Gastronomie

WBW #15 - Part Two... let's try again, shall we?

Thanks to everyone for being patient as I deal with both technical difficulties AND scheduling conflicts. In the past three weeks, I've flown 8,000 miles domestically, so I hope you'll all forgive me for taking so long to figure out that this post was in absentia.

What the HELL? (And where did WBW Part 2 Go?!?)

OK, so... somewhere... somehow... I ain't sure how or when or why...

MY ENTIRE 2ND HALF OF THE WBW WRAP UP DISAPPEARED.

It's gone from my list of posts and it's not anywhere on the site. Of course, Murphy and his law strike again as I did the wrap-ups on my OLD company laptop to which I don't have access at the moment, thereby rendering Google Desktop momentarily worthless.

I will work on them on the plane this evening, and they shall be posted by midnight Monday night. My sincerest, humblest apologies.

A Bass-Ackwards Way to Risotto

So, it's November 20th, and there are STILL delicious Early Girl tomatoes available at the Farmer's Market. While Bautista Farms' toms aren't dry-farmed like Dirty Girl's, they are still incredibly delicious for this late in the season. After scoring 18lbs of soft Girls for $5, I headed home, ready to make an enormous batch of my revelatory Tomato Soup to freeze.

Course, since I haven't cooked in WEEKS, I got home to find that I had no chicken stock. Fortunately, there was a nice little 4lb bird in the freezer, along with plenty of onions, carrots and celery from today's visit to the market, and so I set about making a big pot of stock.

I should mention that I've never made stock from a whole bird before; for me, the roasted chicken is the primary product, and the carcass becomes fodder for stock. So I've never had the achingly moist, tender chicken meat that results when a whole chicken goes into the stockpot.

After using what I needed for my tomato soup, I was inspired to make something with the chicken and remaining stock.  I checked the pantry and found a bag of arborio rice I hadn't touched in a few months, and a Delicata squash that I wanted to play with.

Thirty minutes later, I served up one of the most delicious risottos I've ever made.

Traveling too much, but eating well

I've been on the road like nuts for the last three weeks; fortunately, I've had a number of quite tasty meals, none of which I'm in any shape to write about (the folks at Blackbird took WAY good care of me tonight).

That said, I want to apologize for the ridiculous lack of posts, and want to let you know that everyone (well, you know... me, C, Bogart & Stella) at Gastronomie is OK, and can't wait to be back and posting regularly.

Thanks for your patience!!!

Fresca Peruvian

**I just want to thank everyone for your patience. I have been doing a lot of traveling for a new job, and am aiming to get the wrap-up for WBW finished by this afternoon; I just haven't had a lot of internet access**

Last night, C & I had tickets to see Jamiroquai at the Fillmore. We've been looking forward to this show for months now, as Jay Kay is one of our very favorite performers, and Jamiroquai one of our favorite bands.

Now, if you know us, you know that we are generally hard-pressed to arrive ANYWHERE on time. It's something we're working on, but we still lag, especially if it doesn't mean that we're inconveniencing other people. That said, we were in no way going to be late to the Fillmore. And so, our quest for the "right" place for dinner began.

C: So, what are our plans for dinner tonight?

F: Not sure yet. It's sort of a critical issue, don't you think?

C: Yes, lots of extenuating circumstances. What are you thinking?

F: Well, clearly we need a place that can take us early -- like 5:45...

C: And parking needs to be easy...

F: And, ideally, it would be walking distance to The Fillmore so we only have to park once...

C: But, of course, it has to be blog-worthy, right?

After a bit of research, I narrowed it down to three choices. Happy Shabu Shabu is a place Cedichou has raved about, but shabu-shabu seems like something that should be rushed. Besides, I was feeling too lazy to cook my own food tableside.

Mozzarella di Buffala is another place that has consistently scored high marks, but it seems rather too heavy a choice -- would my dancing enthusiasm be dampened on a stomach full of carbs?

Fresca... Fresca... What had I heard about it recently? Not much, as it turns out. But earlier reports were all positive. And it was walking distance. And really, ceviches & salads are a perfect pre-concert-fuel-boost food, don't you agree?

WBW #15 Wrap-up... It's all about the little guy (Part One)

First off, I have to thank everyone who participated in this month's Wine Blogging Wednesday. It was a very challenging theme, I know, and I am fully impressed that 29 of you found a bottle that qualified.

Even more impressive, more than a handful of you scored "Bonus Points" for selecting a wine from a winery with fewer than 1,000 cases annual production. Bravo!

Before I start the wrap-up, I just want to mention that Jens suggested a wine-swap between the participants. Corkdork thought regional tastings might be more manageable. If you're interested in either of these options, let me know, and I'll hook you up with others who express interest.

Edited: I really wanted to get everything done in one post, but it was not to be. The final dozen or so posts will be up tomorrow night. Thanks for your patience!