GIVEAWAY RESULTS!

And the winner of the giveaway for THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE and WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT is Tanisha!  Congratulations, Tanisha!

For those who read my thoughts on THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE and either didn't enter or didn't win, I'll take this chance to recommend them again: they're an invaluable resource!


Thanks so much for your comments, "likes", and follows.  I have another recipe post coming up but, in the meantime, make sure to stop by my Facebook fan page, Twitter, and Pinterest.  Seriously, are you guys on Pinterest?  I'm addicted...

Eat, drink, and thanks for playing!

THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE and a GIVEAWAY!

You may or may not believe me when I tell you that I don't know a lot about wine.  I know what I like, of course, and I do a reasonably decent job at identifying what it is I'm smelling and tasting in a glass.  But appellations?  Vintages?  Tannins?  Nope,  I couldn't tell you much about those.  Which is absurd because I've read a lot on the subject of wine.  Unfortunately, none of those technical terms ever sticks in my brain and so I go on, blissfully ignorant, enjoying what I'm sipping regardless.

With that in mind, I really love the books of Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.  I met them back in 2008 and I've been a fan of both them and their books ever since.  WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT is one of my favorite books; I'm going to go out on a limb and say I use it more than any other food- or wine-related book on my shelves.  It makes sense, of course, seeing as I drink wine with every dinner (and sometimes with lunch), and I consult this book nearly every time.  I also highly recommend THE FLAVOR BIBLE.  I don't use it as much since I don't regularly go off-recipe when making a meal, but it's a brilliant resource when you're cooking off-the-cuff, trying to make something happen from random ingredients in your fridge.  Ultimately, both books are useful, smart, and reliable; I couldn't do without them.

So I was ecstatic to get Page and Dornenburg's most recent book THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE, which appears to have a lofty goal: marry the concept of WTDWWYE and THE FLAVOR BIBLE to make one major reference tome for food and wine pairing.  FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE, more than the previous two reference books, attempts to educate the reader.  So, while it serves up information in a bullet-pointed style that is easy to read, it still wants the reader to gain knowledge and confidence in drinking and enjoying wine.  First and foremost, Page and Dornenburg want to demystify wine and stress that drinking it is a subjective experience, free from judgement and wrong answers.  I particularly loved this quote from Mark Twain to start the 2nd chapter: "There are no standards of taste in wine ... [One's] own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard."  The aim of this book is not to tell the reader what's good and what's bad but, rather, to help the reader understand what it is they're drinking so that they might better enjoy it (or, if not, then understand why they're not enjoying it).

One of the things that I love about this book is the historical timeline.  Yes, Page and Dornenburg actually try to tackle that beast: the history of wine in the United States.  I found out all kinds of trivia, such as the fun fact that Thomas Jefferson reportedly bought more than 20,000 bottles of wine while in office.  The timeline helps give some context to how far we've come in the United States, particularly when you find out that there were more than 2,500 commercial wineries before Prohibition and, after it finally ended, only about 150 wineries remained.  As of 2010, there are more than 6,000 wineries in the U.S.

There are also some helpful graphs and tables.  In particular, Page and Dornenburg include a large list of how to choose wines by flavors, which is extremely helpful for someone very new to wine.  For example, if you love apples, then perhaps you should try Chardonnay (especially unoaked), ice cider, Pinot Blanc, Riesling, or Vouvray.  Being a strawberry gal myself, I see that Beaujolais, Pinot Noir, rosé, and Tempranillo are the suggested wines (and, sure enough, those wines feature heavily in my own wine refrigerator).  I love that tools like this give the reader language and context with which to describe and enjoy wine, especially if you're talking to the salesperson at your local wine shop or the sommelier in a restaurant.

Yet another plus to FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE is the extensive list of wines.  There are wines here that you can't find in WTDWWYE, such as Carmenère.  Another feature is that each wine has "Comparables" listed.  This is where I'll use both of these books as a cross-reference.  For instance, let's say that you've looked up brussels sprouts in WTDWWYE (which actually happened to me the other night).  The only wine that is listed there is Sauvignon Blanc.  Of course, it just happened to be the rare time when I didn't have a Sauvignon Blanc stocked in my fridge.  So I went to FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE and looked up Sauvignon Blanc.  The comparables listed are white Bordeaux, Fumé Blanc, Graves, Pouilly-Fumé, and Sancerre.  Guess who just happened to have a white Bordeaux!  Yep, me, and it went very well with the brussels sprouts.  Don't worry if you don't know any of the wines I just listed - FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE helps you decipher all that.

Last but not least, a major bonus - especially for newbies - is that each wine listed also includes a pronunciation key!  I recently discovered the Bastianich Friulano and had no idea how to pronounce Friulano...but no more (it's free-oo-LAH-noh).  Now I can feel like less of a jerk when I ask for it at Eataly!

All that said, if you're going to pick a single wine book to buy from Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, then I would recommend WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT.  That's the one that you can rush to look at while you're in the midst of making dinner; the best thing about it is that you can look it up by food and that's what makes it completely invaluable to the home cook and wine drinker.  But don't get me wrong - you'll still want THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE because it does provide more in-depth information and the cross-reference possibilities are huge.  And THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE provides more educational opportunities.  Really, the two books go hand-in-hand.

In fact, I feel so strongly that both books are essential to the home cook that I'm hosting my very first giveaway on Pinot and Prose!!!  I'm giving away THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE along with WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT to one lucky reader!  Here are the rules:

1. Write a comment telling me about a wine you love, or a wine you'd like to try, or a food & wine pairing you enjoy.  Heck, just comment anything about wine.
2. Then, if you haven't already, go to my Facebook fan page and "like" me.  (Oh, heaven's, I feel desperate asking you to "like" me...)
3. And consider yourself entered!

Only one entry per person and no family members, please.  I'm going to open it up to my international readers so feel free to enter if you live across the pond.  Enter by 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday, November 7th and I'll announce the winner on Tuesday, November 8th.

Good luck!

Note: I just have to share this inscription that Karen and Andrew wrote in my copy of WTDWWYE back in 2008: "To Laura & Adam - From one compatible pair to another, with our delicious wishes, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg."  Don't you love that?

My Cup Runneth Over

Leaving publishing and libraries behind recently wasn't an easy decision.  And it still isn't.  Likewise, when I left culinary school two years ago, that was one of the hardest decisions I've ever made.  But it's okay because it's led me here.  I can't believe I'm able to do freelance work, talk about food, take pictures, spend more time with Bug, travel whenever I want...like, as my life.  This is an amazing time for me and I'm loving every second.  I am so incredibly lucky.

Speaking of lucky, it's been a very good few days for me; let's just say that the mailman has been my friend.  Check out all the delicious treats below:

The lovely Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg sent me a copy of their newest book, THE FOOD LOVER'S GUIDE TO WINE (review coming up).  I'm such an evangelist for their FLAVOR BIBLE and WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT - I'm thrilled to be reading the latest.  I now have the trifecta of foodie reference books...and so should you.  Go get them (or give them away for the holidays!).

The awesome folks at Sterling sent me a copy of EDIBLE BROOKLYN: THE COOKBOOK by Rachel Wharton.  I just got it yesterday so I haven't cooked anything from it yet, but I can't wait to dig in.  It's the first cookbook I've seen born from the Edible magazines.

I won a contest!  Thanks to Cooking with Libby and Tate's Bake Shop, I have a copy of their cookbook, TATE'S BAKE SHOP COOKBOOK.  I also got three bags of their Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate cookies.  Review?  So good!  I don't normally like my chocolate chip cookies crunchy but these are different: they have this lacy delicateness to them that I just adore.  I'm happy to dig into these instead of Bug's Halloween candy!

And I won another contest!  In a few short hours, I'll be joining Google Places and Midtown Lunch for lunch at Food Gallery 32!  I have to confess that I've never tried Korean food so this will be a treat.  I'm also going by myself, which means I'll have to be social and introduce myself to strangers.  Eek!

Last but not least, I just found out from a friend of mine that I might be able to see Gabrielle Hamilton speak about BLOOD, BONES, AND BUTTER, a book that I compared to the work of MFK Fisher.  I'm so beyond excited...really, I can't even express it.

And this is my life.  I can't believe it.  And I can't thank you enough for letting me share my food, my drink, and my table with you!

Eat, drink, and cheers to you!  I'll be paying it forward soon, I promise!



NOTE: It's not all fun and games.  In the midst of trying to get my still-life shot, this kept happening:

Sublime Pairings

I don't know what happened this past week but I was in a scheduling funk.  I hadn't planned a dinner menu, I hadn't gone grocery shopping, we had to keep eating out...  I was just out of sorts.  Menu planning for me is all about the routine: creating the menu, making the grocery list, doing the various shopping (Fresh Direct, farmers' market, Todaro Bros.), and then the actual cooking.  And when I don't go through every one of those rituals it just throws me off.  Ugh.  I'm getting stressed even recounting all this to you.  Last week wasn't my best.

It was in this mindset a few days ago that I decided we couldn't eat out another night; I was just going to have to create something from what I had in my kitchen already.  I had pasta because I always keep a package of fresh linguine in the freezer (another Fresh Direct stand-by).  I also had a butternut squash that I had picked up randomly a couple days earlier.  The squash was roasted, the pasta boiled.  I melted some butter, browning it and then adding some dried sage.  The last touch was to toss the pasta in the butter, put it in a bowl, and top with the squash, some freshly grated nutmeg, and Parmesan.

As usual, I checked WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT to see what they suggested as a wine pairing.  As luck would have it, Viognier was recommended with butternut squash and I just happened to have a bottle of Sobon Estate Viognier in my wine fridge.

It was, in every way, a divine pairing.  The earthy sage and salty Parmesan brought out all the warm butter and wood from the Viognier; together, it seemed to be autumn personified.  I actually gasped out loud; it was that perfect.  It's not to say that I don't enjoy most of my wine-food pairings because I do (thanks to Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page!)...but every once in a while you hit the perfect one and there's just nothing like it.

And what about a bad pairing?  We once had a young family friend - she was about 18 at the time - ask us how you know when a wine-food pairing is bad.  I responded, "It'll turn your face inside out."  If you've experienced it, you know exactly what I mean.  This pairing was the exact opposite of that.

Eat, drink, and pair up.


NOTE: Your kid(s) won't touch butternut squash?  Neither will mine.  So I didn't add any to Bug's bowl - she pretty much had just buttered noodles.  Then I sliced up an apple and put that on the side for her since that's about the only fruit/vegetable she eats gladly.



ROASTED BUTTERNUT SQUASH PASTA
Recipe by Pinot and Prose
Serves 4

1 pound fresh linguine (dried is fine too)
1 medium butternut squash (about 1 1/2 lbs)
2 tbsp olive oil
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 tsp dried sage (or to taste)
1/4 tsp freshly and finely grated nutmeg (or to taste)
4 tbsp finely grated Parmesan
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Peel butternut squash then cut in half.  Remove seeds.  Cut squash into 1/2-inch pieces.  Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Put onto a baking sheet covered with parchment paper and bake for about 30 minutes until squash is pierced easily with a fork and starting to brown.

2. In a large pot, boil water over high heat and then add 2 tbsp salt to the water.  Add pasta and cook according to package instructions (fresh pasta will take only about 2-3 minutes).  Make sure you try pasta before draining to make sure it's done.  Drain pasta, reserving 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

3. Melt butter in a large saute pan.  Add sage and the cooked pasta; toss.  If the pasta seems dry, add the reserved cooking water, 1/4 c. at a time.

4. Add pasta to individual bowls.  Garnish with roasted squash, grated nutmeg, and Parmesan.  Serve immediately.  With a big, buttery Viognier, of course.

Figs and Pecorino

New York City is in the middle of an October heat wave that has sucked my will to live: our building had to turn off everyone's air-conditioning a couple weeks ago so we've been melting away in our apartment with 85-degree temps outside.  We'd buy fans...except there's no damn room for them, such is life in a tiny apartment.  All our windows are open...which lets in all the noise and, annoyingly, very little breeze.  Bug can't sleep, we can't sleep. We're all grumpy.  It has not been pretty.

So yesterday I declared that there wasn't a snowball's chance in hell that I was turning heat on in this place in order to cook.  Which ended up being untrue, alas.  I found a recipe in Jamie Oliver's Jamie's Italy for sticky figs and it struck a chord with me.  All it calls for is taking a pint of figs - or however many you have - and halving them.  Then you put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Jamie calls for them to be baked at 120 degrees for two hours but my oven only goes down to 170 degrees.  So I did that for two hours.  Done.  That's it.

I paired the figs with a crumbly, salty Pecorino.  This is one of those cases where you should find the best Pecorino you possibly can since it's one of the stars of the meal.  We added Prosciutto di Parma, rustic Italian bread, and dipping oil (really good-quality oil, sea salt, pepper).

Very little heat, very little fuss.  I know there are some of you who read this who will say, "They had only that for dinner?!"  And the answer is a resounding YES.  It's too damn hot to eat anything else.  Seriously.

Eat, drink, and keep it simple.


UPDATE #1: Naturally, Bug didn't want anything to do with the figs (though we did make her try just one) so she had a sliced apple.  She also wasn't a huge fan of the Pecorino - she thought it was "spicy".  But she ate almost that entire pile of prosciutto - I had to add more to the board - and she had bread with butter slathered on it (she claims, falsely, that she's "allergic" to olive oil).  This is such an easy meal to cater to picky eaters.

UPDATE #2: Foolishly, I forgot to mention what we drank and thanks to my good friend Daphne for reminding me!  Per Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page's What to Drink With What You Eat, I drank a Riesling: Arthur Metz 2010 from Alsace.  It paired very well, but didn't wow me.  Adam had the winner: Brooklyn Brewery's Monster Barleywine.  It was huge in flavor, but didn't overwhelm the cheese or figs.  It was an unexpected, much more interesting pairing than the Riesling.  I highly recommend it.

Hello, Summer!

You guys!  I'm FINALLY home and I'm FINALLY done with conference season at work!  Most of you have been entrenched in summer for a few weeks but mine is starting now.  Um, to say I'm excited is an understatement to the nth degree.

But let's start at the beginning: as most of you know, I was at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans last week: 7 days and 6 nights.  That is a lot of eating out in restaurants, airports, and hotels.  So when I got home, all I wanted was a simple, fresh, home-cooked meal that was both satisfying and light.  And even a bit cleansing.

So I went with one of my favorites: Tuna with Butter-Warmed Corn Kernels.  Which I've actually posted here in the past.  What's funny is that when I initially posted this recipe, I was in the middle of a summer meltdown: it was late August and I was soooo over the heat and humidity.  I was trying to stick with no-heat meals and this one was perfect.  So isn't it wonderful that now I can post this in the opposite frame of mind?  Instead of fighting summer's heat, I am embracing all that summer entails: vacation, sunbathing, watermelon mojitos (because that's what I'm drinking while I write this), lounging on the roof deck, and...no conferences!

And in my joyous and celebratory frame of mind, I give you Tuna with Espelette Pepper and Butter-Warmed Corn with Cilantro, courtesy of Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest:

Click here for full recipes (you're clicking through to my original blog post).  Again, feel free to substitute smoked paprika for the espelette pepper.  And feel free to substitute and improvise!  Can't stand the taste of cilantro (Hi, MC and Gillian!)?  Try parsley or basil*.

When I initially posted this recipe, I drank it with a Riesling**.  But right now I am completely high on Vinho Verde and my particular favorite is this one:

It's Ouro Verde Vinho Verde (Portugal) and I get it from Fresh Direct for $6.99 - it's my summer go-to.  It's slightly effervescent,citrus-bright, and dry.  It paired perfectly.

I can't even tell you how thrilled I am to be back here with all of you, ready to start my summer, and sharing my favorite recipes and drinks.  Cheers!

Eat, drink, and celebrate summer!


* These recommendations are courtesy of the outstanding The Flavor Bible by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.  I've mentioned it here a gazillion times but it needs to be mentioned again.  Just go buy it.


** Ditto for this one.  The Riesling recommendation came from What to Drink with What You Eat, also by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page.  Your personal cookbook library is NOT complete without either of these books, in my opinion.

Rosé Parade

Ooh, ooh, I was SO THRILLED to read this New York Times article this morning on rosé: "A Rosé Can Bloom in Winter" by Eric Asimov.  Like most people, I too have relegated rosé to the back shelves and cupboards during the winter months.  It just seems so...summery.  


But recently, when I made Crab and Ricotta Manicotti*, I was at a loss for a wine.  Sauvignon Blanc?  Chardonnay?  So I consulted my handy-dandy WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page (really, how many more times do I have to tell you about this resource before you'll pick it up?).  And rosé was listed as a match for both crab and ricotta.  My initial thought was an eye roll - I mean, come ON, it's January.  But I didn't have anything else that matched.  So I opened up one of my go-to rosés:

Fresh Direct**.  For under $20 per bottle.  And it went exceptionally well with the manicotti dish, giving it a brightness that it definitely needed.  It was a good foil.


My other favorite rosé is the Carpineto (forgive the glimpse of leg - this was a summer picnic photo):

While the first bottle is gone, thanks to the manicotti and a night with my Soul Twin, I'm still sitting on a Carpineto left over from the summer.  Thanks to the NYT article, I'm more tempted to drink it now, rather than wait until May.  So here are what Karen and Andrew are recommending with rosé that would work for the winter months:

• apertif and/or with canapés, especially dry rosé
• barbecue and barbecue sauce (I definitely do some stovetop grilling in the winter - this could work)
• beef, especially spicier dishes
• charcuterie, especially with dry rosé
• cheese, especially mild (I'm not sure about this one - I tend to go with the meatier, heavier, bluer cheeses in winter.  Good to keep in mind, though, in case I put together a cheese plate)
• cold dishes, especially meat (I wonder if this includes beef carpaccio...dang, I love beef carpaccio...)
• cranberries
• duck 
• eggs and egg dishes (am I the only one that reads this and thinks, "Yay!  Brunch wine!  Wine at 11 a.m. on Sunday!"  Oh...wait...I'm the only one?)
• peanuts and peanut sauces (yummmm...)
• pork, especially grilled or roasted
• quiche, especially with dry rosé (more brunch thoughts...)
• saffron
• sandwiches, especially beef and pork
• sausage, especially grilled
• soup (this is the verbatim listing: "soup".  Based on the other dishes, I'm thinking something seafood-based would be ideal)
• spicy food, especially with fuller-bodied rosé
• turkey, especially roasted 

So fun, right?  And I don't know about all of you, but this is the time of year - damn, February - when the winter doldrums start setting in and this is exactly the sort of thing I need to brighten up the dark days.

Eat, drink, and think outside the seasonal box.

* I should note that, in WHAT TO DRINK WITH WHAT YOU EAT, they mention that cream sauces should be avoided with rosé.  But it worked with this one.  My somewhat educated guess is that it is because the crab and ricotta were really the dominant flavors, rather than the béchamel sauce.

** I bought many, many bottles of this rosé from Fresh Direct in the summer.  It's not available right now but I'm hoping that it'll come back in a couple months?

Crab and Ricotta Manicotti

As mentioned previously, I have hundreds of recipes saved up and, in particular, I have dozens of bookmarked recipes from all the blogs I read.  One of those recipes is Crab and Ricotta Manicotti from Confections of a Foodie Bride, which I've been hanging onto for two years.

See my previous post for all my woes about trying to find Manicotti noodles; in summation, I couldn't find ANY.  So I substituted small square lasagna noodles that I found at Eli's Manhattan:

 The crab, ricotta, egg, Parmesan, herb mixture:

Here is how it looked while rolling them up:

And the finished product - the crab and ricotta mixture in the noodles, baked in bechamel sauce:

The lasagna noodles worked seamlessly in the dish - at least the ones I used - I don't know that I could guarantee that result with every lasagna noodle brand.  I stuffed it very generously, which I'd recommend highly.  I encourage you to play around with the recipe: it was rich and creamy but Adam and I found ourselves wishing for some heat, some warmth.  Next time I make it (and there will be a next time), I plan on adding cayenne or Old Bay seasoning.  But I definitely feel like it needed another level of flavor.

I also consulted THE FLAVOR BIBLE by Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page for some inspiration.  Under "crab", I got some other flavor ideas that could work in this dish: chives, scallions, saffron, Tabasco, balsamic.  All might work here.

But this is why I love this dish and why I'm likely to try it again: it leaves lots of room for interpretation and improvisation.  My favorite!  And if that weren't enough, per Shawnda's blog post, I froze a portion of the dish so it's on deck for a meal this week or next.  Which is a working parent's get-out-of-jail-free card!

Eat, drink, and get creative!

Buying Wine

Most of you probably already know this...but I adore wine. I drink it every night with dinner (and usually a glass after dinner too). On the weekends, I'll even have a single glass with lunch. When I have dinner parties, we've been known to go through two bottles (or three, depending on the company). So, with the exception of Adam's passion for beer, it's safe to say that ours is a wine-drinking household.

But here's the thing: I don't really have a collection. I usually buy a couple bottles a week from Fresh Direct and sometimes I'll trek over to The Wine Room of Forest Hills, which is one of my favorite places to buy wine. If we're really low, we'll get a ZipCar and drive over to Jersey to the Total Wine. Even then, sometimes I'll buy two bottles of something I know I like but, mostly, I buy a lot of single bottles.

The idea is that I want one of everything so I always have something great to drink with dinner. I rely heavily on What to Drink with What You Eat by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg, and few things frustrate me more than when they make a strong recommendation and I don't even have anything close. So I try to diversify when I buy wine.

Recently, though, I ran into a problem. I fell in love with a Rose that I bought at Total Wine a couple months ago. Here it is:

It was so well-balanced and refreshing. It was floral and herbal, but it also managed to be dry and grounded. I adored it.

But now what? I only bought one bottle. In Jersey. Wait until I go back? But then it'll be October or November and they most likely won't have the crazy-awesome selection of Rose. Go online? But then do I order six bottles? Go for the full case? Do I love it that much?

I also had a similar dilemma with Cubanisimo wines recently. As you'll recall from my previous post, I really love their Rose and their Pinot Noir. So I went to the Cubanisimo website to look into buying a couple bottles. It made sense to buy at least 6 bottles because of their discount. But my grand total was going to be $120+...and I couldn't bring myself to click the "Buy" button. I mean, $20 for a bottle is no big deal. But dropping more than a hundred? There's a mental hurdle that I can't seem to get over.

I've done a lot of wine reading (The Battle for Wine and Love...Red, White, and Drunk All Over...Educating Peter...The Wine Guy...these are some of my faves) and I don't feel any less confused on this issue. Does it make more sense to buy a half-case or full-case of something I love? But then I risk a lack of space and funds to have a wider selection. Or does it make better sense to diversify to make sure I always have the perfect wine-food pairing on hand? Have any thoughts on this issue?

Eat, drink, and when in doubt drink bubbly...

500th Post

Yep, this is the one. My 500th. Appropriate for a new year and a new decade, no?

There are no words, truly, to express how my life has morphed and grown and changed in the 2 1/2 years since I started this blog. I want to thank Betsy (aka Fuse #8) for harassing me endlessly about blogging - I probably wouldn't have done it without her nudging. I also want to especially thank all of you who take a moment to comment on my posts - it's always wonderful to meet you and hear from you, and it's always a relief when one more person reminds me I'm not alone in the 'sphere.

Here are some highlights from the last 499 posts:

Favorite posts -

• Food as Memory Trigger
• Kitchen Dance review
• A Day of Loss (I miss you, Kate and Kathy!)
• Madame Pamplemousse and Her Incredible Edibles review
• Meeting Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
• Souffle!
• My Favorite French Things
• This Week's Menu: Food as Life
• Bacon Fat Shortbread Cookies
• Losing gallbladder = losing weight

Favorite photos:

Favorite "Eat, drink, and... -

• Eat, drink, and read - all at the same time
• Eat, drink, and go out and smash it. Like, oh my god.
• Eat, drink, and get by with a little help from my friends.
• Eat, drink, and persevere in the kitchen!
• Eat, drink, and if you don't succeed, try again.
• Eat, drink, and always have bread available to soak up meat juices!
• Eat, drink, and use declarative sentences.

I apologize for not being more eloquent but I'm feeling truly sentimental and nostalgic by this anniversary - I'm at a loss for words. My cup runneth over. It's been a joyous and challenging and fulfilling journey and I look forward to 500 more posts!

Eat, drink, and...

I would love it if you would fill in the blank! Post a comment about what you eat, drink, and...!

More non-cooking...

Tonight's dinner wasn't strictly non-cook but, once again, I'm using Patricia Wells' Vegetable Harvest. It's a wonderful cookbook because it really celebrates fresh, seasonal, raw ingredients. So while I did apply heat for this meal, it was minimal.

I made Tuna Strips with Espelette Pepper on top of Butter-Warmed Corn with Cilantro. It's one of my favorite summertime meals and I'm so relieved, in the midst of my anti-summer pouting, that I didn't forget to make this before the leaves changed color. Here is the final product (note my heavily marked cookbook in the background:

Tuna Strips with Espelette Pepper

from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells (Morrow, 2007)

1 lb. "ultra-fresh" tuna fillet

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

2 tsp. ground Espelette pepper (Note: I found this by chance at the O & Co. shop in Grand Central Terminal...I had been looking ages for it. If you can't find it, I've used paprika in the past to great effect)

Fleur de sel (sea salt to the layperson)

1. Cut tuna into strips about 3/4 inch thick and 4 inches long (note: I'm never this exact - I quote PW directly here). In a large bowl, combine the strips of tuna, olive oil, and the pepper powder. Toss to blend. Marinate at room temp for 10 minutes.

2. Heat a large, dry skillet over high heat (I use nonstick - PW doesn't specify). When hot, remove the strips of tuna from the marinade, without draining, and place in the skillet. Working quickly (she does not kid here), sear the fish for about 15 seconds on each side for rare tuna, longer for well-cooked tuna. Immediately transfer the tuna strips to warmed plates. Season with fleur de sel and serve. Serves 4 - I halve for us.

Butter-Warmed Corn Kernels with Fresh Cilantro Leaves

from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells (Morrow, 2007)

3 ears fresh corn, shucked

1 tbsp salted butter (I've used unsalted too)

1/4 c. fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Zesty lemon salt (Note: this is what PW calls for - there's a recipe for it in the book. It's a great salt and I use it on a ton of stuff. However, I have also used plain kosher salt and then grated lemon zest over the corn. Messing about with "zesty lemon salt" SO isn't necessary)

With a sharp knife, scrape the kernels of corn from the cob. Melt the butter in a large skillet (again, I use nonstick) over moderate heat and cook the corn just until warmed through, tossing the corn in the skillet for about 1 minute. Transfer to a bowl, shower with the coriander leaves, and season with lemon salt. (Note: this is SO child-friendly because you can easily give them non-cilantro corn before dousing your own with the glorious green stuff) Serves 6. (Note: PW says this serves 6. Puh-leease. I make this full recipe for the 3 of us. And you'll want to as well.)

Lastly, I consulted What to Drink with What You Eat for the perfect wine to pair with this and ultimately chose (and I might butcher this) Weingut Jakob Schneider 2008 Riesling Kabinett. It complimented the meal perfectly. Thanks (again) to Karen and Andrew for their fantastic reference guide!

Eat, drink, and admit that summer isn't all bad!

Kevin, this one's for you...

I have a friend, Kevin, who I met through Adam...and he's all about the food. And the drink. Being Oi-rish and all. For reasons I can't quite guess, he's a regular reader of my blog. But he confessed to Adam that he'll often get halfway through a post and realize that it's about kids' books. And my posts have certainly been kid-lit-heavy lately, as all my foodie photos are locked in my computer right now, held captive by the evil tyrant, Time Warner.

So this foodie blog post is dedicated to my friend-in-food, Kevin. Cheers!

- I finished reading A Homemade Life: Stories and Recipes from my Kitchen Table by Molly Wizenberg, known to the food blogosphere as Orangette. The recipes are inspiring, though the only one I've tried at this point is Burg's French Toast (read: fried French toast...and it is out-of-this-world). I pretty much agree with the reviews I've read about the book: the passages about her late father are poetic and poignant. I enjoyed her stories of Paris. However, I also agree with the reviews when they mentioned Molly's relationship with her now-husband: the passages about their relationship just got overwhelming and leaned toward the saccharine and cloying. They lacked - at least in the writing - the emotional depth seen elsewhere in the book. Overall, though, an enjoyable read. I'm looking forward to making her Butternut Soup with Pear, Cider, and Vanilla Bean! And thanks to Molly for including the recipes from her book on her website - it's great to be able to link to them!

- Listen up, all you New Yorkers! There's a new kid on the block at the Union Square Greenmarket: Grazin' Angus Acres. If you haven't met them yet, do so immediately. They're super nice and helpful: during our first encounter, we asked for a skirt steak. He (unfortunately, we didn't get his name) pulled it out of the cooler but also pulled out a flap steak (which we had never heard of). He gave us a lesson about flap steak, which is actually more complicated than I expected, but here's the bottom line: it is incredibly similar to a skirt or flank steak but costs half the price. Grazin' Angus also has breakfast sausage and hot dogs to swoon over - there are no words, truly.

Lastly, they're eggs are unreal. My friend Josh picked up some meat one morning from GAA. When he opened his bag, the purveyor saw eggs from another stand. He challenged Josh: give me one egg from that dozen, and I'll give you one of our eggs - see which one is better. He marked GAA's egg with an "x". Josh confirmed that Grazin' Angus' egg kicked arse all over its competitor. Adam picked up a dozen last weekend and I've never tasted anything like it.

Don't visit the market without stopping by their booth. This is their first year so we want to make them feel extra welcome so they'll come back forever and ever.

- This article in the NY Times made me long for a hamburger. But I was dismayed by Shake Shack and Rare being so low in the rankings - I always counted them among my faves. On the other hand, I've never had a Peter Luger burger. Must put on to-do list.

- You might have heard about a little thing called the James Beard Foundation Awards...the 2009 winners were recently announced. In particular, I want to congratulate Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page who won in the Reference and Scholarship category for The Flavor Bible: The Essential Guide to Culinary Creativity, Based on the Wisdom of America's Most Imaginative Chefs (Little, Brown). I haven't reviewed Flavor Bible here (though I own it), but I did review What to Drink with What You Eat - both books are culinary library essentials. Karen and Andrew were the first people I met "in the industry," and they were both incredibly generous and authentic. So congratulations to them both - their success is well-deserved!

Eat, drink, and cheers to Kevin!

New blog and new recipe

Thanks to Susan at Chicken Spaghetti, I was directed to a new blog on the block: Cook the Wolf.  I was immediately smitten, of course, by the MFK Fisher reference.  Anyone who reads MFK Fisher just...gets it, you know?

And Emily got off to an eloquent start, discussing hunger (of course!), and sharing her recipe for Caramelized Onion and Walnut Sauce for pasta.  It sounded like the type of recipe I'm always looking for on weeknights: simple to make, affordable, and flavorful (you could even leave out the walnuts if you're really cutting costs - nuts are spendy!).  Here's out it turned out:

Emily wasn't kidding when she said it doesn't turn out attractive, though my version might have turned out prettier if I had used white wine instead of red wine.  Luckily, the parsley, cheese, and walnuts add some visual interest.

I have to admit, I wasn't crazy about this recipe, which wasn't necessarily the recipe's fault...for starters, I severely underseasoned it - make sure you really salt and pepper this one up.  And I don't know what happened with my onions - I just couldn't get them to produce a nice golden color before adding the wine and such.

I also thought gorgonzola might help punch it up so I added some halfway through our meal, but it really didn't work...which was so strange since walnuts-gorzonzola-caramelized onions are such a classic pairing.  

I'm going to keep messing around with this one because I think it has a lot of possibilities.  Next time I am certainly going to try the addition of acid - some balsamic perhaps.  Maybe even some lemon zest?  Emily also has a post about The Flavor Bible, and luckily I own a copy - that might also help give me some ideas about ways to get creative with this dish.

Eat, drink, and welcome to Cook the Wolf!

Chez Lutz: Gougère au jambon

I’ve blogged before (here and here) about the surprising relationship between food and Joanne Harris, who wrote Chocolat and now has ventured into children’s/YA literature with Runemarks.

It’s been a few months since I’ve made anything from The French Market, and I’m so glad I revisited this cookbook tonight.  Both books – The French Market and The French Kitchen – challenge me and my abilities…yet they do so in manageable ways for a full-time working mother such as myself.  Tonight I made the gougère au jambon, and it turned out mighty fine:

 

 I didn't use the exact right-sized dish (I should have gone a bit bigger) so the ham mixture didn't cook as thoroughly as it could have.  Even then, I added five minutes to the final cooking time because I realized my dish was too small and deep.  But it tasted RAD.  Unfortunately, I can’t post the recipe since I followed it exactly (minus the one extra clove of garlic I added – the recipe called for two cloves).  But here are links to other related recipes:

- Gougères stuffed with ham mousse (Emeril Lagasse)

- Gougères (Epicurious)

I also can recommend The French Market by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde.  In addition to the gougère recipe, I have also made their salad with walnuts (salade aux noix), their warm salad with Camembert dressing (salade tiède au Camembert), and their potato, cabbage, and Camembert casserole (tourte au Camembert)…all to huge success.  Not to mention that you can impress the hell out of your guests by giving them the French names for the meals!

Mangez, boivez, et parlez français!

 

WINE NOTES : Thanks to Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg’s What to Drink with What You Eat, I found out that an Old World Chardonnay would work well with the gougère.  So Adam picked out the Chateau Lafayette Reneau Seyval-Chardonnay.  I said, “Honey!  That’s a New York wine!  It’s not Old World!”  To which Adam responded, “But it says Chateau!”  All you French speakers out there will appreciate that there is no l’accent circonflexe in the word “Chateau” on this bottle.  But the only other Chardonnay we had was Casa Silva 2007 Chardonnay…from Chile.  So I had to take a leap.  And the Casa Silva was fantastic with it.  I’m drinking a glass right now, post-dinner, and it’s rather oaky.  But the oak just disappeared with the gougère and they perfectly complemented each other. 

Meeting Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg

I had an unexpectedly delightful evening last night.  First, it only took me 45 minutes to get to Pour on the Upper West Side…which made me feel bad about all the melodramatic grumbling I did about having to go “up there.”

I met my friend Ellen, and we were first to arrive (we were told by the genetically blessed women who work in the store that Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg were in a cab and on their way).  This gave us ample time to peruse Pour’s offerings.  I was mighty impressed.  It’s a small selection, which usually indicates that it’s carefully and thoughtfully chosen.  The whole set-up of the shop is boutique-y with a modern-yet-cozy atmosphere.  The shop is separated into categories, such as “Bright”, “Velvety”, and “Plush.”  And each wine has its own card hanging on hooks, and you can take the cards with you.  For instance, I bought a 2006 Lavradores de Feitoria Vinho Tinto, which was in the “Velvety” section.  It’s tasting notes describe it as “a little earthy, a little nutty, and sup

er silky”, and it tells you all the info about the varietals: “30% Touriga Franca, 25% Tinta Roriz, 20% Tinta Barroca, 20% Touriga National, 5% Other Varieties.”  I didn’t recognize a single one of these which, naturally, is why I bought it.  It is from Douro, Portugal and felt reasonably priced at $17.

So what about Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page?  Well, they arrived…Ellen and I played shy and intimidated and just hung around them…and eventually were shoved over to them by one of the shop ladies who knew we were there to meet them.  I’ll just cut to the chase and inform you that they were delightful: approachable, eager to chat, and very informative.  Among the gems I took away from our meeting, Andrew suggested serving Champagne close to room temperature as a pleasant surprise to guests: its Chardonnay qualities show themselves when served closer to room temperature.  Karen also whipped out this temperature gauge thing: it looks like a tire gauge, and you put in the wine glass just above the wine.  It takes the wine’s temperature but, lest you think Karen and Andrew pretentious, they proceeded to giggle about how much this gadget freaks out sommeliers in restaurants.  Karen asked us how much we get out to restaurants and, I had to admit, I don’t get out much between the job and the family.  So I whipped out that Rare’s burgers were some of favorite in the city.  Ends up that Karen knows it!  We waxed poetic about their fries and onion rings…and I felt so cool.  It wasn’t until the end of the evening that Andrew mentioned they live in Murray Hill so, naturally, they would know Rare.

Karen remembered (or faked it really well, anyway) my blog because I reviewed What to Drink with What You Eat.  As a thank-you, they signed an extra book for me, The New American Chef, which was fascinating reading on the subway ride home.  I also bought my own copy of What to Drink with What You Eat since I had previously been working from the library’s copy.

Lastly, I have a few other wine notes.  The shopkeepers asked Karen and Andrew what they wanted to open up, and they suggested a sparkling rosé wine, Bugey Cerdon.  It was initially sweet but had a pleasantly dry finish.  What was fun was how clearly Karen and Andrew enjoyed the wine – they were practically giggling over its effervescence, which was incredibly endearing.  Additionally, I bought a second bottle of wine from the “Bright” section of the store, and you’ll get a kick out of the tasting notes: “You’re going to think we’re crazy, but we get salty, fresh bacon on the nose of this wine.  Don’t worry – bacon isn’t the only aroma there; we also get boysenberry-like ripe fruits and earthy minerality.”  THIS is MY kind of wine store!  The wine was a 2006 Corte Rugolin Valpolicella Classico from Veneto, Italy ($21).

Overall, a fantastic night.  Much thanks to Karen Page, Andrew Dornenburg, and Ellen (who gave me some tips on my soufflé)!

Eat, drink, and buy a copy of What to Drink with What You Eat.  

Geeked up much?

So I'm nearly certain I'm going to have the chance to meet Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page tomorrow night (Tuesday night), as I've been told by my awesome publicist friend H- that they'll be on the Upper West Side to discuss their books.  And I'm willing to trek more than an hour from Queens to get to them.

Not sure what I'm talking about?  I mention them here, here, and here.  Oh, and you may have read their column in a rag called The Washington Post: here is their latest column, among others.  No?  Well then, try their books: Becoming a Chef, What to Drink with What You Eat, and the new one The Flavor Bible.  If you appreciate an accessible approach to food and wine, then you need to know about them.

In anticipation, I'm already chanting to myself: "Be cool, Laura.  You can do this!  They're just normal people.  Just like anyone else."  Because I'm the biggest geek in the world who tends to turn incoherent around people I admire.  

Eat, drink, and move to a city where people like this are around all the time!

NOTE: Click on their names above, and you'll get to Karen and Andrew's website.  They have a fantastic blog but, I'll warn you, it's difficult to slog through and I can't link to a single entry.  A ways down the page, there is a great post about a signing they did at Hastings Farmers Market.  Pasquale Le Draoulec, the director of the market, is quoted as saying: "People are craving community and turning to Facebook, while we've created the real thing right here at the Hastings Farmers Market."  I found that to be incredibly poignant, particularly since I have spent about an hour tooling around Facebook tonight, rather than interacting with real people...

I favor The Individualist or The Loyalist

Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg have outdone themselves in their recent Washington Post column: "Picks with Personality".  The idea, of course, is that wines can be understood better if we attribute personalities with each of them. 

This isn't really a new idea...at the risk of revealing that I have the geekiest taste in movies, I remember that scene in French Kiss where Meg Ryan describes a

wine as being "bold with a hint of sophistication but lacking in pretension."  Then she sheepishly tells the always-delicious Kevin Kline that she was actually just describing herself.  Kevin Kline's character then tells her that she's not wrong, that wine is like people and it takes from its surroundings, absorbs it, and grows in complexity.

So the whole wine-as-people thing is clearly already in my head.  But Dornenburg and Page infused it with such fun in this article, not to mention that they have wine recommendations to go with it.  My favorite is #3: The Achiever.  Not surprisingly, it's chardonnay.  "Still to sparkling, dry to sweet, steely to oak"...it will "do anything to entertain and hold your attention."  This is an interesting comparison to me because, while I love this about chardonnay, it is also what I find really frustrating about it.  You think you can trust it...then you choose the wrong one...and it bites you (and your meal) in the rear.  I feel like chardonnay is The Charlatan: it can't always be trusted.

This struck me today because, last night, the Husband and I had chicken satay for dinner after the Kiddo went to bed.  Alongside I served jasmine rice with ginger, garlic, and cilantro.  So I used my handy-dandy What to Drink with What You Eat and discovered I needed an oaky chardonnay STAT to accompany the dinner.  The Husband, being a good sport, immediately ran out to get me some...and brought back a Clos Du Bois Chardonnay, otherwise known as The Oakiest Wine EVER.  And it went perfect.  The Achiever rocked last night's dinner.

Eat, drink, and figure out which personality type best fits Viognier...