Gastronomie

Wild Oak Cabernet Franc

You've probably never heard of this wine.  And no matter how many Google searches you do, you probably won't be able to find it. There's a good reason for it.

We got two bottles of this astoundingly tasty wine from Mr. G after wine pick day, and after hearing how much we liked it, he brought us another bottle when we were all at dinner at CGs house.

Well, we just drank our last bottle. And I almost cried. This wine (the '01) is full of bright cherry flavors, smooth tannins, and a faintly rose-petally aroma. I rarely enjoy 90+% cab franc blends, but this wine (which is blended with a small amount of cabernet sauvignon and merlot) is truthfully my favorite wine for a mustard & rosemary pork tenderloin roast.

So, Mr. G, if you are reading this, can we please buy half a case?? We'd be eternally grateful! Oh, and by the way, I haven't forgotten about your mole. I might just be slightly intimidated by it. :-)

Name that Jewel

Everyone has one of those places that they don't want to share with the world... right?

The place where you don't mind waiting in line for 20 minutes just to place your order, but you know couldn't handle much more traffic than it already gets.

Well, today I'm going to share with you my Bay Area Jewel. And I want to see if you can guess its name. I'll post the answer in the next few days in the Comments, but I'm really curious as to how much "press" this place gets.

My Jewel is located in a long and narrow space with 16' ceilings and gorgeous brick walls. On nice days, they set the sidewalk with half a dozen bistro tables, but good luck trying to score one.

The owner, a sweet Italian gentleman, has created a menu that requires no kitchen - only a hotplate, toaster oven, toasters and an egg poaching machine. Everything is organic and sustainably grown, and the menu is distinctly Northern Italian. We've only been for breakfast, but they also do a brisk lunch business.

This past weekend, three of us shared a bowl of fruit salad (I have NO idea where they found strawberries, raspberries and blackberries so sweet and delicious in January), a morning bun and an almond croissant. The pastries were perfect - so often, croissants are gummy inside, but this one was light and flaky throughout. Just wonderful.

My latte was perfect - foam this good can only come from deliciously sweet milk, and the espresso was pulled absolutely perfectly. C's mocha was also great - rich and chocolatey, but not what you would call "sweet", per se.

Mom (in town for my 30th), had the Chorizo ($7). This was served with poached eggs and toast, and included a divine apricot preserve. The chorizo itself was wonderful - deeply fragrant, savory and with a sweet spice that built heat at the back of your throat slowly. Just wonderful.

C had the day's special, Corned Beef Hash ($9). This is served with two poached eggs and toast drizzled with olive oil. The hash was rich and meaty, and loaded with carmelized onions. A dash of sea salt added the minor missing link.

Finally, I tried the Polenta ($6) for the first time. It was served with a poached egg and a bit of stinky Cabrales cheese. The polenta is the ultimate warming breakfast, though I have to hold the cheese as I can't stomach stinky cheese before noon. Topped with a pat of sweet, creamy, organic butter, this is heavenly stuff.

So... tell me where you think this place is, and I'll see if I can't come up with some really cool prize for the first correct guess.

A dinner at bacar

This past Wednesday night, I headed to bacar restaurant with a colleague. We had thought we might try the DAT menu, but as it turned out, we both ordered a la carte.

Amazingly, despite having lived here since it opened, I'd never been to bacar before this week. I've heard some buzz that it's been going downhill for a while, but I'm really glad I did give it a chance.

The Food:
I started with an incredibly delicious Caesar Salad ($10). It was very easy on the anchovies, but the cheese was well-aged and the dressing was superb.

M had the Seared Dayboat Scallops ($17). This was three enormous scallops served with baby fennel, olive tapenade and celeriac nage and, while I didn't get a taste, M said they were amazing.

WBW5 - Wacky Wine Names

Thanks to Pim for hosting this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday, and coming up with a great little theme!

I had a bit of trouble with this one. But I found a bottle of Tractor Shed Red this past weekend on my first foray into Costco (more on that another day), and thought it quite fit the bill.

Unfortunately, we got a bad bottle. Or rather, I think we got a bad bottle, because all the reviews I've read of the stuff have been pretty complimentary.

Wine: Tractor Shed Red '01, Tudal Winery, Napa
Varietal: A blend of Sangiovese, Merlot & Zinfandel (don't have percentages, but I believe it's about 60/20/20)
Price: $15 in the release year, $9 for the '01 at Costco

The Nose:
C, upon first sniff, proclaimed "it smells like a raspberry Jolly Rancher!". I had to agree. It also smelled like hot, cooked berry jam to me.

The Eyes:
Bright ruby red (which is counter to my thought that it was cooked), thin at the edges,  weak legs. Not much deeper than a rose.

The Palate:
This was a stewed fruit bomb. Treacly sweet, candy like at the onset. Nothing interesting mid-palate - no tannins to hold it together, no backbone at all. C tasted "tar"... The finish was rather long and very bitter.

We let our glasses sit for an hour, and went back for another taste. All the fruit and funk had blown off by this point, but so had any flavor. It was flabby, insipid stuff.

The Wrap-up:
I don't read reviews before I taste a wine - I have found that I tend to color my own opinions by doing so. So, I didn't have high expectations for this wine, primarily because it was such an unorthodox blend. But, I really did want to like it. I thought it could be a "fun" wine... a wine for hamburgers and pizza. Why? Exactly because it was such an unorthodox blend.

I feel bad that the bottle we had was cooked or over the hill. I wouldn't mind trying this again, but only if it's a more recent year, and of known provenence. Not to knock Costco and all that, but who knows how they keep some of those wines, you know?

Persian Rice, or "Polow", for the IMBB Recipe

Pim posted today requesting a recipe for Polow, the Persian-style rice that should be served with the Khoresht below.

You should know that my rice RARELY turns out... especially the "tah-deeg" or "bottom-of-the-pot" crust. C is always making fun of me, and I do hope to perfect it SOMEDAY... Hope you have better luck than me! This recipe feeds 2.

IMBB 11 - BEANS!

I don't much care for beans, in general. I like them OK in salads, but not so much in stews and soups. But I had to come up with something for this IMBB, hosted by Cathy over at my little kitchen.

So I started thinking about some of my favorite Persian dishes, and realized that a disproportionate number of them contain... yup, you got it... BEANS.

So what to make for IMBB? Abgoosht? Loobia Polo? Baghali Polo? Nope. This time, I would make Khoresht-e Gheymeh Bademjan, or "Eggplant and Lentil Stew".

This is an incredibly savory, flavorful dish which can be served with traditional Persian polo (rice). Or, if you're lazy (like me), you can eat it with pita or lavash bread... just use the bread to scoop up all the goodness.

An ode to CSAs

You already know how much I love the Farmer's Market, particularly in the summer. However, I have an appreciably harder time dragging myself to the market in the winter. For one thing, there are far fewer vendors. For another, I tend to be far less adventurous with winter produce than summer produce. Don't ask me why - my guess is that it has something to do with wanting "known" comfort foods when it's cold out, but I could be wrong.

So, in the winter, we switch to CSA deliveries. Well, I should say that until this year, it was a "delivery" - Planet Organics, every other week. This year, I decided to try Capay Farms because I've really enjoyed some of the produce I picked up from them throughout the year.

I like Planet O because I can customize my box at will (in case I have company, or need something specific), and I really like their salads. On the other hand, that convenience comes with a price - I don't think I get as much for my $28/delivery as I do with Capay.

I like Capay because I like that they are still a family farm. They include some really nice recipes, too. However, their salad greens tend to wilt and rot very quickly, and the deliveries can get a little redundant. We've had bok choy in our box for the last 4 deliveries (which is 8 weeks). They will gladly pull anything you want out of your boxes, if you give them enough notice, and are really nice about it.

If you've never had a CSA delivery, I encourage you to try it - you might find yourself experimenting with produce you wouldn't ordinarily buy, or finding interesting recipes for things you have too much of. (Who knew that bok choy makes an awesome strata??).

For Trade: 1 Gmail Account

OK, I admit it... I'm having a REALLY hard time with WBW5 (hosted this time by Pim). I think it's because my sense of humor is on hiatus.

So, if you think you have a great suggestion for a wine with a Wacky Name (Goats do Roam and Fat Bastard are both exempt), post it in the comments section or email me. First 10 unduplicated suggestions get an invitation to a gmail account.

Disclaimer: The suggested wine must be palatable and not a Grocery Outlet product. Price range between $10 - $50.

"But what IS it?", he asked.

"It" is a brownish, knobby, thing that looks vaguely like ginger root, and then again, not at all. It also looks like it could be a stunted celeriac. So what is it?

"IT" is a sunchoke. Aka, "jerusalem artichoke", aka "topinambour". And "it" showed up in our CSA box last week.

Now, I've HEARD about sunchokes. And I've READ about sunchokes. Hell, I think I've even seen them on menus. But... well, what the hell am I supposed to do with one (or rather, a bag full) in my kitchen? And how am I supposed to convince C that I am not, in fact, trying to poison him?

I pulled out my favorite "How to Cook Everything"... surely, I'd be redeemed. But even the venerable Mr. Bittman has only a column's worth of things to say about this ugly bugger. Basically, parboil it, slice it up, broil or panfry it, and beware the, ahem, flatulence. Hmph.

OK. So I boiled those bad boys, while C went online and read aloud a plethora of stories about the ugly little topinambour. The boiling water came to resemble flat Mountain Dew. Icky.

I wielded my trusty santoku and started to slice up the sunchokes into 1/4" slices. They were firm, yet they yielded to the pressure of the knife like a Yukon potato. Interesting. Ignoring the warnings against the increased risk for adverse effects from raw sunchokes, I had to taste a piece.

Sweet. Mildly nutty. Artichoke-y, yes, but also somewhat celeriac-y. Delicious!

I proceeded to pan fry them in butter, garlic, salt & pepper, letting them lightly brown on each side. I served them with a nicely rare steak and an herb salad.

C said, "These are weird. But they are good. Very good. We should have these again. Soon."

These might be my new favorite vegetable. So, if you are listening, Mr. Planet Organics-man, please include sunchokes in next week's order!

A freaking FUNNY blog

I've never been a waitron. I don't think I'd be very good at it - I'm not patient and I don't, in general, like people. So that makes most any employment in the service industry difficult.

This blog, Waiter Rant, has me in stitches... and reminds that, indeed, I do NOT  have what it takes to be a food service worker.