February 28, 2011 new recipes

Tonight's inspiration was Holly Arnold Kinney's new book, Shinin' Times at the Fort. We had Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Quinoa Salad with Fresh Garden Mint. The soup is the best quash soup I have ever had, and the salad is a lovely riff on tabouleh. We would definitely do these both again. We enjoyed a little Antelope Polish Sausage on the side, thanks to my friend Tom Hail. And for dessert, we had some diced dragon fruit.

The wine was a 2002 Columbia Crest Chardonnay. It was a bit oxidized and Graham crackery--a shadow of it's former self, I am sure. For some reason we did not open something else instead. Ah well!

February 27, 2011 new recipes

Once again, Mario Batali comes through in Molto Italiano. We can get duck and duck legs (but not breasts for some reason) at Har Mart, a great asian market not too far from here. So we made Braised Duck Legs with Dried Orange Peel and Almonds. The sauce cooks down during the braising to the thick near-stew you see on the duck. Fabulous! We had Roasted Asparagus with Capers and Eggs on the side, also really delicious. We would do both again!

We drank a Willamette Valley Vineyards 2006 Pinot Noir with this meal, a really nice match. Asparagus is notoriously difficult to match with wine, but when you roast it and then dress it like this, it becomes quite different, and does not seem to me to be as hard to match. It worked well with this wine.

February 26, 2011 new recipes

Tonight's recipes are from Mario Batali's Molto Italiano. For a kid who hated fish and still dislikes very strong fish flavors, I find myself fascinated by seafood. This evening, we made Barbecued Octopus with Grilled Escarole and Mint, and Broccoli Sauteed in Wine and Garlic. We drank a 2006 Regilli Frascati with this (it was also in the broccoli), which was really past its prime. So we switched to a 2009 Fontana Candida Frascati, which was much nicer, with aromas of peaches and a little grapefruit.

The octopus came out much more tender than I feared it would, and the flavors were nice, but it didn't quite pop, to use an overused term. Makes me wonder if it is the dish or the execution--I may have to try this again some time. I did learn how to clean an octopus from the folks at the Sydney Fish Market, since my frozen octopi came fully equipped with eyes, beak, and innards. It was still a fun dish to make.

February 25, 2011 new recipes

Carl went all out today--three new recipes, all from Epicurious.com. We had Triple Pepper T-Bone Steak, accompanied by Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Red and Yellow Pipérade, and Brussel Sprouts with Marjoram and Pine Nuts. Am I allowed to say OMG? These were delicious!

We drank a Forefront Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 with this. In the aroma and flavor, it had plum, butter, a little violet and strawberry, a hint of cabbage, some white pepper. It was very nice with the potatoes and the steak. Brussel sprouts are always a dicey match with wine. Here, they didn't compete, just didn't sing together!

February 24, 2011 new recipe

This is Anne's last day before she goes home to France. We will miss her! We had Roasted Tomatillo Shrimp Tacos, which I found on the Cookincanuck's blog. They are very tasty indeed! We decided to have these with Margaritas, instead of wine. It was accompanied by a variant on Spanish rice, with carrots. We learned the technique at La Villa Bonita, from Chef Ana Garcia.

We did toast to a wonderful visit with some New Mexico Gruet Blanc de Blanc sparkling wine, along with a Dulce de Leche and Caramel Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory.

Au revoir, Anne!

February 23, 2011 new recipe

This evening we had an event (The Mental Health Center of Denver's Annual Meeting), so we had a very simple meal afterward. We had smoked salmon with homemade créme fraiche, and the new recipe was Rick Bayless' Toasted Almond Guacamole from Fiesta at Rick's. Rick adds chopped dried apricot--we didn't have any of those, so we skipped me. Rick came up with this recipe to recreate the flavor of wild avocados, which have a nuttier flavor than the Haas avocados we usually get here. It was really tasty! One thought--be sure to use plain tortilla chips with this. We had some black bean-roasted garlic corn chips, which are fairly tasty, but argued with the lovely flavor of this guacamole.

We drank a Borsao 2008 with this. It is a 75% garnacha 25% tempranillo blend, so it works well with spicy foods and was very nice.

February 22, 2011 new recipes

This evening we had two simple and very tasty dishes. From Epicurious.com, we had Penne with Broccoli and Mushrooms. This is a simple and very tasty, satisfying dish. It was easy to taste each ingredient. We also had a simple salad in three parts: diced avocado dressed with salt and hot smoked paprika, yellow cherry tomatoes with salt and pepper, and diced red bell peppers with Old Bay Seasoning. We just made this one up, and the seasonings really matched each vegetable.

The wine is from the Vineyard, one of our favorite local wine shops. Their Vineyard Central Coast Cabernet Sauvignon is bottled by Castoro Cellars. It is not one of those huge cabs--it was a nice counterpoint to the creamy vegetables and pasta we had--nice oak and plum flavors and aromas, smooth tannins in the finish.