New recipe, September 30, 2012

We had a spectacular day driving through the Colorado mountains--the aspen groves are spectacular, especially along Kebler Pass. Since we are traveling, we ate at Justice Snow's in Aspen (delicious!). The new recipe is a cocktail, the Blueberry Thrill from the June 2011 Cooking Light. A pleasant drink--we give this a 3.  Our issues--first, we made the syrup with stevia rather than sugar.  Stevia is a good low calorie sweetener, but in this form it has enough of its own flavor to detract.  Second, a little of a bitter would make this much more interesting. It will be interesting to try again with a sugar syrup and a bitter!

New recipe, September 29, 2012

Pan Seared Chicken with Tomato Olive Relish from the November 2011 Cooking Light. Nice flavors, the chicken breast came out a but dry--wonder if brining would help. Overall, this gets a 3.

No wine this evening

New recipe, September 28, 2012

Long week, so dinner was yummy leftovers, and the new recipe was the Agave Margarita from the May 2012 Bon Appétit. Very simple--it uses agave instead of an orange liqueur--but still quite flavorful, and with layers of flavor. It gets a 4.

New recipe, September 27, 2012

Tonight, the actual recipe: Crispy Pork Medallions, from the November 2011 Cooking Light. Very nice--the lighter quality of the pork makes a better balance with the other ingredients--this gets a 4. Served with roasted vegetables

Wine: Le Clos Millésime 2008 Vin de Pays de Hauterive

New recipe, September 26, 2012

Crispy beef medallions with roasted carrots. This was a riff on Crispy Pork Medallions, from the November 2011 Cooking Light. The riff was necessary when the pork we had was obviously bad, so we used left over prime beef rib. It was tasty--a 3--so looking forward to making the actual recipe!

New recipe, September 25, 2012

Bleeding Heart 

Equal parts akvavit and cherry brandy. Simple, and tasty. Rating 3.

New recipe, September 24, 2012

From the September 2012 Food and Wine, the Tokyo Kaikan Gimlet.  Very tasty--it gets a 4!  We have had a run of days with dinner meetings, so the new recipes are cocktails--won't last forever!!

New recipe, September 23, 2012

Rosalind Russell, Food and Wine June 2012.  Delicious!  Rating 4

New recipe, September 22, 2012

We celebrated the 80th birthday of Mark's dad, Mike Groshek, this evening, so we made a favorite, Coffee and Pepper Rubbed Rib Roast from Evan Goldstein's Perfect Pairings (still gets a 5),

So tonight's new recipe is the Classic Whiskey Smash from the August 2012 Bon Appétit. Yum! We give it a 3.

New recipe, September 21, 2012

Seared Tuna Steaks with Citrusy Soy Sauce, from the February 2011 Food and Wine, served with garden tomatoes. We give this a 3--nice flavors, and the sauce would have been more interesting if it had not been strained.

No wine, as we headed to the theater.

New recipe, September 20, 2012

From the October 2012 Cooking Light: Carrot Salad with A Hit of Heat, served with leftovers.  This is simple and quite tasty--it gets a 4.

No wine this evening.

New recipe, September 19, 2012

Chardonnay Braised Chicken Thighs with Parsnip from the October 2012 Food and Wine. We modified: chicken breast instead of thigh, onion instead of shallots, carrots instead of parsnips. Nice flavors, the breast was a bit dry. As made, we give it a 3.

Wine: Glass Mountain 2008 Chardonnay

New recipe, September 18, 2012

Kung Pao Chicken Tacos (we substituted corn for the tortillas) from the October 2012 Cooking Light. We give it a 4!

No wine this evening

New recipe, September 17, 2012

Island Pork Tenderloin from The Gourmet Cookbook by Ruth Reichl served with corn on the cob and garden tomatoes. We give it a 3

Wine: Guy Drew 2010 Russell Vineyards Riesling

New recipe, September 13, 2012

Crisp Chicken Marinara from the October 2012 Cooking Light. Served with a plate of garden tomatoes with basil and balsamic. Not completely sold on the idea that the chicken is crispy, but it is great with the jazzed up Marinara. It gets a 4

Wine: Carramimbre Roble 2005 Ribera del Duero--nice match!

New recipe, September 12, 2012

More dinner meetings, so the new recipe is a cocktail: La Coloniale, from cocktails.about.com.  Yummy, gets a 4!

New recipe, September 11, 2012

St Germain Shandy, from the St Germain (this is a wonderful French liqueur) folks--such a simple drink, and really tasty!  We give this a 5--it is completely refreshing.  You shiould try it!

New recipe, September 10, 2012

We have a string of dinner meetings and out of town travel, so the new recipe is a cocktail: The Dubliner, from Gary Regan's The Joy of Mixology.  Very nice--it gets a 4!

New recipe, September 9, 2012

Sausage, Fontina and Bell Pepper Strata from Epicurious.  We served this at a wonderful brunch we hosted.  Yum!  We give it a 5.  

New recipe, September 7, 2012

Spaghettini with Garlic and Dried Chile, from the September 2012 Bon Appétit. Quite simple, and delicious--we give it a 4. Served with a plate of garden tomatoes dressed with balsamic and basil.

Wine: Vigneto di Gino Verdicchio dei Castelli di Jesi 2009

New recipe, September 6, 2012

Seared Scallops with Almond Vinaigrette, from the September 2012 Bon Appétit. Nice flavors, a bit sweet for me. We give it a 3. Served with a plate of garden tomatoes.

No wine--we are going to see Chad Deity at the Curious Theatre.

New recipe, September 4, 2012

Spice Rubbed Grilled Chicken from the September 2012 Cooking Light. This is so simple and so tasty--it gets a 5. Served with sautéed garden squash and sliced garden tomatoes.

Wine: Vin de Pays des Collines des Moure 2006. We were a bit embarrassed to find a rosé this old in the cellar, and delighted with how good it is!

New recipe, September 3, 2012

Crispy Kale Salad with Lime Dressing, from the September 2012 Bon Appétit. Delicious flavors! It is pretty labor intensive (lots of slicing and stemming), so it gets a 4. The flavors are a 5, the effort means it would be hard to do again tomorrow!

Served with hard boiled eggs and a roll.

Wine: Antis Torrontés 2010. An excellent match!

New recipes, September 2, 2012

We made both of these up, based on our handy ingredients:

Kale Greens and Tomatoes:
Sauté 1 cup sliced onions in bacon grease (about 2 TBSP) til golden. Add 1 cup water, 2 tbsp light brown sugar. Bring water to boil, then add 4 cups chopped kale and salt and pepper to taste. When the kale is cooked down, add about 2 cups to tomatoes--we used large cherry tomatoes, halved. Simmer til tender, about 25 minutes.

Pan Grilled Steak with Braised Fennel, Red Bell Peppers and Tomatoes:
Sauté 1/2 fennel bulb and one sliced red bell pepper in olive oil til starting to brown. Add 1 cup water and salt and pepper to taste and braise til tender, 10-15 minutes. Add about. 12 yellow cherry tomatoes and braise 1-2 more minutes. Set aside. Add 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter to pan. Salt and pepper a thin steak and cook til medium rare, 1-2 minutes per side, depending on the thickness. Serve topped with the vegetables.

We also had corn on the cob.

We give the greens a 4, and the steak and vegetables also get a 4.

Wine: Villa Medoro Montepulciano D'Abruzzo 2008

New recipe, September 1, 2012

Pork Tenderloin with Plum Chutney, from the August 2012 Bon Appétit. For this recipe, you put a rub on the tenderloin, then wrap it in pancetta (we used prosciutto) and the grill it. Served with the Lemony Kale Salad from August 2012 Cooking Light, and garden tomatoes dressed with a little lemon juice and olive oil. We give each recipe a 4, and they worked together beautifully, so we give the MEAL a 5.

Wine: Infinite Monkey Theorem Petite Syrah 2009