Tonight Carl made Chili Rubbed Shrimp with Avocado and Corn Cocktail, from Epicurious. This was designed as an appetizer, but with steamed rice and corn tortillas, it was fabulous as a dinner! And the flavors of the shrimp and the cocktail were really great. This is worth a repeat!

Wine: 2009 Emile Beyer Gewürztraminer Tradition. This has great peach, pear, apple and lychee. We were looking for dry, but this is a bit sweet. Still in search of the the perfect dry Riesling or Gewürztraminer!

New recipes, July 4, 2011

We brought two slaws to a July4th party, both from Bon Appetit: Stone Fruit Slaw and an Celery Apple Fennel Slaw. Both worked beautifully with pulled pork

New recipe, July 3, 2011

Tonight we had Chicken with Olive Tapenade, another offering from Epicurious. The beauty of this dish is the simple cooking technique--in foil packets on the grill. It is very easy and tasty! We have already started to think about how to boost the flavors--gourmet olives, some pepper in the tapenade--but if is very satisfying!

The wine was a 2006 Chateau Cailleteau Bergeron Bordeaux Rose. In spite of it's age, this wine is in great shape, and was great with this meal. A good rose is such a great summer wine!

New recipes, July 2, 2011

Tonight we made Steak au Poivre from Evan Goldstein's Perfect Pairings again, Roasted Potatoes with Chive Pesto from Epicurious (this was new, we had to use green onions as there were not chives in Grand County!), and Garden Lettuce Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette and Onion Blossoms, which we put together on our own.

For the wine, we were privileged to get a bottle of the 1985 Chateau Grand Ormeau Lanade-de-Pomerol. This is a Merlot based wine, redolent of pepper, tar, and blackberry. The steak recipe was designed for a Cabernet based Bordeax, but we though this was wonderful on its own, and with the meal!

New recipe, July 1, 2011

Tonight we had the Shrimp and Mango Salad with Glass Noodles again, and a Chopped Vegetable Salad with Watermelon and Feta Cheese (the new one), both from Epicurious. These may not sound like they go together, but they were delicious together. Since we drove to Tabernash after dinner, we didn't have any wine.