New recipe, August 31, 2012

Chicken and Corn Soup with Chile Mint Salsa, from the August 2012 Bon Appétit. The salsa raises it up a notch, this gets a definite 4! We were traveling, so no wine.

New recipe, August 30, 2012

Fast Chicken Chili, from the September 2012 Cooking Light, served with tomatoes from the garden.

The flavors are quite good--we give this a 4.

New recipe, August 29, 2012

Tonight we attended an event for the Colorado Democratic Senate Campaign Fund, so we have a little dish that is new.  This is a riff off a recipe we saw in The Tapas Cookbook. We call it Figs, Blue Cheese and Honeyed Almonds.  For each serving:
Slice 4 fresh figs and arrange around the plate. Drizzle with a fruity olive oil. In the center of the plate, crumble 2 ounces of a crumbly blue cheese. Top with 2 ounces of toasted almonds. Drizzle with a teaspoon or so of honey. Serve. This is a really nice combination of flavors--don't skip the olive oil, it adds a great dimension. We give it a 4.

Wine: Damiano Barolo 2004

New recipes, August 28, 2012

From the September 2012 Cooking Light: Pork Chops with Roasted Apples and Onions, and Haricots Verts and Mustard Vinaigrette. Two 4s!

Wine: Droin Chablis 2010

New recipe, August 27, 2012

Grilled Chicken Florentine Pasta with Grilled Broccolini (we used broccoli), from the September 2012 Cooking Light. Nice! We give it a 4.

Wine: Guy Drew 2010 Russell Vineyards Riesling

New recipe, August 26, 2012

Eggplant Pear Pecorino Salad from the September 2012 Food and Wine. This is phenomenal--we give it a 5. Served with the Roasted Bell Pepper Salad from the Tapas Cookbook, and a Bacon Mushroom Swiss sausage from Costco (no excuse for the latter, but since I bought them I decided we should eat them).

Wine: Cantele Negroamaro Rosato 2010

New recipe, August 25, 2012

Fennel Egg Salad Sandwich from the Denver Post--a nice lunch! We give it a 4.

New recipe, August 24, 2012

We attended Project Angelheart's Art for Life, so tonight's new cocktail is the Canteen Martini, from Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology. We give it a 3--enjoyable.

New recipe, August 23, 2012

We were at an event for Mental Health America-Colorado, so the new recipe is a cocktail--the Martinez from Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology. Nice flavors! We give it a 4.

New recipe, August 22, 2012

Grilled Tuna Steaks with Mango Herb Salsa from the Denver Post. We love the salsa--this gets a 4. Served with garden tomatoes with rosemary olive oil.

Wine: Van Ruiten Chardonnay 2009

New recipe, August 21, 2012

From the September Bon Appétit: Braised Chicken with Capers and Parsley. Sounds very simple, but the flavors are so nice! We give this a 5--you should try it, and we can't wait to make it again! Served with bread, and fresh garden tomatoes.

Wine: 1749 Sauvignon Blanc Vin du Pays de Val du Loire 2009

New recipe, August 20, 2012

Garlic Rosemary Steak from the September 2012 Bon Appétit. Next time I will slice the steak a little thicker to ensure a nice medium rare. The flavors of the garlic and rosemary oil are wonderful. We give it a 4. Served with roasted corn and amazing tomatoes from our garden.

Wine: Tenuta Sant'Antonio Nanfrè Valpolicella 2008

New recipe, August 19, 2012

Black Bean Cakes with Mixed Greens and Eggs from the September 2012 Cooking Light. Served with garden tomatoes topped with some leftover pickled peaches. We give everything a 3.

Wine: Este de Bodegas Alto Almanzora 2007

New recipes, August 18, 2012

We had some Bifteck Sauté Béarnaise remaining from the other night, so we had that with 2 new salads: Heirloom Tomato Salad with Anchovy Vinaigrette from the August 2012 Food and Wine (with tomatoes from our garden), and Celery Apple Salad from the September 2012 Cooking Light. The Tomato Salad gets a 4, and the apple salad gets a 5--so simple and so tasty!

Wine: Small Gully The Formula 2006 Robert's Shiraz

New recipe, August 17, 2012

Sage Rubbed Pork Chops with Pickled Peach Relish from the August 2012 Food and Wine. Delicious! We give it a 4.

No wine, as we were traveling.

New recipe, August 16, 2012

Kale Salad with Chicken, from the July 2012 Food and Wine. Deliciously, we give it a 4

Wine: Santa Alicia Maipo Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2008. Nice match!

New recipe, August 15, 2012

In honor of Julia Child's 100th birthday, we made Bifteck Sauté Béarnaise. The Béarnaise did curdle as it finished (note to self, make the Béarnaise last!), but the flavor was spot on! It gets a 4! Perfect Béarnaise would make it a 5. Served with roasted baby potatoes with sautéed onion and mushroom, and fresh heirloom garden tomatoes.

Wine: Chateau Simard 1999 St Emilion

New recipe, August 14, 2012

We went to see "The Book of Mormon" tonight. So the new recipe is a cocktail, the St Germain Gin and Tonic--really tasty--it gets a 4

New recipe, August 13, 2012

Grilled Skirt Steak with Poblano Corn Sauce and Salsa, from the September 2012 Food and Wine. Sounds simple, but it is really delicious. We give it a 4.

Wine: Finca Flichman Malbec 2007

New recipes, August 12, 2012

From the June 2005 Bon Appétit: Lemongrass Pork with Vietnamese Table Salad. Yum! We give it a 4.

Wine: instead of wine, we had the St Germain Cocktail. Also delicious--it gets a 4, too

New recipe, August 12, 2012

From the September 2012 Food and Wine: Charred Corn Salad with Mint Parsley and Cilantro, and Chicken Caprese Salad.

We give the corn salad a 5 again. The chicken salad is nice, we give it a 3.

New recipe, August 10, 2012

Eggplant Involtini (April 2012 Food and Wine) again--still a 5--with Charred Corn Salad with Mint Parsley and Cilantro from the September 2012 Food and Wine--also a 5!

Wine: Petite Petit 2009

New recipes, August 9, 2012

From the July 2012 Food and Wine: Glazed Chicken and Szechuan Noodle Salad, and Sesame Broccoli. We liked these--the broccoli gets a 3, the chicken and noodles get a 4.

Wine: O'Shea Scarborough 2009 Riesling. This is more acidic and less fruity than a German dry Riesling would have been, so it did not complement the dish as well as we would have liked.

New recipe, August 8, 2012

Dinner meetings tonight, so the new recipe is a cocktail: Disaronno Margarita from Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology. We would not have thought of amaretto in a margarita, but it's very nice! We give it a 4

New recipes, August 7, 2012

Two new ones from the September 2012 Food and Wine: Grilled Vegetables with Roasted Chile Butter, and Lamb Burgers with Green Harissa. Both of these are very tasty--we give them both a 4!

Wine: La Truffière 2005 Cotes du Rhône--nice match!

New recipe, August 6, 2012

Whole Wheat Pizza with Onions and Bitter Greens, from the September 2012 Food and Wine. Nice flavors--we would use more onion to get a better balance between the sweet and bitter. We give it a 3.  The second batch had more onion and was much better balanced--it got a 4 on the second round!

Wine: Matteo Correggua Roero 2006

New recipe, August 5, 2012

Roast Chicken Thighs with Tomato Tapioca Porridge from the September 2012 Food and Wine. We had trouble getting the porridge to set, but the flavors were really nice, including of course the perfect tomatoes from the garden. We give it a 4.

Wine: Chateau La Rame 2010 Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc Sec

New recipes, August 4, 2012

Both from the August 2012 Food and Wine: Shrimp Salad with Sherry Vinaigrette, and Grilled Okra with Red Curry Lime Dressing. Both are just 3 ingredient recipes! The shrimp salad flavors are nice--we give it a 3. Carl said "this may be the best okra I've ever had." Needless to say, it gets a 5!

Wine: Yealands 2008 Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc. A really good match!

New recipe, August 3, 2012

Chicken with Herb Roasted Tomatoes and Pan Sauce from the August 2012 Bon Appétit. With an arugula salad. The chicken has excellent flavors-it gets a 4.
Wine: Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Vignes Franches 2005 Nicolas Potel--great match

New recipe, August 2, 2012

Another vegetarian recipe for Bill and Perri: Eggplant Involtini from the April 2012 Cooking Light, served with roasted corn and bell pepper with smoked paprika.
The Involtini is delicious--gets a 5!
Wine: 2006 Bionzo Barbera 'Asti Superiore--nice match!

New recipe, August 1, 2012

Bill Kunze and Perri Strawn are visiting, and tonight's new dish is Tomato Frittata from the August 2012 Bon Appétit. Gets a 4!
Wine: Domaine de la Fouquette Cuvée Rosée D'Aurore 2011