New recipe, May 30, 2014

Tonight's new recipe is the Tommy Gun Cocktail, from the Food and Wine brochure "Mixing It Up."
This is nice, we give it a 4.

New recipes, May 28, 2014

Crushed Beets with Lemon Vinaigrette, and Scallops with Hazelnuts and Warm Sun Gold Tomatoes, both from the June 2014 Bon Appétit. We loved both of these--both get a 5!

Wine: Van Ruiten Chardonnay 2009--a decent, not great match (though it would be hard to match both dishes at once!).

New recipe, May 27, 2014

Skillet Asparagus Salad with Goat Cheese from the May 2014 Cooking Light. This is amazing, an absolute 5! Served with Mushroom Ravioli drizzled with black truffle oil.

Wine: Chateau Brézèmr Côtes du Rhône 2007--a good match

New recipes, May 26, 2014

We have finished 3 days of brewing and have 6 beers fermenting!

Not sure which surprised us more--realizing the half lamb we got last year came with a heart, or accidentally defrosting it. We decided to make a Classic Peruvian dish, Anticuchos de Corazon, from latinabroad.com. It traditionally uses beef heart, but was delicious with lamb. We give this a 5 (use 1 tsp salt, not 1 tbsp!!).

Dinner was Roast Pheasant from the New York Times Cookbook, which we cooked in a steam oven--arillo a Little overcooked, but much moister than many pheasants. We give it a 4. Served with rice, quick sautéed newborn Bok Choy from the garden, and pan seared asparagus.

Wine: Donaine de Garrou Richesse 2002--an excellent match!

New recipe, May 25, 2014

Green Bean Arugula and Clementine Toss from the May 2014 Cooking Light. Good flavors, enjoyable, we give this a 3. Served with a strip steak with truffle salt and boiled new potatoes.  Pretty quick and easy, which was nice after day 2 of beer brewing.

Wine: Muriel Rioja Reserva 2007-a good, not great match

New recipe, May 24, 2014

After a full day of brewing beer, our friends Paulanne and Diane hosted us for a fabulous dinner (5s across the board!) so tonight's new recipe is a cocktail, the Aperol Soda from Dan Murphys. We used a slice of honey mandarin from our tree, which is incredible! This is a nice drink, seems like a great summer patio drink--we give it a 4

New recipe, May 23, 2014

Steak and Asparagus Stir Fry from the May 2014 Cooking Light. We doubled the ginger, garlic, and crushed red pepper, and it was good! It gets a 4!

Wine: Small Gully The Formula Robert's Shiraz 2006

New recipe, May 22, 2014

Saffron Rice with Tilapia and Shrimp from the April 2014 Cooking Light. This is nice, flavors are kind of subtle--we'd like a little more oomph from them. We give this a 3.

Wine: Benziger North Coast Sauvignon Blanc 2012

New recipe, May 21, 2014

Tarragon Tomato Salad from the May 2014 Cooking Light--it is good, gets a 3.

Served with grilled pork loin and asparagus.

Affligem Belgian Ale to quaff.

New recipe, May 20, 2014

Carl made this one up: Snap peas with Black Chinese vinegar, rice wine, light soy, pinch of sugar, ginger and scallions. Delicious, it gets a 4!

Served with Thai chicken salad.

Wine: Banyan Monterey County Gewürztraminer 2013--a good match!

New recipe, May 19, 2014

Grilled Lemon-Dijon Chicken Thighs with Arugula Salad from the June 2014 Cooking Light. Simple and delicious--it gets a 4!

New recipe, May 18, 2014

Indian Spiced Grilled Shrimp and Okra from the June 2014 Cooking Light. We give this a 3--it needed more of the spices. Served with a curried couscous, and a large salad of fresh greens from the garden.

Wine: Banyan Monterey County Gewürztraminer 2013--a good match!

New recipes, May 17, 2014

Halibut with Charred Tomatoes and Dill, and Farro Cherry and Walnut Salad, both from the June 2014 Cooking Light. Both are very tasty--we give them both a 4, and liked them together.

Wine: Domaine de la Fouquette Cuvée Rosée d'Aurore 2012--a nice match!

New recipe, May 16, 2014

Duck Breasts with Blackberry Port Sauce from the June 2014 Cooking Light. Delicious--it gets a 5!

Served with a tender green salad from the garden (spectacular!) and tomatoes.

Wine: Gilles Barge Cuvée du Plessy Côtes Rôtie 2008--a wonderful match

New recipe, May 14, 2014

Pan Roasted Radishes with Butter, Lemon and Tarragon (it is several recipe down the linked page) from the Denver Post. The flavors were great, but the radishes were a bit woody--we give it a 4 as made, likely would be a 5 with tender radishes.

Served with pork tenderloin with a fennel orange rub, and fresh grilled ramps with olive oil, salt and pepper. The ramps have an amazing flavor, especially when grilled, very reminiscent of truffles. A) we get why professional chefs are so enamored of ramps. B) these get a 5!

Wine: Nicolas Potel Beaune 1er Cru Clos des Vignes Franches 2006--an excellent match

New recipe, May 13, 2014

Charred Broccoli and Red Onion Salad from the June 2014 Food and Wine. Delicious--we give this a  4.  Served with blanched and sautéed green beans, grilled pork tenderloin, and sautéed morels.

Wine: Black Diamond Pinot Noir Russian River Valley 2009--a nice match!

New recipe, May 12, 2014

Tonight I did a riff of the Spring Panzanella with Asparagus from the April 2012 Food and Wine. Does it count as new? Not sure, but I used fiddlehead ferns in place of some of the asparagus, and ramps in place of the red onion. I discovered Coosemans Denver today--a great source for restaurant produce! I've been looking for those beautiful watermelon radishes for months! We give this salad a 5.

Wine: Benziger Sauvignon Blanc North Coast 2011--a nice match!

Just to be sure we made something definitely new, we also made The Honey Drip cocktail from the Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart--flavorful, sweet but well balanced. We give this a 4.

New recipe, May 10, 2014

Pork Tenderloin with Roasted Cherries and Shallots from the June 2014 Cooking Light. It gets a 5! Served with a reprise of the Warm Spiced Okra from the May 2014 Cooking Light--it was not quite as good as last time, I think if is important to go longer sautéing the okra to be sure it is cooked through. Also served with a salad with early lettuce from our garden!

Wine: Red Roan Contra Costa Carignane 2012--a good match

New recipe, May 9, 2014

We attended Project Angel Heart's Art for Life this evening, so today's new recipe is the Cynar Toronto cocktail, from seriouseats.com. We give this a 4.

New recipes, May 8, 2014

Vietnamese Caramel Pork, and Sesame Broccoli from the May 2014 Cooking Light. Both are tasty--we give the broccoli a 4, and the pork a 3--I would use more of the spices (ginger, garlic, red pepper) to make this sing louder.

Wine: Italian Bubbles Secco 2011-a nice match

New recipes, May 7, 2014

Two from the May 2014 Cooking Light: Chicken Scaloppine with Peperonata, and Warm Spiced Okra. These were both great -- they get 5s!

Wine: Evolucio Furmint 2011

New recipe, May 6, 2014

We went to see the wonderful Opera Colorado production of Carmen, so the new recipe is the Colonel Carpano cocktail from kindredcocktails.com

This features Cynar, an Italian amaro (bitter) made with artichoke! Tasty-we give it a 4.

New recipe, May 5, 2014

Roast Pork Tenderloin with Carrot Romesco, from the April 2014 Bon Appétit. Very nice, it gets a 4! Served with a reprise of the Persian Cucumber Salad with Lentils and Sprouts from the May/June 2014 Eating Well, still a delicious 4.

Wine: Muriel Rioja Reserva 2007--a nice match

New recipe, May 4, 2014

Radicchio Fennel and Olive Panzanella from the April 2014 Bon Appétit. Very tasty, it gets a 4.

No wine, served with Maudite Belgian style beer.

New recipes, May 3, 2014

Grilled Chicken with Arugula and Warm Chickpeas from the May 2014 Bon Appétit, and Persian Cucumber Salad with Lentils and Sprouts from the May-June 2014 Eating Well. We give the chicken a 3, and the salad a 4! We had dinner with Mark's parents, Anne Trégloze and Dwight Davidson

Wine: 1489 Baroncini Libra Orvieto Classico 2010. Not a bad match, the bottle was a bit corked

New recipe, May 2, 2014

This is a riff off the Thai Chicken Stir Fry with Basil and Cashews from the May/June 2014 Eating Well. We altered the vegetables for what we had. The flavors are nice typical Thai flavors. We give this a 3.

No wine--we went to sea Animal Crackers at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

New recipe, May 1, 2014

The Ginger Julep, from the May 2014 Food and Wine. Tasty, it gets a 4.