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